"Tell me." The words slide off his lips. "Tell me what it is."
"You're not going to like it." I preface my confession with the hope that it will temper his reaction. I know it won't. I know that he's going to be gutted when he realizes that my ex fiancé left his entire estate to me.
"Just tell me." His bottom lip quivers and I instantly realize that he has no idea what I'm about to confess. I can see the uncertainty in his expression.
"It's about Mark." That feels like a good place to start. If I can spit the truth out in small doses maybe Jax and I can get through this evening without the roof blowing off of our apartment.
"What about him?" His body language speaks louder than the words as he pulls back from me. I grimace at the sharp contrast between his stance now and what it was not more than two minutes ago.
"It's about his will."
"What about it?" He shoots the question back at me so quickly that I almost physically recoil from the force of it. This is it. This is the moment when I have to tell him.
I adjust the skirt of my dress before I respond. "I'm in it."
The corner of his mouth twitches. "What did he leave you?"
"Everything," I say the word so quietly I'm not sure it even left my lips.
"What?" He leans in closer, his eyes never meeting mine. "What did you say?"
"Everything," I repeat louder. "Mark left everything he owned to me."
Chapter 8
"That can't be right?" he snaps before he bolts to his feet. "That bastard wouldn’t leave you anything."
The words bite through me even though I know they shouldn't. Mark and I were over. We had ended our relationship more than a year ago now but knowing that he named me as the sole beneficiary of his will mean something to me. It had nothing to do with the business or the properties. It just meant something.
"That has to be an old copy of his will." His arms cross. "He wouldn't leave you a red cent after what happened between you two."
"He did." I stand and reach to retrieve my heels. "The will is valid. I'm the sole beneficiary. Everything he owned is now mine."
"You're happy about it?" The words sting more than any slap on the face could have. I don't deserve the question. I don't deserve his insistent need to remind me that I almost married a cheating asshole.
I drop my heels to the hardwood floor with a dull thud. "Why would you ask me that?"
"Answer the question, Ivy." The challenge in his voice is clear. He's speaking in a measured tone. He's not showing any emotion whatsoever. This is the Jax Walker who always appears when Mark becomes a part of the conversation. Even in death he was impacting the most substantial relationship I'd ever had.
"No." I push my hands onto my hips. "It's insulting."
"It's insulting that you'd consider taking anything from a man who treated you like shit."
I feel my stomach turn at the words. I pull my hand to my lips, push Jax aside and race to the bathroom. I just make it in time as I feel my body reject the food as my mind tries to reject the harsh words of the man I adore.
***
"Do you think you should see a doctor?" I feel the bed shift as he sits on the edge.
I roll over, not wanting to face him. "I'm fine. It's been a very stressful week." The words are a veiled lie. Most of the stress I'm feeling is being thrown at me by Jax, even if he's not aware of it. Anticipating his reaction to my news about Mark wasn't nearly as bad as the reality.
"We need to talk about Mark." His tone is clipped and determined.
"It's late and I'm not in the mood." I feel numb. I can't even find the strength within me to cry. I didn't ask Mark to leave me anything. The fact that he did has now impacted everything.
I feel his arms encircle me from behind as he presses his body into my back. "I'm sorry." The words are so faint, but the meaning is there. I know he's being genuine. I know he feels badly for what he said.
"I don't know why he didn't change his will." I pull his hand to my lips. "But he didn't."