Chapter 22 #2
Stripping out of my clothes, I made my way to the bathroom to get myself together. First washing my face and brushing my teeth, I turned my shower on and stood over the toilet to relieve myself as the water warmed.
My mouth turned upside down seeing the dried residue on my dick.
The hell happened last night?
Normally I would think Xylina seduced me while I was drunk but since I was in her room and in her bed, I highly doubted that was the case.
Instead of stressing, I went through my morning routine to prepare for the day.
I planned on working from my home office and made sure to have my assistant send over forms I needed to review.
I had a text from my dad when I got out of the shower, asking if I could stop by later to take a look at their home network.
After agreeing, I dressed in sweats and a T-shirt.
Even when I worked from home, I still dressed as if I was going into the office, but my head was pounding and my body felt sluggish.
I didn’t have any meetings that required me to be seen.
Outside of a few software reviewing and coding jobs, I was mainly looking over paperwork.
After popping a painkiller for my head, I made my way to the kitchen to see what the chef prepared this morning. The house was quiet. Normally Princess would greet me when she heard me moving about in the morning since I always woke up before Xylina, even with her now working for Simone.
My stomach coiled at the biscuits and gravy in front of me. Instead I opted for yogurt and fruit along with my coffee.
Leaving the kitchen to go to my office, I ended up running into Xylina, who looked like she had just come back in from walking Princess. She wore biker shorts with a cropped sports jacket half open, displaying the sports bra underneath.
“Excuse me,” she muttered, attempting to step around me. She avoided my eyes, which was completely unlike her, even in the times we weren’t on the same page.
“Xylina.” I grabbed her arm, causing her to flinch. My brows furrowed and my mouth turned upside down, confused by her reaction. “I don’t recall last night. Can you inform me what happened? I was confused when I woke up in your bed this morning.”
Xylina lifted her chin, giving me a stare from under her long lashes. They batted lightly and her eyes bounced around my face.
“You don’t remember?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Squinting, I took a good look at her, taking in the bite marks along her neck and cleavage. I had marked her on my birthday trip, but it was nothing like this. This bruising looked almost painful.
Dread exploded in my gut. Slowly, I lifted my hand to brush over her neck, causing her to pull back. “Did I do this last night?” I wondered, stupidly. I hadn’t touched her in almost two weeks, so unless she had been with someone else of course I had done this, but I had no memory of it.
“It’s fine, things got a little too intense that’s all.” This time she smiled at me. I believed it was meant to be her typical seductive, mischievous smile, but instead it was strained and fake.
Princess barked, causing Xylina’s eyes to snap around me.
“Princess wants her treats for being good on our walk.” The sound of vibrating gained my attention.
Xylina reached down, pulling her phone out of her pocket.
“Oh and this is Simone, so…” She didn’t bother to wait for me to respond.
Stepping around me, she answered the phone and placed it to her ear while heading to the kitchen.
I was lost. I was used to Xylina being clingy and vying for my attention.
I’d been distant with her lately, but that never stopped her from being upbeat and flirty around me before.
Her whole demeanor was off. And the markings on her neck and chest had me wondering how far things went last night.
I didn’t know a lot about pregnancy, but since learning about hers, I had done some minor reading and it was said that the first trimester was a delicate time, meaning rough sex was off the table, right?
From the markings on her, I assumed that what happened last night, but she didn’t complain or mention anything was wrong so maybe I was overthinking things.
This time my phone vibrating in my pocket grabbed my attention. Pushing last night out of my mind, I shifted my focus to work mode. I was sure it was my assistant calling me again to figure out what was going on.
First, I would focus on business. The beta version of my company’s new venture was due to release at the end of the month, a smart security system.
We were starting with an alarm system and cameras before moving on to home appliances.
It was a whole new branch in Blue Shield and had taken a while to get up and running properly.
Finding the right people to handle things was challenging.
Since we were known to be a tech company handling coding, cyber security, and software development, this new lane was a learning curve.
