His throat closed up even thinking the word. He was twenty-eight years old and had conquered the universe or thought he had.
No! He had.
Then his picture perfect world had shattered with one single word.
Divorce.
He’d been respectable, always treating women with admiration. He hadn’t jumped into marriage at twenty-one, but dated the same woman for three years, cherished her, gave her everything. He thought he’d found perfection, but he was disillusioned.
Raffaello Palazzo sat straight up, his eyes narrowed.
No! He wasn’t this man.
He wouldn’t grovel.
“Goodbye. ”
He barely glanced up as Sharron walked past, her five-thousand dollar purse slung over her shoulder, flaunting the smirk on her face as she slammed the door in all its finality.
A few of her complaints against him were that he worked too much and didn’t give her the attention she thought she deserved. With the simple slamming of a door, she was gone.
He was grateful she was. When he’d walked in the week before, carrying roses, attempting to give her more attention, he’d seen that she wasn’t choosy about where her attention came from. She’d been in bed with his business partner.
Rafe’s eyes closed as he momentarily pictured that moment;
“Are you cutting out on us?”
“It’s my anniversary. My wife’s favorite flower is the Hawaiian Flora. I had them express delivered to the floral shop and I’m picking up her bouquet, then taking her on a surprise trip to Paris where we celebrated our honeymoon. ”
“You’re the most whipped man I know, Rafe,” his assistant, Mario, said with a smile.
“I’m half Italian. My father taught me how to cherish a woman,” Rafe replied, not offended in the least. He only hoped to have as strong of a marriage as his parents for just as long.
“When does Ryan get back? If you’re cutting out, I need one of the business partners here to get work done. ”
“He’s flying in on Friday. I spoke to him a few days ago and he met someone. We’re going to meet her next week. ”
“I can’t take anymore. Get out of here before all the love catches. I’ll see you Monday. ”
“Night, Mario. Thanks for all the hard work this week. ”
Rafe waved to his faithful assistant as he headed for the door. Life was great – his corporation was flourishing without help from his family, and his personal life couldn’t be better.
It didn’t take Rafe long to reach the florist and then arrive home. When he couldn’t find Sharron downstairs, he smiled in anticipation. Hopefully, she was stretched out on the bed in a sexy nighty.
When Rafe opened the door, he found her in bed scantily dressed, but she wasn’t alone. He froze as shock filled him.
“Oh, Ryan,” Sharron screamed, and Rafe’s illusions of happily ever after shattered.
Silently, he stood in the dim light as one of his two best friends screwed his wife. It had been Ryan, Shane and him since middle school, always sharing – always there for one another. Rafe guessed Ryan figured Rafe’s wife was included in what Rafe was willing to share. He was wrong.
Rafe cleared his throat as Sharron cried out again in pleasure. The two of them froze – locked in their torrid embrace – before their head’s turned and looked at him in horror.
Rafe walked from the room and waited downstairs. Ryan scurried from the house. Sharron ran after Rafe, begging for forgiveness.
Rafe shook off the unpleasant memory as he glanced around him. For a single moment, he’d been shattered. He’d sacrificed so much of himself to please her – give her what she wanted, but none of that was enough. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Rafe walked up the steps and peered warily at his bedroom furnishings as he stood, looking around at where he’d slept beside her night after night. He left the room and made his way toward his luxury kitchen. No memories lingered there. It wasn’t like his wife had known the first thing about cooking.
He had a full staff, which was a good thing or his house would be in shambles and he’d never get fed. Sharron hadn’t been domestic in the least. He hadn’t cared – all he’d wanted was to have the same kind of family with her as he’d grown up with. Before this moment, he’d been under the sad allusion that marriages all had happy endings.
As cold silence hung around him like a shroud of darkness and Rafe was grateful he’d sent his staff away for the day. No one needed to witness his failure.