The Terms 2

by Ruby Rowe

  “Anytime you need something, you come see Boss. Anything at all. OK?” He nods but doesn’t make eye contact. “We’re going to spend a lot of time together and do fun things.”

  “Will Momma be there?”

  “Liam, your momma will always take care of you, but now you have two parents.”

  He glances up at me and smiles. “OK. Can I slide now?”

  I chuckle. “Yeah, sure, but can I have one hug first?” He hops off the swing, and I bring him in close to me. That was easier than I expected, and I wish life could always be this simple for him.

  Greyson

  Returning from a late business lunch, I stop at Rhonda’s office to check on Sasha. My paralegal looks up at me from her desk.

  “How’s it going?”

  “If you’re referring to Sasha, she’s doing fine. Her enthusiasm over her ability to file papers correctly is odd, but otherwise, she seems to catch on quickly.”

  “Where is she?”

  “Lunch.”

  Oh, shit. “She didn’t bring lunch, and she doesn’t have a car.”

  Her eyebrows lift, and I realize I’m busted for knowing too much.

  “I have to get to my office.” I disappear before she can reply and walk down a side hallway to the break room. Sasha isn’t inside, so I leave, and as I pass the conference room, I catch a glimpse of her through the cracked door.

  I step back and look inside. She’s sitting on the table, gazing out the picture window at the mountains. There’s empty saltine cracker wrappers on the table and an empty white cone cup from the water machine. Shit.

  “Sasha, hi,” I say as I push the door open. Scooting off the table, she turns around.

  “Hi.”

  “I completely forgot you didn’t have a car to go grab lunch. Would you like me to run out and get you something?”

  “No, I’ve only got a few minutes left, and the crackers were enough.” She picks up the wrappers and dusts the crumbs off the table. “I never eat three meals a day, anyway.”

  “You should.”

  Letting a laugh slip, she says something under her breath.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Nothing. I should get back to work.”

  “All right. Come find me if you need anything.”

  “Thanks.” Leaving her alone, I walk to my office. I no sooner sit down when my HR manager, Deedra, charges in.

  “When were you going to tell me you hired someone? And why would you do that without informing me first?”

  “Don’t raise your voice at me, and shut the door please.”

  She does as I ask and marches to my desk with crossed arms. Her face is as red as her short hair, and although I understand why she’s angry, she’s also getting a little too comfortable barking at me.

  “I’m sorry, but I’d appreciate a heads-up when you’re going to have a new employee start.”

  “It was unexpected, and if I hadn’t been on the phone all morning and had a lunch meeting, I would’ve told you already. She’s a friend, but that stays between us. I’m helping her out until she gets on her feet.”

  “Once I stumbled upon Sasha, I had her come to my office to fill out paperwork, and I’m fairly certain her driver’s license is bogus.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “I’ve been doing HR for fifteen years now. I know a fake ID when I see one.”

  I sigh. “I’ll find out, and keep this between us.”

  “Of course.”

  She leaves, and I rub my eyes before I pick up the phone to call Ellis.

  “Hey, cuz. Are you busy?”

  “I just put Liam down for a nap. What’s up?”

  “Damn, your life has changed.”

  “No, shit.”

  “Does Sasha know how to drive?”

  “I believe so because Camilla mentioned giving her sister her old car. Why?”

  “HR thinks her ID is fake.”

  “Uh, I’m working on remedying that.”

  “What? It is fake?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you going to explain, or do I need to get the pliers out like every other time you’re keeping something from me.”

  “It’s Camilla and Sasha’s personal business. It’s not my place to tell, and it can’t get out.”

  “You know, I thought you trusted me, but I’m not sure anymore. Fine, I’ll ask Sasha myself.”

  “Greyson, stop. I do trust you, but I need to ask Camilla if she minds if I discuss it with you since it’s so personal.”

  “Whatever, man. I have a lot of work to do, so I’m gettin’ off here.”

