Chapter 31

 

 

I didn’t think I was ever going to get out of the house. Drew hardly worked at all. I mean I was happy that he wasn’t working so much, but I wanted to go back to the sandwich shop to work on my plan that I didn’t have. I still didn’t know what I was supposed to say to the guy, and even if I could offer him money, how did I get it without Drew finding out?

Drew was tied up all day Tuesday with meetings. He whined a little when I asked to go over to Alicia’s, but Celeste helped when she interrupted, saying some important investor or someone was on hold. I didn’t pay much attention. I kissed him and told him to ride home with Celeste, she and I were going to make supper.

Alicia and I hung out by the pool with Vincent while the babies napped, and then left them with the nanny while she and I prepared a full course meal.

“Can I see your phone for a second?” I asked, Alicia, pretending to look around for mine. I knew I’d left it on the table by the door. I did that on purpose.

“Right there,” she nodded. “Where’s yours?”

“I don’t know. It’s around here somewhere,” I feigned ignorance.

I did a quick search on Alicia’s phone. The only thing I really needed was Drew’s driver’s license and most banks asked for social security numbers. I didn’t know Drew’s social security number. Drew knew mine, he kept the little blue card locked in his office safe. How was I supposed to get that? Some banks also required a four digit code, luckily the one I needed to get into didn’t require that. Lucky for me, like that was going to matter.

“What are you doing?” Alicia finally asked.

“Nothing, just looking for a something to send Caroline for her birthday,” I lied the perfect lie and handed her phone back. Maybe I should tell Alicia what I was up to. Maybe she would help me. No, she’d deem me crazy, tell Celeste, Celeste would tell Drew, and I’d be locked up for life.  I had to figure it out on my own. If I go through all this and find a string of pearls or something, I’m going to scream.

Drew arrived with Celeste around five, and we all sat down for our well thought out meal. Celeste and Drew both bragged about the old fashioned American meal. Our full course meal consisted of fat cheeseburgers with the works, homemade chili, cheese fries, fresh buttered broccoli, and one crisp dill pickle on each plate. Nicholas loved the dill pickle and wanted nothing else. I kept getting mad at Drew because he wouldn’t stop giving it to him so that I could get him to eat some real food.

We were going to have an issue with the discipline. I could see it now. Nicholas only had to scream or whine for something and Drew gave it to him. Nicky was smart, he caught on to that trick pretty quick. Drew gave him everything he wanted, I didn’t.

“Did Morgan tell you we were going to have another baby?” Drew asked, looking at Alicia after I took the pickle away from him and gave Nicky a bite of broccoli instead. I dropped my fork to my plate with a loud clink. I might have stabbed him with it had I not gotten it out of my hand.

“Oh, my god, Morgan! Why didn’t you tell me?” Alicia exclaimed excitedly.

“Because, we’re not having a baby. Drew fell down the steps and bumped his head,” I retorted, glaring at Drew.

He smiled and reached for the pickle, snapping off a piece for Nicholas. He whined, he wanted the pickle, and pushed the spoon of broccoli away.

Celeste saved the day and an argument by changing the subject, thank god.

“Are you getting a safety deposit box?” Celeste asked, looking at Alicia’s phone.

FUCK!!!!

“I don’t know. I thought maybe we should. You know for the kid’s birth certificate, socials, and stuff like that,” Alicia replied, right on target. I breathed a sigh of relief. I never thought about that happening. Celeste went on to tell her they didn’t need that, they had a walk-in safe in her office, and for her not to worry about things like that. She took care of it. , she was so much like Drew. Alicia gave me a look while, taking her unnecessary lecture. She knew I was up to something.

“You’re still doing lunch with me tomorrow, right?” Alicia asked at the door. I looked to Drew for the answer. I hadn’t mentioned that to him. He would throw a fit about it, I was sure.

“You’ve been together all day. Why do you need to do that?” Drew asked, taking Nicky from my arms. Drew really did think I liked being with him twenty four seven. It wasn’t all a control thing. He honestly thought I needed to be up his ass day in and day out. Mostly I did, but I still needed to breathe different air than him occasionally.

