There was no protection. There was no defense. No matter what Alex did, he destroyed anyone who got too close.
Rosalie and the baby would be better off without him.
It was a cold, ruthless thought. But though it filled him with despair, he could not argue with its truth.
All this time, he’d been so determined to keep his promises, as a means of saving his broken soul. But he’d been living in a dream.
He’d already broken his word to Rosalie. He’d promised to care for her. He’d promised she?
??d never regret marrying him. He hadn’t. And she did. He looked at her.
“Go to California,” he said hoarsely.
“All right,” she said softly, not meeting his eyes.
All right, as if it meant nothing. Just as she’d said it last night, when he’d told her he’d never love her back. Simple as that. All right.
“And don’t come back,” he heard himself say.
She blinked, rising slowly from the desk. “What?”
Once, nothing had been more important to Alex than vows. Than honor.
But if he forced her to stay in this marriage, as he’d done with Chiara, then sooner or later, he’d ruin Rosalie’s life—and their child’s. Just like he’d ruined everyone else’s.
He couldn’t be that kind of monster.
“My jet will take you to California immediately,” he said in a low voice. She couldn’t know how much even that cost him. Allow her and the baby on a plane?
But then, Chiara had died in a car. It wasn’t the means of transportation that ruined people’s lives. It was being close to Alex.
Rosalie looked confused. “What do you mean, don’t come back? It’s only for a few days. Will you be joining us in California?”
“No.” His throat hurt. He couldn’t destroy her. He had to let her go.
“I don’t understand.”
“I don’t want you here anymore. Neither you nor the baby.” Alex took a deep breath, clenching his hands at his sides. Looking straight into her beautiful, warm, loving eyes, he said in an expressionless voice, “I want a divorce.”
Divorce?
Rosalie recoiled. It was the one thing she’d never, ever expected Alex to say. The man who’d absolutely refused to divorce his first wife, even when the woman had blatantly cheated on him in public, wanted to divorce Rosalie, who’d done nothing but support and love him?
She staggered back as the world collapsed beneath her feet. Their marriage was the one thing she’d assumed she could count on. No matter what.
“What about happy or unhappy, marriage is forever?” she choked out.
“I changed my mind,” he said flatly.
“And our baby?”
For a moment, Alex didn’t speak. Then he said in a low voice, “We’ll come to some custody arrangement.”
Rosalie could barely breathe. “I don’t want that.”
Alex stared at her coldly. His hard jaw was tight, and so was his posture. Every inch of his powerful body seemed about to snap. “Too bad. Because I do.”
She wasn’t going to beg. She wasn’t. She’d done enough of that last night at the bonfire. She wasn’t going to—