  “Look, it’s about their past, and I’m trying to straighten it out for them. As soon as I do, she’ll have a valid driver’s license. Can you cover for her in the meantime? It’s extremely important.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Tossing my phone on the desk, I lean back in my chair and lace my fingers behind my head. I figured Sasha had a few little secrets buried, but I’m getting the feeling they’re not buried or small.

  Maybe I jumped the gun on offering her so much help. It’s not normal for me to get this involved, but ever since I carried her in my arms out of that shithole apartment, I’ve felt a need to protect her.

  Deedra isn’t going to be the last person to bitch me out over Sasha. Whitney’s wrath will be unleashed once she discovers that another chick is living with me. Fuck, I just made my life a hell of a lot more difficult.

  Ellis

  Christopher sits down in a wingback chair in my office.

  “What did you want to discuss?” I ask.

  “I need Greyson’s phone number?”

  “Why?”

  He purses his lips. “It’s about the painting. I came up with more cash, and I want to buy it from him.” I’m not surprised by his response. Who wouldn’t want to fight for a free house and all that money?

  “It’s not for sale.”

  He looks heavenward, and I guarantee that’s not where he’s headed after this lifetime.

  “Tony said if anything ever happened to him, he wanted me to have it.”

  “It’s a painting. You’ve never breathed a word about the expensive paintings displayed throughout my home, so I find it hard to believe you have an interest in art. You need to let it go.”

  With his leg resting on his other knee, he messes with the hem of his pants.

  “Why are you keeping me around? It’s obvious you don’t like me.”

  “If you want the truth, Camilla is the main reason you’re still here. She says you two are friends.” Stretching back in my chair, I tent my fingers and touch my lips as I stare him down. “You know what I think?”

  He gives half an eye roll. “No, but I’m sure you’re going to enlighten me.”

  “I believe she feels indebted to you for being by her side the last few years, but we both know the only reason you did that; you wanted her and still do.”

  “And how is that any different than the reason you’re supporting her?”

  “The difference is that she wants me in return. Once and for all, you need to stop trying to get with her. She’s not going to suddenly leave here to be with you, and she wouldn’t remove Liam from this house or his father.”

  Christopher laughs. “I think you’re the one obsessed with Camilla, and you’re obviously delusional, thinking Liam’s yours. I couldn’t believe you told your family that lie.”

  This is the moment I’ve been waiting for. I lean over and rest my elbows on my desk.

  “He is mine. Camilla and I slept together at one of my brother’s parties. We took a paternity test. He’s mine, not Tony’s.”

  His jaw drops, and I think he’s lost the ability to breathe. He struggles to swallow, too.

  “Camilla wouldn’t keep a secret like that from me.”

  “He’s mine. I can make you a copy of the test if you’d like.”

  Standing, he shoves his chair bac
k. “I’ll pass, and I’ll also find another job as soon as possible.”

  “I think that’s wise.” With his fists clenched, he stomps to my door. “Oh, Chris, one more thing… If you get time, I’d like you to research Isla Mujeres. It appears my brother had a home there.”

  Christopher’s head falls back. “Fuck,” he breathes.

  “What was that?”

  “You’re a dick,” he says with his back to me.

  “And you were an idiot for thinking your plan would work. It’s my job to uncover what’s hidden. You weren’t going to get this past me.”

  He tears out of my office, and I have no remorse for how I treated him. He tried to pull the wool over my eyes, and my gut tells me he’s still hiding something.

  I’ll figure it out, and then he’s never stepping foot near my son or Camilla again. I’ll prove to her he’s not worthy of her friendship.

  Sasha

  “College and hard work are paying off for you,” I blurt out as Greyson and I ride in the elevator up to his penthouse.

  “Yes, they are. Have you ever thought about going to college?”

  “I doubt I could get in, and I definitely couldn’t afford it.”

  His head cocks to the side. “Why do you think you’re not smart?”

