“I know exactly what she is! And I don’t need your fucking validation or your approval. I love her.” It wasn’t easy to keep my tone steady now. But I fought the urge to rage back at him.
“She doesn’t have any idea how to run a fucking company!” he objected lamely.
“She doesn’t have to. If you behave yourself, you’ll do it.” He was shaking his head in outrage. “I just can’t… Why the fuck would you do something like this, Prince?”
“Because I want to, Dad,” I answered. It was more than that. I needed to. I’d seen what Sasha had been through. I needed her to know that she’d never be reduced to that again. She could pick the career of her choice, knowing she would always be financially secure.
“And when your fucking sham of a marriage disintegrates? What then?” he sneered.
“It won’t,” I answered. “I’ll see to it. This is the woman I plan to spend the rest of my life with.” He snorted, but I went on. “I’ve spent years seeing how it shouldnotbe done, Dad. You’ve been a fucking disaster as a husband. I’ll start by doing the exact opposite.”
“Really? Do you think your mother would agree?” his tone remained sneering.
“Absolutely. She knows all about your little ‘indiscretions’ and your affairs. The irony is that you keep accusing Sasha of being a whore when you’ve spent countless thousands on whores of your own. You’re a pig, Dad. You don’t deserve to be married to a woman like my mother.”
His cheeks flushed with rage, and for a second, I thought his head might explode.
“Before you go off raging at me, give some thought to what I just said, Dad.” I paused to let the words sink in. “Mom knows.” He stared silently. “I never told her,” I added before he started throwing accusations about. “She’s no fool. And you haven’t done much to hide any of it. She simply chooses to stay with you and turn a blind eye. She says she loves you. I don’t know why. Maybe she wants to keep the family together. Whatever her reasoning, you’d just better be fucking grateful she hasn’t thrown you out on your ass.”
“If she knows what’s good for her…” he began to splutter.
“No, Dad! If you know what’s good foryou, you’ll get your fucking act together,” I snapped. “Just remember who owns the other half of those shares.”
His eyes bugged out for a second. Voices were coming back from within the house, and I knew the others were returning. My father fixed me with a hard stare as my mother swept into the room, followed by the woman of my dreams and her small, bemused family.
“Ah!” my mother said, beaming. “It looks like you two have been having a catch-up.”
Dad gave a curt nod, and I smiled innocently. “Having fun with Mom, Sweetness?” I asked Sasha. She nodded and settled back into her seat beside me. It warmed me to feel her close. I’d barely let her out of my sight since those moments in the hotel. It had been a day I didn’t want to relive, yet it was a turning point between us. If there’d ever been a doubt in my mind that this was the woman I wanted in my world, it had been obliterated then.
“It’s starting to feel real,” she said as she grinned up at me. I brushed my lips against the top of her head.
“Just wait till we take you for your first fittings, darling!” my mother said gaily. “Your wedding dress is the best part of it all.”
“Quite right,” said my father. “You’re going to make a radiant bride, my dear. Prince is a lucky man.” I blinked, but said nothing. He’d turned to my mother. “Another glass of wine, Angel?” he asked.
“That would be lovely, Drew,” she answered, aiming a pretty smile at him. As he rose to fetch the bottle from the server behind her, she looked in my direction and widened her eyes in question. I shrugged. Her eyes widened further as my father topped up her glass and then brushed his lips against her forehead in a gesture similar to the one I’d just bestowed upon Sasha.
Seemed like the old bastard might be taking my message to heart.
Sasha Ramirez
What I Have at Home
“No peeking now!” Renée said firmly. I kept one hand linked around her arm and the other stretched out in front of me, afraid to bump into anything.
“How could I possibly peek,” I answered. “You’ve tied this blindfold so tightly I can’t even open my eyes!”
“Good,” she responded. “Careful now. There’s a step in front of you. Lift your foot.”
I obeyed and found myself treading on a carpet. “Where the heck are we going?” I asked for the fifth time since she’d collected me from the apartment that evening. As our best man and maid of honor respectively, Andy and Renée had been tasked with arranging our stag and hen nights. And Renée took her job very seriously. I was dressed like a French maid, with a sash that read “Bride to Be” across my chest. Andy had left with Prince an hour before my own departure. Any reservations I may have had about his plans were dashed away when he pulled me into a panty-wetting kiss before heading out the door.
“I’d rather be here with you,” he’d grumbled. I felt the same way, although I knew I’d break Renée’s heart if I said as much. She’d been hopping with excitement as she’d coaxed me into a flouncy black and white-trimmed mini dress complete with suspenders and stockings.
She was steering me through a vast space now, and I was aware of muffled voices and noises around me. When she finally brought me to a halt and whipped off the blindfold, I blinked for a few seconds. And then the cacophony of sound began.
“Surprise!” a crowd of raucous women shouted. I choked out a laugh.
“Tadaaa!” Renée announced as I stared around in amazement. My mom and Prince’s mother Eleanor were both there at the front of the group, along with Inocencia. We’d spent the afternoon together doing the final fitting of my wedding dress. White satin and lace that made me feel like a princess. Mom had cried. So had I. I think even Eleanor had shed a little tear.
