The Wrong Wife by Maya Alden

Chapter 21

Esme

Ispent the afternoon at the Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art, LACMA. When I returned to Declan's place, it was late evening.

As I got off the elevator, jazz music filtered through the air, the crooning voice of Samara Joy. Also, there were smells of food. I had thought it was Calliope's day off, but maybe she'd come over.

I entered the expansive kitchen, dining, and living room space to find Declan cooking. A very lovely Château Mouton-Rothschild bottle was breathing on the kitchen counter. There was an empty Bordeaux wine glass standing next to it.

"Hi." Declan smiled broadly and picked up his glass of wine as a toast.

"You said you wouldn't be back until tomorrow night."

"I know. But…do you want a glass of wine?"

“A Mouton-Rothschild? Hell, yes."

He poured me a glass. I pulled my phone out of the pocket of my jeans and set it next to my wine glass on the granite kitchen counter. I swirled the wine and then smelled it. It filled my senses with dark fruit, oak, and forest floor. I took a sip and let it satisfy my taste buds before swallowing the wine.

"Wow."

He was watching me, waiting, and he grinned when he saw I was happy with the wine. "Sit," he invited.

I sat on a barstool and looked around. Declan had set the dining table for two. There were even a couple of white tapered candles glowing. I'd think he was courting me if I didn't know any better. But I did know better. He probably wanted to celebrate the end of this marriage that had barely started so he could marry the right woman.

"How do you eat your steak? Do you eat steak?"

"Medium rare."

"I wasn't sure if you'd be home for dinner, but I hoped. Steak with scalloped potatoes and asparagus. I don't bake, so the dessert is from Republique. A chocolate gateau."

"What's the occasion?"

"I want to apologize for being an asshole these past few days. You deserve better. You're doing my family and yours a favor, expecting nothing in return, and I've not had the decency to treat you with respect. I'm sorry."

Knock me out with a feather!

I barely managed a "Hmm?"

He wore a white dress shirt with jeans. Businessman at rest on a Saturday night, cooking for his wife. It was eerily domestic and made my heart flutter.

Stop it. This is a business deal to him, not a marriage. Look at him. Do you think he'd be interested in you, ever?

I shifted my glasses up my nose to have something to do rather than eye fuck him. He had such a beautiful face and then there were those beautiful blue eyes. He'd kissed me with those full lips, and I'd touched his high cheekbones. And that's all I'd have of him. A memory that would fade as time went by.

"My mother told me that Viv was getting her marriage annulled and…that…well, that you and I would do the same so, you and Viv…." I trailed away, leaving the words unsaid into my wine glass as I took another sip of the brilliant wine.

"I'll never, ever marry Viv," he announced. "Ever. And I have no plans to end our marriage until the contractual time ends. I'm not going to risk the merger. If you're okay with it, that is. Are you?"

I nodded like a fool, unable to form words.

"This means that you and I have a year together. How do you feel about that?"

"Free rent," I blurted out and then flushed, embarrassed.

He smiled. "And that's the other thing. At the end of the marriage, I'll give you three million dollars as reimbursement."

My eyes widened. "Why? And what would I do with all that money? I don't want it. And reimburse me for what?"

"For taking this year out of your life to do me and your father this favor. You can do what you want with the money. Maybe even start a foundation to help people.

That made me excited. Three million dollars was a whole lot of money. I could work with Maria and Mark to find the best way to spend it to help single mothers and their children, maybe help juveniles who age out of the system or fund programs to eliminate homelessness.

"Until then, I'd like you and me to have a… relationship. Friendship. Companionship. If you don't want to go to social events, then we won't go. Some I cannot avoid so I may need your company."

Social events? Like the one last night where I was humiliated time and again by him, my father, Viv, and even, to some extent, Mateo, who was trying in his own fucked up way to help me be more assertive. I don't know why people thought I couldn't be equally mean and cruel; of course, I could, we all have all sides within us, but I refused to let how others treated me change who I was or compromise my values.

"It won't be like last night," he continued as if reading my mind. "That was a shit show, and it was my fault. Esme, you said you like being direct and honest, so I will give you that. For a moment, a long moment, last evening, I did think I'd get back with Viv, and if that was the case, then…."

"I didn't matter?" I offered.

He took my free hand in both of his. He bent his head and brushed his lips against my knuckles.

"I'm sorry."

"I didn't say that to make you apologize, Declan. I get it."

He set my hand down on the counter but didn't let go. "I'm sorry, Esme. I was insensitive and worse, even cruel. Mateo all but punched me last night. Here is a promise: that kind of thing won't happen again. You and I will be together if we go to a social event. Okay?"

I looked at his large hand holding mine. "Yes, of course. But why the change in heart?"

"You think I'm being insincere?"

I pulled my hand away from his. "No, I'm worried that think you have to cajole me. You don't have to. Tell me what you want, and we can discuss it like grownups. No subterfuge required."

He seemed hurt, but he covered it by drinking some wine.

