Chapter 23
LILA
“How was it?” I ask, smiling, as I roll to my back and put Keira on speaker.
I slept eight hours straight. What can I say? I feel much better. Less anxious, more optimistic.
The day is slowly drawing to an end, a beautiful sunset spreading across the sky.
Keira stays quiet at the other end of the line.
“Keira?”
“Huh?”
“How was it?”
“You mean my date?”
I smile.
“Was there anything else?’
She laughs.
“Maybe?”
“Oh, don’t tell me. You did it?” I ask incredulously, the last trace of sleep removed from my brain.
“Yeah?”
I chuckle.
“With Benjamin Nicky? The shy guy?”
“Well, he’s not that shy in bed. I have a better idea now of what you’ve been telling me all this time. What a contrast. I never thought someone so timid could be so passionate in bed.”
She goes on and on, giving me the details of her date with Nicky, while my mind drifts away, revisiting the moments I had spent with Damon.
Keira and I talk on the phone for about an hour before we hang up.
She’s meeting him again tonight, while I’m waiting for a sign from Damon to know what the plan is for this evening.
I slide off the bed and head to the bathroom.
Within minutes, I’m back, freshly showered, with two hangers in hand.
I drop the club dresses on the chair, go back, grab a hairbrush, and start fixing my hair when I hear noise at the door.
The staff never comes here during the day unless I need their help.
Heart racing, I rush to the door hoping to see Damon, when Henrietta pushes it open and walks in like a queen.
Pompous and arrogant.
“Oh, you’re here,” she says.
I freeze, my hands clasped on my hips.
Then, I roll my eyes.
“Where did you think I’d be?”
She purses her lips.
“What are you doing in my room, Henrietta?”
She dismisses me with a flick of her hand as she drops her purse on top of my dresses and turns to me.
“Stop asking questions like you matter. You won’t be here for long,” she says.
I flick an eyebrow at her.
She sighs.
“You must know by now he had asked me to move into the guesthouse,” she says.
“I thought you requested that,” I reply with snark.
“Funny,” she comments, not smiling. “I’m flying back to New York next week, and you’re coming with me.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s your father’s wish.”
My blood starts boiling.
I peel my hand off my hips and close the space between us.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing, Henrietta?"
“I just said it. Are you hard of hearing?”
Her white dress does her justice, highlighting her silhouette, setting off her dark hair and red lips.
“You and I are spending the summer in New York.”
“What about your husband?”
“My husband runs a business down here, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Does he know about your plans?”
“Listen, pumpkin. Your father didn’t say I needed to live with my husband and you.”
“My father didn’t know you’d have a husband so soon after his death.”
She flicks her hand again in displeasure.
“Whatever. Okay… Now that we’ve settled this, pack up your bags and get ready to leave on Monday morning. Enjoy your last weekend here, sweetheart.”
She picks up her purse while I fold my arms over my chest and take a step back.
“I’m not doing anything until I hear from Damon.”
“I told you, he has nothing to do with this.”
“I think he does. And he won’t be happy about it.”
“Wow. You know my husband better than I do.”
Her eyes glint with jealousy as she erases the space between us again.
“You know,” she starts quietly. “I never pictured you as a home wrecker. I always thought you were after mousy guys. Like that tool you dated in New York.”
“You’re not in a real marriage with this man,” I say, cold as winter.
“That’s not for you to say. We were perfectly fine before you arrived.”
“Were you?’ I ask, throwing my head back and cocking an eyebrow at her.
“Then why did he confess to me that he’d never been in love?”
She looks at me as if a snake just bit her ankle before her expression shifts.
“He said that to you? When did he do that, darling?”
I shrug.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Hmm… Well, not all marriages are founded on love.”
“Are you talking about your marriage to my father?”
She gives me a sly smile.
“Wow. Our little kitten has grown claws. Clearly, spending time with my husband has done wonders for you.”
“Stop calling him your husband.”
She pouts in defiance, having a lot of fun at the same time.
“He’s my husband, honey.”
“On paper only.”
She ponders before she fingers my chest.
“Listen up, honey. I don’t know what he told you about me, but rest assured I know more about him than you do. You might think he’s yours because he likes to see you on your knees in front of him a lot.”
I shudder.
“Oh. Sound familiar? It probably does. He likes other things too, and I’m sure he’ll introduce you to them soon.”
“What things?’
She shrugs in a tease, a smile curling her lips.
“I don’t know. You going down on another woman in front of him?
I step back.
She laughs again.
“You didn’t know that? Yeah, he enjoys that a lot.