“Did you have plans for me tomorrow, Drew?” I smartly asked. You could say I was a little annoyed with my husband by the time we left. Alicia already lectured me about the way he controlled everything I did. I hated it when he did it in front of her. I couldn’t deny it all the time when he did that.

“No, I’m working, but I’ll be at home.”

“Yeah, so what? Yes, I’ll go. You picking me up or you want me to pick you up?” I asked. I didn’t mean to say the ‘so what’ part. It slipped.

“I’ll pick you up at one. Maybe we’ll go downtown and check out that new art museum.”

“Okay, talk to you tomorrow,” I said, saying goodnight. Drew didn’t speak, not to her anyway.

“And maybe you won’t,” he answered where only I could hear him. I knew he wouldn’t let me go downtown for whatever reason. He had a million of them, the traffic, drugs, rapes, the murderers, I might get lost, I could be in another accident, or the reason I think was behind it I could disappear again.

“You don’t need to have lunch with Alicia tomorrow. What do you want? I’ll have Marta make it for you,” Drew said, taking my hand in the car.

“I’m not sure what I will want tomorrow. It’s not about that and you know it. Drew you’re smothering me. You’ve got to stop.”

“I know. You’re right. You can go with Alicia, just promise me you won’t go downtown to some art museum.”

“I am not going to promise you that. Alicia and I are both grown women capable of handling society.”

“We’re not going to argue about it, Morgan. I don’t want you on or around the strip and that’s that. You can go to the little sandwich shop, the bookstore, library, even that dumb little pawnshop you like going to, but I don’t want you on the strip. I’m not talking about it anymore. I mean what I say.”

The pawnshop….That’s it. I could get money from the pawnshop. I had a jewelry box full of rings, necklaces, bracelets, broaches, and I was sure everything in there was worth a pretty penny or thousands. Drew would never miss it, and if he did, I’d just say I lost it.

“Morgan, did you hear me?” Drew interrupted my scheming thoughts.

“Yes, what part did you think I missed? The part where you gave me permission to go on this side of town, or was it the part where you were forbidding me to go to the strip.”

“Are we really going to do this?”

“No, Drew. We’re not doing this,” I agreed, deciding it wasn’t worth the fight. I wouldn’t win it anyway.

Drew needed to go work in his office for a while. Drew and I needed a timeout. He was irritated with me, and I was indisputably exasperated with him. He didn’t go back to work. He followed me upstairs with Nicholas. I changed his diaper, and Drew took him to the toy box. Nicky didn’t play with any of it. He made a mess, taking everything he could reach out and dropping it to the floor. Once in a while, he’d sit down and put it back, but that was more work. It was easier for Drew to put them back.

“You got him for a while? I’m going to take a bath.”

“Come here,” Drew coaxed, reaching for me with his hand. I didn’t want to go to him. I wanted him to leave me alone.

Drew pulled me to his lap, and I picked up a truck, spinning the wheels, trying to ignore Drew with a pout.

“Stop being mad at me,” he teased, poking my ribs.

“Stop,” I whined.

“I think it must be that time of month. You’re awfully grouchy.”

“I’m not grouchy. I’m tired of being treated like a teenager. I don’t need you tell me what’s best for me.”

“Morgan, it’s not about that. I can’t stand the thought of something happening to you.”

“You can’t keep me locked up here with you because you worry about me.”

“I know. I’m trying. Give me some time. I’m getting there.”

“Okay, I agreed.” I knew this was hard for Drew. I knew he was trying and would hopefully lose his insecurities and trust me. I wasn’t sure how much more I could handle. I thought I was doing fine. I didn’t think I minded the way he was but in truth, I did. It made me think of life in Maine for the first time in a very long time.

