18. Elle
18
ELLE
A Few Days Later…
I was heading home from my meeting that I had with my stylists regarding my rage post on social media about me shutting my shop down and moving to Texas. It was the most embarrassing meeting I ever had, having to tell them that I was only upset and wasn’t moving to Texas. I couldn’t apologize enough for embarrassing myself and for scaring them, I told them they didn’t have to pay their booth rent for the next two months.
Turning on my street, my heart nearly stopped at the sight of Diesel’s truck in front of my house. I checked my phone to see if I’d missed a phone call or text from Greysen, but I hadn’t. After she showed up to my house like a thief in the night, I was so happy that she’d forgiven me so easily, because I was prepared to beg. When I passed the truck and turned in my yard, I saw Diesel and Greysen’s heads in the front seat. When I got out of my truck, they got out of the truck and walked up to me.
“Hey y’all. Um… what’s up?”
“Diesel said he needed to talk to you about something and I wanted to tag along.”
I looked at the iPad he was carrying and then back at him, and immediately to Greysen. It was hard to look at him for two reasons; his twin and because my best friend revealed to me that she would love to see us fuck. The thought made me blush, and when she started blushing, I knew our thoughts were similar.
“You got some time for me?”
I squinted at him.
“Oh, don’t tell me you can’t tell us apart now,” he said, chuckling.
“No, it just seems like I didn’t have a choice, seeing in how I don’t have a text from either of you.”
I looked between them and at their car, making sure Declan was not about to pop out the backseat.
“It’s just us,” Diesel reassured me.
“Dang, we can’t come in.”
“Yeah, I just didn’t want any surprises,” I said, squinting at Greysen, making her laugh, because knowing her ass, she was trying to set something up.
They followed me up to the door.
“Excuse the mess,” I told him once we were inside.
I led them to the kitchen table where he pulled the chairs out for me and Greysen while he sat diagonal to me. He flipped the top of the iPad back and started tapping on the screen.
“I have to ask, are you okay with Greysen knowing your financial business?”
I shrugged. “Well, yeah, I guess. Fine time to ask.”
“She doesn’t know what I’m about to talk to you about.”
“Oh, well, no. I don’t care.”
“Okay, so, recently you and Declan made close to four million dollars, and he’s allowed me to create an irrevocable trust, naming me as the trustee. You will be able to withdraw up to, but not more than four hundred grand a year.”
He slid the iPad across from me and I looked at the screen, and there it was. My eyes widened at the commas and the zeroes. There was so much legal jargon just on the first page and I was pretty sure that’s what Diesel was explaining to me while my eyes were still fixated on the long ass number typed in bold. His fingers waving under my face made me blink a few times, before flicking my eyes up to him.
“Did you hear me?”
I shook my head.
He smirked. “To make a long story short, his name is here because, he can and will generate more money for this trust. I’m the trustee because I am a financial advisor, and this is all your money to do whatever you want with.”
My mouth was still wide opened. I looked at Greysen whose face was mirroring mine.
I finally took a deep breath. “Okay, hold on. Wait, oh. This money came from—”
“He didn’t tell me where the money came from.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, he did.”
He raised his eyebrows in response. “I need your signature here, and then on these other two pages.”
I pulled the pen from the side of the iPad and started signing my name.
“And how do I know you’re the best person to financially advise me?”
I darted my eyes to him as I swiped to the next page and the stone look on his face made me burst out laughing. Greysen told me that the one thing Diesel didn’t play about was his precious Ivy league degrees. I looked at Greysen and she was trying to hold her laugh in.
“You could have emailed me this, you know.”
“I don’t do business over the phone.”
“He sent you, didn’t he?”
“Yes. He wanted me to get this money to you as fast as possible.”
“And what else?”
“That’s it.”
I squinted.
“What are you looking for me to say? That he’s dying to talk to you but is trying to respect your space. That he’s in love with you and every day he wishes he was with you. That nothing is going on with the mother of his child. I could tell you all that, but you know that already.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
Greysen stood. “Um, I’m going to the bathroom.”
