Chapter Twenty-Eight
The elegant beachfront mansion was located on the Long Island Sound. It took almost an hour and a half to get there, and Josef’s driver had been moving way past the speed limit.
I was still in a warm daze after chatting most of the trip with my husband. I talked about work mostly, and I wasn’t sure what to expect at first.
But he surprised me. Wonderful man. He was just so understanding.
It was like he knew I needed to do this, and he let me. He didn’t take over. He just offered help. He respected me. And I loved him a little bit more for it.
Once upon a time, the Big Bad Wolf broke my heart, but every day since we met again, he worked hard to put it back together. And I wasn’t really sure how to deal with that.
Watching him move as he walked around the vehicle to open my door had me licking my lips. I was married to a handsome man.
He turned his head, and the sunlight caught his mahogany hair and the twinkle in his whiskey eyes, and damn, my mouth went completely dry.
I mean, I knew Josef was fine as fuck. The way he filled out his suit and everything, but it was that rare glimpse of happiness on his face that made him sublime.
Pride filled me as I thought maybe I was responsible, even if in the smallest way, for bringing him that look of contentment.
Of joy.
Appreciation filled his gaze as he watched me slide out of the high SUV, careful to keep my skirt down.
His possessiveness was something I loved, and honestly, I wasn’t much of an exhibitionist, and I didn’t want anyone to steal a glimpse of the little bitty panties I was wearing. Those were a surprise for Josef’s eyes only.
He had one hand on my hip, the other holding my hand, as he pulled me against him and kissed my temple before stepping back.
“You look fucking perfect in pink,” he said, and I felt the compliment to my toes.
He placed a possessive hand around the back of my neck as we walked up the stone path to the entryway.
It felt so good to be with him like this. In public. Technically, it was still early days for us, but our history made it so I felt like I’d known him forever.
Josef was a part of me. A part of my past, my present, and hopefully, my future.
I didn’t get the impression he was growing tired of me, but I admit I had small doubts sometimes. But that was for me to work on.
Josef had done nothing but make me feel wanted and desired.
If only I knew what was in his heart.
But I was going to take it one day at a time. That was the best advice I’d ever heard in all my travels, and it applied to just about every situation.
One day at a time.
And today was a good day.
I watched as Josef’s face changed before my eyes as we approached the two men standing by the door. He looked hard, unreadable. The man on the left nodded his head.
“Mr. Aziz,” he said.
Josef’s chin dipped down slightly. A small confirmation he’d heard the man as he guided me inside.
They must be part of his security firm, I thought.
The men did not bother stopping us, and for the first time I understood just how powerful my husband was. There were a few more imposing men and two women, dressed all in black with cleverly concealed weapons on their persons.
They stood at three foot intervals, stopping guests from trying to make their way around back as they checked their lists.
Everyone entering the party was expected to announce who they were and show their invitations. Everyone except for us, it seemed.
I’d been nervous as we bypassed the small queue that had formed outside, but Josef didn’t even slow down. He moved with an air of arrogance and complete ease that on anyone else would have been obnoxious.
But on him, it just enhanced the muted strength he carried so well. The hand on my neck lowered to the small of my back and I shivered at the heat coming from his fingertips.
“Are you cold?”
This man.
“No. I’m good,” I said, leaning into his powerful body.
He hummed appreciatively, and his hand flexed against my back. I knew this was a party for one of Josef’s friends’ wives, and I wanted to be there. But I also wanted to be alone with my husband.
Later.
Turning my head away from my husband’s heated stare, so I didn’t melt into a puddle of take me I’m yours goo at his feet, I took a moment to look around. The house was stunning.
I hadn’t expected all this. The ceilings had to be at least sixteen feet high, and everything was done in shades of blue and gray. It was the perfect mix of old and new.
Framed paintings and stained glass lined the walls. Large vases with fresh flowers decorated tables. The floors were highly polished wood, stained a slate gray, but somehow the wood itself added a warmth to the décor I wouldn’t have expected.
The party was taking place in what looked like a large, comfortable sitting parlor whose back wall was made entirely of glass that opened up onto an outdoor terrace.
I saw small glittering lights outside and grinned. It was like a magical fairyland out there between the beautiful wrought iron fence, the lights, and the dozens of potted lemon trees and blooming shrubs.
It was brilliant. Cozy somehow, despite the obvious opulence. Deep blue leather couches and velvet chairs were strategically posed to make the most of the space and offer guests a respite.
I was thoroughly impressed. The home was positively beautiful.