That’s what I reflected on while I soaked in a hot bubble bath, life in Maine. Oh how I missed it. Not so much the cold winters, but the beach, my friends, Starlight, Lauren, and even Dawson. Dawson never treated me this way. I remembered asking his permission one afternoon to go out with Starlight and Lauren to see a movie. He looked at me like I had said the most ridiculous thing in the world. I never asked after that. I actually even taunted with it a couple times after that, like it was a really big deal to tell him I am doing something.

Dawson never cared what I did, or who I did it with. Drew would never be that way. We could hire a hundred Deidra’s and it wouldn’t matter. Drew was always going to want control over me. Was I willing to give it to him? I already had. I just wasn’t sure I was willing to let him keep it.

***

“You’re still mad at me,” Drew accused when I didn’t lay my book down and give him my full attention.

“No I’m not.”

“You are too. If you weren’t, you’d put that book down and pay attention to me.”

Do I know my husband or what?

“I’m at a really good part,” I countered.

“Read it to me.”

“No.”

“Take your panties off and read it to me.”

Stupid vagina.

Stupid vagina and stupid book. I really was at a good part. I would be rereading it again the following day. I have no idea what I was reading, and I wasn’t really thinking about what Drew was doing while I sat between his legs or what his fingers were doing to my pussy. My mind went to the first time Drew had done this. He was pissed about a deal that Derik had lost and was yelling at him in the living area where I was reading.

I sat just like this, between his legs, against his chest, while he reached around me, played with my pussy, and twisted my nipple while I read to him.

“Don’t stop,” Drew warned, just like he had the first time. I tried to keep reading words I couldn’t understand. I was losing. “Don’t come,” Drew also warned in my hair. I was screwed. I was going to come and then I was going to lay across my husband’s lap and take a spanking. I swear my pussy knew it too. Just thinking about it made me want to come.

“Don’t stop, Drew,” I moaned, writhing into his fingers, almost there when he stopped, hearing Nicholas fuss.

“Nicholas is crying.”

Holding his fingers with my hand, I rubbed them around my pulsating nub, myself. I wasn’t about to let him quit. I was right there. Drew rubbed, quicker and harder, letting me release.

“Let me up,” he demanded.

“Uh-uh, wait a minute,” I panted, needing to come down from my high first. “I’ll get him.”

“What is the problem here, little man?” I asked, turning the dim lamp on in Nicholas’s room. “Mommy’s trying to have an adult moment with your daddy. It’s time for you to go to bed.”

I picked him up, checked his dry diaper, and laid him back down with a kiss. I didn’t even have the blanket over him when he rolled over and pulled himself up again, determined he wasn’t going to bed yet. Mommy was determined that he was.

“What are you doing? He’s still crying,” Drew pointed out the fact, laying on his side, stroking his massive erection. Damn.

“He’s fine. He’s fed, bathed, read to, and dry. He’ll give up soon,” I assured him, taking his hardness in my hand.

“He probably wants you to rock him or something.”

“Drew, he’s fine.”

Damn it.

“I’ll rock him myself,” Drew said, getting up and pulling on a pair of boxers that did little to conceal his ready for me cock. Grrrrr.

I should have stayed in bed. I shouldn’t have taken it the way I did, but damn it, I didn’t want Nicholas to think all he had to do was yell a little, and somebody would come and give him what he wanted.

“Leave him in bed, Drew,” I followed, coming between him and Nicky.

“Move, Morgan.”

“No, Drew. There is nothing wrong with him. I don’t want him thinking all he has to do is throw a tantrum like his dad and he’ll get what he wants.”

“Excuse me?” Drew questioned in the tone. Shit, I wasn’t going for this either. I was going for sex. “You think I throw a tantrum to get what I want?”

“No, Drew. I’m only referring to Nicholas. There is nothing wrong with him. He’s just fighting sleep. Let’s leave him alone and let him fall asleep on his own.”

“Why? Because you’d rather have your pussy rubbed than take care of your son?”

“Really? You’re going to talk like this in front of our son?”

“He had no clue what I just said. Is that what your problem is, Morgan? Your pussy needs to be rubbed?” Drew asked, trying to move his fingers between my legs. I forced his hand away from me with a jerk, stepping away from him.

