LULU
I bolted upright in bed, the panic starting to well up in my chest. “Oh my God. I should’ve been home an hour ago,” I told Noah when I glanced at the time.
“It’s going to be okay. You said Cade wouldn’t be back with the children until noon time, and it’s only eleven twenty,” he told me while trying to calm me down.
I knew he was right, but something felt off about it all. What that was, I didn’t know, but it had me in a panic. I scrambled out of bed, and this time I didn’t even care if he saw my body with its many flaws or not. I mean, he had seen it last night, and a couple of other times too, but I usually showed much more modesty when not in the moment. Right now, I didn’t care. Desperation was setting in, and I looked around for my clothes, panicking more when I didn’t see them anywhere.
“They’re still in the theater room,” he finally said as if he could read my mind. “I understand that we slept in longer than you had wanted, but?—”
“But, nothing. I have to get home. I’m so sorry.”
I then fled from his room, and once I found my clothes and got dressed, I hurried to the door. When I turned, he was standing in the door frame, resting lazily against it. Oh God, how I hated Cade at this moment. It was an even more deep-seated one than before. I should’ve been waking up to bask in the glow of what had been one of the most wonderful nights I had spent with a man, probably ever, only to have to dash out on him instead. There was nothing more I wanted than to straddle my lover once more, then let him take over as he brought us both to another orgasm. And, it would be the first of many. Despite the number of times we had made love the night before, and into the wee hours of the morning, my body still selfishly wanted more.
“I’ll call you,” I told him.
Noah stood there without saying a word at first. It was only when I went to turn the door knob that he spoke. “Give me a minute to throw my pants on and I’ll drive you home.”
“I really can’t wait any longer. I?—”
“You’ll be waiting even longer for an Uber or a Lyft. One minute is all I’m asking for.”
He was right, and I knew it. “Okay, but please hurry. I would love to get home in enough time to shower before the kids get there.”
He smirked at the mention of a shower, and my mind was immediately transported back to a few hours ago when he had fucked me hard against the glass, frameless door of his. My face had been smushed against it, and he had made me come twice, and without the water even turning cold. Noah had much more stamina than me, but when I was with him, he made me feel young again.
Or at least, he made me wish I was that age once more. If I was right now, I wouldn’t be sweating what might be awaiting me at home. The only thing I had going in my favor was that Cade was also probably just waking up with one of his whores, and likely wouldn’t arrive until after one anyway.
Cade never cared about time. As a Titan, he thought the world began and ended with him. I spent a great deal of time around so many other ones, but most of them didn’t share the same view. Noah and his friends were perfect examples. My lover, in particular. He rarely ever came without me doing so first, while sex with Cade was first come, first pleasured occasion. If I didn’t get out of my own head and grab my orgasm, I was lucky to get one at all. As it was, I had probably come more in the last twelve hours with Noah than I had in my last year of marriage with Cade.
My body would feel that, and I knew I’d be sore for days. It was the delicious kind, though. It was an ache that was womb deep, and one rife with memories I hoped to never forget. Just now, a heat spread over me, and I had to force myself not to allow my thoughts to go down that road. A final quickie with Noah would likely not hurt anything, but something did feel off so I had to get home to prepare myself for whatever it was. My instincts were rarely ever wrong.
“I was about to ask if you were ready, but if you keep staring at me like that, then?—”
I hadn’t even realized Noah had rejoined me, but he had known what I was thinking, anyway. I blushed slightly, then turned the knob. “No, I really need to get home.”
“Then, let’s go,” he told me.
Noah was dressed in gym attire, which had me reminiscing about that first retirement party that I had thrown for a client. When he had moved the table for me, I’d stared at his bulging biceps, all the time imagining what they would feel like around me, and now I knew. All that muscle... I swallowed back my slight moan, and joined him in the elevator. A quick glance at my reflection had me closing my eyes. My long hair was not only familiarly tousled, but it was tangled which was a dead giveaway that I had just woken up. My face was flushed, likely from the memories of our night together, and I was in the same dress I had been in the night before. If this was what the infamous ‘walk of shame’ looked and felt like, I had a sudden appreciation for those photographed during theirs. Those people were ones like Noah, and the on-screen couple we had started watching on the big screen last night before dismissing it for our own private performance.
“You really should calm down, Lulu. I’m sure you’re getting all worked up over nothing.”
I knew he was right, so I forced myself to smile through my anxiety. “I know. I just...”
