Not A Perfect Marriage

Marcello's POV:I pinched the bridge of my nose for probably the 50th time in the past 36 hours. I didn't sleep well on airplanes. I never had. Not even when I hadn't slept in nearly 2 days.Coming home was well worth it, though. As I smiled down at the plain gold band on my finger, I marveled at my perfect life. Not bad for an orphan.My life hadn't always been perfect. My parents were killed in an automobile accident when I was 7; that's the absolute worst age to be orphaned. You're just past the age where anyone will adopt you but too young to know what's going on. All you really know is that all the people in your life that you love and care about, and that care about you, are gone.I had no relatives. My grandparents on my mom's side were gone long before I was born. My dad's mom passed away just before my birth; he'd never known his father. Oh, I had an aunt somewhere – my mother's younger sister – but she'd left home at the age of 16 and just disappeared. No one knew where she

I had ensured that all of my contracts that required travel included a clause that said I was to be home for two days every weekend and at least 1 week of every month; I didn't think I could go any longer without seeing my wife and son. It was the one immutable rule I had made for myself and I'd never broken it until this past weekend, opting to finish my work on Saturday and Sunday so I could get an extra week with Amber and Mikey.I pulled into the driveway in my 1998 Buick Skylark. I'd read once that when people who had nothing all their lives came into money, they tended to either spend it lavishly or hoard it religiously. I fell on the hoarding side, I'm sure, but I never saw the reason in buying anything flashy. I preferred simple, reliable things and my Skylark was old but reliable. It got me from point A to point B and that's all I needed. The company had a few cars on lease in case I needed to entertain potential clients but I almost hated to use them. A simple gold wedding b

I'd heard enough. I wasn't sure I could take any more. I think I'd hoped this had been a one-time thing but now I knew better. This had been going on for years – since she was 17, she'd said, so at least 13 years. And he'd spent the past week with her, having sex with her. I couldn't take any more.My hand wasn't very steady as I wrote the note. My mind was clear but my body wasn't listening to it too well. Luckily it was a short note."I can't deal with this."I put the box in the middle of the hallway about 4 feet from the door, the note under it. I walked back slowly and quietly and picked up my luggage and walked through the mud room and into the garage. Both Amber and Dave's cars were inside and I resisted the urge to hurl large, heavy objects through their windshields. I closed the door quietly, pulling my keys out of my pocket and carefully selecting my car key. Then I activated the garage door.I wanted them to hear me and the garage door would make sure of that; I'd hooked th

Irreconcilable differences," he said, pursing his lips. "It's either because the person seeing me has fallen in love with someone else or his wife has and he can't prove it. The shell-shocked look about you tells me that it isn't you running around, which means it's your wife and you can't prove it. So ... who do you think she's cheating with?"'Tell him!' something inside of me screamed. 'Tell him all the sordid details!' I actually opened my mouth before closing it. Even in a hallucination I couldn't bring myself to say those words, though."It's just ... irreconcilable differences," I said quietly, closing my eyes briefly."Relative, then?" he said, his voice damnably smug."Wha-What?" I sputtered again."Son, I've seen it all," he said quietly. "I've sat in this chair a long time and I've become pretty good at reading people. I can tell you're hurting. From what I know of you, what Rory tells me, you're not a man to make an unsubstantiated claim against someone – not even your wif

The rage of being there for her over and over and over again only to find she'd never really been there for me. I couldn't deny it any longer. This was real. She'd fucked me over and nothing she or I would ever be able to say could change that.The sky through the taxi window was blurry but whether it was due to the rain or my tears was anyone's guess. I had made a life for Amber. I had given my life for her. She was my life. We'd had it all: money, friends, a wonderful child. How the hell could she do this?I'd fucking had so many opportunities to get some anonymous woman in bed. Waitresses, business associates, interns and employees for the companies I'd contracted out to. Hell, even some of my own employees made it pretty clear that they were available; my admin, Jeanie, for example, with her red hair down to the crack of her ass and those emerald green eyes that looked so innocent and yet so damn naughty. You can't tell me that bending over the desk to point out contract details w