“I don’t need you to touch anything. Go ahead, get him up, teach him to get what he wants before he’s even two.”

“Shut up, Morgan. I’m warning you. Shut the hell up.”

“Fuck you,” I yelled, instantly feeling the back of his hand across my eye. It all happened so fast, I’m not even sure how many times he hit me. I know I was on the floor, he was on top of me, and poor little Nicky was screaming now, scared to death. That’s when Drew came to his senses, looked down in a realization of what he was doing to me and got up. He picked up Nicky, shushing and comforting him as he sat in the rocking chair. I scrambled to my feet and left them.

“Why, Morgan?” Drew asked, sitting on my side of the bed after getting Nicholas asleep and in bed.

“Why what?” I asked, still tasting blood from the inside of my lip.

“Why do you make me do that? Why can’t you just do what I tell you to do?” he asked, turning me to the side and rubbing my ass. Now he was going to punish me for making him hit me. We’d have amazing fucked up sex, and he’d be sorry. I either went along with it, enjoyed the honeymoon stage until the next time or else, well, I didn’t really have an or else. I did what he said or there were consequences. There were no other alternatives with Drew.  Drew didn’t really give me options.

“Get up here and lay across my lap.”

I routinely did what I was told. Frustrated, I let my body takeover, getting off on my husband leaving his hand print on my bare ass. Moaning as he dipped his finger deep into my pussy.

“Roll over, baby,” Drew, huskily coaxed. I knew what he was planning. I hated and loved it all at the same time. “On your stomach.” I knew what that was all about too. He couldn’t look at my battered face at the same time he made me come.

Drew positioned me how he wanted me, arching my hips and spreading my legs so that my entire backside was exposed to him. That wasn’t the embarrassing part.

Drew moved from the bed and I stayed still, listening to him retrieve whatever he was planning on using from the drawer. Feeling the squirt of cool gel on my ass, I felt the first smaller ball and then the next and next, until all five of the metal balls were inserted into my ass. Drew held his thumb there, insuring they stayed securely hiding in my ass while his other finger danced on my clitoris. I moaned, forgetting about the taste of blood or swelling beneath my eye. This time was way different than the other handful of times Drew had gotten me off like this. I didn’t feel the three squirts of liquid being forced from my body by my husband. I felt one, very long, powerful bout at the same time I felt the balls being pulled from my ass.

I was all but screaming in ecstasy, feeling my juices being spread all over my pussy and inner thighs by Drew’s hand. Where the hell did this man learn to do this stuff? I felt like I was falling, stuck in a whirling tornado, or flying through the air. It wouldn’t stop, the quavering deep in my core, pulsating over and over, causing me to drop to the bed.

Drew came to the side of my face and inserted his cock into my mouth. He fucked my mouth, rubbing the pad of his thumb over my bruising eye. He didn’t stay there as long as he normally would. He couldn’t look at my face and do this. I felt another squirt of K-Y jelly on my ass and then felt him slide in with a moan. Drew once again pulled me to my knees, holding my hands behind my back while fucking me in the ass.

“You know you bring this on yourself, don’t you, Morgan?” he asked, more for himself than me.

I moaned in agreement. I knew Drew was getting close when he went faster, deeper, and more aggressively, pumping in and out of my ass. He slowly pulled out, pumped his cock and released. Feeling the bouts hit my ass and core, he rubbed it around with his cock.

Just like always, the intense love making was over, and reality once again set in. I removed myself from the bed and went to the shower. Drew joined me, kissing every little place his hands hurt me.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to go with Alicia, go to the sandwich shop, or to our next appointment with Deidra. Drew went, and I listened, participating through a conference call on my bed. I was trying to avoid Marta, feigning an illness. I would be so mad at Drew if she quit again. Of course things were wonderful between us. They always were after Drew hit me. Drew could win the husband of the year award ten times over after this happened. And I devoured it, forgetting as much as I could about the bruises on my face.

