HAVEN I loved them. The women were absolutely incredible. All of them, except Nora, but she broke away from the group fairly quickly. It seemed she was a bitch to everyone, and no one really put up with it. They just ignored her when her attitude started up and wouldn’t talk to her again until she
HAVEN Ben’s eyes closed as if he were in pain as I leaned forward and flicked his lips with my tongue. I was bold when drunk, but this… this was a new level. I felt invincible with Ben as if I could act on any urge I had, and he couldn’t or wouldn’t judge me for it. He would just… satisfy me. “
BAILEEI held my breath as the housekeeper pushed open the hotel room door. The woman gave me a pitying look as I slipped her the cash I had promised in exchange for her help getting into my husband’s luxury suite. Caleb had been so rushed for his ‘urgent business meeting’ that he had forgotten his laptop. Like the loving wife I was, I raced over to grab it for him. I had made it my goal to make his life at home as easy on him as possible by helping where I could with the cooking and cleaning since he worked so hard to provide for us. It was never good enough for him, but little things like bringing him his laptop would surely make him happy.Only I had frozen in horror when I saw the messages popping up on his computer from his phone. The smiling, poorly clad woman stared back at me. I could see her nipps through her lace underwear, and she had one hand down between her legs, covering herself.His assistant. Lorna: I got your gift. I’m at the Rosewood Hotel. Don’t make me wait
BAILEE“Bailee!” Caleb yelled as I threw open the door and rushed down the hall.I needed fresh air. It felt like the walls were closing in on me, and I could hear my blood pumping in my ears.“Bailee, would you stop for a minute?” The sound of my name on his lips as he zipped his pants made me feel queasy, but I held it down. A hand wrapped around my forearm, and I was yanked to a stop just before the elevator. “No!” My scream came out in a hoarse sob. “No! Get off of me, you lying piece of garbage!” The rage and venom behind my words made him release me immediately, but he stayed close as he glared down at me. I took a step back, shaking my head at him. “You don’t get to touch me. You don’t get to ever touch me again!” The elevator dinged behind me, and the doors opened, but I didn’t pay any attention to the people getting off until I heard them speak. “Bailee! Lower your voice! That is no way to speak to your husband!” “Mom?” Caleb asked, and I turned to face Helen and Georg
BAILEE“You must be out of your mind!” Helen yelled, but I didn’t spare her a glance. This wasn’t between her and me…even though she wanted it to be.She thought the world revolved around her, the perfect senator’s wife. She loved putting on her over-priced, costume-looking jewelry and acting like she was the queen.Yet, her favorite pastime was picking fights, throwing little digs at me, and insisting everything I did was wrong.Much to her dismay, this was between Caleb and me, and I refused to let her be involved this time. He had dragged her into everything else. Mommy’s little boy.Only, he looked stunned as he stared at me, dumbfounded that I would be so bold as to bring up divorce myself, especially in front of his parents.“Don’t be foolish, Bailee!” Helen spat. “You have a child together! Divorce is not an option! That’s just lazy. You are lazy!”I stared at her unbelieving what she said. Since the day he introduced me to his family, Helen Johnson had hated me. She threw litt
BAILEEI went home alone that night. The backstabbing nanny was already fast asleep like she was deliberately avoiding me, and as much as I wanted to confront her for what she had done, I moved past her room and into mine. I was hurt, angry, and exhausted. After a long, hot shower, I had curled up in my empty bed and muffled my sobs with my pillow, so I wouldn’t wake Brinley, until I fell asleep.The cold sheets sent a chill through me as I rolled over in bed, my head pounding from crying myself to sleep.I was so angry at myself for letting it get this far, so angry at him for not even trying to make this work, and for throwing away our family like it meant nothing to him. There had been signs and red flags throughout our relationship that should have had me packing up and leaving.But I was stubborn, refusing to give up on the years we had spent together. I fought to make things better, over and over again, ignoring all the ways Caleb had mistreated me and ran straight toward that
ALEXANDERMy assistant trailed behind me as I stormed into my office, pulling off my suit jacket and rolling up my shirt sleeves.“Sir, we couldn’t have seen this coming.” My assistant, Nathan, said.“I did.” I spat through clenched teeth as I moved to the glass wall of my office that looked out over the city.“Sir?”I knew something like this would happen eventually.Caleb Johnson had been doing everything within his power to compete against my company. He had been planting moles amongst my employees, releasing fabricated stories to the tabloids, and had even hired a private investigator to tail me.He had been quiet for the past few months, and I had hoped he was going away, but I should have known better. Pests never left on their own.Now, he was poaching my clients.I knew for a fact that Justin was already stressing about his upcoming contract with the Rangers. Yet, he was about to pay us millions to break his contract to join a newer competitor, one who wouldn’t be able to nego
ALEXANDER “I’m telling you, Alex,” Mason said, slapping his hand on my shoulder as he shook me back and forth. “This is the best news we could have gotten in a long time. A wife? That’s gold! He must have been hiding her for a reason! She could be the key to everything.” I lifted the glass of sc
HAVEN Ben’s eyes closed as if he were in pain as I leaned forward and flicked his lips with my tongue. I was bold when drunk, but this… this was a new level. I felt invincible with Ben as if I could act on any urge I had, and he couldn’t or wouldn’t judge me for it. He would just… satisfy me. “
HAVEN I loved them. The women were absolutely incredible. All of them, except Nora, but she broke away from the group fairly quickly. It seemed she was a bitch to everyone, and no one really put up with it. They just ignored her when her attitude started up and wouldn’t talk to her again until she
HAVEN Brinley stayed with us for three nights, which was the best distraction I could have asked for. The girls had been so happy to be together that I didn’t have time to dwell on any of the shit that had happened in the past few months. They needed constant engagement and snacks. I secretly had
BEN I watched with a smile as Brinley held her baby brother, Tristan, for the first time. I was excited to meet him, but I also wanted her to do so before me or Siri did. It was vital for them to bond, and with the bright smile on her little face, I knew she would have no problem with that. Brin
HAVEN The girls were bouncing in their car seats as we pulled up to the hospital's main entrance and got out. Ben handed the keys to the valet before helping Brinley out of her seat while I grabbed Siri. They had been talking nonstop about the baby and how excited they were to meet him, but I drea
BEN “Man, I don’t remember Coach being this intense the past few years,” Jake muttered as he pulled off his gear, and I nodded in agreement, doing the same. It had been brutal out there today, but we needed it. The team wasn’t in game shape, myself included, but we were working hard to power thro
HAVEN “You can’t be serious,” I said as I stared at her in horror. Had I brought a child into the world myself? Yes. Do I remember how scary it is? Also Yes. Do I remember what the doctors had done? No. I was busy screaming and pushing as I ripped myself open to bring a life into this world.
HAVEN I was nervous about bringing Siri to daycare, and even though I wasn’t working yet, I wanted to ensure she was well-adjusted before I started leaving her there all day for work. Bailee had suggested the daycare she used, and Siri had been over the moon to see Brinley there when I dropped he
BEN As I snuck out of the bedroom that night, I couldn’t help but look back and admire my wife for a moment as she lay stretched out in our bed. She had one leg up, and the blanket was covering her butt, leaving her back exposed in the most sinfully sexy way. Had she not almost passed out after