As much as I didn’t want to admit it, that really hurt my feelings to a point where I couldn’t help but retaliate back. I called out loudly. “The only reason you enjoy it was because you don’t have to put in any effort!”
Everything went silent, eerily quiet, and then I heard the slam of the spare room door.
Another lonely night left to my own inner thoughts of self-loathing and silent tears.
CHAPTER FIVE
His hips began to move faster, grinding down with each thrust. The orgasm inside was slowly building. My moans were growing as I started bucking my hips, moving to match his pace. Our bodies moved in sync and hips slapped together. My legs tightened around his thighs as my fingers dug into his ass, gripping.
Brody’s groan was muffled as his mouth met mine. “You there?” His voice was ragged, breathing shallow as I knew he was struggling to hold off. His mouth pulled away, eyes squinting shut as he grew closer to his own release.
“Almost…” I breathed out, focusing on the pleasure building deep inside the pit of my stomach.
All I needed was a little longer. His pace increased harder, and I wanted to scream. The orgasm was fading, and I could have screamed. Fucking hell, he was racing to the finish line and forgetting about me.
Sensing my frustration, he slowed back down with deeper movements. I felt my eyes begin to roll, and toes curled as I was there. Oh, my God, my core clenching as my legs locked tighter, pulling him in deeper as I came. Moaning, gripping his shoulders, I convulsed around him. His cock drove in faster, drawing out my orgasm as he came. Finally, slowing to a stop where he laid still, his cock pulsing and throbbing inside me.
Our moans were muffled by our lips kissing. His hand went to the side of my cheek, caressing gently. Neither of us was overly loud. The kids down the hall would wake up soon, and our bedroom wasn’t shut. His hand loosened from the hold he had on my hip as he then pulled out. Kneeling with a heavy breath, he stood, flaccid and tugging the condom off as he walked butt naked to the bathroom. When I heard the water running from the shower, I got myself up to get the children ready for school.
This morning, Brody had woken relatively horny, tugging at my pyjama bottoms for some action. I didn’t stop him. I should have after he practically called me a “useless lay.” He shattered my confidence and hurt me. Then he had come down and apologised, admitting he said it only to hurt me. I forgave him as usual.
My mood was relatively good this morning as I made the kids breakfast. I guess that’s what an orgasm could do to you, a rare orgasm but definitely needed.
“Mama, do you like this?” Lila asked me, pointing to a painting she had done at school.
I glanced up, looking at the artwork on the bench as I spread her sandwiches. Smiling, I made my response more exaggerated. “You didn’t do that!”
“Yes, I did!” she beamed, looking incredibly proud of herself.
I took the painting and went to put it over on the fridge. “You’re so talented. I’m going to put it up here, so I can see it every day.”
“I’m going to do a picture for daddy. He can take it to work,” she beamed, looking proud.
“He’d love that.” I noticed the time and quickly packed her lunch box inside her bag. “Come on, we need to go, or we’ll end up late.”
When we drove to school, I walked them each in and waved goodbye. Lila came running back over, kissing my cheek as she threw her little arms around my neck for a tight embrace. Nothing could ever feel better than this — the feeling I felt when Lila or Noah coming up on their own to give me a hug or a kiss, even saying they loved it. My heart exploded with more love than I ever imagined. To me, the little things matter. These memories would be cherished until the day I died.
Errands were to be run which I liked to get over and done with as soon as I could. I finished sooner than expected, picking up a soccer ball for Noah to practice with at home before he started playing. I worried he would change his mind as he’s never really been big on sports outside of school.
I had been doing shakes for almost two weeks and felt somewhat slightly better about my appearance. I hadn’t worn lazy clothes. Instead, I wore a pair of jeans and a black top, slightly more fitting than what was my usual. When I walked past Bento, I finally went in.
I’ve never been a fan of sushi, but Brody raves on about it. Today, I wanted to try some. Blame it on this morning, but things were feeling a little better between us. Yes, we’d barely spoken since the morning sex, but at least, there was no fighting.
The nerves were in my stomach as I walked to his office. It had been so long since I last visited Brody at work, possibly three months, that I thought I was in the wrong building and unable to remember his floor number at first.
This was the first place he worked since finishing up school, never once complaining of hating it. I never really understood just what he did until it was broken down into simple terms for me, and then I realised how important it was and why he worked the way did. He’s a broker who sells businesses, looks for cheap deals, and then flips them over, strips out assets, cuts staff to make profitable on paper, and sells them for double, sometimes triple. His charm easily wins over sellers and buyers just as he won me over, years back.
Nerves, mixed with a hint of excitement, filled me as I neared closer. He never asked me to come, but today, I wanted to. I wanted to make this effort for him and show him I was trying.
When the doors opened, my heart was slamming against my chest, a rash threatening to break out as I rubbed the base of my neck and walked the quiet corridor to his office. I began to smile as I heard his deep voice, his laughter a foreign sound rarely heard. I had missed that sound, not realising just how much until now.