"I'm not cajoling you. I'm following your advice and making the best out of the situation. And what do I want? I want to fuck you. Hard. I can't stop thinking about what we did in the car, and I want more of that."

My heart sank. He wanted sex. He was doing all this to fuck me.

"Look, I don't care if you have sex with someone else. Feel free. I told you last night that I'm not experienced, and sex is complicated. It's not just tab A into tab B situation. My emotions are involved, and yours are not. It'll create a dynamic that will end up hurting me."

He leaned and brushed his lips against my cheek. "You, Esme, are a breath of fresh air. I don't want you to hurt. If you feel us having sex may cause pain, then we won't do it. But I would very much like for us to at least be friendly roommates if we cannot be married lovers. Would you agree to that?"

"And what's all this?" I waved a hand at the wine and the food.

"Peace offering, sweetheart."

He got up then and announced it was time to cook the steaks.

"Do I have time for a shower?" I asked him.

"No rush. Take your time."

“Maybe I’ll take a bath then.”

“I’ll wait.”

He confused me again. I didn't know what to expect from him. I undressed in the bathroom, and my phone rang. I didn't want to take the call from Viv, but I did and put her on speaker as I stood naked, gazing at myself in the bathroom mirror.

"Hi, Viv."

I desperately needed a bikini wax, I thought. That is, if I wanted to have sex. Viv probably took it all off and had a smooth pussy. Good thing he didn't go down on me in the car; he'd have been disgusted with all the hair.

"What are you trying to achieve, Es?" Viv demanded.

"Hmm."

"Dec was here today. He threatened Daddy. You've now decided to tell people Daddy beats you. Es, this is just horrible."

Declan stood up for me against my father. Why?

"Viv, I don't know anything about this."

"I made a mistake, and I'm making amends. Dec and I are together. We'll always be together. Just stay out of everyone's way, and you can get on with your life."

I wanted to say no; right now, you are not together. Right now, he's my husband.

"Viv, I'm trying to navigate this the best I can. I didn't ask Declan to talk to Daddy or say anything to him."

"I know you've always wanted him. Haven't you?"

My heart beat faster. I thought I'd hidden it, but I obviously needed to do better. Who wouldn't want Declan? He was handsome and funny. He had been kind and generous with Viv. He had been romantic. I’d watched him with Viv—watched how his eyes lit up when she walked into a room and how he relaxed when she kissed him. While Viv ignored the staff, he was kind to them. Declan remembered Jean, our cook's birthday, and brought her flowers. He'd given Carlos, my father's driver, money for his son's school. I'd kept track of him since he'd been friends with Viv. I read about him online. I watched his videos.

It had been a crush.

It turned sexual a few months ago when as I was walking past Viv's room, I'd heard them having sex. "Viv, you ready for my cock, baby girl."

Viv sounded breathless and moaned, "Dec, please, please, please."

"You begging, Angel?"

"Yes."

"Are you mine?"

"Yes."

"Always. Always mine."

I ran away. I didn't even tell Mark about what I heard. But I wondered how it'd feel if he said these things to me. Always. Always mine. I wasn't jealous of what my sister had; I wanted someone to feel that way about me.

"I don't know what you mean, Viv," I replied. Yes, I wanted him, but I'm not a fool. I have no chance. I never did. Not when I had to compete with her.

"He was here this morning, Es. And we made love. So whatever dreams you're weaving about having a real marriage are never coming true."

He had sex with Viv and then came home and told me he wanted to fuck me. What kind of a man was he? And what kind of a woman was I that, despite this, I wanted him to make love with me?

"You want your sister's sloppy seconds, is that it?" Viv demanded.

"Viv, Daddy, and Mama asked me to marry him because the business needed it and I have. Once this year is up, we go our ways." And I'll find the love of my life. I will. I need to guard my heart while I'm with Declan.

"Good. Remember that. And once my marriage is annulled. You'll be out of that penthouse and his life sooner than a year. I promise you."

"Okay, Viv."

"You don't have what it takes to keep a man like Dec., you know that don't you? You're fat and have some low-level job. Dec and I, we're the power couple."

I wanted to end the call because horrible things were clamoring to come out of my mouth. I tried to call her on the "power couple" and "made for each other business" when she banged other men while engaged to Declan. If I were engaged to Declan, I'd never even look at anyone else.

"I understand, Viv." My voice became smaller, and I felt like I was shrinking right in front of my eyes in the bathroom mirror as I listened to Viv.

"Oh, and next time there's a social event, don't bother showing up. Dec and I will go as a couple. It'll be good for the media to see us again. I wonder why Dec announced your wedding publicly. If he'd just kept it quiet, we could have managed this without the media drama."

She wasn't talking to me anymore, I realized. She was making plans.

"Viv, is it okay if we talk about this at another time?"

"Whatever," was her response before she hung up.

I turned on music on my phone and showered as I listened to Ella sing Blue Skies.