41. Brent
Chapter forty-one
Brent
W atching Gavin pace my living room floor was an interesting sight. He was completely on edge and looked as though he was ready to snap out of anger. When he arrived at my home at five in the morning, I offered him a coffee, but he was completely out of it. Jessica was back at her home, and it seemed she was the least of his worries currently.
“Gavin. What is going on?” I asked.
He shook his head. “She’s trying to fucking ruin me, that’s what. That little whore is trying to get away from me. Trying to get away from her husband.”
“You don’t know that,” I said, trying to reason with him, but he scoffed.
“I fucking know it, Brent. Goddammit, I’ve been married to her for five years. Something’s happened in the last few months, something that made her more confident, more assertive, and more hesitant around me.”
“…Confident and assertive. Good sex will do that to a woman. I’ll give you that,” I muttered absentmindedly.
“She’s been distant, more than usual. I had the little bitch under my fucking thumb, and now? Now, I don’t know where her mind is. And all I am thinking about is who would lay their fucking hands on what’s mine.”
“Regardless, you and I both know you are speculating. Rosenna would never cheat on you.”
He glared at me. “Brent, I’m not a fucking idiot. I know my wife. Well, I used to know her. Now I don’t know what to think. She’s not home as frequently, she smiles more, and she’s either completely distant or oddly attached to me when we’re together. There is no more middle ground, and—God, I don’t even know what to think.”
My mind immediately went to a possible candidate for an affair partner… well, the only candidate that seemed unhinged enough to go after a married woman. Beckham Garcia.
Again, I was reminded of my encounter with Rosenna and him outside a museum. I ignored his hooded eyes filled with possessiveness over her, as mine were probably filled with much of the same. But maybe that was a one-time thing. Maybe I was reading into things too much. I was practically obsessed with her, for God’s sake. Any man who looked at her would seem like competition. It was probably nothing—
Stepping into Gavin’s home as I left the guys at the poker table, I took a sip of my beer and listened as hushed whispers were being made in the kitchen. Thinking nothing much of it, I walked over to it to see an interesting sight. Rosenna was fixing chips and finger foods for our little get-together, and oddly enough, Beckham was standing beside her.
Watching her silently… with his hand on her lower back. She seemed agitated with something and pulled away as he seemed rather annoyed at her behavior. She lifted her head after a moment, and I could visibly see her flinch as I entered the kitchen slowly. Beckham grabbed one of the bottles of water on the counter nonchalantly and walked past me, nodding his head casually. I tried to ignore the look on her face as if she were a deer in headlights as I nodded to the front door.
“Forgot something in my car...” I uttered with a shrug, and she nodded with a small smile. She grabbed the bowl before heading off to the patio.
Looking over my shoulder, I watched as her ass swayed back and forth and held back a groan as I continued to my car, only contemplating slightly about their little encounter. But I thought nothing of it. It was probably a one-time thing.
Running my hands down my face in distress, I sighed as I rested my elbows on my knees. “It’s Garcia,” I uttered.
Gavin looked over at me in shock. “What? What do you mean?”
“It’s almost too obvious that the affair is with him. He’s the first and last person anyone would think of.”
“How do you know?”
“Whenever I’ve seen him and Rosenna together, she’s nervous, and he… well, minus the emotionless look he always has, he looks like he wants to devour her.”
Gavin was silent for a moment, processing my words. Since he’d had more encounters with Beckham than I’d had, it dawned on him after a moment, and he shook his head.
“Fuck, it is him. Something is definitely going on between them, something that would have dragged his ass out of his shitty studio warehouse to actually work on something as shallow as an exhibit in his eyes. He has money, he doesn’t need fame or recognition, and his father has all the power in the world to have his son be as self-centered and egocentric as he is. There’s only one thing he truly wants for all of this.”