“Josef!” a female someone called out to my husband with a familiarity that, at first, sent jealousy spiking through me.
I frowned as I watched a pretty woman with beautiful dark curls wearing a stunning sapphire jumpsuit approached us.
“Thank God you’re here,” she said, clapping her hands together. “Will you please find my husband and tell him there is nothing wrong with allowing guests to wander around the ground floor?”
Josef chuckled beside me as he looked at the woman with an indulgent expression on his face. He obviously knew her and cared about her. But who the fuck was she?
“I would love to do that, Destiny, but Marat’s not wrong,” Josef said apologetically.
“Ugh, you’re just like them! I’m sorry to interrupt. Hi, I’m Destiny,” she said, offering me her hand.
Destiny. Marat. Oh shit.
It all came together, and my cheeks burned with embarrassment.
“I’m Meredith,” I replied with as best a smile as I could manage, considering I’d just been plotting ways to get her away from my man.
Oopsies.
I was a little more possessive about my husband than I thought. But Destiny didn’t seem to notice. She was open and friendly, and welcoming.
“Destiny, allow me to formally introduce you to my wife. Meredith,” Josef told her, and the way he said my wife sent shivers racing through me.
“Little Red, this is Destiny, Marat’s wife,” Josef explained.
“It is so nice to meet you. Thank you for inviting us to your beautiful home,” I exclaimed.
“Of course and thank you. We only moved in full time a month ago, and it’s been crazy trying to get everything ready, especially with Lucy teething. Plus, my overbearing husband is giving me fits. Josef, please go talk to him,” she begged.
“Will you be alright?” my husband asked me, and I smiled and nodded.
“Oh my God, I’m not going to bite her. Get outta here. We have womanly things to discuss, and we don’t need any more Alpha male overprotective nonsense right now. So shoo!”
Destiny made a moving motion with her hands.
I couldn’t help it.
I laughed out loud.
Like really loud.
Then I snorted.
Oops.
Josef raised one perfect eyebrow at me as I covered my mouth. But the giggling wouldn’t stop.
The woman was a riot.
“Alright, I’ll be right back. Behave yourself, Little Red,” he murmured, brushing his lips against the corner of my mouth.
“Shoo, go away already,” Destiny mumbled, grabbing me by the arm.
“I thought he was never going to let go of you. Come on, Sofia’s in the breastfeeding suite, but she is dying to meet you.”
“A breastfeeding suite?” I asked.
What a marvelous idea!
“Oh, yeah, it was Marat’s idea, actually. He’s ridiculously protective and always trying to make my life easier, which is probably why I am so dang in love with him,” she said, shaking her head.
“That jerk,” I joked.
“Right? I mean, bad enough my husband looks like Lucifer, but he has to be good to me, too. Total loser,” she teased.
“Anyway, the suite was his idea to make feedings easier on me when we have guests. In fact, Lucy, my daughter, is probably throwing a fit right now. Sof is entertaining her for me. I was going to run interference with security and a couple of guests who tried to go into one of the other smaller parlors for a bit of quiet, but I decided to just argue with my husband instead. I swear, Josef’s security teams can deadeye you like no one’s business. I mean, you’d think we invited total strangers to this thing the way he’s behaving.”
She wasn’t wrong. From what I knew of Josef, I had no doubt Sigma International employees were the best of the best at what they did. Even when he was my bodyguard all those years ago, Josef’s professionalism stood out.
Pride filled me. I looked around at what had to be over a hundred guests. There were a lot of people. I didn’t know how she knew so many, but people did.
There was a fairly even mix of men and women. Everyone was dressed for the occasion. So I didn’t feel out of place at all. The clothes Josef had picked for me were all beautiful, and this dress, well, I’d been super excited for him to see me in it.
I followed behind her. People were smiling and milling about, drinking wine, and eating cleverly plated tapas passed around by servers dressed in white.
“Are all of these people close friends?” I asked, increasing my pace to keep up with the surprisingly spry woman.
She was wearing the cutest little ballet flats that matched her blue jumpsuit. It was sparkly and clung to her lovely frame. The sapphire blue pant legs were wide and swirled about her legs as she walked.
The front was low, and I noticed the discreet clips on each shoulder, realizing that must be for easy access to nurse her baby. How clever! The bodice cinched beneath her breasts, and the overall effect was really something.
She looked like some sort of marine goddess. The fact she was curvy, like me, had me making a mental note to ask where she got it.