                                   

“Are you here with us, Morgan?” Deidra asked over the phone at the start of the conference call.

“I’m here,” I replied, sitting Indian style, getting cozy for the session that Drew was attending without me.

“I hope you’re feeling better.”

“I’m fine, just a little bug.”

“Okay, we’ll just have Drew do most of the talking. Feel free to jump in anytime.”

“I will.”

“You can pick up where you left off last week,” she offered.

How the hell did he do that? I didn’t even know where he left off. He remembered though, and it took me a minute to remember where he was the week before. Oh yeah, he was about to talk about the day I’d regained my memory.

“I left Morgan sleeping the following morning,” Drew began. “I was only going to Dallas, and would be back in a day. I thought about sending Derik, but wanted to see the merchandise myself. I definitely didn’t want the store, but I was interested in the retail. The building was too old and not in an upscale part of the city where I would have even considered it. It was best I took care of it myself. As I said, I’d be in and out in a day.

Morgan was gone when I checked in on her later in the afternoon. I didn’t call her, figuring she and Marta went out for lunch, the library, or maybe even the park. I had a meeting with the owner of Jan’s Jewels anyway, and I was trying to give her space, not worry about her so much.

I called a little later when I logged on, concerned seeing her sleeping on our bed. She promised she was fine and didn’t need Dr. Tharp. We talked again before she went to bed and once again she promised she was fine.

I never thought a thing. Everything looked perfectly normal to me. I couldn’t wait to get home. I checked in on Morgan the next day she was in the kitchen with Marta, sending her out of the house for the weekend. I shook my head, buttoning my cuffs, amused at her. She knew I hated when she did that. I didn’t mind her sending Marta away. I just wanted her to wait until I was home. I didn’t like her being there alone.

I wouldn’t be long though. I would be in the air and back home within two hours. And I was glad that Marta was leaving us alone for the weekend. It insured I’d be exploring Morgan’s body all over the house. That made me very excited.

Coming from the bathroom, I lifted my jacket from the chair and slid in one arm. I was just getting ready to close my laptop when I froze. Morgan went black in an instant. Where the hell did she get that bat? Better question, what the hell was she doing? She’d lost her mind for sure. I dialed her number watching the camera views on my screen disappear after the contact of the bat, because she had demolished them. She knew. She remembered. Fuck. She remembered and I wasn’t there with her.

“You don’t need to call me you son of a bitch. You can hear every word I’m saying,” she screamed. One by one I watched the cameras being smashed by Morgan’s deadly hands and a wooden bat; I was wondering where the hell she got it from.

Debating on what to do, I dialed Derik. He was my only option. Someone had to calm her down.

‘How’d it go?’ he answered, nonchalantly.

‘Derik go to the mansion. Now! Morgan knows. She knows everything.’

‘What? How do you know?’

‘She’s smashing cameras with a bat. Get over there and calm her down.’

‘I told you this would happen. What does she know?’

“I don’t know. I’m on my way now. Don’t you fucking touch her. You understand me?’

‘Yeah, I hear ya,’ he replied. I wasn’t convinced. Fuck. I needed to be home. If he so much as laid one finger on her, I’d kill him.

That was the longest two hours of my life. Running to the car, I dialed Morgan’s phone with no answer. Derik wouldn’t answer his either. Shit. Something happened. Something was wrong. I could feel it.

I had no idea what the hell happened. Derik was MIA, Morgan wasn’t answering her phone and there was no sign of her when I finally entered the house.

‘Morgan,’ I called to the empty house.

‘I ran upstairs, the den, the kitchen, my office, she wasn’t anywhere. Where the hell was she? It was a long shot, but I walked down the long hall where Michael once slept and where I’d once kept Morgan locked for days. She wouldn’t go down that way. She always said it gave her the creeps and left an eerie feeling in her bones. I, of course, knew why she felt that way. I felt that way about that room too.

‘Morgan,’ I softly spoke.

Her words will haunt me for the rest of my life.

‘Do you think it’s still Stockholm syndrome when you fall in love with the Drew that you didn’t know?’