“Her,” I said, desperately trying to control my anger. I was practically brimming with rage, but I had to keep my composure. This was some fucked-up kind of love triangle… well, love square. Except Gavin didn’t love Rosenna, or if he did, he had a pretty shitty way of showing it, and Beckham and I were both infatuated with her.
But she chose him . She chose someone else again, passing me over for the second time. I was practically seething in rage, and Gavin was angry that his little cash cow or gold mine of a wife, for lack of better words, was slipping through his control.
“She’s mine. She’s my fucking wife, my fucking possession , and she’s going to fucking pay for betraying me like this.”
“Gavin… Let’s think about this.”
“Think about what? Think about how she’s going to take everything from me. How she’s going to use Garcia to fucking ruin me?” he seethed.
After a moment of silence, I rubbed my chin. “At first… you’re going to give her everything she’s asked for.”
He furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”
“Rosenna wants a family. She wants a baby. Talk to her about it before it’s too late. Gauge her mindset, and if she’s not too far gone, you’re going to give her that baby to tie her to you for life,” I replied, feeling the need to spite her out of my own jealousy for not being with her. She was slipping from Gavin’s control, but worse…she was slipping through mine, too. Well, not if I had anything to do with it.
“She’s never going to go for that now. That was years ago,” Gavin disagreed, but I shook my head.
“Never say never. Give her everything you can, and if she refuses… then we’ll just have to take everything she has. ”
“She has Vincent Garcia and his son backing her, Brent. I’d be lucky if I was slapped in the face with losing the house if we divorced.”
“No. You’ll be lucky when we seize all of her assets and make a convincing court case that grants you alimony for the next twenty years.”
He seemed conflicted for a moment before his eyes held complete understanding. However, there was still something bothering him.
“The Garcias aren’t just going to let all of this slide.”
“You’re absolutely right, and with their money, they can get the best attorney possible, but lucky for us, if we play on the right side of the law… It’ll be almost as if you never lost your wife to begin with.”
A week later, I found myself parked outside the restaurant Beckham suggested—where Gavin and Rosenna were having dinner.
It was the night of Gavin’s grand fucking confession. His last-ditch effort to keep his wife on a leash.
I leaned back in my seat, watching through the window. Rosenna took a slow sip of her wine, looking drained. She wasn’t buying it. Not fully.
From my car, I rang Gavin’s cell, and he answered it.
“Brent, talk to me.”
I clenched my jaw, noticing Beckham in the corner of the restaurant, watching them silently. “Either you’re a fucking idiot, or you’re just oblivious that Garcia is in the restaurant now.”
The words landed like a punch, but his voice stayed smooth as he continued, “What do you mean they found an escape clause? The contract was infallible.” With the legal jargon he used to deter Rosenna from suspecting a thing, I let out a tired sigh in response.
“I know you want to see if she’ll say yes, but I don’t think she’ll budge. Not while he’s there, at least.”
“How long until the revision window closes?”
“We need proof of the affair. Get out of there so we can see what he does next.”
“We can make it by midnight… I’ll be there soon.” He ended the call, and soon enough, he walked over and sat beside me in the car. His caring husband facade immediately shut off as we watched Beckham walk over to run his hand over Rosenna’s shoulder to comfort her.
She didn’t flinch. Didn’t pull away.
Wiping away her tears with his thumb as he stood behind her, we watched as she spoke softly, and after a moment, he wrapped her hair in a fist before pulling her head back to look up at him.
Gavin’s jaw ticked as he looked at her in utter disgust. “I’m going to take every fucking thing she owns, whether the little whore likes it or not.”
I didn’t respond, for my own sake, my own jealousy, for the rage and the sick, twisted fucking need to be the one in that room with her instead of him.
I remained in my thoughts as we followed the couple back to Beckham’s warehouse.
Secretly watching my best friend’s wife, the woman I loved, have sex with her client through the window was not one of my best moments, if I was being completely honest.
However…part of me felt like I needed to watch .
