“So, you and Gabe were together before Dillon…,” I surmise.
It doesn’t surprise me. I felt something was missing early on in our marriage. I just didn’t realize it was my husband.
“Yes, Lucy,” she confirms.
“You two were planning to be together for good,” I give her my guess, and her eyebrows lift in what must be shock. “Things between Gabe and me weren’t what they should’ve been, but not because of anything I did.”
She nods. “Gabe loved you. He talked about you all the time. He just wasn’t in love with you.”
Michael’s arm grows tense around my waist. He’s hearing all of this for the first time, just as I am.
“I loved him the same.” I say this to her, but wanting Michael to hear it, too. “He was a good father when he was around, and he made sure I was as happy as I could be, but we weren’t meant to be together.”
I’ve thought long and hard and realized it wasn’t Gabe who had the potential to give me my happily ever after. It’s only ever been Michael who could. And he’s here, standing behind me, while I come face to face with the woman who ruined my past but gift-wrapped my future.
“You should know Dillon was everything to him,” she utters.
“As Caleb was to you,” I return just as quietly.
Standing straight and grabbing Michael’s hand still holding tightly to my waist, I ensure my voice is clear before announcing, “I don’t want to do this, but I have to forgive you.”
Two solitary tears, one from each eye, drop to her cheeks at the same time. “You forgive me?”
“Yes,” I clip, still annoyed with her for ruining another moment of my life, and barely holding onto my patience in having to deal with her at all. “I believe people change. I don’t know you or what you’ve done to become a better person…”
“I’ve–” Just as Michael’s done to me so many times, I lift my hand between us to keep Victoria quiet.
“I don’t want to know. I want to be free of this. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has made me sadder than knowing I wasn’t enough for the man I married. But the man you gave me by being who you were makes me happier than I could’ve ever been.”
With wide eyes, Victoria looks over my shoulder just as I feel Michael kiss the top of my head. I can’t see his expression, but his hold on me has loosened ever so slightly. Part of me still wants to rip the woman’s eyes from her head, while the other part of me can’t wait to get Michael alone so the only thing ripping is my dress.
“Thank you,” she whispers, looking down. “For your forgiveness.
“Don’t thank me. Pay it forward, Victoria. Don’t ruin someone else’s life by being who you say you used to be.”
Exhaling a long breath, Victoria turns to look as a man I’ve never met stands next to her. Thankfully, she doesn’t bother with introductions, seeing as this scene is already uncomfortable.
She nods at me, then looks at Michael. “You deserve her. Clearly, you two are meant to be together.”
“Victoria.” He states her name with a finality I finally allow myself to believe.
“Goodbye,” she whispers, taking the man’s offered hand and walking away into the crowd of people around us.
Finally, the ex-wife of the man I love is gone.
Michael
Thankfully, Lucy’s no longer as pissed off as she was in the restaurant when she first set eyes on Victoria. She said her piece, accepted what little she allowed Victoria to say, then did what I still haven’t been able to do.
Lucy forgave her.
Watching the woman who taught me love face off against the woman I once thought I did was surreal. Those questions Lucy needed to ask were answered. Sentiments Lucy needed to make were made. I felt an unexpected peace rush over me in hearing Lucy, in her own way, saying goodbye to her husband for good.
“Giving in yet?” I tease, using my thumb to manipulate Lucy’s body into agreeing to what I’ve asked.
Her legs begins to shake and her body starts to tense. I’m not sure if she can still even hear me.
When my tongue surges into her wet and ready core, Lucy’s moan echoes off the walls right before she pulls my hair to the point of pain. I’m not ready to give her all her body is asking, though.
Not yet.
Pulling back, I look up to appreciate her, naked and wanting, spread out on my bed, before repeating myself. This time, I rephrase my question as a demand. “You’re moving in with me, Lucy.”
“Do that again,” she instructs, subtly raising her hips toward my face, which is settled comfortably between her thighs.
I refuse to budge.
