Thank you for the present. I’m so excited to ride it. You have no idea how much I love the idea of his and hers. I miss you. Come back to me again…last night left me craving you. And I crave you, every minute of the day. Endlessly.

Sent.

Casually resting my head against the cool leather of the engine-red headrest, a cat-like grin played on my lips as my eyes took in his generous gift—a white DB11 Aston Martin. His black.

Black and white.

His and hers.

Jared and Gisele.

St. James?

Yes, I giggled and blushed like the total idiot that I was.

Wyatt hadn’t necessarily behaved as he promised. He tried to get me underneath him five times. All attempts were unsuccessful. Though he held me to put me to sleep, I barely got any shuteye, dreading that he might try once I’d fallen asleep. And if he did so, I’d be muddled with sleepiness and confusion, most likely mistaking him for Jared as I welcomed his advances.

Regret occupied the rest of my night as I pretended to sleep while replaying Jared in my mind. It was too much of a torture, a mishap I wouldn’t dare commit again.

The second Wyatt left my bedroom, I immediately opened the drawer on my side table. Words couldn’t express how thrilled I was as I grappled the key into my hand. It wasn’t about the extravagant gift per se, but what it implied.

Surely this signified something, right? I mean, why would a man, a man who continuously reminded me he didn’t want to be with me, gift a car that was the same as his?

It couldn’t just be a coincidence or a plain ole random thought…or could it?

No. Random thoughts were a rarity to his ilk.

Jared was calculated. God designed him significantly better than the rest. His brainwaves worked more unorthodoxly than most fair-minded individuals. Randomness wasn’t part of his DNA. Just like my father. Even to the last breath, everything had been premeditated. Jared was no different.

So, this vehicle—this had to mean something substantial. It just had to. Even for Jared, this present wasn’t accidentally bought. He could’ve purchased anything, something non-related to him. And yet, he did. So, in turn, I’m left to ponder if he was slowly wrapping his mind around me, around the thought of us together.

“Please,” I whispered desperately, beckoning him to come back. My hand lingered on the wheel, caressing as I appreciated the texture of the new leather on my fingertips. “Where are you, Jared?”

I painstakingly envisioned him. The unadulterated ecstasy marring his gorgeous face, a look that signaled his restraint was about to be unshackled. A debauched expression indicating he was on the brink of capitulating to his baser instincts. A mixture of reckless raptures and pure awe as his monstrous girth stressed through my narrow passage, excruciatingly stretching my canal as he harshly plunged deeper into my core.

I marveled at the glorious feel of him moving within my body, spreading me, wildly fucking me into exquisite oblivion. And how superb he fucked.

Involuntarily, my pussy clenched as though he was still within me, pounding into me savagely.

God, I wanted more of it. More of him.

Merely donning my silk robe, I absentmindedly sat inside the interior of the car, door ajar, daydreaming in this sleek sex machine of a car, stimulated more than ever.

Thoughtlessly, I reached for my phone, which I had haphazardly tossed earlier on the passenger’s seat due to uncontained bubbling excitement. I’d since calmed down a peg or two.

Cheery as I excitedly bit on my lip, I dialed his number. It went unanswered. Jared woke up early, so there was no reason for him not to be awake. Or could he be working out with his katanas with that Japanese swordsman as well? “Let me try again.” I re-dialed his name. After the third ring, he picked up. I was about to enthusiastically greet him when a woman’s raspy voice came on the line.

“Hello?”

Was this his assistant? Her name was Audrey, right? I believed so. “Hi, Audrey. It’s Gisele Weber. Is the big boss available?”

There was a lengthy pause.

“Sorry, this is Rose, his girlfriend not his assistant. Jared’s asleep. We’ve been kind of busy catching up…He literally just passed out less than ten minutes ago.

“If it’s that important, I can wake him. If not, I’m more than willing to relay a message the second he wakes up.”

Rose.

His Rose.

The Rose.