My grip tightened on the steering wheel as Beckham wrapped her hair in his fist, forcing her to look up at him like she fucking belonged to him. I could see her lips part, her breath hitch. Fuck. She actually liked it. She liked that he could do whatever the hell he wanted with her and she’d just fucking take it.
Back arched, tongue out, submitting to him like it was in her second nature, she was letting him ruin her, right there, in the open, without a second fucking thought.
I turned away, painfully trying to ignore my growing cock.
It was dark out, but Gavin’s camera captured a few suitable pictures and an impressively high-quality video. Not that we could use them in court, but they were pretty handy in the case of blackmail.
With a heavy internal sigh, we made our way back to the office to finalize the plan with our confirmation of the affair.
I shouldn’t have been helping Gavin. He was the one who drove her to this situation in the first place. But I was angry, jealous, and almost vindictive, as I wanted her to pay for breaking my heart. For not giving me a fucking chance.
Gavin didn’t deserve her. I didn’t deserve her.
As for Beckham Garcia? Beckham Garcia sure as hell didn’t fucking deserve her.
Present
Rosenna
Lying against Beckham as he still slept, I trailed my finger down his face as I admired him silently. I had been staying with him over the weekend, and it had been calm and tranquil for the terrible last few days I had endured.
I was happy the exhibit was a success, but in the end, I hurt Gavin. I had to live with that fact, no matter how liberated or free I felt in the moment.
Even so, finally, it felt like I was in control. I would soon be free from my miserable marriage, from my loans, from everything that had made me forget who I was… who I wanted to be.
Resting my hand against Beckham’s cheek, my thumb brushed over his skin as I sighed. Beckham could see who I was, he understood my visions, my passions, he understood me and who I wanted to be.
His dark lashes, the sharp line of his jaw, the way his lips parted slightly in sleep. He looked so peaceful like this. Like he wasn ’ t the man who had completely unraveled me.
Slowly, his arm wrapped around my waist, and he pulled me closer to his body. My chest, only covered by the thin fabric of one of his t-shirts, met his own, and I shuddered as my nipples hardened against him. His eyes opened slowly, darkening as they gazed at me.
“Good morning,” I whispered softly.
He hummed as his hand caressed my hip. “It is one with you, Flower.”
I couldn’t help my growing blush as he maneuvered me so I could straddle his waist on my knees. My hands rested on his shirtless abdomen. His hands ran up and down my thighs, as he sighed.
“You’re going to the gallery today,” he murmured.
I nodded. “I am.”
“It’s a shame… I enjoyed having you all to myself.”
I let out a small giggle as his hands moved up to my waist and rested on my stomach.
“Is that so?” He hummed in thought. Curiously looking down at his hands hovering over my abdomen, I continued, “You know, Kira told me someone wanted to put an offer for one of my portraits.”
“No one can put a price on your beauty, Flower.”
I gave a small smile. “Hence the name ’Priceless’ for the exhibit, huh?”
“You are priceless, Rosenna. Even if they offered a hundred million for your portrait, I wouldn’t accept it. Not when my counter-offer would be tenfold that.”
I rolled my eyes. Before I could say anything, however, his hands tightened over my abdomen, his eyes growing a bit darker.
“Beckham?” I muttered cautiously.
He looked up at me for a split moment before fixating his gaze back on his hands.
“ I want to put a baby in here,” he murmured possessively, and I practically choked on my spit as he pulled me closer to him before placing a kiss on my lips. His words sounded like a promise… something inevitable.
“You’d look so fucking sexy pregnant. So perfect carrying my child.”
My eyes widened as I patted his chest softly. I let out a startled laugh, but the way he was looking at me told me this wasn’t a joke.
“Slow down there, partner…” I chuckled.
Weirdly enough, he seemed to reel it in a bit before placing another kiss on my lips.
“The only difference between Gavin and me is that I want to put a baby in you for the right reason.”
