Drake
“HOW LONG WERE YOU FUCKINGher before you divorced me, Drake?”
My gaze snapped away from Sia’s retreating fame to my ex-wife. For one stupid minute, I was too shocked to respond. How the hell had Angela figured that out. I pulled myself together and kept my expression hard. “What the fuck are you on about?”
“If you wanted to keep your affairs private, you shouldn’t flaunt it by giving your coats to your whores.”
“What?” My head spun.
“I interviewed that slut the night you gave her your coat. If you wanted her to get into the company, you should’ve done it yourself. Didn’t expect me to figure it out, did you? I’m not dumb as you’d like to believe,” she sneered.
It all clicked into place. Sia interviewed that night at my company? How the fuck had I not figured that out when I saw her standing on the curb in her torn skirt? I stiffened. My eyes resembling the rigidity of raw titanium, I glared at Angela. My anger was more profound at the discovery that HR had a record of Sia’s details all this time. Happiness had been at my fingertips, and once again, Angela fucked it around by denying Sia a job. The muscles at my back tightened as I tried to control my anger. “She’s not a slut, Angela. That title is reserved for the dumb bitch that you’ve always been,” I gritted out.
“What?”
I studied the contorted face of a woman who’d once captured my interest briefly. I eyed her tawny hair with its sun-bleached streaks falling to petite shoulders that gave way to a perfectly proportioned body. Large, green eyes stared back at me, her chin tilted in the briefest of defiance and red lips curved in a meek smile. Yes. I’d been attracted to this woman once, before I discovered the real person inside. The money-driven egotist hell-bent on finding life as opposed to running behind a spirited toddler.
“Did you bother asking her why she was wearing my coat?”
Her smile fell. “Yes.”
“And.”
“Her skirt tore on the taxi—” she broke off, her countenance suddenly uncertain.
“Quite clearly, you never knew the man you were married to, Angela. I’m above ripping an innocent woman’s skirt to fuck her before an interview. If you weren’t such a frigid bitch maybe you’d know that. But we both know you’re not aware of my fucking proclivities.”
“How dare you? I was a good wife.”
“Really? When was that exactly?” I let out a caustic laugh. “Let me see. Oh, yes. The good wife who wanted to go where she wanted when she wanted. Alone. Late night parties when she wanted. Alone. Sex when she wanted, usually during one of her drunken escapades. Did I get that right?”
She took a step closer. “Drake, please.” Angela only used the pleading tone when she couldn’t get her way.
“I gave you your space, not to mention other things, yet you still had my name.” I didn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice. “Good wife indeed. Get out, Angela. Come back when it’s your time with the children, who are adult enough to make up their mind about seeing you, and both are not interested.”
“But I miss you guys.”
“Now.” I pointed to the entrance, indifferent to her pathetic attempt to gain my favor.
“Fine,” she huffed.
Only when I locked the front door behind Angela did I release the breath I’d be holding. There was no telling what drama her temper tantrum would’ve started. I hadn’t expected to see her until the Christmas Eve dinner. That was the agreement we’d made. While both my father and Angela weren’t happy with the status quo, after the divorce, I made it clear that what I said was final in this house. She was welcome to visit the old man but not when the children were home or during any holidays except Christmas Eve. Surprisingly, Rayden and Kyra agreed. They saw their mother when they wanted, not the other way around.
As I turned away, my gaze strayed through the glass wall that separated the house from the observatory. I leaned closer, my eyes trapped by the exquisiteness of a princess walking amid the fairy tale setting. With her hair gripped on one side and falling to her back in soft curls, her oversized jersey, the color of milk and malachite, cuddling her tight body I knew so well, she was mesmerizing. She looked up. A smile parted her pink lips as she inhaled the scent of one of the flowers. I smiled in response even though she had no idea I watched her.
Although I fought hard to control my emotions around her, I was fast losing the battle every moment she appeared. So close, yet so far. Yesterday morning and then last night in the library, I’d felt her inhibited responses to my touch. She wanted me just as badly and probably like me, hurting Rayden stayed at the forefront of her reluctance. Yet, no amount of denial could distinguish the chemistry between us. So far, all I’d seen in her was everything she’d shown me that one special night and judging by her reactions, she also hadn’t forgotten what it meant to the both of us whether she walked away or not. We’d both taken a little of each other with us. Even if we didn’t act on it, we’d never forget.
Without thinking, I let my feet follow the passages down to one of the two entrances. When I reached the door, I didn’t hesitate at the threshold. Instead, I walked to her. “Sia?”
