He shrugs. "I suppose she did."
"What did you guys talk about in the car?" I ask, remembering what Marta said just before she left.
"Huh?" he asks.
"She said she was totally on board with it…" I try to jog his memory.
He runs a hand through his hair. "Come on, we need to talk."
He leads me to the den and motions for me to sit on the sofa next to him.
My belly churns with nerves. Colton’s entire mood has changed. I think whatever he’s going to tell me has something to do with him and Marta. I take a deep breath and prepare myself for the worst. I might have told him just yesterday that I was his and that no matter what I trusted him. Now I want to swallow all those words and curl up in a ball with the hurt that is already threatening to overtake me.
"Take a deep breath, Sophie," Colton murmurs. I’m sure he can see the hurt and worry written all over my face. "After Stella left, I had a short rebound fling with Marta," he says.
My stomach drops to my toes as my worst suspicions are confirmed. I pull another deep breath into my lungs at Colton’s urging and fight to remain in control by reminding myself that it was in the past.
"I was destroyed after my divorce," he explains. "She was there and available and I regret it now, but we messed around a couple of times."
"Oh." I’m speechless and gutted and feel like crying. I've been jealous of Marta and her good looks and close relationship with Colton from day one. And now all my hunches are confirmed.
"We never had sex," he adds.
This news makes me feel marginally better. "What did she mean earlier? What did you guys talk about in the car that she was on board with?"
"I told her that I’m fucking crazy about you. And while she’s known for a long time that I’m not interested in her, I let her know that I wouldn’t tolerate anything getting in the way of you and I. Good employees are hard to find, but if she tried to interfere in any way…"
He leaves the rest unspoken. Geez, he’d threatened to fire her if she made things difficult for me and him?
Her cryptic message and then hightailing it out of here today must mean that she accepts Colton’s relationship with me and has no intention of interfering.
"I wanted to be honest with you about my past. I want a real future with you, Soph. Tell me how you’re feeling," he says.
"I'm glad you opened up and told me about Marta." But deep down I know the issue with Marta is the least of my worries. I can accept his need for a rebound fling. Growing bold, I straighten my spine. "But if you wanted a real relationship with me, you wouldn’t be holding up your own divorce. And don’t give me this guilty crap about money for the Africa project – if your finances were in that precarious a state, would you have really spent a million on a sex slave, oh excuse me, I mean mistress? By the sounds of it, Marta is not someone you had true feelings for, and I can get over it, but if you want this with me, you’re going to have to show me that I’m worth the risk. I can’t share you with Stella."
"You’ll never share me." His dark eyes implore mine, possessive and filled with longing.
"I am sharing you – the memory of her scowling at me in the pool and telling me to get off her property is firmly branded into my mind. Did you notice that I can’t even go near the pool?"
"Sophie, I signed the papers. Last night in my office, when you interrupted me," he says.
"WHAT?"
"Yes. It’s done. I emailed them to my attorney this morning."
"Why didn’t you tell me?" This is earth-shattering news and he's mentioning it in casual conversation like's no big deal.
"I didn’t want to interrupt our fun last night." He smirks.
I remembered in vivid detail our steamy encounter in his office last night where I'd pledged to give myself to him. Everything comes rushing back at once, and my belly tightens into a knot.
"Besides, everything you said, the way you laid yourself bare, your complete faith and trust in me – that was exactly what I needed. And if you’d known I'd signed the papers before you told me all that, it wouldn’t have had the same impact," Colton continues.
I see what he means. I’d basically agreed to have blind faith in him to do the right thing, and it turns out, he already had. My heart swells with happiness.
"Colton…"
His eyes swing over to mine and he gives me a small smile.
When I ask about the terms of the divorce, he doesn’t hold anything back. He tells me that his net worth of three hundred and sixty five million dollars was divided exactly in half. And as happy as I am about his divorce being finalized, I hate the idea that his now ex-wife is receiving even a dime from him. She'd already stripped him of his trust in women and soured his home with her memories.