When I woke up the next morning, Jake was gone and there was a dull ache in my chest. The bed was cold so I knew he barely slept in it. I hated the fact that we had to hide and sneak around but I knew the news would not go down well with my father.I pulled myself out of bed and went on with my day as usual hoping to see him downstairs. By the time I got down the stairs, he was seated next to my father and they were laughing about something. Both men were dressed in suits and ready for work and they were drinking coffee.Jake saw me first. He ran his eyes down my outfit and I could just tell the kind of thoughts going on in his mind as he watched me over the rim of his mug. I mentally patted myself on the back for choosing the pantsuit and when I walked past him, I knew his hands itched to grab a fistful of my ass.I kissed the top of my father’s head and went into the kitchen where Alana was busy buttering a toast for me. I thanked her as she handed me the complete breakfast tray but
The first Friday rolled around and to say I was annoyed would be an understatement. I tried to plead with my dad to get me out of it but this was the one time that my last name could not get me out of a situation. Jake tried to assure me that it was fine and I just needed to get through the early hours of the night.Greg had organized a dinner at a restaurant. It was lazy if you asked me and it was obvious that there was no thought behind it. I didn’t mind because I knew dinner was something I could easily bail from if need be. It was nothing fancy so I went for a simple black dress and heels. Dad wished me luck to which I flipped him off.Dinner was set by 7 and I got there by a few minutes after. A handful of people were already there including Greg and Charles. Greg was the first to sight me and he gave a dismissive smile. “I’m glad you took time out of your busy schedule to attend Hayley. I was beginning to doubt whether you were going to.”I ignored his obvious taunt and took the
I could barely focus as I drove to Jake’s house. I was the equivalent of a drunk frat boy because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake the taste of his lips on mine and it made me uneasy. I hated feeling that way. I briefly wondered if I was doing the right thing by going to Jake but I didn’t know where else to go. I knew I would have to give my father an explanation but for the time being, I didn’t want to think about it.Jake’s house was massive. It was roughly the size of my dad’s with a massive electronically operated gate, two floors and a large and open space around it. The garage itself was a completely different building and when I parked, I noticed a pool behind it. Jake was waiting for me when I walked out of the garage and from the look on his face, I could tell that he was concerned.Once I was within arm’s reach, he pulled me closer to him. “Are you alright?” I nodded. “Are you going to spend the night or do you plan on going home?”“I want to stay,” my voice was
When Jake came to bed a few minutes later, he didn’t make a move to touch me. He just crawled in behind me and pulled me flush against his chest. He murmured a few words in another language and placed a kiss on my temple. He spoke too softly for me to even try identifying what language he spoke in.I fell asleep faster than I would have if I were alone and I didn’t wake up until the next morning when sunlight was streaming in through the window. I realized that sometime during the night, the covers had been thrown off my body but I was still warm because I was completely wrapped up in Jake’s arms. His legs were tangled in mine and his hand was laying against my bare hip because the shirt had risen up to my waist.He had fallen asleep in his boxers and I could feel the outline of his dick pressing into my ass. It took everything in me not to rock against it. Instead, I carefully detangled myself from him. He was still fast asleep which I found shocking. I always assumed that he was a v
“Jake,” I began but he held out a hand to stop me. It was like he was barely holding onto his sanity. I realized that his eyes were still trained on my spread thighs and I slowly pulled my fingers out. He threw his head back and muttered a curse under his breath.He slowly stood to his feet and I watched as he closed the distance between us and took my fingers into his mouth. He licked them clean and just like that, I was wet again. My orgasm was nowhere close to enough and I wanted him. I opened my mouth to speak but he shot me a dark look that had the words dying in my throat.“So let me get this straight,” he began after he released my fingers with a pop. “I was busy with work and you decided to be a brat because of it.”“You ignored me. You barely even looked at me,” I was well aware that I sounded like a child but I didn’t care. He was rude and I was simply returning the favor.“You don’t get to be a fucking brat when you want to, Hayley,” he muttered before pulling back to look
Jake couldn’t take me home because we couldn’t risk my father looking through the cameras and seeing Jake drop me off. He was angry about that because he didn’t want me driving alone but I assured him that everything was fine. I was thankful he didn’t drop me off because Alana was there waiting when I arrived. She raised a brow when she saw me walking in with different clothes.“Do I want to know?” she asked and I shook my head. “I hope the guy is treating you right, whoever he is.”“He is,” I assured her and she raised a brow waiting. I knew immediately what she wanted and I sighed. “I can’t tell you anything about him right now. You just have to trust me on this one.”She huffed under her breath.“Any man who makes you his dirty secret is not worth it. Is he married or something?” my face contorted into a grimace. “What did you expect me to think when you said you couldn’t tell me about him?”“He isn’t married or in a relationship. I don’t even know if we are in a relationship. I do