I looked at her with pleading eyes, not wanting to be left alone with her husband. Any other time I wouldn’t have thought twice about being left alone with him, but now my thoughts are always going to be on my best friend wanting her husband to fuck me. Even though our conversation was put in our secret vault, a part of me wondered if she’d told him. I followed her with my eyes until she was out of the room, before glancing at Diesel. When he looked at my neck, my eyes dropped to the iPad.
“You should stop trying to take that off. It’s bruising your neck.”
I inhaled sharply and had to blink several times because for half a second, he sounded like his brother, and it made the hairs on my arms stand up.
I cleared my throat. “Tell him to give me the key.”
“For what?”
“So, I can stop bruising my neck.”
“Maybe if you’re nice, he’ll take it off. Are you done?”
“Yes, so—”
“Bitch!” Greysen came back into the kitchen, holding three pregnancy tests up.
“Wh… what…”
“Why are you stuttering, you said that you didn’t know!”
“I took those this morning and those—why are you in my bathroom, rifling through my garbage no less. You could have gone into the guest bathroom.”
She looked at them again. “You’re pregnant!” She squealed.
I shook my head. “Those are false positives. I can’t be pregnant.”
“Please!”
“Congratulations, sis,” Diesel said,
“No, congratulations. Those tests are old. I scheduled a doctor’s appointment,” I said, looking back at Greysen. “Don’t say a word.”
“From these tests are old, to don’t say a word. You don’t have to worry about me saying anything.” She pointed at Diesel, and I looked at him, with a pleading look on my face.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’ll give you twenty-four hours, however, if I see you doing something stupid tonight while we out, like drinking, I am going to tell him.”
“And just who do you think you are?”
He raised his eyebrow. “Would you like to find out?”
Ignoring that loaded question and the heat pooling in my cheeks, I looked at Greysen. “If you can just stop waving sticks with my pee on them around in the air, please.”
I watched her throw them away before she moved to the sink and washed her hands. When she finished washing her hands, she came over to the table, and hugged me.
“I am so excited,” she squealed.
“You shouldn’t be because I am sure that those are false positives, seriously. Those are your old tests from when you found out you were pregnant with D2. Promise.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
I wasn’t lying about them being old, but I’d read every single article that said they weren’t reliable after a certain time, but I’d read every forum I could find, and they said it was mostly likely right. I held on to the fact that they might be wrong and that’s why I stopped by the store and picked up some new ones before I went to my meeting.
“Well, we are going to get going, because I want to make sure I am over hydrated before tonight, so I can hang with the big dogs.”
“Same!”
They both shot me crazy looks, and I held my hands up.
“I’m joking. Dang. I don’t even know for sure, and y’all are doing way too much. Let me walk y’all to the door.”
When we walked on the porch, Diesel continued to the truck, leaving us alone.
“How are you feeling?”
“Confused. Possibly pregnant. Up millions. Declan being in love with me. I’m feeling a lot of things right now.”
“You know he’d never abandon you two.”
“Yeah, but… I don’t know. I don’t want to think about that right now.”
“You weren’t going to keep that a secret from me, were you?”
“No, I wasn’t. I wanted to take some more up to date tests.”
“Oh okay. Everything is going to be okay, Elle, so don’t be in here worrying yourself to death either. We are going to have a good time tonight, and she’s not going to be there.”
“Honestly, I wouldn’t care if she was going to be there or not. That’s his girl. It is what it is.”
“Yeah, but—hold on.” She palmed my stomach. “What if you have the twins?”
“Oh, bye for real.”
“No, no. You remember when you said—” I walked in the house and closed the door on her in the middle of her sentence, making her squeal with laughter.
That Night…
I stood in the mirror, pulling my dress against my stomach as if was I showing already. It wouldn’t be confirmed by a doctor for a couple weeks, but the bundle of new tests in my trash told me what the other tests said earlier. I was pregnant and was still in complete shock, not because Declan and I were actively preventing it, but because this baby couldn’t have come at a worse time. My phone vibrated against the table, and I glanced at it to see Greysen was texting me and asking me where I was. Instead of replying, I grabbed my things, and headed to my truck.
