Loving Lily(26)

“You’re blackmailing me? I can have you locked up for that!” My temper was getting the best of me. I couldn’t for the life of me see clearly. I needed to take a moment to remember the reason I come here in the first place.

“Am I?” She raised her brow before making a tsk-tsking sound.

She was all threats. Nothing was going to come out of it.

“You’re bluffing. You know you are.”

“We shall see, shall we?” she pressed on, baiting me further, making me feel backed into a corner. “Unless, of course, you’ve changed your mind at the last minute …”

“You’re out of your mind.”

She kept on smiling before declaring, “Nothing new there, sweetie. You used to love that about me, remember?”

I fucking hated it, but at the time, I couldn’t care less about anyone other than my own needs then. Times had changed, though, and I couldn’t very well put my needs first as I used to.

“If you ever—I mean ever—step out of line, this deal is done. Don’t ever come near my wife again in our home or at my office. Understood?”

“Crystal.”





Chapter 12

Drake



After making the damn deal with Shannon, I felt so wretched I had to go to another bar and drown my frustrations. I didn’t mean to come home past midnight, but I lost track of time. A cold shower and a warm bed was all I needed to cure the pounding headache that had taken residence the moment Shannon texted me hours before.

“You’re drunk, aren’t you?” Lily’s accusing voice made my headache throb harder.

I had barely stepped foot inside our bedroom when she appeared like she was about to commit murder.

Trying to appear normal, I loosened my tie before giving her an apologetic look. “I had a few drinks, yes. But I’m not hammered, if that’s what you’re saying.”

“You could’ve gotten a DUI, Drake! Haven’t you learned from the car accident that almost claimed your life? Don’t you care about dying before our baby is born?” She was screeching, her voice ringing in my ears. Fuck.

“I do care, you know I do. But, Lil, I’m exhausted. Can we just do this tomorrow?” My voice was pleading; however, it sure as heck didn’t reach her ears, because she appeared to be even more furious at me.

“I called the office, and apparently, you left some time after five. And, from what I asked Mindy, you apparently didn’t have any impending meetings or business dinners slotted tonight, so where the fuck were you, Drake?”

I could tell her the truth, then all this bullshit wouldn’t weigh so heavily on me. However, I knew I shouldn’t. She would worry further. Maybe next time I should try to cover my tracks more. I was doing this for us and for our future. I hoped that someday she would forgive me for deceiving her, though.

“I took the work with me to the bar. I just needed to unwind a little. It’s been a stressful month—”

“It’s been stressful for both of us, Drake!” she vehemently exclaimed, getting close to me. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Shaking my head, I immediately denied it. “Like I said before, it’s just stress-related.”

“You’re not lying to me, are you?” she inquired r, not convinced by my responses.

I was a big fat liar, but I wasn’t going to admit it at the moment. “Nothing’s going on, Lily. For fuck’s sake, just drop it already. God, I’m fucking exhausted. I don’t want to deal with these stupid questions,” I grumbled, walking away to seek some privacy in the bathroom. I couldn’t stand there when she was looking so suspicious of me, and I couldn’t very well tell her the truth.

The lie was eating me raw, and I was helpless to stop it.

So, what did a guy do when he had been caught in his own lies? Lie some more and take the nearest escape route. In my situation, the bathroom and a shower was the most viable option without having our argument blow into something more.

Ten minutes later, freshly showered yet still with a miserable migraine, I came out of the bathroom and immediately scoured for Lily. She was in bed on her side, facing away from me. I wasn’t sure if she was pretending to sleep or if she really was. It was hard to tell since she and I had never really had an argument where she was almost accusing me of cheating. I could tell the word had been about to come out of her mouth, but thank goodness it hadn’t. I would have been appalled if she had accused me of something truly despicable.

Treading carefully, I went into my walk-in closet and put some boxers on before heading back to the bed. I was holding my breath when I pulled the sheets up before sliding onto the cool mattress.