James (Resisting Love #3)(38)

Sax plays the drums and sings back up for Ryder, but I’ve never heard him sing solo. The song makes my heart break. Is it for Lexi, is he not over her after all? Someone rings the door bell, jolting out of my thoughts. I quicken my pace, peeping through the peephole to see who it is.

It’s James. How did he find me?

I open the door and narrow my eyes at him.

“How did you find me?” I ask him, crossing my arms over my chest in defiance.

“We need to talk, baby,” he says, looking apologetic.

“Where’s your wife?” I bite back.

“I can explain,” he says, taking a step towards me.

“I’m sure you can, James. The thing is, you had a lot of time to explain, but you didn’t.”

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” he tells me, his eyes pleading with mine. I almost want to forgive him with the look he’s giving me.

“James, you’re married,” I say, stating the obvious.

“Sasha-”

“I’ve been living with and having sex with a married man. Oh my god, Jye is your secret love child!” I say in shock.

“Now you’re just being dramatic,” he says with a sigh, running his hands through his blond hair.

“You’re married. I’ll be as f*cking dramatic as I want to be,” I snap.

“It was a one night thing in Vegas! We hooked up, I was drunk. I haven’t even seen her since then,” he explains quickly, probably before I can cut him off again.

“And why didn’t you divorce her straight away?” I ask him. The question of the hour.

“I didn’t even remember marrying her until Chase told me I rang him, inviting him to the wedding. Apparently by the time he came it was too late. I left Vegas, and just pretended it never happened. It didn’t affect me, I never saw her, and I completely forgot about it. Until you came back into my life, and then I told her to sign the papers straight away.”

“Why is she here?” I ask tonelessly.

“She wants money,” he growls.

“You sure know how to pick them, James,” I say dryly.

“Is everything okay, Sasha?” I hear Sax say from behind me. I turn around to stare at him, wearing nothing but a pair of low slung jeans. Couldn’t he put a shirt on? My eyes roam over his chest, noticing he does indeed have his nipples pierced. And more tattoos.

“I had no idea you weren’t alone,” James says quietly in a deathly tone. I turn back towards him to see his posture rigid and his jaw tensed. His blue eyes are as dark as I’ve ever seen them.

“Sax is staying here until Ryder gets back,” I explain.

“Come on, I’m taking you home,” James demands.

“She can stay here if she wants,” Sax offers calmly.

“This has nothing to do with you,” James snaps at Sax, his fists now clenched by his sides.

“Really? Because it was me that stayed up all night listening to her cry herself to sleep,” Sax replies.

“Sax!” I hiss. Didn’t he remember the gentleman conversation? I know Sax has scored a hit because James looks crestfallen. I see his adam’s apple work as he swallows, and looks down for a moment.

“Fine. Let’s just go and pick up Jye,” I relent inelegantly. James exhales in relief, and squeezes his eyes shut for a second. I turn around and give Sax a peck on the cheek.

“Thanks, Sax,” I tell him.

He nods. “Remember you can always come here, okay?”

I smile and give him a hug. He’s been so good to me. I walk out the door and past a fuming James, ignoring the death stares he's sending Sax’s way.

The drive to my mother’s house is tense and unfamiliar. James tries to take my hand into his, but I pull it away. I don’t want to hurt him, but he’s freaking married. I just can’t get over that, no matter how or why it happened. By law, he doesn’t belong to me. I run in and pick up Jye, politely refusing my mother’s several offers of food and drinks. When Jye is safe and buckled in his car seat we drive home, only talking to Jye, not each other.

“I'll drop you two home, then I’m going to meet with my lawyer. I’ll sort this all out, okay.” He promises.

I stay silent.

***





Chapter Twenty-One


James


Chase meets me at my lawyer’s office, bringing his own lawyer with him.

“Don’t f*cking pay her off, James,” he demands again, not for the first time.

I just want her to go away. If I don’t sort this out ASAP I might lose Sasha, and that’s not worth any price. We sit there for an hour, waiting. I’m on the verge of a full-blown panic attack when she finally saunters in, as if she has all the time in the world. The lawyers hand me the forms I need to sign. I can’t sign them fast enough. Apparently because I was intoxicated and we didn’t have sex after we got married, I can get an annulment. We had sex once before the wedding, but that's a whole different story.

“James, you can go, I’ll handle the rest,” Chase informs me. The glacial look in his eyes makes me almost feel sorry for Nancy. Almost.

“Call me when it’s done, alright. I need to go and make things right with Sasha,” I tell him.

“I’ll call you the second it’s all done,” he says, slapping me on my back. I drive home, thinking about what I’m going to say to Sasha, how I'm going to convince her to forgive me.