As I drove to JB’s, I couldn’t help but think how my life had changed in a few hours. On top of Declan giving me all the tip money that we made from Sinful Expressions, I was having his baby. My head hadn’t stopped spinning since Diesel and Greysen left my house. A part of me wanted to think that he was giving me the money to either keep me quiet or he was still trying to get me to be his mistress, but I knew none of that was true. It would be easier to believe the bad about him, so I could hate him and push him to the back of my mind. I hated that I knew he was just as much as in love with me as I was with him. I’d vowed to never put myself in a sticky situation again, and I’d dove headfirst into quicksand fooling with Declan.
The parking lot was packed as I drove around trying to find a spot. It was live music night and half priced drinks all night at JB’s, so we were going to hang out, while Duncan and Vivian watched the kids. I was looking forward to this night before the positive pregnancy tests because I needed to unwind. Since Greysen and I talked, it seemed like I could breathe better, and I wanted us to get drunk with each other for the first time in a very long time and I’m pregnant. If they didn’t know, I would have been very irresponsible and took a few sips of a drink.
After I found a place to park, I got out and made my way inside. Looking around the packed place, I saw my people outside on the deck. As I got closer, I noticed that the lone empty seat was right next to Declan. Quinci saw me first and lit up.
“Okay, dress!” Quinci said, and snapped her fingers, getting everyone’s attention.
“Girl, this ain’t nothing for real,” I responded, trying not to beam about it.
The dress Declan bought me came in the mail yesterday and I couldn’t wait to wear it. I hated that he was right the way I should have it tailored because it fit me beautifully. I didn’t care that the air might get cool tonight, I had to be seen in that dress. I walked around the table to where Declan had pulled my seat out for me and eased down next to him. If my brain wasn’t so preoccupied with me being pregnant, I could have been thinking about how I wanted to act. I didn’t know if I should ignore him or act normal. My mind wouldn’t stop flashing pregnant every time I closed my eyes.
“Elle, baby, you want me to get you a Mai Tai started?” The waitress asked.
I could see Diesel’s eyebrow go up in the corner of my eye.
“Uh. Just a water for right now.”
“What, really?” Declan said.
I looked at him, getting ready to respond, when I noticed the key to the collar resting in front of his watch. I stared at it for a second, before flicking my eyes toward him.
“Don’t talk to me,” I muttered.
“Girl, so this dress—” Greysen started.
“Kudos to me. I picked it out,” Declan said, and picked up his drink and drunk some down.
I shot him a look.
“Aye, look. Not tonight. Everybody knows y’all together, so stop with the shit,” Kemba said at the other end of the table.
“No, we are not to—”
“Exactly… like.”
I shook my head, trying not to blush.
“You look nice, by the way,” he said, and scooted his chair closer to me, and draped his arm around the back of my chair. “And you smell really nice.”
I looked him up and down. “Are you drunk already?”
“No, I’m just two drinks in. You need me drunk tonight?”
I playfully rolled my eyes and shook my head, before looking at Greysen who was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“What you ordered, girl?”
“I ordered the longest island they had back there. This man is going to have to throw me over his shoulder and carry me out by the time I’m done.”
“Are you going to need me to throw you over my shoulder?” Declan asked me, and I ignored him, and continued looking at Greysen.
I could already tell that it was going to be a long night of trying to ignore him.
An hour later, Greysen had just chugged down her third drink, and was about to ask the bartender for another one when Diesel shook his head and pushed the glass of water toward her. She waved him off and looked at me.
“Elle, come with me to the bathroom!” Greysen shouted.
“Why are you shouting?”
“Sorry, the music is loud.”
I laughed. “No, you’re loud,” I said, and stood up.
“And she grunting about me cutting her off. She knows she a lightweight,” Diesel added.
When she stood up, she mushed him playfully, and moved away from him quickly, so he couldn’t grab her. I grabbed her hand and led her to the bathroom. She went in the first stall while I stood at the sink.
“Are we in here alone!”
“Grey, stop hollering, but yeah, we are.”
“I like how you’re paying Declan dust. He looks so sad.”
“Girlll, we don’t have anything to talk about, and that man is not sad about nothing. Plus, you don’t see him touching my thigh every chance he gets.”
“Are you sure you don’t have anything to talk about?”
“Girl, I am not thinking about that.”