Tonight, watching Lucy lash out against Victoria the way she did, ready to battle until the death, was something I found so unbelievably sexy, I had a difficult time holding my composure.
Watching Lucy forgive the woman who set about to ruin her trust in all others was something perplexing, yet beautiful at the same time.
“Michael,” she moans, looking down as I remain still. “This isn’t fair.”
Shaking my head, I run my thumb against her again, smelling her arousal and wanting nothing more than to quench the ache I know she must be feeling.
But I won’t do anything until she concedes.
“It’s a simple answer, Lucy. Yes or no. I want you here every morning when I wake up and every night when I go to sleep.”
As she throws her head back down on the pillow and looks up at the ceiling in frustration, I want to smile but don’t. If she were doing the same to me, I’d be livid.
“You can’t expect me to answer this now,” she complains. “I mean, really, how fair is this?”
“Yes or no,” I state again, adding additional motivation. Thrusting my finger inside, Lucy’s body jolts. Her hips lift slightly off the bed once she realizes I’m not going to stop.
“Oh god. Please, please, please,” she begs.
Once she’s on the verge of coming apart, I pull away.
Standing up, unbuckling my belt and removing my pants, I watch as Lucy brings her focus around to mine. My cock is thirsting to be inside her. Helping to relieve my own ache, my hand grasps my length, massaging up and down, again and again, as I wait to hear her answer.
“I don’t want to lie to you, Michael, but I will,” she smarts off, bringing her hands to her chest and playing with her hardened nipples. “Lying isn’t wrong if you’re doing it under duress.”
Fuck, she’s going to win this. I know it.
In an attempt to stand my ground, I walk over and lay beside her, but I refuse to touch her. Our heads turn so our eyes are on each other.
“I love you,” I insist, moving a piece of hair matted with sweat from her neck. I’ve been teasing her for a while, hoping she’d break and give in. However, this is the part of Lucy that I both love and hate. She’s stubborn to a fault. “And I love you more now, after you forgave Victoria tonight, than I did before.”
Lucy thinks to herself, her eyes never leaving mine, before she admits, “I’m afraid you’ll move me in here, then change your mind.”
God, the woman is ridiculous.
“I won’t change my mind, Lucy. It’s taken me this long to figure out I can’t live without you. I have no doubt about this.”
“I’m boring,” she whispers. “As in, I can be pretty lame.”
There’s nothing I can do to stop the laughter from bursting into the room.
“What?” she shrieks. She grabs the wrist of the hand holding my head, and I lean in to her to keep from falling over. “What’s funny?”
“You are anything but boring.”
She shrugs and mindlessly plays with the hair behind my ear before running her fingers over the top of it to keep her focus on something else.
“We’ve been through so much drama,” she explains. “Between visiting your family, then coming back here and not telling anyone. Then, ya know, there’s your not-so-dead ex-wife.”
“So?”
“So take all that fun away and you’ll see I’m pretty simple.”
Positioning my body over hers, I use my knee to spread her thighs. My hand drops between us, spreading her further and placing my cock at her entrance. I lean down to kiss her lips softly, then pull back before demanding more.
“I like simple,” I state with all honesty. “Other than your persistent need to make me crazy, simple sounds good.”
Sighing, she looks past my shoulders and to the ceiling. “Okay,” she agrees. “Dillon and I will move in.”
With her approval stated clearly, no way possible for her to take it back without a fight, I slide into her with a nearly violent thrust. It’s my own private way of, once again, claiming what was always mine.
Her hands immediately tense along my waist and her hips instantly mold into mine as the steady rhythm of our first night as an ‘us’ finally begins.
“I knew you’d come around,” I whisper before using my teeth to pull at the skin of her neck.
Lucy’s insides tighten, forcing me to push her harder.
“You’ll learn to see things my way,” I test. “There are a lot of ways I plan to have you.”
A small whimper emits from her throat, and she buries her face in my neck to avoid looking at me directly.