Chapter 167. Feeling So Hurt

ALEKSANDER'S POV

Although it should have been me at her side, they would protect Rhea at the safe house. It took a wise man, or at least a competent one, to realize she needed this space away from me. With the progression of our argument, I couldn't call myself a wise man. Not in the least.

Sitting at the dining table in my family home, I weighed Rhea's wedding band in my palm. This diamond on her finger had been a brief taste of victory in my life. A sweetness that lingered on the back of the tongue and kept you wanting more and more and more...

A glass of whiskey waited at the edge of the table in my peripheral. Each sip burned a fiery path down my throat, easing the ache that tore apart my tattered insides. Without her shining light at my side, I was only a flayed shell of a man.

I couldn't regret the things I'd done to protect her, but I bore heavy guilt for how my actions affected her. I'd done her a disservice by keeping the truth from her. Because I'd