Jake couldn’t respond and that was the exact moment that I knew he had done something. I was so annoyed that I couldn’t stop myself from hanging up the phone. He tried to call back but I ignored his calls and finally switched off my phone when they became too frequent. I knew he wouldn’t risk coming to the office especially since my father wasn’t around so I had a few hours to figure out what exactly I wanted to do.By the end of the workday, I was more furious than before I started. A part of me was happy that Jake had come to my defense but I was annoyed that he did it even after I asked him not to. Yes, Charles was an asshole but I worked with him and Jake had unknowingly caused more problems for me.I got home fully prepared to just strip and lie naked in bed but I was taken aback when I saw Jake standing in my living room. His hair was messy as if he ran his hands through it one too many times and the top buttons of his shirt were undone. He looked worried and when he saw me, he
Jake never returned and I was left worrying all night. I was unable to fall asleep because I couldn’t help but worry that something terrible had happened to my dad. I ended up cleaning because I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t bring myself to get out of the house the next day. I knew I would hear it from Greg and the others about missing work but for once, I was leveraging my status and Michael Davis’ daughter.Alara came early in the morning at her usual time but I asked her to go back home. She was confused but I promised that I would explain it all later. I didn’t want anyone in the house, I just wanted to sit and wait for my dad in silence.My dad returned sometime around noon. He looked like he had been through hell. The bags under his eyes were dark and I knew he hadn’t been sleeping properly over the last few days. When he saw me, he sighed deeply and just collapsed into the chair. I rushed over to his side but he waved me off to assure me that he was fine.“I’m not going to let
HAYLEY’S P.O.VGrowing up I always thought about what it would feel like to see my mother.My dad had no pictures of her, it had been a stupid fling and she never reached out to him. He could have found her if he did but he never wanted to. He told me that if I still wanted to find her when I turned eighteen then he would.I went through all the stages of grief. There was anger at the fact that she had abandoned me and never tried to come back. There was the sadness and the feeling of not being enough for my own mother. By the time I turned eighteen, I didn’t care anymore and I told my father not to bother. It had always been me and him and that was how I wanted it.Seeing the woman in front of me brought back all those feelings of anger and betrayal bubbling up to my chest“I don’t have a mother,” I said finally. “You should leave.”“Please,” she grabbed my arm. “I just want to talk. I came all the way here to find you.”“I didn’t ask you to come here,” I spat jerking my hand out of
HAYLEY’S P.O.VI sat next to my grandmother in silence.I had her hand in mine and listened to the rhythmic beeping of the machines that were hooked up to her. The doctor said that it was only a matter of time but he had given her something to help with the pain.In the midst of all this, I couldn’t get a grip on my own emotions. There was so much swirling inside of me, too many things that I couldn’t get a grip on them. I hadn’t felt this conflicted in a very long time, probably not since I was a teenager.There was anger and pain and guilt. Guilt that we had all the money in the world and I couldn’t stop this, guilt that I was so focused on my own issues that I didn’t even see that she was dying right in front of me. She came back so we could spend time with her and I barely spent any, I spent it running around with Jake and worrying about Marie and his potential child that didn’t even end up being his.I felt stupid and incredibly foolish to say the least and I hated feeling stupid
HAYLEY’S P.O.VMy hands were shaking but I fisted them by my side until I got home. I needed a minute to myself to catch my breath, what I was not expecting was to find my father and Jake in the living room. They were discussing something but they immediately stopped as soon as they saw me.I was glad that they were getting along again but for fucks sake, I wished they took their business to Jake’s house because I knew that between the two of them, nothing ever went unnoticed.“We had the meeting with Marie,” Jake began as soon as he saw me. “She was pissed to say the least but-”“You should be going home,” I told Jake and his brows furrowed in confusion.I knew I was being rude but right now, I didn’t have the patience to be nice. He needed to go home because I wasn’t sure if the question from the police was mere curiosity or if it was a threat but if they were going to follow the trail then chances were that they might officially ask me who I was with and that would mean implicating