“I don’t knowww. You got less than twenty-four hours, Diesel said.”
“Lord, I wish I could be drunk right now.”
“No, you don’t, I been pissing for forty-five seconds straight!”
I burst out laughing.
A few minutes later, she came out of the stall, flattening her dress down.
“Now, I feel like I can take on another one.”
She turned on the water and pushed some soap in her hands and stared at me in the mirror.
“You know, you’re going to look so pretty pregnant. I can’t wait to see my little niece or nephew grow inside of you, honestly.”
“Thank you, Greysen, seriously.”
“No problem. Ayee. That’s your song, ain’t it.”
She grabbed a paper towel and started rolling her hips.
“Girl, come on,” I grabbed her hand and led her out of the bathroom.
“I’m going to have to make up and excuse to leave because I feel like—”
My wrist was yanked backwards, and I nearly stumbled into Johnny.
“Dell, what’s up?”
My eyes immediately dropped to his neck that was covered by his collar and several chains. He looked me up and down, smiling.
“Girl, come on here,” Greysen said, nervously, looking out at the deck.
“You can’t give me five seconds of your time, Dell.”
“Why would I do that?”
“No reason. I just wanted to let you know that you look good, that’s all. Yo’ watchdog can’t be around, letting you come out in something this small.”
“Well, luckily for me, that watchdog is not jealous nor intimidated by other men. Let my wrist go.”
“Elle… uh…”
“I find that hard to believe when he choked me out for calling you something you love to be called.”
“Uh-oh,” Greysen said.
“Watch out,” Declan moved me out of the way, before snatching Johnny up by the collar of his shirt. “Why are you grabbing on my girl? I ain’t choke you tight enough last time or something?”
The place was crowded, so only a few people noticed Declan and his brothers had crowded around Johnny. Greysen tried to pull me away from them, but I moved out of her grasp, and ducked between Diesel and Dymon.
“Declan, stop,” I hissed, and grabbed his elbow. “Come on!”
After a few moments, Declan let him go, and I pulled him through the crowd over to a more secluded corner.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“You. You are what the fuck is wrong with me.” He leaned against the wall and looked at me. “You got me going crazy and you know it, but I’m done playing games with you, Elle.”
“Ain’t nobody playing games.”
“Yeah, I know what you want and need. That’s why you been testing me. So, I’m going to give you fifteen minutes to get home and—”
“Excuse me?”
He stood off the wall, and in one swift motion, he’d hooked his index finger under my collar and pulled me to him.
“You got fifteen minutes to get home, hook yourself to the bar, and have your ass out.”
A very cold chill moved down my spine slowly, making every hair on my body stand up.
“You don’t…” I cleared my throat. “You don’t tell me what to do, Declan,” I mumbled.
He rubbed his finger back and forth across my neck. “Did I miss your humiliation kink? Because surely you don’t want me to pull that dress over your ass in here.”
I gasped.
He leaned over by my mouth. “Now tell me what I just said to you.”
I kissed my teeth. “In fifteen minutes, I need to be home—”
He pulled my collar. “Less attitude.”
“I need to be home in fifteen minutes and hooked to that bar with my ass out.”
He nodded. “And keep this dress on.”
“Where is your fiancée going to be?”
His lips spread across his face. “You’re wasting time, Ella.”
“And if I’m not where I’m supposed to be in fifteen minutes?”
“We’re being bold tonight? Let me know so I can know which paddle to use.”
Every nerve I had dropped straight to pussy, but I wasn’t going to let him know that he was getting to me.
“Fourteen minutes.”
“Dang, can I at least go get my keys first?”
“I want you to test me, because as many steps as it takes for you to walk over to that deck, that’s how many taps I’m adding to that ass, on top of the ones you’re already getting. I know that your keys are already in your truck.”
I huffed. He was right.
“Thirteen minutes. I’ll tell your friend goodnight for you. She’ll understand.”
I rolled my eyes. “I can’t leave if you’re still hanging on to my freaking collar. Take it off!”
His eyes widened. “You hadn’t been drinking tonight, so you’re yelling on your own. Got it. Twelve minutes.”
“Your count is off.”