“No, there’s no need.” I drastically ended the call in case Rose decided to spout off more than I could handle. After all, clearly, revealing herself to me had me in all sorts of a limbo. The whiplash I suffered from her haughty correction had me reeling.

Fuck me sideways. Here I was, fantasizing about the fucker while he’d been boning his girlfriend. Did she know about me or the fact that I had him last night? More importantly, did she give a damn if he did? Perhaps not.

Jared, though he maintained one woman at a time, liked his women compliant to his needs, whether they were satiated by her or by someone else. And on this occasion, I was the someone else.

I was the other woman. His side chick. His plaything. His dirty little secret.

The realization hit me. Hard.

How could he succeed in making me feel as though I was his sole universe and immediately get into another woman’s vagina right after? It was heartless. Totally beyond callous. Especially after I confessed I’d been in love with him all this time.

“Typical Jared move. Why didn’t I even consider this?” Hastily scramming out of the Aston Martin, I left the car in the garage without wanting to see it ever again.

Would he even call me back when Rose informed him I called? If he did, what would I even say? He wasn’t necessarily cheating on me since we weren’t together. But it still hurt. It wounded me as though he did cheat, betraying me in the most painful of ways.

Out of nowhere, the large black hulk of a man, Malik, one of the ground’s security, approached me, asking if I needed anything else just when I was about to enter the house.

Easing my contorted face, I shook my head. “No, but here,” I said, handing him the key. “Take it for a spin. At least it’ll be of some use. Better yet, why don’t you take your girl out on a date? I’ll take care of the reservations and everything.”

The ex-Seal gazed at me with absolute uncertainty. “Mr. St. James won’t be cool about that.”

I snickered. “It’s my present, so I get to do what I want with it, and right now, I want you to take your lovely pregnant woman out for a date.”

He reluctantly took the keys before whispering, “But I’m on duty.”

That could easily be remedied. “You’re free to go, Malik. If Mike or Johnson need confirmation, have them call me. Before you leave, see Thomas. He’ll have everything set by then. Cool?” I eyed him with amusement as I took in his astounded expression.

When he didn’t respond, I did more talking. “Come on, my day started out shitty. If I’m not happy, at least someone else should be. Do it as a favor to me.”

He beamed, showing his straight white teeth, grateful for my generosity. “You’re just like Mrs. Weber. She sent the missus and me to the Caribbean as her wedding present. It’s great to know that her daughter’s just as bighearted.”

Hearing the burly man’s touching sentiment made me tear up a little. “Thank you, Malik. You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that. I needed that. I miss them greatly.”

“He’ll come around,” he softly spoke through my muddled thoughts, seemingly concerned at my distraught demeanor. “A man doesn’t take time and effort for nothing. You remember that. He’ll come around. We’ve all known him for a long time, too. He’ll be back, Miss Gisele. Don’t doubt it for a second. He’ll come running back.”

“I don’t know, Malik.” A saddened smile etched my lips, disconcerted. “I honestly don’t know anymore.”

Everything was all so broken now, and with Rose still in the picture, Jared would always choose her over me. He’d give me a taste, and I always took it to heart, believing that he was mine from then on. My denials and overconfidence where Jared was concerned constantly turned calamitous. Never again would I make the same mistake. At the end of the day, this was all self-inflicted pain. My gullibility undermined growth. Perceptiveness was detrimental to my maturity. Best I learned how to tackle and balance both before it demoralized me, risking my future. Jeopardizing everything I held dear. I couldn’t have that.

Even if I was in severe mental anguish, I appreciated the journey.

This was my life—my story—and it was far from over. It had barely even begun. There would be endless journeys to experience. To conquer. To appreciate. More heartaches to overcome. More disappointments to endure. More mistakes to learn from. More adventures to thrill from. More love, more laughter to bask in. More successes to triumph from.

I was smiling through the pain because someday I’d wake up to a painless smile, and I’d appreciate it all the more.

Some did say that when God showed us it was time to let go and set them free, and we refused to do so, he’d allow them to hurt us to the point where we had no choice but to let them go.

This was my warning.

And after all this time, I was paying heed.