"Florence isn't like other women. She's innocent, she's principled. If she didn't love me, she'd never agree to be someone's kept secret. She's lowered herself this far for my sake. I can't let her down. You've got a temper, sure, but you've always been reasonable. You get where I'm coming from, right?"
Love?
I nearly laughed myself to tears.
I loved him too.
I had a temper, yes, but around him I turned soft as water, bending myself small, making myself less, always less.
I was reasonable, yes, but I'd gone to war with paparazzi over a single tabloid rumor about him, badgered elders I respected into clearing his name.
My love he treated like air. Another woman's love he held like treasure.
I curled my frozen fingers inward, closed my eyes, and let the bitter smile settle on my lips.
"If you love each other that much, let's get a divorce."
Noel blinked, then let out a short laugh. "I just complimented you on keeping your cool, and now you're throwing a fit again?"
"You've been with me since you were eighteen. You've lost two pregnancies because of me. Walk away, and tell me, what man out there would want you?"
I stared at him.
My chest felt like a red-hot coal had been dragged across it.