“Well, not exactly,” Destiny answered my question a few seconds later, after smiling and nodding her head at a few of her guests.
“There are people from the publishing house I don’t really know here. And some of the scary-looking men in suits are business acquaintances of Marat’s. And some are new neighbors.”
“Ah. Well, then maybe your husband has a point,” I hedged, not wanting to start anything.
But I could see why her husband would not want people wandering unsupervised through their new homes. Especially not when they had their baby there.
“Oh, that is so cute! You and Josef have the same attitude about safety!”
“Well, I don’t know if it’s cute. But, um, I was raised to respect proper security. Someone broke into my childhood home when I was in high school and they broke my things, took some jewelry that had been my mother’s, and they wrote nasty slurs on the wall,” I explained.
“Oh no! That must have been horrible,” she said, her big blue eyes filling with tears.
“I was fine. Please, don’t cry?—”
She opened the door to a private room, and I was stunned at how beautiful it was. I’d never seen a breastfeeding suite, but this was amazing. There was every convenience a mother could want.
A couple of cushiony rocking chairs lined one wall with matching ottomans. A pair of changing stations. A mini fridge. A play area with toddler appropriate toys. A flat screen television. An en suite bathroom. Bassinets decorated in soft blues and whites. And even a sofa.
A stunning woman in cropped silver pants topped with a black silk blouse turned around. Her smile was warm and friendly, and she was holding a precious bundle in her arms.
I never met her, but she looked vaguely familiar.
“Hi! I’m Sofia, you must be Meredith! I am so excited to meet you. I’m Adrik’s wife,” she said while handing the little girl to Destiny.
“Oh my God,” I exclaimed as recognition hit. “You’re Z. Wolff. I read all your books!”
Excitement short-circuited my brain, and I was two seconds from full on fangirling.
“You do? Thank you,” she said, laughing.
“And you’re her narrator! D. Wolff?! Holy shit! I love you guys!”
“Hear that Lucy, Mama’s got a fan,” Destiny cooed while she snuggled her baby to her breast and began feeding her.
“I really am a fan,” I said, clapping my hands awkwardly. “Sorry, I am making this weird.”
“Not at all. And thank you so much. Josef didn’t tell Adrik you were a reader,” Sofia said, gesturing to one of the seats beside Destiny.
I thought it might be awkward for her to have us sitting there while she nursed her baby, but she didn’t seem bothered. She had a soft-looking blanket draped over her chest, and a serene smile on her face as she rocked the chair back and forth.
“Oh, well, um, Josef didn’t tell me you were an author, and you a narrator,” I said, and shrugged.
I couldn’t help the momentary panic that filled me.
Why hadn’t Josef mentioned me? Was he ashamed? Embarrassed? Was our past too fraught for explanations?
“Hey, don’t look like that,” Sofia said, her tone gentle. “I’ve been married to Adrik for three years now. I know he considers Josef a brother, but that man is probably the most close-guarded human being I’ve ever met.”
“Josef? But we talk all the time,” I replied, frowning.
Slowly, I started to see her point. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I was the one who talked all the time.
“Um, how did you two meet? I’m dying to know,” Destiny asked, her tone hushed so as not to disturb little Lucy.
“Oh, well, we met years ago. My stepfather hired him as a bodyguard when I was a senior in high school.”
“Wow! I know you don’t know us yet, but I promise you can trust me and Destiny to keep your secrets, Mer.”
“Mare? Like a horse?” I asked, confused.
“No, she means, Mer, like your name. M-E-R. Don’t mind her. Sof is all about the nicknames,” Destiny replied with a teasing eye roll.
“What are you talking about? This is kismet! I’m Sof. You’re Des. And she is Mer! It works,” Sofia replied with a pout.
“It’s fine, I mean, at least it’s my name. Josef just calls me Little Red for obvious reasons,” I confessed, and waved my hand towards my hair.
“Oooh, I sense a forbidden romance,” Sofia said, her eyes bright with humor.
“It’s funny cause a few weeks ago thinking about Josef and our past would have made me sad and angry, but you’re right. I guess it was a forbidden romance.”
“You don’t have to, but if you want to share, we are all ears,” Des said quietly.
“And I promise not to use anything you say as book fodder,” Sof added.
I laughed. For some reason, I felt comfortable with these women. It had been such a long time since I had a real friend, if I ever did.
So, I told them everything.
All of it.
My tumultuous past with Josef. Everything that had happened with my stepfather. Running away to Europe. Coming back to the states. Working for the shelter.
