Stud Muffin (Donner Bakery #2) - Jiffy Kate Page 0,97
months now. Why her? Why Mindy? What does she have that I don’t have?
When he doesn’t answer, I continue. “If you were tired of being married to me… if you knew you didn’t love me anymore… you should’ve ended it. That’s what someone with integrity would do, but you have none. You threw eight years of marriage away and jumped in bed with someone else.” The pounding in my chest is now reverberating all over my body. “You’re fucking weak… pathetic,” I seethe.
Asher’s anger flares, and it’s so fucking satisfying. Through everything—me walking in on them, the trips to jail, the divorce, selling the house—he’s never once shown any emotion. So, I’ll take his anger. I’ll devour it like a starved animal.
“You think this has been easy for me?” he asks, taking a step toward me as his finger comes between us, inches from my chest, but I don’t back down. Regardless of the nerves coursing through my body, he won’t win this battle. Or the war.
“Everything has always been easy for you, Asher. That’s the problem.” I pause for a second, reining in my emotions. Deep breaths, Tempest. Deep breaths. “You don’t know how to fight. You’ve never had to. And personally, I feel sorry for you.”
“He was never happy with you.” Mindy’s voice carries across the ballroom, gaining even more attention. “You’ve always been a wannabe,” she sneers. “If it hadn’t been for Asher, no one would’ve even remembered your name.”
I swallow, her words pouring salt on old wounds.
“And how dare you speak to my husband like that,” she finally says, coming into view as she takes her place next to Asher, her arm snaking around his possessively.
That’s right, Mindy… stand by your man.
“Hey,” Cage’s strong hand is immediately at my back as he walks up, moving to put himself between me and Mindy and Asher, but I push him back. I don’t need his help. This is my battle, and I want to be the one to fight it.
Taking a step toward them, I close the distance. “I’ll speak to him however I want… and how dare you steal what doesn’t belong to you. Don’t think people can’t see through your facade. You’re bullshit is stinking up the whole damn town.”
Mindy’s eyes flare with anger. “Look who’s talking… felon.”
“I’d rather be a felon than a whore.”
The gasps echo around the room and it’s only then I realize the music in the background is no longer playing. Everyone’s eyes are on us.
“He was never yours to begin with,” Mindy screeches, tears brimming in her eyes. “You’re just so stupid, you never saw it. Do you know what he did the night before your wedding?” she asks.
“Mindy.” Asher’s voice is low and lethal. “Stop.”
“No,” she says, pulling away from him. “She needs to know.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she glares at me. “Me.”
It takes me a second to realize what she just said.
She slept with Asher… the night before our wedding.
My eyes go to him, but he can’t look at me. Nausea and anger paints his face, telling me Mindy is speaking the truth. That feeling from earlier, about my life being a lie, is back and it brought friends—hurt, regret, and humiliation.
“That’s right,” Mindy says, glancing down at her perfectly polished nails. “It’s always been me. We’re meant to be together… it just took him a while to realize it. And now, we’re a family.” She pauses. You can hear a fucking pin drop and then, Mindy drops her final bomb.
“I gave him something you couldn’t.”
Tears sting my eyes as they threaten to spill, but I refuse to give her, or anyone else in here, the satisfaction of seeing me break, so I turn and start making my way through the now-crowded ballroom.
Not running, but walking… holding my head as high as I can. As I pass by people, Cage’s arm comes up to clear a path, his strong hand never leaving the small of my back, something in me snaps. Kind of like the day I walked in on Mindy and Asher, but unlike that morning, I have clarity.
Pausing, I turn back to them. The crowd is parted like the Red Sea, Mindy and Asher standing there in the wake.
“I wouldn’t be so sure that baby is his,” I say, raising my voice to make sure I’m heard clearly. “You might want a paternity test. Apparently, Asher’s swimmers are damaged goods. Isn’t that right, Asher?”