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“I’ll have her hurt,” she said, standing quickly, making the statement to my turned back. She sensed my resolve, and she was resorting to threatening Nina…again. This time physically, though she didn’t say the words. Charging her, I held her by the neck. I’d never gotten physical with a woman in my life, at least not this way. I squeezed hard.
“You’ll what? Eileen, you have tried the last of my patience. She is out of this. Don’t ever speak to me of her again.” I let go as her eyes bulged. I knew I hadn’t hurt her. I’d only meant to scare her, and it worked. I’d scared her into stuttering.
“I-I-I…” She looked at me as if I’d shot her. “I can’t believe you did that!”
“Why is it so hard to believe? I loathe you, you sad, sick, sadistic bitch. I dream of the day your life will end. I fantasize the scenarios.” Even after all she’d done to ensure my misery, I tried to reason with her. “We were friends once, sincere friends. We may have a chance of parting the same way. End this now, let me buy you out, and stop the rest of your threats!”
“It’s over when I say it’s over,” she chided as she passed me to get into the house. “And your whore will pay for what she’s done to our marriage.”
“Stay the fuck away from her, Eileen, or I will hurt you,” I said carefully. “You can play every fucking card in your hand to ruin me, but if you touch her, I will hurt you.”
She whirled on me. “Why do you love her? Why, Devin? Why is she so worthy?”
I shrugged out my honesty. “She makes me whole. You only wanted me for half.”
Studying me with ever scrutinizing eyes, she shook her head in disgust, closed the door behind her, and locked it before turning off all the lights.
“Happy anniversary!” I yelled at the dark house.
It was never about money. It was about starting my own legacy. I took a shortcut by marrying Eileen, taking years off networking to get clients. Now it threatened to cost me my livelihood. She was right. If she carried out her threat and blew the whistle, I would lose my business completely and had no hope of starting over again. I sure as hell couldn’t go crawling back to my multi-millionaire mistress penniless and begging her to house me while I tried to put the pieces of my reputation back together. Even then I wasn’t sure once she knew the truth as to why that she could look at me the same.
The damage was fucking done.
I made my way to my car, very aware that I wouldn’t make it past passing out in the front seat.
“When I give, I give myself”
? Walt Whitman
§§
Nina
Waking up to Aiden’s late night texts made me smile.
Aiden: Goodnight, sad girl. I sang for you tonight and went home smiling and thinking about…fucking. I hope you did as well.
No, I hadn’t, because I was terrified I had again jumped into the sack with another mystery. It was time to get to know Aiden.
I made my way to my desk in my home office and was surprised to see an email from Devin. It was a bottom line of the amount of profit he’d made me. I had to admit, I was impressed. He was good at what he did. The email was completely impersonal and thanked me for my business. I couldn’t help the emotion as I burst into tears he didn’t deserve. What the hell was I doing?
My phone rang, but I ignored it.
Devin knew every side of me. That couldn’t be helped. Only Taylor and Carson got a glimpse of the woman who still lay beneath…and Aiden. I wiped the moisture from my face and smiled at the thought of him. Then my heart sank. If I were to discover he was related to Devin in any way, would I end it?
I drove myself to work, intent on breaking ties. I would sign over that land and wait for the background checks. It was only then that I would have clear options. Though I was a silent partner in the sale of my fitness program, I’d evolved Scott Solutions into an entity of its own, bringing a direct line from inventor to investor. Taylor had thought of the concept and execution when we began forming our corporation. It gave me a sense of purpose, and it gave young inventors a new platform to cultivate their ideas and bring them to life. It was also fascinating to see what they came up with. We didn’t take much from either party, just a small amount off the top, a finder’s fee, and a portion of the proceeds aftermarket.
The idea went global within months, and suddenly I was thrust into the spotlight once again with an enormous workload, categorizing young inventors and their creations from not just the USA but all over the world. We brought in a full staff, created jobs, and now had more than my first fortune to manage. I’d been selfish in the indulgences of my personal life and the way it would affect Taylor’s already enormous workload, especially when things went downhill with Devin. Taylor deserved far more than she was compensated for and I was changing that today.
When Taylor had mentioned we were in this together, it was one-hundred-percent truth. She’d struck gold with her idea as well and had unfortunately given it to me. I was more than afraid of losing her. I needed her.
“Good morning, Taylor.”
“Boss,” she said, typing away without looking up. “Boy do we have an agenda today.”
“We do, but come see me. I have something for you.”
She looked puzzled but nodded and followed me back.