 I hated the thought of that. Stockholm syndrome. What a filthy word and she felt that way. She thought I was a monster.

She’d no doubt lost her mind. She stood and pointed the gun right at my head when I tried to go to her. That was the first time in my life that I’d felt real pain. She cried, shaking and screaming out everything I’d ever done to her. Her entire life had been a bad joke and I made it worse.

‘You hit me, Drew. You hurt me,’ she cried over and over. Her words rang like sound waves, repeating incessantly, ‘You hit me, you hurt me.’

I’d finally done it. Everything that had been bothering her over the last few months was out. She knew. I spent an hour confessing and explaining through a microphone, just like I’d spoke to her many times. Knowing she was crying from everything that I was saying to her, I wanted to go to her. I wanted to hold her and take away the pain, the pain that I caused. The pain that I could have kept from her, and now the fury that I felt learning that Derik had raped her, not once, not twice, but multiple times. I let that happen to her too.”

I could have interrupted Drew at that moment. I almost told him that I forgave him, and not to be sad over it. I didn’t say anything when I felt the pain in my eye after touching it. Brushing my hair back in a breath of disgust about all of this, I felt it, deciding to keep quiet and let Drew talk.

“Locked in that room for four hours, I paced, cussed screamed, and hated myself. Would she really leave me there? What did she mean with my sheriff? She was really going to marry another man while being married to me? That meant he fucked her. I’d kill that son of a bitch. Some other man had his hands on Morgan. My mind was all over the place. What right did I have to be angry with a man that evidently did what I didn’t? He loved her. Why didn’t I love her? Why couldn’t I have been the prince charming that day when she turned eighteen, picked her up with a white horse and carriage, and got to know her?

Not even a year before I would have been fretting about her exposing me to Callaway, telling him all that I had done to her. That wasn’t what I was worried about. I didn’t care about any of it. I was worried that I was going to lose her. I couldn’t lose her. It could have been great. I could have shown her so much. We could have experienced a whole world together. Why did I have to be such an ass?

I excitedly looked up when I heard the lock on the door hours later. Morgan stood, staring at me. Taking a step forward she stopped me with her hand on my chest. I stopped.

‘I don’t want any of this,’ she stated, taking a step back and crossing her arms. ‘I want to go home. I want to go to Maine where I have friends.’

I nodded. What else was I going to do? What right did I have?  ‘I’ll have Felix fly you there.’

I tried to tell her how sorry I was, how much I loved her, but expectedly it didn’t work. She left.

I should have given her space, let her have a moment to breath, soak it all in. I couldn’t do it. I called to make sure she made it to Maine okay, and then later on that night. The height of my day became my nightly conversations with Morgan. Two whole weeks, I went without seeing her. I couldn’t take it. I had to see her. There had to be some reason for me to go to her.

‘I want to find my mom,’ she confessed as we talked on the phone.

 That was all I needed. I’d find her mother and deliver the news.

I didn’t really have a hard time at all finding Amanda.  She had married a handyman, opened a bed and breakfast in North Carolina, and had a daughter. I delivered the news to Morgan the very next day.

I would almost say that was the best couple days of my life. I mowed her grass for her, changed her oil, and hunted sea glass, my new favorite thing to do. I actually found one of the rarest colors there is: black. I was going to do something special with it, for Morgan. We made love on top of the world again, this time overlooking the ocean.

And then we had a fight. Morgan left her laptop on the table while she showered. I would have been fine with the email from Dawson, offering to let her go. It was hers that pissed me off. She was downright, yelling, telling him not to do this, not to throw what they had away. I was fighting a losing battle. I’d never win. The cards were stacked against me and good guy Dawson would win.

I took off walking, calling Felix to get the plane ready. The town wasn’t too far away and I hoped someone would pick me up. I made it to the stop sign, shaking my head when I saw the good guy sheriff’s car. The car parked behind his cruiser was also familiar. They never came up for air until I was right upon them. I was fuming. I was pissed. Morgan didn’t deserve this shit. Not only was Dawson supposed to be in love with her, Lauren was supposed to be her friend. Wasn’t there some sort of girl rule about that—?”