  “I didn’t say that, and I don’t wish to talk about it.” The elevator dings, and we step into the hall.

  “Then let’s discuss why you have a fake driver’s license.”

  I come to a stop at his door and cross my arms.

  “How do you know about that?” I begin to pace. “Oh, god, that means Deedra knows. This is so humiliating.” Panic pummels me, so I reach out and clench Greyson’s arms.

  “Please don’t turn me in. Will she tell on me?”

  Pulling my hands off of him, he holds them between his.

  “Calm down. No one is turning you in.”

  “I should go. I knew this was a bad idea.” Jerking free, I start down the hallway to pack my things, but he clutches my arm and turns me around.

  “Tell me what’s going on.”

  “I can’t, and you need to let me leave.”

  “Sasha, I’m not the enemy here. Your secrets are safe with me.”

  “They’re not safe with anyone, and Camilla would kill me if I told you.”

  He blows out a lengthy breath. “Look, I’ll let it go if you stay. I think I still have a frozen lasagna Theresa made Friday, so let’s eat dinner, and you can unwind in front of the television.” He smiles. “You did say you like that.”

  I study his face, looking for a reason not to trust him since he does and says everything right.

  “If you promise we won’t talk about my past, I’ll stay.”

  “I promise, but if you’re going to remain clean, you have to get your shit straightened out. It’s part of the process.”

  “Then that’s going to be a problem seeing how my shit can never be straightened out.”

  He scratches the back of his head. “You can’t talk in code, Sasha. I hear enough of that from Ellis.”

  “Then, let’s not talk. I’m hungry.”

  He smiles. “That’s one problem I can fix.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Camilla

  I open Liam’s door after being awakened from his cries.

  “Sweetie, what’s wrong.”

  “I peed,” he replies with a whine. Wonderful. I turn on the light and go to him. He’s sitting up, and I see that his pajama pants are soaked.

  “It’s been a long time since you’ve wet the bed. Let’s go give you a quick bath.”

  The door swings open, so I glance over my shoulder.

  “What’s wrong?” Ellis asks.

  “I heard him crying from the monitor. He had an accident. Liam, go in the bathroom and undress.” Still whining, he leaves Ellis and I alone.

  “Why did he wet the bed?”

  “I don’t know. It happens sometimes.”

  “It hasn’t happened here.”

  “Ellis, it’s not a huge deal. He still has a small bladder. He drank a lot today, too, from playing outside.”

  “What if this is because of what I told him?”

  “I’m sure it’s not.”

  “What can I do?”

  “You can either help him take a bath, or you can change his bedding.”

  “I don’t know where Irene keeps his extra sheets.”

  “OK, then you go run his bath water, and I’ll find the bedding.”

  Ellis passes by me in only his sweats, so I look away and begin stripping the bed. In a breath, Liam begins to cry. I hear Ellis’s voice next and then Liam sobbing. I’m too tired for this. Can we rewind to Saturday when I was Cinderella and it hadn’t struck midnight yet?

  Ellis bursts back in the room. “He started crying the second he saw me, and he won’t tell me why. He’s just standing there naked, rubbing his eyes, and I can’t understand him. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. You go in there.”

  “Welcome to parenthood, Ellis, where you never know what the hell you’re doing, or if your decisions are right or wrong, so you do the best you can and pray it doesn’t screw up your child for the rest of his life. Check the closet for the bedding.”

  ***

  “I was useless in there,” Ellis says before he takes a bite of the French silk pie I made after dinner. We’re sitting at the dinette set in the kitchen with the pie pan between us.

  “Have you ever made a bed before?”

  He fires a look my way. “Yes, Camilla, I’ve made a bed. I had to while I was at college.” I lower my head to hide my snicker. “I was talking about how useless I was at helping Liam.”

  “Don’t be hard on yourself. It’s two in the morning, so we were all tired in there. You have to expect that it might take him a while to adjust to the news you gave him.”