HAYLEY’S P.O.VThe sound of whispers woke me up.I tried to ignore it at first but it only got more urgent and I felt the covers shift as Jake got out of bed. With a small groan, I peeled my eyes open, the room was still dark, the only source of light was from the moon that spilled in through the drawn curtains.“Are you sure?” I heard Jake ask, the urgency in his voice taking away whatever remnants of sleep were left in me.I dragged myself up into a sitting position and my eyes found Jake. He was standing with his back to me, shirtless save for the boxer briefs he wore to bed and he was pacing. That was never a good sign because Jake never paced, at least not when everything was fine.“What’s wrong?”He turned to me, almost surprised and cursed. “Go back to bed, Hayley. Don’t worry about me.”“You’re pacing like a mad man and you look like shit,” I leaned over to turn on the bedside lamp drowning the room with a soft orange glow. “What’s wrong?”“The results are in.”If I wasn’t ale
JAKE’S P.O.VThe bottle of whiskey almost seemed to mock me as it sat on my dining table.A few years ago, I would have drank the entire bottle until I forgot everything and taken the first plane out of the city- maybe even the country. I had a knack for running away from my problems. It was what I did when Marie left me for the first time. I was living in California at the time and I got on the first place to London.I stayed there for a few weeks and by the time I returned, I packed everything up and moved to Las Vegas. I moved around a few times before finally deciding on New York because I remembered that Michael stayed here.Now, however, there was nowhere for me to run. It wasn’t because I couldn’t, I had too much to leave here. I could always leave the office and go to one of the many branches over the country so it wasn’t about work, but I had Hayley. I wasn’t completely sure if I had her, she seemed ready to run but I couldn’t blame her.I had to leave her in bed this morning
HAYLEY’S P.O.VI woke up with the knowledge that someone was in my room.I didn’t know who it was but there was a feeling at the back of my neck that alerted me to the fact that I was being watched. I couldn’t brush it off no matter how hard I tried so I reached out for the nightlight and turned it on casting the room in a warm orange glow. I found the person staring at me seated right opposite my bed.I glanced over at the clock beside me. It read one thirty a.m. “How long have you been here?”“In your room or in your house?” Jake asked not missing a beat.To his credit, he didn’t seem to be drunk but then again, he never drank that much. Even if he did drink at whatever time he arrived here first, chances were that the alcohol was already out of his system and he was sober.“My house,” I responded to his earlier question.“Eleven.”“My room?”“Twelve.”I raised a brow. I wondered how I didn’t realize he was here earlier. I was the kind o child who woke up the minute someone opened m
HAYLEY’S P.O.VIt was amusing how many people were interested in my love life.I tried to keep my head screwed on straight, tried to focus on making my day run as smoothly as possible but everyone else had other plans. Everyone had an opinion about my relationship, even my clients would allude to it during our meetings. I tried to keep everything as professional as possible but by lunch, I was tired.As usual, Jake sent me lunch and Sienna brought it up for me. I had no idea why she chose to act like my personal assistant but I wasn’t complaining because I truly didn’t want to leave my office and face the crowd. It had little to do with fear and more to do with the fact that if I did and someone said the wrong thing, I was going to snap.“You can sit here if you want,” I told Sienna and her eyes widened in surprise. “Stop staring at me like you just won the lottery.”“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Hayley, but you are not exactly a people person. You don’t invite people into your off
HAYLEY’S P.O.VMy father was in my boyfriend’s living room.It took me longer than it should have it process what I was seeing because for a full minute, I just stood there staring and wondering if what I was seeing was an apparition or a figment of my imagination.Dad was in a tailored suit and he sat at the counter with Jake. They were looking over the files together and I just stood there watching until I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. Kate handed me a mug of steaming hot coffee with a smile.“You look like you’ll need that,” she whispered and I couldn’t help but laugh. I did need it.The sound caught my father’s attention and he turned to me with a smile. He walked over to me and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. I was suddenly so grateful that I decided to put on something before coming down. It would have been incredibly distasteful for my father to see me in nothing but Jake’s shirt.“Did you bring clothes for me?” I asked and his brows furrowed in confusion. “Work clothes,
HAYLEY’S P.O.V“Hayley,” I heard Jake call my name but his voice sounded like a buzzing in my ears.I could hear my father speaking but I couldn’t make out his words. My eyes were completely fixed on the words on my screen. I knew it was Marie, it had to be her. No one else could have leaked the news to the press in record time.I wasn’t sure whether to be pissed or impressed. I had grossly underestimated her and that was my mistake. She was a cunning individual and I wish I had thought about that before I pissed her off and became her number one enemy.A warm hand settled on my shoulder and I nearly jumped. Jake looked pissed but also sad at the same time. He watched me with a fear in his eyes as if he thought I was going to run away and leave him. I could tell he wanted to do more than just touch my shoulder but he was holding back for my benefit.“She’s smart, I’ll give her that,” I said finally and I could see everyone’s faces twist with confusion. I lifted my phone to my ear and