Stay

Book 5: Stay

Main Characters:

Jake Vitalli (Sibling #7)

Audrey Vitalli (his wife)

These two are married. If you’ve read Julian’s book you’ve met Audrey.  And Jake was there at the end of the book.  Jake left Audrey five years prior.  For reasons you’ll have to read the book to find out. 😀  Here’s a snippet.  After Jake comes back.

“Bye,” Audrey responded after Jean had already hung up and brought her hand down by her side.  “How much did you hear?”

“I heard you still loved me and it would take a hell of a lot of work for me to make up for the last five years,” he said. “I’m assuming on the last part, since all I heard was your side of the conversation.”

“Why were you listening in the first place?” she asked, anger spreading through her like wildfire.

“I was about to announce my presence, but you told whoever you were talking too you still loved me and quite frankly, it took me by surprise since I received divorce papers today,” he told her folding his arms across his chest.

“It doesn’t mean you have the right to listen in on my conversations.” Audrey turned away and put her cell in her pocket.  The fire felt as if it was about to consume her, so she turned around again, this time walking up to Jake and poking her finger into his chest.  “You come in here acting as if nothing is wrong after five years and then you have the audacity to listen in on my conversations.”

“Audrey, I –”

She shook her head. “I’m not even close to being done with you, Jake,” she told him.  “We’ve talked about how this is affecting Cora, but do you know, do you really know what you’ve done to me?  Do you know how much this has hurt me?”

“I’m sorry, Audrey.” He bowed his head.

“Don’t tell me you’re sorry.  It means little or nothing to me now.” Again, she turned to face him, this time holding her hands out to her side.  “You were my rock.  You and your family were the one thing in my life that was constant.  My father was killed in a drug deal gone bad when I was three and my mother was so addicted to crack there was no way she could take care of me.  I was passed around from foster home to foster home to foster home until you came into my life.”

“Audrey –”

“No, listen to me,” she stated.  “We were together for ten years.  And after ten years, I finally thought I had found someone who was going to stay with me, someone who wasn’t going to get tired and give up.  And what did you do?  You did the same thing everyone else in my life has done — you walked out.  You left me.  You left your daughter.  Think about how long it took me to agree to marry you.  You had to have asked me fifty times before I actually got around to saying yes.  And then after all that time, after everything we had been through together. After seven years with our daughter, you up and walk out; just like everyone else.”

“I’m not like everyone else, Audrey,” Jake told her.

“How can you say you’re not like everyone else when you did the exact same thing?  Is it because it took you longer? Quite frankly, I would have preferred it if you had walked a lot sooner.”

“There were extenuating circumstances to my leaving, Audrey,” Jake explained.  “Things going on you don’t know about.”

“Yes, I remember, you were going to take over someone’s advertising firm in Houston,” Audrey stated dryly.  “You come from a family of billionaires, but evidently getting this job was more important than your own family.”

“It has nothing to do with money and when I told you that it was only a half truth,” Jake told her.

“You lied to me? Well by all means enlighten me — tell me what was so important you had to leave?” she asked.  “Convince me what was more important than being here for your wife and daughter.”

He met her eyes. “I can’t tell you yet, I’m not ready.”

“Really?” Audrey questioned. “You told me not ten minutes ago you were prepared to do a lot of work to make up for everything, and yet you’re not willing to talk to me the real reason why you left?”

“It’s a long story,” he told her.

Audrey rolled her eyes and shook her head. “They’re all long stories.” when she met his eyes he could see disappointment in them.  “Just sign the divorce papers, I’ve finally gotten to the point I’m ready to move on with my life.” She began to head out of the kitchen, walking away from him in the process.