The Fall Bride (TSBS-3) ON HOLD

Chapter Seventeen

The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.
― Robert H. Schuller

Ivan Dwayne

I wanted to hit someone. Preferably Leo.

That was all I could think, all throughout the ride back to the restaurant. Thank God, I left Caden with Llyod, or else he would've seen me snarling and punching the seat in frustration. I shouldn't have left her alone. I knew Leo was sniffing around her, but Janet looked like she had a long day, she most likely would've preferred to stay alone than be in my presence any longer.

It was the result of crowding her these past few days. Janet had put that little worry in my head, and I just couldn't waste any time to make her see how suitable we were to each other, to see how great parents we would be, together, side by side.

But none of that mattered when my annoying snake of a cousin was after my wife to divorce me. As if she wasn't already thinking about it. If only Leo knew how often she talked about divorcing me, he wouldn't need to go to such length to convince her.

The urge to knock someone down came snarling forward once again when I saw Janet's pale face as she stood outside the restaurant.

"Where is he?" I bared my teeth, trying to trudge inside and find the one who made Janet uncomfortable. "I'm going to kill him."

Janet stopped in my way, pressing her hand on my chest, holding me off while Mark finally straightened from his relaxed position and tapped my arm. "You're late. Your wife already took care of it."

Frowning, I looked at her then at the inside of the restaurant. I could still see Leo sitting on the same table we had been in, sipping something as if he didn't just go after my wife. "That shit came after my family. I'll ki--"

"Really, Ivan, can you calm down?" Janet grabbed my face and turned it away from the murderous view. "I handled it."

"No, I ne---" I held her arms, looking over her. "Are you okay? What did he do?"

She clicked her tongue, slipped her arm over my waist, turning me around. "He's harmless. Trust me. Where's Cade?"

"Harmles..harmless?" I sputtered, confused how Janet seemed put together already. Wasn't she scared a while ago? "You don't know him like I do."

Janet sighed and muttered under her breath. "It seems you don't know him much either."

"What?"

"Let's just go home." She announced, tiredly, and left me gaping while sitting herself inside the car. I wondered if I should be more flabbergasted at her ability to be so cool and composed or be more surprised at how casually she called my house, home.

I stared, completely out of my wits. At times, I felt like I could figure her out, perfectly, but then she went on surprising me like this. Mark came up behind me, dropping an arm on my shoulder.

"You should've seen her, man." He said, with a touch of awe in his voice. "You've got to keep her."

"That's far easier to say than doing it." I grumbled, kind of annoyed that he got to see her swinging her mighty sword while I was stuck in the office, pursuing an Englishman to sign on the dots. "What were you even doing here if not saving her?"

Mark scoffed. "Do you even know her, Ivan? She isn't a damsel in distress. She doesn't need saving. I wasn't even needed. You should really think of wooing her, like really really, seriously and she will be your knight in shining armor."

"What do you think I've been doing these past few days?" I muttered, drily.

"Other than trying to get laid?" He drawled and ducked down when I tried to punch him. "I'm off. If you ain't getting laid, it doesn't mean I won't."