The Wrong Wife by Maya Alden

Chapter 26

Declan

Iwhistled as I entered my office, where Raya and Mateo were waiting. I was late for a security meeting. It had been inevitable that once Esme and I started to have sex, we seemed to be at it like horny teenagers. The morning got delayed because she decided to get on her knees in the shower and practice how to deep-throat me. She told me she had a long way to go before becoming an expert, but that she’d practice with me as much as she could. I had no problem with that.

"Someone got laid." Raya raised an eyebrow.

"You don't say. He does have that well fucked look about him," Mateo agreed.

I cheerfully gave them both a finger.

Baker, my assistant, showed up as soon as I was settled at my desk with my morning coffee and my printed schedule for the day.

"Isn't he looking all flushed, Baker?" Raya teased.

"Excuse me?" he asked primly in his proper British accent.

"Your boss has been balling someone," Mateo explained. "And we're giving him a hard time about it."

"When one sleeps with one's wife, it's not called balling," Baker protested.

"Wife?" Mateo made an appreciative sound. "And how do you know it's his wife?"

Baker looked at me, and I nodded; I also wanted to know.

"Well, when he got the report that Julien Hartley visited his daughter, the wife in question, Dec wanted his jet to get a flight plan back home approved asap. And this morning, he texted me to send flowers to Esme at Safe Harbor. Two dozen yellow tulips. Roses aren't her jam."

"She's probably going to give the flowers away to the women there." I grinned at that thought. Esme was a giver. Her big heart would not allow her to keep and enjoy the tulips; it'd make her happier to see a smile on the face of a woman struggling with life to get flowers.

"So, you slept with your wife?" Raya leaned back on her chair.

"How the fuck is who I'm fucking any of your fucking business?" I drank some coffee. "Baker, thank you for being so astute and indispensable."

Baker nodded in acknowledgment and walked out of my office.

We went into work mode after that.

I had back-to-back meetings until lunch. I wished I could find time to go to Skid Row and check out Esme's place of work, which I'd never been to but had been assured by Raya was just the kind of hell hole I thought it would be and that she'd done all that she could do make it safe for Esme. But she'd also warned me that the influx of crazies into the shelter was high—and since she couldn't do anything about that, there was a risk of something going wrong. Since there was no way I could convince Esme to stop working at Safe Harbor, the only option was for Raya's team to do her best.

I had just finished a Zoom meeting when Baker suddenly stepped into my office without knocking. He stood at the door, his back to it, making sure it couldn't be opened.

"Okay, who's outside with a gun that's got you running?" I mused.

"Dec, it's Viv, and she insists—" there was a hammering on the door, "on seeing you."

"Let her in. Next time we'll tell security downstairs not to let her up and avoid this situation."

Baker looked relieved. He's probably wanted to do this since Viv broke our engagement but hadn't wanted to cross the line. As assistants went, I couldn't do better than Baker.

Viv wore a red dress that went to her knees with a long slit on one side that went right up to her panties. Her black suit jacket complemented the dress. Her heels were sexy as ever. She had legs that went all the way up. My penis didn't stir. I was thrilled that my body had finally caught up with my brain.

"Dec, what is with you?" she demanded as she approached my desk. "You don't respond to my text messages. You don't call. And now Daddy is saying that Esme won't file for an annulment. I thought we'd decided to annul our marriages to get back on track."

"Hi, Viv. I'm doing well, thank you. And how are you? In a mood, I see." I leaned back on my chair, making no attempt to get up to receive her.

She walked around my desk and stood in front of me, pouting. I used to think her pouts were adorable. Now…well, now they were irritating and plastic.

She sat on my lap and put her arms around my neck.

"Darling, tell your Angel what's going on."

I grabbed her hips and lifted her off of me.

"No touching, Viv. I'm another woman's husband."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Her hands rolled into fists, resting on her hips as she got into fight pose.

"I don't cheat. You can't sit on my lap and try to whisper sweet nothings in my ear."

Especially since I just found out I’m in love with my wife. The wife who, in eight months, will be leaving me if I didn't find a way to keep her. Because I wanted forever with her.

In the past, that would've made me sweat bullets. Even with Viv, I'd been a little uncomfortable about everything from living together to getting engaged. I had thought I loved her but had not contemplated forever. With Esme, I wanted it. I wanted to watch movies with her. Take a walk with her in downtown LA. Go to a wine bar or restaurant. Cook with her. Fuck her every day until she'd miss having me inside her. Have a baby with her. Fuck me; I was done for!

"Are you getting your marriage annulled or not?" she demanded.

"No, I'm not."

"Dec?"

"Viv, you and I are finished. I tried to tell you that earlier, but you chose not to listen to me. Granted, when you first came back, I thought that was what I wanted, but I quickly realized I didn't. You cheated on me, Viv. You married another man who you'd been fucking on the side. We're done. I will never marry you."

Her face contorted in pain. A part of me that used to love her felt sympathy. I didn't want to hurt her; however, I wouldn't lie to her to make her feel better.

"Will you stay married to Esme? Isn't she boring the life out of you? Are you seriously saying you'd rather be married to her than me?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying."

Viv took a step back as if I physically struck her. "You think Esme will stay with you if I don't want her to?"

"I don't understand what you have to do with her or our marriage." But I did understand. Julien and Viv had been manipulating Esme for years, playing her like a fiddle. Not this time. This time I'd be her support system. This time she won't be alone, easy prey.

