Drew laughed at my last comment and continued. “Derik drove us right downtown to the front door of Cascadence, an elaborate, maybe a little too extreme dwelling for the richest of the rich. My plan was to make an appearance and get the fuck out of there as soon as I could. Maybe Morgan would fall ill or something. I wasn’t staying. I walked in front of Morgan, and Derik walked behind her. Jena met him at the door. I shot him a dirty look when he introduced Morgan as my wife.
‘What? She knows what’s going on,’ Derik argued.
‘Keep your mouth shut,’ I warned both him and Morgan, shifting my eyes from one to the other.”
“You were with Skyler that night,” I said, sitting up straight. It dawned on me while thinking about that night. Drew left the room and went with Skyler that night.
“I was, but nothing happened,” Drew answered.
“Yeah, sure. I have got to be the stupidest woman on this planet. Can you fix that, Deidra?”
“Morgan, we didn’t really like each other then. What is your deal? Will you let me finish? You’re the one that wanted me to talk, remember?”
“You know why, Drew? Because I have nothing to talk about during that time. I wasn’t out fucking anyone else. I wasn’t jumping on a plane every week. I wasn’t chasing every short skirt in Vegas. I wasn’t fucking doing anything because you wouldn’t let me,” I accused, raising my voice. Deidra never said a word. What the hell were we even paying her for?
“I want to talk about that, Morgan, but not yet. Okay?” Drew calmly said, wrapping his fingers around my wrist.
I jerked it away, and crossed my arms, waiting to see what else Skyler and Drew did that night. I would get up and walk out if he talked about fucking her.
Drew continued with the rest of his story, “I shot Morgan a stern look. ‘I’m going to step out for a second, but I have Derik watching you. You don’t talk to Mr. Callaway or anyone else while I am away from the table, understand?’
Morgan obediently replied, ‘Yes.’
I excused myself after returning Morgan to our table. I didn’t have to look far.
Skyler was just through the doors, pacing the floor, wrathfully. ‘That’s why you told me not to hurry back. You wanted me out of town, didn’t you, Drew?’
‘Shhh, come here, Sky. It’s not what you think.’
‘Then what is it, Drew? Who the hell is she?’ Taking a deep breath, I spilled.
‘I should have told you about this months ago. I should have let you know why you couldn’t come to the mansion and why I had to keep you hidden.’
Skyler was obviously confused. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
Hesitantly, I confessed, ‘Morgan is my wife.’
Skyler’s eyes widened in shock, her expression was disoriented like she couldn’t respond. ‘Morgan? Your wife?’
‘Yes, I didn’t think she’d still be here. Callaway changed his will. He left it all to his granddaughter, Morgan.’
‘Drew, you’re making no sense. How can Callaway have a granddaughter? Michael was his only child.’
‘Michael is her father. He told Callaway about her the day he died. Callaway insisted that I either marry her and take care of her, or pack up and move on without a dime. I didn’t have a choice, Sky. I was hoping he’d be dead by now. It wasn’t supposed to be for this long. I thought for sure he’d be dead by now. She was supposed to be out of the picture by now.’
‘You have a fucking wife?’
‘Skyler, it’s not like that.’
‘Do you have sex with her?’
‘Of course not. We don’t even see each other. She lives upstairs in her own room. I didn’t even want to bring her to this thing. Randal made me.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘I told you, I didn’t think she’d still be here. Callaway is supposed to be dead.’
‘So what, Drew? Am I supposed to just be the other woman? You know I’m not going to do that. I can’t believe this. What? Is this like some sort of joke? Are there hidden cameras around here? This is absurd,’ Skyler blurted going from one sentence to another.
‘Skyler, come here,’ I demanded, pulling her into my arms. I couldn’t lose Skyler. I loved Skyler. I’d been in love with Skyler since the first time I saw her almost three years ago. ‘Just let it ride for a little while. I’ll figure something out,’ I promised her, and then pulled away from her when the door opened. Callaway was running his mouth about my new wife. I couldn’t be seen with her.
Skyler shook her head, knowing exactly what had just happened, why I pulled away. ‘You look me up when you’re ready for me. I’m not playing second best to you or anyone else. You should know that about me, if you know nothing else. Do you really think you’re the only guy that wants me?’ she asked, looking at me with pure disgust. I knew Skyler was right. Skyler was beautiful. She’d have another man on her arm before the night was out. That infuriated me even more. I wasn’t sure I could handle seeing that. I watched Skyler walk through the swinging doors and right out of my life.”