  “He did ask me outside if you were still going to be here.”

  “See, he doesn’t understand. I’m sure as he realizes things aren’t going to change, he’ll be back to his old self.” I think about the possibility of having to move out and lower my head again. I lay down my fork, too.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I only hope he doesn’t end up with two homes.”

  “I don’t want that, either.”

  I look up. “You don’t?”

  “No. He needs both of his parents under one roof, and obviously I need your help.”

  “I don’t want to be kept around for only those reasons.” His gaze averts to the wall, and the silence fills the room fast and heavy. “I’m going back to bed,” I say as I stand with my glass of milk. “I have a live lecture I can’t miss in the morning. Good night.”

  Reaching across the table, he clasps my wrist. I glance down at his hand and relish in how good it feels and how my body responds to him in one beat of my heart.

  “Come here.”

  I lift my gaze to meet his. Come home … come here … they’re two-word sentences I don’t believe I could live without. I set down my glass and pad around the table.

  Taking hold of my hips, he brings me right onto his lap. He grabs my face and stares into my eyes as if an unyielding force is driving him.

  “I want you right now.”

  “When the sun rises, will you feel the same?”

  “I’ll always want you, but it doesn’t mean the darkness from the night won’t still linger.”

  “We can outshine it, Ellis. Through Tony’s death, we were brought to life, and I refuse to let our love die, too.” Climbing off his lap, I urgently strip my clothes and drop to my knees.

  “You promised you were going to pleasure me and inflict pain on me until I was splintered down to my soul. You said I’d be stripped bare and kneeling at your feet, begging for you not to stop … to never let me go.” I clench his knees.

  “This is that moment, Ellis. I’m begging you. Please, don’t let me go.” His fingers delve deep in my hair, and my scalp prickles from the feel of the tips of th
em. I pray he never stops touching me.

  “You’re everything I’ve ever wanted but also feared. No matter how much I fought it, you always came back in my dreams. It’s impossible to let you go.” Breathing out the rest of the fight he’s been holding in, he whispers, “I love you.”

  Yanking down his sweats, he grasps my arms and brings me up onto his lap again. His lips crash to mine, and he fists my hair. His groans are penetrating, his kiss desperate and aggressive. He lashes my tongue and moves his hands to my breasts, where he squeezes them and tugs on my nipples.

  I’m losing myself in the pleasure, falling into the abyss of Ellis Burke, where his soul resides and I could live for all of eternity.

  Coming up for air, he scoops out a handful of the fluffy chocolate pie filling from the pan and spreads it across my throat and breasts. He laps at it and kisses me all over while grinding his cock against my pelvis.

  The sensations are jarring, heightening my senses. His sizzling mouth on my skin mixed with the cold chocolate filling makes my pussy throb. He grabs a handful of my hair again and clutches my hip as he sucks the cream off my stiff nipples.

  “Fuck, how I’ve missed this. Ride me, and don’t stop. I’m coming inside you.”

  “Yes, Sir.” I raise up and sink onto his cock. He jerks his head back and presses his fingers firmly against my hips. It feels hard enough to bruise me, and I want him to leave marks. I want the evidence that he’s taking back what’s his.

  Lifting me, he slams me down again and growls from the sensation. I moan from how deep he fills me–how complete I am with him inside me.

  Tugging my head back by my hair, he sucks on my throat, my breasts and my nipples. His urgency never wanes while I ride him like he ordered.

  Feeling the tightening of my muscles, he shoves his head against my shoulder, and we orgasm together before he can tell me to come. I shudder from my contractions and the way his cock pulses inside me.

  The pleasure is inundating, divvied out across every inch of my being until I collapse against him, forcing him back so I can press my chest to his.

  We’re skin to skin, sticky and sweaty, and he has come back to me. He’s the Ellis I love and want to serve. I’ll give him anything so long as I’m able to share my life with him.