This was one of those moments. If the door remained open, Rett might leave, but on the other hand, leaving it open meant we had an audience. If I closed the door, Rett’s departure was delayed; however, being only the two of us, I had an open floor to speak.
Rett reached over my head for the edge of the door, facilitating the choice.
“Leave,” I whispered.
With his lips straight and his expression grim, Rett shook his head as his dark stare stayed fixed on me.
I lowered my voice. “If you close that door, you will hear me out.” I was staring directly at him. “If you expect anything else, go.”
Holding the edge of the door, Rett replied with pressure to the door.
Fine.
I stepped out of the way, and he closed the barrier to the hallway. For a moment, Rett stared at the addition of the new dead bolt before turning toward me.
Fisting my fingers, I crossed my arms over my breasts. “I don’t want you here.”
“You’re stating the obvious.” Rett tugged one of my hands loose, pried open my fingers, and laid the rings in my palm. “These belong to you.”
My fingers curled around the set before opening and exposing the two rings—the large heirloom diamond and the diamond band—within my grasp. I lifted them toward him. “Maybe they don’t. Maybe our marriage isn’t finalized.”
“They’re yours either way.”
When Rett wouldn’t take the rings back, I walked to the small table, a place where I ate when in this suite, and laid them on top. Spinning toward Rett, I asked, “What is happening with the marriage certificate?”
“What do you want to happen, Emma?”
“Right now, I want you to go.”
“This is my house,ourhouse,” he corrected.
“You know what I mean.”
“I fucked up.” His volume rose. “I am sorry.”
I clenched my teeth as I studied the man before me.
Was there remorse in his expression or was I projecting what I wanted to see?
In the grand scheme, there was so little I knew about Everett Ramses. I had no way of comprehending how often he apologized or if he ever apologized. In that second, I also had another revelation. It was a new understanding of his response nearly a month earlier when I’d said the same words to him.
“In your words, Rett, apologies are superfluous. You’re saying it to make yourself feel better.”
He nodded. “I was right then and you are now.”
My hands dropped to my sides. “So that’s the only reason you apologized, to make yourself feel better. Did it work?” I asked. “Do you feel better?”
“No, and it’s not the only reason.”
“Did you mean it? The apology?”
“What I said before is accurate. Apologies don’t work in this world because usually the result of whatever happened is life or death. This situation is different, and I do mean it.”
I wasn’t ready to let him off the hook, not now—not yet. In all honesty, I wasn’t sure if I ever would be. “It’s not good enough.” Before he could respond, I went on. “My feelings are justified. Don’t pretend they’re not. I’m upset. I’m disappointed and dismayed.” I let out a breath and after lifting my arms, I let my hands fall, slapping my robe-covered thighs. “I’m all those things at you and at me. I know that I’m to blame.”
Rett took one step closer and stopped. “What you said earlier...I acted like a dick. That isn’t your fault.”
“You’re right.Thatisn’t my fault. What happened a few hours ago is completely your doing. My culpability goes back to over a month ago. I’m the one who let you fill me with tales of lore, fate, and deals.” A rogue tear fell from my eye, but I didn’t bother wiping it away as I steadied my voice. “I fell willingly into this messed-up fairy tale that you fed me. The first night, you told me to admit to myself that it was exhilarating to be pursued by you.” I shook my head. “It was. I fell for it all.” I shrugged. “I guess that makes me the biggest fool. I am, after all, ultimately the person who’s responsible for my being here.” My volume rose. “What happened—what you did—earlier today is not my fault. That blame rests solely on you. My mistake was in trusting you.”