“Drew,” I had to interrupt. What did he mean? He knew about that before I did?

“I’m sorry, Morgan.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Don’t you think things would have gone a lot smoother and been a little easier on me, had you told me that Dawson was seeing Lauren behind my back?”

“No. I don’t think that at all. I think you would have called me a snake and a liar. You would have accused me of making it up to win.”

Hmm, Drew had a point. I would have done that then. “Go on,” I requested, waiting to hear the rest.

“Dawson made excuses. ‘This isn’t what you think. Is Morgan okay?’ Dawson asked. I wanted to punch him. He had his tongue halfway down Lauren’s throat, asking if Morgan was okay.

Lauren backed away from Dawson, looking sorry herself. I wanted to slap her too. How could she do this? How could either of them do this to her? Didn’t they think she’d been through enough?

‘I’ll talk to you later.’ Lauren smiled at Dawson and walked back to her car. I glared at her, shooting daggers at her.

‘Stay away from Morgan,’ I instantly fumed at Dawson. I didn’t care what kind of law enforcement he was. I was ready to beat the hell out of him. How could he do this? She was sitting at home confused as hell about what to do, and he was doing her supposedly best friend.

‘You don’t know shit. Lauren knows where I stand with her. She knows that if I have the slightest chance with Morgan, I’m taking it.’

‘You don’t have a fucking chance in hell with Morgan,’ I yelled, shoving him against his car.

He shoved me back. ‘And you think you deserve that chance? You remember one damn thing. I was the one there to calm her down when she woke terrified of the things you did to her. You think you deserve her? You deserve to rot in prison for what you did. I only got close to someone else while spending hours and hours looking for Riley, afraid she was with you and what you were doing to her. You stay away from her and let her decide.’

‘One, her name is not, and never has been Riley. And two, if she chooses me, you can just go next door to Lauren.’

‘Fuck you, man. You have no right to look down on me. None.’

Dawson kindly gave me a lift into town, and we bickered back and forth the whole five minutes. I could see how Morgan would fall for a guy like him. Had I not just caught him kissing her best friend, I would have thought him to be a nice guy. Nice guys didn’t fuck your best friend.

I did my best to leave Morgan alone and let her figure this out on her own. I was sure that Dawson would come clean with her and be out of the picture in no time. I did buy her a nice car and had it delivered. I wasn’t about to let her travel in that piece of shit Honda she was driving. I, however, didn’t realize it was going to take her six weeks to decide.

I spent my time, trying to get my new assistant on board and up to par. I have to say that out of every guy that I interviewed Celeste Johnson was the most qualified. Maybe qualified wasn’t the word, she was a hard ass, reminded me a lot of myself. She was ten times better than Derik ever was. I may have even been a little intimidated by her.

Our very first prospect together was an actor, proposing to his actress girlfriend. We’d flown to New York City together, wined and dined the guy, and then showed him the very expensive merchandise. I’d told Celeste to keep her mouth shut and to only observe. Thankfully he fell in love with the most expensive piece I brought. The only problem was he’d told Mystified Jewels of New York he would give them a chance as well and would take a look at what they had. I nodded, telling him that I understood.

‘We recognize your need to see what Mystified has to offer, however, Mr. Stewart, this piece will no longer be available after tomorrow. Would you like for me to put a hold on the next best thing for a couple days?’ Celeste spoke up.

‘What do you mean? You can’t hold that one for me? That’s my first choice,’ he argued.

‘I wish I could, but it’s been promised to another actor after today. I would be happy to hold the other one for you.’

‘What actor?’

Celeste crossed her legs, tilted her head, and smiled. ‘You know that I can’t disclose that information. I’m sure you’ll read it in a magazine or see it on E later this month when he proposes.’

‘You know what? Let’s just wrap this up. I’ll have the money to you by tomorrow,’ the actor quickly replied.”