Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Returning to Nashville was bittersweet. I was glad to return to my normal routine and be with my daughter again, but I missed the layer of protection the distant locale offered my secret affair with Eric.
Neither of us was ready to stop whatever it was we were doing, so we decided to see each other in secret.
It was risky, but I couldn’t seem to help myself when it came to him.
We agreed not to tell anyone and pretend outwardly as though nothing had changed between us while we were at work, but once we “clocked out” for the day, it was free rein.
Most evenings, I had only a few minutes to spare before heading home and had to settle for nothing more than a quick make-out session.
Other times, we had just enough time for a quickie at his apartment.
He only came to my house when Lucia was with her father.
Our little arrangement was perfect. No strings attached. No pressure or expectations. And nobody knew about it.
Until Mr. Gardner, the record label executive with the ‘bad reputation’ found out.
I thought we were being careful, that we’d put on a good act for everybody, but our ruse had somehow been exposed. Apparently, the music mogul thought that if Eric had a chance with me, so did he.
He was wrong.
He learned the hard way never to put his hands on a Venetti woman without her permission the moment my knee connected with his balls.
He’d lured me into his office under false pretenses one evening.
I believed I was meeting up with him and Eric to discuss the upcoming album release and tour.
Turned out, he hadn’t invited the band’s manager at all.
It was just a trick to get me alone in his office so he could proposition me.
When I turned him down, he got pushy and I struck back like the old Gianna, the girl who didn’t take any shit from anybody.
I left him lying in a heap on the expensive Persian rug next to his desk and ran straight to Eric.
The next day, Eric stood with me as I brought the issue to the board of executives at the label, and before anyone could refute my claims, I produced some damning evidence.
While I’d waited in Mr. Gardner’s office, I began recording a video using an app that made me look like a puppy to show Lucia later.
Luckily for me, when he entered the room, I startled and forgot to hit “stop” on the recording.
It caught the whole exchange, including where I clearly asked him not to touch me again.
He was immediately suspended and put under investigation.
Unfortunately, exposing him also exposed my relationship with Eric. Not only did he allude to our secret affair in the recording, but he also tried to use it to justify coming onto me. I worried there’d be repercussions, but nobody even acknowledged his claims.
Eric and I grew closer after that and decided to make our relationship official.
Not much changed at work, though. We remained professional during working hours, but behind closed doors, all bets were off.
When we were alone, he worshipped my body and made me feel cherished and whole, something I hadn’t felt in a long time.
With him, I learned to love myself again, striving to believe I wasn’t this unredeemable monster, undeserving of happiness.
Once, I felt like a princess who lost her crown. Now, with Eric by my side, I felt like a queen. I was no longer the villain in someone else’s story, but the hero of my own. And it felt good to finally straighten my crown.
THE END…
for now
Thank you so much for reading Gianna! If you’d like to know more about Gianna’s back story, one-click SIX NIGHTS IN PARADISE.
For more spicy, small town romances with swoon worthy heroes and the women who tame them, check out the WILLOW brOOK FALLS series today!