Not only does he like to watch, but he likes to fuck another woman while you watch.
Never ask him to do a threesome with another man.
He’d kill him by the end of the evening.
It’s not a figure of speech. He’d literally do it.
Another woman, on the other hand? He’s up for it.
He likes to have them both on all fours and fuck them from behind.
He likes to lick one woman’s pussy while having his cock sucked by the other.
He likes both of them to take turns on him. ”
“Stop it,” I bark, unable to suppress my fury. “You’re making this stuff up.”
“Am I?” she says softly, feeding on my turmoil. “You can always opt out. He won’t force you to participate. I just wanted to bring you up to speed on what he likes. And also to prove to you that I know more than you do.”
Footsteps echo outside, followed by a swirl of intermingled voices.
It’s mostly Livia and another woman who works in the house. They seem to quarrel over something, and it’s about who let Henrietta in the house when the door opens and slams into the wall.
Damon’s eyes shoot blistering shafts of fury when he sets them on his wife.
“What did I tell you, Henrietta?” he thunders.
He doesn’t look at me, not even a glance in my direction, and a trickle of fear moves through my frame.
“I’m here to talk to you,” the woman says, unfazed.
“In her room?”
I don’t like that either. Her room?
I have a name, don’t I?
It sounds like they’re talking about me at length.
“Get out, Henrietta,” he says, spinning around, heading to the door. “We’ll talk downstairs.”
In the corridor, Livia is still chiding the woman who’s failed to stop Henrietta from entering my room.
Damon’s steps ring in the house, while Henrietta turns her back to me and heads to the door.
She grips the doorknob and glances at me over her shoulder.
“Be ready for Monday. You’re leaving with me,” she says, unfazed.
DAMON
I remove my jacket and pour myself a drink before hearing her steps in my home office.
I take a swig of whiskey before I turn to her.
“What was that, Henrietta?”
My jaw locks as I wait for her answer.
“I told Lila Skye that she’d leave with me on Monday. We’re heading to New York.”
Henrietta has always been a master of tweaking a story to her benefit, so this doesn’t come as a surprise to me.
“You’re not going anywhere unless you enjoy traveling in a coffin.”
She laughs in my face.
“We’ll see about that.”
She slides her purse onto my desk, rounds it, and sits on the polished surface.
Dangerous move she’s made.
I know she’s in the mood to taunt me, but this won’t work the way she thinks it will.
“You need to cool off, Damon. You want to fuck her. Fine. Do it.”
She throws a hand up in the air.
“I don’t care. But you can’t humiliate me in front of the staff. You can’t dispose of my life as you please. You can’t just move me to the guesthouse.”
“You should’ve thought about that before you started to act like a jealous wife.”
“I can act whichever way I want. I don’t take directions from you.”
“Actually, you do. You can leave at any moment if you put back the money that you stole from me.”
“What about her? She needs to go with me.”
I smile.
Entertained.
“That’s the kicker. I’ll follow her, so you’ll still have me in your life, for about a year at least. As silly as it seems, living in the guesthouse is the better option for you. If you want to leave, I’ll come with you.”
“You can’t leave your business.”
“I can do a lot of things that you aren’t aware of, but that’s not what we’re discussing here. Your leaving has nothing to do with her. I won’t let you spend the summer in New York. You’re not a free woman, Henrietta. You can’t do whatever you want. I mean you can, if you return the missing money.”
She presses her lips, thinking about what I just said.
“I’ll say this. I’m not running away from you. Your men can guard me around the clock. I’m not going to New York to escape my obligations. I’m moving there to take her away from you.”
“You must’ve lost your mind.”
She snaps a finger up.
“Let me finish. If you have real feelings for her, this is the best opportunity for you to test them. If she has real feelings for you, she’ll wait for you.”
I stare at her in disbelief.
“You’ve lost your mind, dear wife.”
The sarcasm is not lost on her.
She shrugs a shoulder carelessly.
“If you’re not doing that, I’ll tell her you’re only fucking her because you want to get all the money that her sweet daddy left for her.”
Any other day, I would’ve found this funny, entertaining even.
“You make no sense.”
“Don’t I? Because living in the guesthouse so you can fuck her in your house makes a lot of sense.”
I set my drink down.
“Listen to me carefully. You’re alive and talking to me right now because I didn’t put a bullet in your head. A decision I begin to regret.”
“No, you listen to me. The only reason I’m alive is that you spotted a unique opportunity to get your money back from my inheritance. Had I not been a widow, you wouldn’t have made an exception.”
“Precisely. And, what’s your point?”
She sighs.