I knew all the tech stuff, but that was where my knowledge ended.
Making sure the team leading this new branch was efficient enough to work without being micromanaged was my biggest task.
My goal was to be the top tech company in the world by Blue Shield’s ten-year anniversary.
I wanted to become the Black Bill Gates, no…
be bigger than that. I wanted to create a monopoly that no one could compete with and leave no stone unturned, having my hands in everything.
This was just the first step. It had been a year in the making but the time was finally here and I couldn’t afford to be distracted when the finish line was so close.
“Something on your mind, son?” Dad questioned.
I was finishing updating his and Mom’s home network and tightening their security. He had complaints that their internet hadn’t been working properly, and since it was my company’s wi-fi he was using, it was an easy fix.
“What makes you ask that?” I lifted my eyes from the screens in front of me and glanced at Dad.
He studied me for a moment then shrugged. “Call it father’s intuition, you seem distracted and that’s not like you.”
Maybe I was losing my touch. I was usually able to block outside noise easily when I was working, but the baby situation had been weighing heavily on me.
This wasn’t something that would just pass easily.
A whole baby was growing in my wife and would be here before I knew it.
There were too many blurred lines between us.
Most of it was on my part, I knew. I was allowing my feelings to lead me instead of common sense.
I needed to get my head out of my ass, man up, and have a conversation with Xylina.
But anytime I laid eyes on her, I felt the betrayal and my anger took over.
I was the type to handle things on my own, but maybe getting outside advice was needed.
Dad was always levelheaded. Besides the issue with Phillip years back, he was good at handling things and deescalating issues without fuss.
Since the work I needed to handle was pretty much finished, I set my laptop to the side and gave Dad my full attention. I took a minute to gather my thoughts and figure out where to start.
“Xylina’s pregnant,” I blurted. Dropping the biggest bomb might as well be the opener.
Dad’s eyes ballooned. It was almost comical. “Oh? I wasn’t expecting you to say that?” He rubbed the back of his back, releasing an uncertain chuckle. “I thought you were about to say she was cheating.”
I frowned. “Why would you think that?” One thing I never suspected Xylina of was infidelity.
She was too obsessed with me and making this marriage work to cheat.
I thought early on in the marriage she would step out since we were barely intimate and I ignored her most of the time, but from what I know, she never did.
“Just a thought. The two of you don’t have the most conventional marriage, so I just figured…” His words trailed off.
With my face still balled up, I shook my head. That was a conversation I didn’t want to get into. “Well no, that’s not the issue. Xylina’s pregnant and things have been rocky with us since finding out.”
“Mhm, I see,” he stated slowly, stroking his chin. “And I assume you’re not happy about it?”
I sighed and ran my hand down my face. If I didn’t break down the full story, I would just be talking in circles. I took the next couple minutes explaining things to my dad. He kept his feelings off his face, listening without interruption.
“Ah, I see.” He nodded slowly. “So your feelings are hurt.”
“What? No, I’m frustrated because I’m being forced into this situation without my consent.”
Dad gave me a grin that read that he knew something I didn’t. I was beginning to regret opening my mouth.
“You know your whole life you’ve been so mature for your age.
Even as a kid, you were always advanced and independent.
Outside of necessities, you rarely asked me and your mother for help the older you got.
A lot of my friends used to complain about shit their kids got into, but I never had the luxury because you rarely shared your issues with anyone. Seeing you now is kind of refreshing.”
“I’m glad you can take satisfaction in my problems,” I stated blandly.
He shook his head. “You misunderstand me, son. I’m not taking satisfaction in anything. It’s just nice seeing you need my advice for once.”
“So what do you suggest?” My patience was growing thin.
“You need to talk to your wife. Holding everything in isn’t good for anyone.
Hell, your current situation is proof of that.
” Guilt passed through his face for a second.
“I didn’t talk to your mother when I fucked up with my company and the result of that was you being forced to give up five years of your life in order to help me. ”
“Our situations are completely different.”