Fulfillment Golland, M. (best classic literature TXT) 📖

“No, I don’tmean it like that. What I mean is, because of you he can afford tostay anywhere in the world as it is, so why give him a card?”

He stroked myface gently, “Because it’s a Family Card, and he is your family andalways will be.”

“Yes, he willbe,” I honestly replied.

He wouldalways be family. We shared two beautiful children and a lifetimeof memories, but we’d both moved on with our lives and in just afew weeks would be officially divorced.

***

A few dayslater, I knocked on the door of my former house, my children behindme with their suitcases.

“Mum, how longare you going to be in Italy for?” Nate asked. “I want tocome.”

“Next time,Sweetheart, I promise. This trip is for work and it’s only for afew days. I’ll see you both next weekend though.”

Nate slumpedhis shoulders.

“I’ll bringyou back a Ferrari?” I offered, enticingly.

“A realone?”

I thoughtabout my answer carefully, knowing he meant a full-sized one and Imeant a scaled version. A toy one is still real if it’s fromItaly, isn’t it?

“Yeah,” Ianswered.

“Sick!”

Rick openedthe door and let us in. “You still have your key, Alexis. You canuse it.”

“I know. I’mstill not going to let myself in, though, especially after lasttime.”

He gave me asarcastic grin.

“What? Ihonestly didn’t know she had no shoes,” I defensively answered,remembering when I’d kicked Claire out of the house due to my crazyanger.

“Sure,” heteased.

I followed himinto the kitchen, still feeling a little nostalgic at mysurroundings. “Where are Claire and RJ?”

“RJ had afriend’s birthday party,” he explained.

“Right.” Itook a seat at the dining table. “Listen, I have the eh...” Iopened my handbag to pull out the Application for Divorce. “...thedivorce papers,” I said nervously.

Rick walkedover casually and pulled out a chair opposite me. “The time hascome, has it?”

“Yeah, Rick,it has.” I slid them across the table to him.

He grabbed hisreading glasses from the fruit bowl in the middle of the table.

I laughed.“You still put them there? They don’t belong in the fruitbowl.”

He looked upat me over the rim. “I always know where they are, that’s why I putthem there.”

I shook myhead.

He dropped hisgaze back down to the papers in front of him, studying theircontent with precision. I took that moment to take him in, noticinghow much he had changed in the past year, not just mentally butphysically. He now wore his dark brown hair a little longer, takinga few years off his age. His 5 o’clock shadow was clean shaven andhe’d toned up, looking a lot healthier overall.

He looked upover the reading glasses’ rims again, displaying a mischievoussmirk. “Having second thoughts?”

“What?” Isaid, snapping out of my Rick analysis. I lifted an eyebrow andsmiled. “No. I’m not having second thoughts, smartarse. I was justtaking in how good you look, how healthy and happy you seem.”

“You lookgood, too.”

I scoffed.“Separating has done wonders for us, hasn’t it? Maybe we weren’t asgood for each other as we thought we were.”

“Lexi, we weregood for each other.”

I looked downat my keys which I still had looped over my finger. I found the keyto the house and started removing it from the ring. “Rick, are youhappy...honestly?”

He took hisglasses off his face and placed them on top of the papers. “Yes,Lexi, I’m happy. Claire is great. She’s matured and she really doeslove me. I’m lucky to have her after the way I treated her. And RJ?Well...he is just awesome, he’s so good and sweet...and...he’s justperfect. Nate and Charli are happy and healthy and they obviouslyreally like Bryce. He seems to really like them, too—”

“He lovesthem.” I interrupted, correcting him.

“Yeah, I cansee that. I can also see just how much he loves you. I could nevercompete with that.”

“Rick, it wasnever a competition. I loved you. I loved you very much, but therewas just something missing in our marriage, and I think you canagree with me in saying that we didn’t realise that until we had nochoice but to realise it.”

“No, you’reright, I do realise that. I loved you, too. I still do. I alwayswill. But you deserved a much greater love than what I could giveyou, and I truly am happy that Bryce is the one that can give it toyou. Believe it or not, I do respect the fucker.”

I laughed.“Funny, that. I think in a weird fucked up way he respects youtoo.”

Rick shook hishead in amusement. “Okay,” he said as he put his glasses back onand collected all the papers into a bunch, tapping them on thetable then lying them back down again. “Let’s get this shitsigned.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

The last timeI was in a private jet, I was flying back home from spending themost amazing few days in Uluru with Bryce. The jet I was standingin at this moment, however, was slightly bigger. In fact, it wasmuch bigger and much more private. When I stepped into thisaircraft I noticed it was not an open plan like the one we were inlast time, this one had walls and rooms.

As I made myway inside, I was met with a sitting area containing chocolatebrown-coloured leather seats, a table in between them and a flatscreen TV. There was also a three-seater sofa against the plane’sside that spanned the length of that particular room. I continuedmy inspection, opening the door ahead of me and walking into aspacious master bedroom with an inviting queen sized bed, awardrobe, drawers and a desk with another chocolate-colouredleather seat. It was indulgently decadent, that decadence rollinginto the large bathroom.

“Wow! Justwow!” I muttered, stunned. I had no idea an aircraft like thisexisted, it was basically a luxury motel room with wings.

“Yeah, it’snot bad,” Bryce replied with a deliciously handsome smile.

I turned tohim, my hand finding my hip. “You’re so fucking arrogant attimes.”

He smirked atme then pulled me onto the bed, securing me on top of him. “Admitit. You love it when I’m arrogant.”

I shook myhead and pursed my lips. “No, I don’t. It makes me mad.” I lied.He is hot—arrogantly hot.

He raised hiseyebrow in amusement. “I like it when you’re mad.”

“Do youjust?”

“I do.”

I dropped myarms and fell to his chest, my lips landing against his. He