I nodded. “Believe me, Beckham. You and he have more than just a few differences. “
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I laughed as he flipped us over before deepening the kiss. However, before it could go too far, we heard a heavy knock at the door that made us pull away.
A familiar voice made me roll my eyes.
“Rise and shine, Daddy Picasso. You need to release my boss to me today! Don’t worry. I’ll have her back to you by the end of the day,” Kira yelled from outside.
I sighed with a smile as Beckham continued gazing down at me lovingly. Pulling him closer, I placed another kiss on his lips, drowning out Kira’s protests as she continued banging on the front door.
Soon enough, Beckham and I left the bed and found a rather annoyed Kira standing outside with fresh dry cleaning and bags of shoes. After showering and getting dressed in a flattering white strapless top and brown pants, I sat at his dining room table as I went over the documents Kira brought as she added a few finishing touches to my ponytail.
“We’re expecting almost another full house today to view the exhibits. The main building will be getting most of the traction, but I’m still keeping tabs on the two other galleries,” she explained. I nodded as I sifted through the papers in thought.
One document within the files caught my attention, and I set it aside as I wanted to tackle it first thing today. As Brent Sullivan’s name remained at the bottom of the bill, I placed the paper on the top of the documents before closing the folder.
Eventually, Kira finished my hair, and I heard footsteps approaching. I looked over my shoulder to see Beckham dressed for the day as he walked in, looking ever so sexy as he held something that made my face flame in embarrassment and Kira’s eyes light up in curiosity. Slowly, he strolled over, my heels hanging from his fingers in a way that weirdly made my legs tighten.
Hiding my face in my hands, embarrassed as he lowered himself to his knees, Kira scoffed playfully, “Talk about upgrading your man; this is more than first class, I’ll tell you that.”
Slowly and intentionally , Beckham took my foot in his hand and slipped my heel on, fastening the delicate strap around my ankle with meticulous precision. His lips brushed over my knee as he placed a tender kiss before moving to my other foot.
“You can’t be the only one focusing on the details of Ms. Hart, Kira. Gavin didn’t want to get on board, so someone had to take charge.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
I rolled my eyes at both of them as I placed my hands down, and he kissed me on my other knee as he finished my shoe. He stood up, and I blushed as he held my chin in his hand, forcing me to gaze up at him.
“I’ll be at my father’s office for the day. If you need me, don’t hesitate to call. I’ll drop anything and everything for you, Flower.”
I nodded softly before he leaned down and placed a kiss on my lips, still holding onto me possessively. He pulled away after a moment, and Kira shook her head.
“What’s a girl gotta do around here to find a man willing to treat her like a goddess, huh?”
I had to hold in my giggle as Beckham placed another kiss on my forehead before grabbing my belongings for me.
After escorting us to Kira’s car, I bid him goodbye as we made our way to the gallery. Walking into my office, I placed my belongings down before sitting at my desk to review today’s numbers and the agenda for the week.
After an hour of getting some of the more tedious work done for the day, my door opened abruptly, and I looked over in a slight panic, but I soon relaxed as I realized it was just Kira. However, I could only relax for a second as her eyes screamed alarm.
“Rose,” she said in a panic, and almost immediately, I heard a familiar voice that made my stomach churn uncomfortably. Stepping out as she watched me silently, I approached the voice and saw a man and a woman standing by one of the showrooms.
As he spoke on the phone, the woman turned toward me and noticed me as I remained silent, only acknowledging her with a forced grin. Stopping beside him, my spine straightened automatically like it usually did when he was around, and my hands clasped in front of me to stop them from fidgeting. After a moment, I cleared my throat, and he turned to look at me, sending the person over the phone away.
“Rosie, sweetie, it’s good to see you.” My father smiled, though I could see right through it as my mother stood beside him, compliant and obedient per usual.
I sighed internally as I tried not to think back to this morning with Beckham or my weekend at his studio. If I did, I would find myself even more angry that I now had to face the last person I would ever want to see on a day like today.