"Esme will ask you for an annulment and, after that, to maintain the bylaws; you'll have no choice."

I smiled. "The marriage is consummated, Viv; there is no going back now."

All color left her face. "You're having sex with her? Her? Dec, your standards have dropped. She's ugly, short, overweight and… what's happened to you?"

"First, she's not overweight. And second, insinuate that my wife is below my standards ever again, and I'll fucking destroy you. Esme hasn't been doing what you want not because you're a good manipulator; she does it because she cares for her family. But you're done taking advantage of her. Please let your father know that security will not let him into our apartment anymore. If he wants to talk to Esme, he goes through me."

Viv stared at me like I had grown a second head.

"Now, Viv, get out. And from now on, you will not be allowed to enter this building either. You're not my fiancée any longer. You're nobody. I’d say sister-on-law, but considering what a terrible sister you are, I don't think that counts.

Her face changed from shocked to angry in ten seconds flat. "You'll pay for this, Dec."

"And tell your father that if this merger fails, Knight Tech will survive, and his company will go under, so it's no threat to me if my marriage is annulled." This wasn't true. To put it mildly, it would be difficult for Knight Tech to recover from the death knell the merger not being approved by the board would inflict.

"I know the details of the merger, Dec, so don't give me that bullshit."

I shrugged. "I think Esme and I will have a proper wedding…in a church with friends and family. I don't think we'll invite you."

That thought pleased me. I'd find out what kind of wedding Esme wanted and give it to her. She asked for so little that I was desperate to give her everything she ever dreamed about.

"Now, get the fuck out, Viv. And don't come back again."

She flounced out of my office.

The incident left a bad taste in my mouth, especially since I'd have to tell Esme about it. I didn't want to hide things from her. I wanted our relationship to be based on honesty.

My cell phone rang, and I picked it up.

"Forest, what's up?"

"You're coming to my mother's fucking gala this Saturday."

"Am I?"

"Don't fuck with me, Dec. She's driving everyone up the wall. She wanted me to make sure you are going to show up."

Forest and my father were brothers—and his mother and mine spent their days trying to prove which one was the better hostess. My money was on Nina Knight. Lena Knight was not organized enough to pull it off, so she'd harass Forest. If she could catch him, she'd also harass Forest's younger brother, Dan—but he spent most of his time traveling, working as a photojournalist. He happily ignored his mother's calls, and every time he visited would give her some sob story about being stuck at the ass end of nowhere in Iran, hence not being able to cater to her crazy. He usually was in the ass end of nowhere, but even if he was lounging in the Ritz in Paris, he’d pretend he was off the grid.

"Esme and I will be there." I wanted to take her out, show her off.

"How is the marriage going?"

I smiled. "She's surprisingly…well, a surprise."

"Now, where's the man who said I want to get done with this and spend a year trying not to kill her before sending her on her way."

I laughed. "Yeah, how the mighty have fallen."

"And have you fallen?" he wasn't joking anymore. His tone was serious.

"Yes. Head over fucking heels, brother."

"What changed?"

"I started to understand myself better. I like her, Forest. She's quirky and kind. She's sexy and funny. She falls all over herself to be nice to people, including that terrible family of hers. I don't know how to say this without it sounding corny as fuck, but she makes me want to be a better person," I confessed.

"Well, I look forward to spending time with her at the gala. She might, after all, be the only one there with real tits."

"Don't talk about my wife's tits, man."

"Saturday at the Beverly Hills Hotel. I'll kill you if you don't show up because my mother will nag me to death."

I had skipped the past two galas Auntie Lena had organized. One was to save some animal that was going extinct, and another was to raise money for some disease.

After finishing the call, I worried about telling Esme she would need a dress. I'd now become familiar with her closet and knew that her penchant for shopping at the Rack meant that her entire wardrobe cost less than the suit I was wearing.

I got an idea and picked up my phone. I called Maria Caruso.

"Dec, what's up?"

"Are you attending the Lena Knights gala this Saturday?"

"Absolutely. She's raising money for a women's shelter in East LA. I convinced her that the spotted owl would be fine without her money. Why?"

"I don't know how to say this without sounding like a downright asshole, but I don't want Esme to face any…well, catty behavior, which she will if she doesn't go shopping for a dress and the last time I got her a designer outfit, she felt that I didn't like her the way she is. And I do. I love the way she is. But if she shows up in something weird, the media, my mother and Viv will eat her alive, and I don't want her to get hurt. I was hoping you'll take her shopping or whatever and…you know, do the woman thing."

There was silence on the other end and after a moment I heard a stifled laugh.

"Maria?"

"I'm sorry." Not stifled anymore. She was laughing out loud. "Woman thing?"

"Damn." Now that she said it aloud, it did sound foolish. But I didn't mind sounding like a moron if it meant Esme wouldn't get hurt. "She'll feel bad if I say something. I don't mind taking her in a burlap sack, but Viv will be there…I want her to feel her best, Maria. Get her something she's comfortable in and is not bought at some place called Maxi something."

"TJ Maxx," Maria informed me.

I had no idea what that was. Probably something like the Rack, Esme frequented.

"And then you'll owe me."

"Anything you want is yours."

"Two hundred thousand dollars for Safe Harbor in addition to whatever you donate at the gala."

"Done."

"Really? Damn, I should've asked for more."

"My wife works there, Maria; I'm happy to give money. And it's a damn good tax write-off."