“And I’m about to cut it in half. Imagining the sounds of you screaming over a band is turning me on.”
“Ugh,” I scoffed. “I’m leaving.”
“Thank you.”
He released my collar and blew me a kiss before I stormed away from him, and out of JB’s. In just a few short minutes, Declan had my pussy throbbing, and I could feel how wet she was as I walked to my truck. His time restraints had me ignoring everybody that was trying to talk to me. What he did to me in there was what I was trying to explain to Greysen about how crazy he had me, and I enjoyed every bit of it. My engine had barely started before I threw the gear in reverse and backed out of the space. I burnt rubber out of the parking lot.
With a minute left to spare, I was in the position that Declan asked me to be, handcuffed with my ass out. I couldn’t believe that I’d folded so easy, but I was excited, yet afraid of what he had in store for me. Just when I’d started to relax, I heard a car outside. My adrenaline started flowing when my alarm system let me know that my front door had opened and closed. Instead of coming straight to my room, I heard him moving around in the kitchen. He was keeping me in suspense on purpose. My back was to the door, but I smelled him coming.
“Wow. There she is,” Declan mumbled. “Bend over some more.”
I did as I was told.
“Look at her. Pussy already wet. I told you that I knew what you needed.”
“You don’t know anything,” I mumbled.
“Well, then, we are about to see, aren’t we.”
He walked up next to the bed where I could see him.
“I told you how sexy you were tonight, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did.”
He shook out of his jacket and threw it on my ottoman, before climbing in bed behind me. He grabbed my waist and pulled me back into his pelvic, and I felt his dick was straining against his pants.
“Soaked the fuck out of my pants, and you playing hard to get,” he mumbled.
The quick hard slap to my ass caught me off-guard, forcing a low hiss out of me. My bar was locked around my bed posts, so there was only so far I could go between him and the headboard.
“Yeah. Fuck wrong with you, Ella?” He hissed, and swatted my ass twice, hard, in the same spot.
The tingling in my ass cheek added to the adrenaline flowing through my body. He repositioned himself on the bed.
“You like fucking with me, don’t you?”
He started smacking my ass continuously, moving between cheeks, but hitting the same spots.
“Knowing I’m at home tossing and turning because you’ve blocked me from contacting you.”
“Oh, Goddd,” I moaned.
“Left me in a fucking bed. Ignoring me. Blocking me. Taunting me with moving with that fucking ex of yours.”
“Master!”
“He’s one touch away from fertilizing my trees, Ella. Is that what you want? Yeah, you would like that, wouldn’t you?”
I hated that him talking like that while still smacking my ass cheeks had my pussy getting wetter and wetter.
“I don’t want no other man to touch you unless it’s authorized by me.”
The feeling of the welts forming on my ass had me bucking and pulling against the bar.
“Master,” I moaned.
“Uh-huh. All that fucking water going down your thighs.”
“Fuck me!”
“Why? You think you deserve anything other than this fucking spanking because how you been treating me.”
“Yes, please!” I pleaded.
“Apologize and beg me, now.”
His smacks were relentless, and my ass was going numb.
“I’m sorry, please, fuck me, please, please, please!” I nearly sobbed.
He got his dick out of his pants and slammed inside of me, forcing a loud cry from me. He grabbed my hips and started grinding slowly inside of me.
“Baby, I missed you so much. Fuck, fuck, fuck, I missed you so much,” he mumbled.
I moved my hips, meeting his grinds.
“God, I’m cumminggg.”
He didn’t have to tell me he was nutting because I could feel it shooting deep inside of me. He pulled out of me and fell back against the headboard. Sweat dripped down his face into his shirt, and his chest moved up and down rapidly as he tried to catch his breath. His dick lay on his thigh half flaccid with cum slowly oozing out the head of his head dick.
“Um…” I pulled at the cuffs.
“I should leave your ass up there.”
He got on his knees and unhooked me and helped me down to the bed. I laid on my back, welcoming the coolness on my ass.
“You want me to go start us a shower?” He asked, as he got out of bed.
I watched him get undressed.
“You’re… um… staying?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Um, yeah.”
I stared at him.