Hell, I didn’t even know how to justify that I was a control freak, and this ‘out of sorts’ feeling wasn’t one I relished, or had ever experienced before. I was a single mother, and in the beginning stages of a new relationship with a man I had fallen so completely for in such a short time. Sure, he was a famous athlete, and a Titan like my own children’s father, but he was so good with kids in general. My own son thought he hung the moon, and I was sure he would endear himself to my daughters one day as well. They couldn’t know about me and him yet, though. I needed to make sure they had come to terms and accepted the end of my relationship with their father before I introduced another man into the equation.
The elevator doors opened, and I nearly fled from the enclosed space. Noah was right behind me, keeping up with me stride for long stride. We hurried to his car, and not long after, he pulled up out front of my building. It had only taken about fifteen minutes so it was just before noon. If lucky, I could get inside and throw on a pair of sweats myself, and no one would be the wiser. I leaned in and attempted to give Noah a quick peck before saying goodbye, but he grabbed the back of my neck and held me immobile as he thrust his tongue into my mouth. I hadn’t even brushed my teeth yet, but he didn’t care.
Cade had never mentioned me having morning breath, but now something like that was firmly entrenched in my mind. I pulled away, then smiled at him. “I really have to go, but I’ll call you later.”
He gave a curt nod. “I’d like that. Talk to you later.”
I grabbed my purse, then quickly exited the vehicle. I saw the way the doorman from last night looked at me, but I ignored him. Yes, I was disheveled, and in the same clothes I had left in the night before, but I couldn’t worry about his opinion on top of everything else. I quickly scurried past him, then into the elevator. A few minutes later, I unlocked my front door, then stepped inside.
I came to a sudden stop the moment I cleared the foyer hallway and saw a man sitting down on one of the chairs in the living room. “What are you doing here already, Cade?”
Now, my earlier fears had come true. I had been late, even though my ex-husband was early for the first time for anything in his entire life. He got up from his seat, and the look he gave me might’ve made me wince at any other time. In the past few weeks, I had grown stronger, and maybe it had even started well before that, back when the man in front of me was betraying me left and right, and without a single ounce of regret.
“Clarissa told me all about your little evening, Lucy.”
Again, I hated when he addressed me with formality. “It’s none of her business what I do, and with whom.” And it wasn’t. Back at the restaurant, something had told me she would cause trouble for me, and she had.
“It’s already front and center on the society blogs.”
“What is?”
“Your whoring around with that player.”
I didn’t know if he meant ‘player’ in the sports sense, or in the dating sense, but it really didn’t matter. “I’m not a whore, and I would appreciate you remembering that.” I walked past him to go to my bedroom, and unfortunately, Cade decided to follow. I’d almost managed to get the door closed behind me though until he wedged his foot between it and the frame. “Get out,” I told him.
Cade didn’t listen, so I went to the dresser and grabbed a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt before going to the bathroom where I was able to get inside and lock the door before he could follow me inside. I quickly shed my dress, and kicked off my heels, before throwing on my clothes. After brushing my teeth, I pulled my hair into a ponytail, then finally emerged to find my ex rifling through my nightstand. At the sound of my gasp, he turned and held up one of my toys.
“I figured you would be done with these after finding yourself a human boy toy, I?—”
“Leave that alone right now. You have no right to go through my things.” I grabbed it from his hands, then tossed it back into the open drawer. “Get out of my bedroom, and my penthouse. Now!”
He stood up, and I thought he would oblige, until I went to exit the room, too. Before I could, he hauled me into his arms, then pinned me against the wall. Cade tried to kiss me, but I was able to thwart his few attempted advances. That only seemed to anger him more, so when he grabbed my throat, a small frisson of fear entered my mind, and I stopped fighting so hard.
“You were fucking that asshole Capshaw all night, so I’m surprised you even made it home to see your kids at all.”
At the mention of them, I pushed at his hands until his grip on my neck loosened. “Where are they?” He smirked, and I felt like kneeing him right in the groin, but refrained for the moment. If he didn’t give me my space, I couldn’t promise that I would continue to do so.
“My sister has them because we need to have a little talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” I told him.
“On the contrary, there is much we need to say, unless you plan on humoring me in other ways.” I didn’t miss the way his eyes moved appreciatively over my chest, then lower. Bile rose in my throat. I knew what that look meant, and there was no fucking way I would jump in bed with him. My body was not only still tingling from Noah’s possession, but I hated this man in front of me with a burning passion.
“Stop looking at me that way because it’s not going?—”
My words were cut off when he grabbed my throat again, then forced me over to the bed. Before I could raise my knee to put some distance between us, he pushed me onto the mattress, then quickly came down on me. His weight was heavy, and even more so than Noah’s, so I couldn’t get him off of me. Cade tried to kiss me again, but I kept moving my head making him get my cheek, jaw, or chin, instead.
