didn’t tell you about it because, frankly, she was not worth the time.”
Madison’s sharp inhale of breath catches my attention, and I spare her a brief glance. This is cut short by Declan squeezing my hand again, which brings my attention back. “Unlike you, Bailey, I was not hurt when she and I separated. The marriage was a mistake to begin with, and I only did it because I was receiving immense pressure from my family. Madison cheated on me, but I didn’t even care. It was almost a relief. I wasn’t devastated the way you were in your marriage, so it didn’t seem necessary to tell you about something in my life that had virtually no meaning other than her being a pain in my ass because she won’t sign the final documents.”
“That is unbelievably rude,” Madison exclaims.
Declan doesn’t even look over at her, and I don’t dare look away from him because there’s something in his tone that has caught my attention.
“My marriage was rotten, Bailey. But it did not make me relationship averse. The only reason I avoided committed relationships was that my job was always the most important. I loved what I did, and I like to keep things casual with women. So my marriage to Madison was never any great trauma I had to get over. I hope you believe me when I say I rarely think about her. Other than to reach out to my attorneys periodically to find out where they stand in getting her to sign these documents, she doesn’t cross my mind. Was it a mistake not to tell you this? I see now it was. However, I never intentionally hid this from you. She just wasn’t important enough to share.”
I’m not going to lie. His words have me rocking back on my heels. Of all the things I thought he might say about being married to someone, it never occurred to me that she would be so inconsequential it just wasn’t important. I mean, it is important, but it isn’t to him. She means that little to him.
But things are still weird, and I need some explanation. So I ask, “Why is your father here?”
Declan shoots a short glare at his dad before giving me his regard. “My father is here to pressure me into giving Madison another shot. It appears when I brought you to dinner, I concerned my family. It seems—and I don’t have proof of this—they may have hatched a plan to work in concert with my hopefully soon-to-be ex-wife in hopes I will turn my attention away from you.”
“Your family doesn’t like me very much,” I lament.
Declan shrugs. “They’re assholes. I can’t help that.”
I want to laugh, but it would be grossly inappropriate. But Declan gives me no chance because he turns to Madison and says, “I want you to hear me when I say I will never give this marriage a second chance. If you do not sign the documents today, I will see you in court. And I am not going to offer you the generous payout I did within those documents. I’m going to drag you through a painful court battle.”
Apparently, money is what talks with Madison as she starts to backpedal. “Declan… I did not mean any offense—”
Declan holds his hand up, cutting her off. “I’m done playing, Madison. And the reason I’m done is that you hurt the woman I love by coming here, and I simply cannot tolerate that. So sign the fucking documents, or I’ll see you in court.”
There goes that buzzing sound again. The same thing happened earlier today when Madison told me that she was Declan’s wife. I suspect it’s a massive rushing of blood into my head from receiving a shock. It’s an even greater and more intense feeling to try to process the fact Declan just said he loves me.
And he didn’t even say it to me. He said it to Madison.
Admittedly, it’s kind of sexy he did it that way. Declan looks over to his father. “I’m sorry you came all this way, Father. But you have no control over what I do. I love Bailey, and I intend to be with her if she’ll have me. Either get on board with it or cut me out of your life—I don’t give a fuck which you choose.”
I want to see how the great Alexander Blackwood is taking being put in his place.
But Declan’s hands on my face force me to meet his eyes. “You