“Tonight. And for a long time after that. I’m not going to let you get away from me again. We are going to figure something out.”
He walked in the bathroom before I could respond. I was going to let him have that because I was to spent to argue with him.
“Elle!” He shouted.
I jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom to see him standing over the garbage, stiff as a mannequin.
“Dec, are you okay?”
He tore a piece of tissue off the roll, reached down, and came up with a pregnancy test, and sat it on the sink.
“You’re pregnant, Elle?” He asked, keeping his focus on the pregnancy test.
“Why the hell is everyone going through my garbage today?”
When he finally looked at me, water had filled his eyes, making my heart melt.
“You’re pregnant, Elle?” He choked out just above a whisper.
“Um… according to those tests, yes. The doctor’s next opening isn’t for two weeks, so...”
He chewed on his bottom lip. “Uh…”
“I’m keeping it.”
The look of relief on his face made me smile.
“You were going to tell me right, and not move to Texas to try and raise him or her by yourself.”
I playfully rolled my eyes.
“Damn, I’m so fucking happy right now, man. Come here.”
I walked into his arms, and he held me tight while we stared at each other through the mirror.
“This don’t mean we are together.”
“Okay.”
“We are just two people who will be healthy co-parents.”
“Before I let you keep lying to yourself, what did you mean when you said everybody keeps going through your garbage today?”
“Well, when you sent your twin to give me the iPad full of hush money, his nosy wife moseyed in my bathroom, and peeked in the trash. At least you had enough decency to use a tissue and pick a stick up. She came back in the kitchen waving them around.”
“My brother knew?”
“Uh-huh. His ugly self gave me twenty-four hours to tell you, or he was going to tell you. Crazy how he was going to keep your secret from his wife but wasn’t going to keep my secret from you. Men.”
His lips spread across his face.
When I tried to pull away from him, he tightened his embrace.
“Co-parents don’t hug with their genitals touching.”
He chuckled. “You know what, honestly…” He looked down at me. “I understand why you keep saying that. You want to set a boundary because you thinking whatever you thinking about Winter. We are going to have that conversation after I talk to my son, and I have a real conversation with my ex where we are not yelling at each other.”
“What are you going to tell her?”
“The main thing is how I’ll always love her, but we are no longer together, and whenever she’s ready, we can get together and draw up some paperwork in terms of support and custody arrangements. There will be no talk about me and you, in case you were wondering.”
I smiled. “You know, Declan, you have every reason to be mean and nasty to her, but to hear you say that makes me love and respect you more than I already did. You are a good man, Declan Danger.”
“Winter is a good mom to Donovan, and she’s been with me since we were younger, her lifestyle shouldn’t change because our relationship status change.”
“Ooh. Is this a lifetime thing? Or until she gets married?”
He shrugged. “Either, or. Do you have a problem with that?”
“Actually, no, because I agree. If I hadn’t worked, ever, I would be parting the Red Sea if my man was talking about I gotta work because he found a new bitch. Oh, I got your work a’ight. Assassin would be my new job.”
“You are so damn funny, man,” he said, laughing.
“So, umm, is Google lying about your net worth? You’re going to be able to afford two homes, two kids, two women.”
“I feel like you’ve asked me this before and I’ve told you, yes. I haven’t reported my income in years. It wouldn’t be three homes?”
“What you mean three homes?”
“Yours, Winters, and mine.”
“Hmph. You don’t wanna live with me? Ooh, I sound down bad. Disregard.”
“You want your single baby daddy living with you?”
“Uh…”
“And then would your single baby daddy be able to bring fine ass tourists here and fuck them?”
I pinched his side, making him laugh.
“But on second thought… that would be pretty hot to watch you do to someone else, what you did to me. Thinking about that got my girl starting to leak again.”
He finally released me and kissed my forehead.
“Unfortunately for you, co-parents don’t talk with their genitals.”
My mouth dropped opened.
“Yeah, so, go lay back down while I prepare a bath for my baby mama.”
“That’s what you won’t start.”
He smiled. “I love you, Ella.”
I blushed. I love you too, Declan.”
“Uh-oh. Now, we’re getting somewhere.”
I waved him off and walked back into the bedroom, smiling from ear to ear.