“Please, get off of me, Cade.”
I had hoped my simple plea would be enough, but I realized it wasn’t the moment he thrust his hand into my shirt. The ex that I knew would never force himself on me. I was slowly starting to calm down until I realized how unhinged this man was. I no longer recognized Cade, or the man he had fooled me into thinking that he was. My fight or flight instincts kicked back in, and I was able to bring my knee up. I racked him, and as he bellowed out in pain, I used it to my advantage, and scrambled out from underneath him.
“You stupid bitch,” he said as he made his way onto his feet. “I was going to give you a final chance to come to your senses. All you had to do was call off the divorce and give us another chance, but you wouldn’t. Now, you’ve left me no choice.”
My blood ran cold at the last part. “No choice about what?”
Was Cade going to actually force himself on me? I still couldn’t fathom that he would, but knowing I kept a knife in my lingerie drawer, I slowly backed up to my dresser. I was prepared to grab the blade and use it if need be, but the way he chuckled made me pause. “I’m suing you for full custody of the kids.”
His words were much worse than what I had just imagined, and I found myself staring dumbfoundedly at him. “You can’t do that.”
“I can, and I will. Last night when our kids were watching a movie, I had a nice talk with my lawyer. He seems to think that I have a case.”
“He’s wrong, and you are, too. There is no judge in the country that will give you custody of them over me.”
“Wanna make a wager?” He said, and the confidence in his voice led me to believe that he might even have a judge in his pocket. It was no secret that Titans could do almost anything they wanted due to their power and influence.
“Y-you have no grounds,” I stammered. It truly wouldn’t matter if he did or not. If the judge presiding was bought and paid for, nothing I could say or do would change his mind. My children were all I truly had left. Yes, there was Noah, but this was a summer fling, or maybe one that might last a season or two, but nothing I would bank my future on. I couldn’t live without my children. They meant more to me than anything else in this world. When Noah, or anyone else that might come into my life, was gone, my children would still remain. “Get out!”
Cade continued to smirk, then went to the door. “I actually have many grounds on which to file. The first is the company you keep. A party full of influential people saw him attack me for no reason.” There was reason, but only those close enough to us would’ve heard what prompted the outburst from Noah. “And you’re out with that same man, and not even here for your children the next day.”
“They weren’t supposed to be back until noon, and I still have a few minutes. You’re?—”
“They wanted to come back early, and you were nowhere to be found. We both know where you were, though. You were spreading your legs for Noah Capshaw.”
“You have fucked more women than I can even count,” I pointed out, and he shrugged.
“My reputation won’t be on trial, though. Yours will, and I can guarantee you will not be able to sweet talk your way through this one like you and your lawyer did the last time. I have made sure of it.”
Cade had been enraged when he found out that he still had to pay me alimony, along with child support during our last court hearing. I believe at the time that he thought his name alone would’ve been enough to sway the judge to side with him, but it hadn’t been. The way he was so confident now, however, let me know that he had taken care of that part now.
“You can’t take my kids away from me.”
“I might be tempted to change my mind if you did one thing for me.”
“What?” I would do almost anything to stop him from ripping my children from my arms.
“Take me back.”
Anything but that. “No. I will not.”
Granted, Noah and I might not be everlasting, but he had at least shown me that I could have a relationship with someone else after all the betrayal I had suffered at the hands of my ex. I could fall in love, and have it returned back to me. There was a future out there for me, no matter how bleak it had once looked. I deserved better than what this man had given me over the course of our marriage, and knowing my worth, I shook my head vehemently.
“I expect my children back in this house in the next five minutes or else I will be forced to take you to court, this time for violating the current custody order in place. You can’t control me, Cade. I’m not scared of you anymore, but I would suggest you take notice and show a little fear toward me. Get me my children, or else I will have you and your sister arrested for kidnapping.”
I wasn’t even sure if that was even a possibility, but Cade evidently thought it could be because he growled. “You’re making a big mistake. Mark my words that you will be sorry.” He then stormed out of the room, and I sagged against my dresser.
My false bravado dissipated in a flash, and tears replaced the anger in my eyes. I followed Cade, and I already had my cell phone in hand by the time I sat down at the kitchen island. My ex was on the balcony talking to who I assumed was his sister. He turned and saw the phone in my hand, then said one final thing to whoever he was speaking to, before stepping back inside.
“They’re on their way upstairs.” It was all he said before leaving the penthouse. He hadn’t been lying about their whereabouts because a minute later, the door reopened and my three kids came inside alone.