And the more I told them, the better I felt.
Less alone. Supported. Comforted.
I should’ve probably realized from my experience and all the time I spent counseling women and children who’d left abusive situations that I could benefit from a little therapy myself. I mean, I tried counseling years ago, and I thought it worked.
But I never considered maybe it was something I should have continued.
“I know it might seem like what he did was cruel, like the way he backed you into a corner. But I think maybe Josef needed you and didn’t know how to deal with that. His ultimatum solved that problem,” Destiny whispered.
Lucy was asleep, so I understood why she was being quiet.
But it felt like maybe this conversation was too precarious for loud words.
I thought about what she said for a moment and felt hope rising inside me like an unstoppable tide.
Could it be true? Did Josef maybe care about me like I cared about him?
The sound of voices outside the nursing suite brought our attention to the door. A soft knocking sounded, and Sofia stood to answer it.
“Yes? Oh! Sure, she’s here. I’ll tell her,” Sofia whispered, coming back with a wide grin on her face.
“What is it?” I asked, curious.
“Your husband is outside waiting for you, and he looks fit to be tied,” Sofia remarked, highly amused if her expression was anything to go by.
I frowned and stood up, turning back towards both women.
“Oh, um. Thank you for letting me talk and for welcoming me.”
I was a little embarrassed that I was moved to tears by something as simple as the ready friendship these women offered. But I was.
Things like that didn’t happen every day. The women I worked with were healing and guarded. As was their right. But now and then, I wondered if their situations couldn’t have been avoided. If maybe they couldn”t have gotten help sooner. If only they had a friend.
But that was what abusers did. They separated you from your people so they could dominate you. So they could exact control.
Josef did the complete opposite. He brought me here, introduced me to these women, creating a place for me to thrive and feel good about myself. He was giving me a support system that didn’t just revolve around him.
He thought he was a bad man. But he was the best man I knew.
God, I love him.
“Hey, we’re bound by womanhood and our husbands. The wives of wolves need to stick together!” Destiny said, and I wondered at her turn of phrase.
Wives of wolves?
Sof grabbed me in a short, tight hug, then eased back with a genuine smile on her face. Her eyes twinkled with mischief.
“I’ll call you this week for lunch, okay? I want to talk more about your job and what we can do to help.”
“That sounds great,” I told her, and I meant it.
A feeling of rightness settled over me as I bade both women goodbye. I never had close friends, but maybe I did now. It felt good.
Curious about what Josef could be so upset about, I walked into the hall and was shocked when the big man grabbed my hand and tugged me to him.
“Damn it, Little Red. I didn’t know where you were,” he growled, wrapping me in his arms.
Startled by his reaction to my absence, I hugged him back, kissing his neck and cheek, whispering soothing words.
“Where’s your phone?”
“Um, I don’t know, I must have left it in my bag when I checked it at the door,” I said, shrugging.
“Were you worried?” I asked, biting my lip.
“Yes, I was worried. I walked away for a minute and then you were gone!”
He looked angry. Pissed even. But the worry lines around his eyes told another story.
He’d been scared. Scared I’d left him.
“Hey, I’m yours and you’re mine, remember? I’m never leaving you,” I said, looking into those whiskey colored eyes I loved so much.
My heart was pounding so hard. His hands tightened on my shoulders as he pulled back and just stared at me. That was okay. I was doing some staring of my own.
I studied my handsome husband, noting the slight flare of his nostrils before he moved.
He was so damn fast.
Josef blurred to me, closing the space between us. Spicy cologne and male musk filled my nostrils.
His big, muscular body crushed my softer one in his frenzied embrace, but it felt so fucking good.
Were it not for his arm around me, I would have tipped over. But Josef wouldn’t allow that. He would always keep me safe.
Trust and delight bloomed inside me.
And desire—always desire when it came to this man.
At first, I thought maybe I’d said the wrong thing.
But I didn’t have to worry. It was the absolute right thing to say because my sexy as fuck husband was crushing my mouth with his.
His hand cupped the back of my head, so it didn’t connect with the unforgiving wall as he ravaged my mouth.
“Um, are you coming back to the party?” an amused voice said from behind us.
Josef slowed us down, breaking our connection only to come back for several more plucking kisses. He pressed his forehead to mine, not turning around or releasing me.
“We’ll be right there.”
“Alright, I look forward to meeting you formally, Mrs. Aziz,” the masculine voice replied.
I couldn’t reply.
I was still trying to catch my breath.