Chapter 8: The Walls We Build
Audrey
The moonlight spilled across the floorboards of my bedroom, but sleep was a luxury I couldn't afford tonight.
Down the hall, in the Blue Room, was my husband.
Legally, we were still married. I had never filed the divorce papers, mostly because it required hiring a lawyer, which required revealing my location, which meant Julian would find me. I had chosen hiding over finality.
I paced the length of my room, pulling my thick knitted cardigan tighter around my shoulders. The inn was silent, save for the occasional creak of settling wood.
I crept out of my room, intending to go down to the kitchen for a glass of water. As I passed the Blue Room, I stopped. The door was slightly ajar, a sliver of golden light cutting across the hallway floor.
I couldn't help myself. I peered through the crack.
Julian was sitting on the edge of the antique bed. He had discarded his suit jacket and tie; his white dress shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. He wasn't working. He wasn't on his phone.
He was holding a small, plastic fire truck.
It was Leo’s toy. He must have left it on the porch earlier. Julian was turning it over in his large hands, staring at it with an expression of such profound, devastating grief that my breath caught in my throat. I saw a tear slip down his jaw, catching the lamplight before falling onto his white shirt.
This was the man I had loved. The man beneath the armor of Foster Meridian.
Before I could back away, the floorboard beneath my foot let out a traitorous squeak.
Julian’s head snapped up. Our eyes locked through the crack in the door.
"Audrey?" he called softly.
I wanted to run, but my feet betrayed me. I pushed the door open slightly, standing on the threshold. "I was just... getting water. I didn't mean to pry."
"Please," he said, setting the toy truck on the nightstand. He stood up, taking a hesitant step toward me. "Don't go. Talk to me. Just for five minutes."
"It's late, Julian."
"Did you ever love me?" he asked, the question so raw and desperate it stripped the air from the room. "In the end, right before you left. Did you love me at all, or was it already dead?"
I tightened my grip on my cardigan. "If I didn't love you, Julian, seeing her hands on you wouldn't have destroyed me. I left because I loved you too much to stay and watch you choose your empire over me."
"I never chose her," he pleaded, closing the distance between us until he was mere feet away. I could smell him—expensive cologne mixed with the crisp mountain air. "It was a mistake. A vile, stupid moment of weakness. I fired Madison the next morning. I swear to you, Audrey."
"It doesn't matter," I whispered, looking away because staring into his eyes was too painful. "It wasn't just the kiss. It was the lonely dinners. The empty penthouse. You were gone long before Madison kissed you."
May you like
He reached out, his fingertips gently brushing my elbow. The contact sent a violent jolt of electricity through my veins. "I'm here now. I'm right here. And I will burn my entire empire to the ground before I lose you and those boys again."
I stepped back, breaking the contact, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Go to sleep, Julian. We have a long month ahead of us."