As I turned to walk inside his door, I stopped. My smile wiped as my heart slammed into my chest for other reasons.
She was in there, sitting on his desk with her arm up, waving chopsticks around and laughing with him. Her thigh was exposed as she draped a long leg over the other, showing off the top of her lace garters. Wearing a tight fitting black dress with heels so high, she would be almost his height. She was beautiful. Her hair and makeup were done immaculately that I could never pull off an eyeliner like hers.
The sight of the two of them, laughing and sharing lunch didn’t make me jealous. It made me feel stupid. I was the pathetic fool for thinking that I was still what he wanted. Diets and shakes, all the running and sweating my fat arse had done, I wasn’t going to be his.
My mind was screaming run, just leave. However, my feet were stuck.
I just focused on him. Unable to hear what they were talking about, he hadn’t noticed just how much her eyes were all over him, or that she was sprawled out and offering herself to him. Or did he? He was handsome, a woman’s dream. Over six feet tall, dark hair and wore a suit well, this was the typical hot boss fantasy. Her young, high perky breasts and luscious plump lips were the obvious focal point.
What man wouldn’t envision those red lips wrapped around their cock?
The part that killed me was he was laughing, something I hadn’t seen in so long. I may get the rare intimate side with him, but I would do anything to be the one to make him laugh, even smile.
The jealous wife in me wanted to rip her fucking head off.
As he reached for his drink, lifting his eyes up and about to take a mouthful, he paused. Finally, he noticed I was here in the doorway, watching the two of them share a lovely lunch together. His smile was long gone.
Everything began to play out slowly. Time stood still as I stumbled and fumbled to get away. I shook my head, letting him know not to even bother. My teeth sank into my quivering lower lip. Holding back the tears, I reached out and dropped the plastic bag of sushi into his bin.
“Gabby.”
“I need to go.” I couldn’t stand the sight of them.
“No, wait!” he called out.
Shaking my head, I muttered, “Enjoy lunch.”
He was standing, pushing up
from his desk and quickly moving on his feet towards me. Kate had jumped up from her position, straightening herself up with flaming red cheeks. I hated her.
I could hear her talking, her voice high as she called out, “Oh, my God, is that your wife?” She was giggling, which angered me even more. It took all my willpower not to walk over and strangle her.
I couldn’t have left fast enough. Turning, I walked fast back towards the elevator. My fingers forcefully hit the down arrow, needing to get out of here and away from him. They opened, and I had rushed inside. His panicked face was the last thing my eyes saw as the doors closed.
My phone started ringing, burning in my pocket. I ignored the call. The knot inside my stomach was tugging and hurting. I couldn’t cry. I didn’t want to cry. I was in shock. He slept with me and then come to work for her.
The phone rang again… and again. Each time, my heart pounded harder, aching with agony. I ignored each call. I didn’t reply to his texts. I just blocked him out.
What started out as a great day went downhill quickly. I had no idea how I even managed to smile after that. Picking Noah and Lila up, I was in such a daze. I didn’t want them to know anything was up, and I definitely didn’t need the gossip from the school ground.
My eyes were tired, aching as I forced myself to stay downstairs. My every being wanted to go to our bedroom and cry to sleep. They were doing their homework and sitting at the counter as I prepared dinner, and I helped in between cutting vegetables.
My eyes were always darting to the clock on the wall by the fridge. Nervous dread weighed in the pit of my stomach. Each minute that passed felt like the timer on a bomb. I didn’t want him to come home and hear his excuses if there were going to be any. My mind was made up, and the feeling in my gut told me he was sleeping with her. I just had that feeling something was up.
Noah finished his homework first, jumping down to race off outside so he could beat Lila to the trampoline. I was glad there was no fighting tonight between them. I just couldn’t deal with it. Lila went off to her bedroom, playing dolls until dinner was ready.
Assuming Noah was coming back inside, I glanced up ready to tell him not to annoy his sister when I froze. Glancing to and from the clock, I dipped my brows. “It’s four.”
He was never home before seven.
He walked over towards me, I stayed still, unsure what I wanted to do. Scream? Hit him? Cry? I wanted to do them all. He spoke softly, “You weren’t answering my calls.”
Of course, I wasn’t. My voice caught in my throat as he pulled out a bouquet, big and beautiful wildflowers. Green, yellow and pink, they were filled with so many vivid colours. He hadn’t brought me flowers in so long. Any other time, I would have been pleased to receive them… now, not so much.
Immediately, I turned away from him and sat the flowers down on the bench top. I couldn’t look at him mainly because I just wanted to cry. These were suck-up flowers and nothing more. “Thank you.” It was all I could muster in response.
His arms slipped around my waist, his chest to my back as I felt the warmth of his lips against the base of my neck, murmuring, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I lied. It wasn’t fine. I was just too defeated to bother. The yelling in me was gone. I didn’t have the energy anymore. Trying to relax against him, I just couldn’t, and it made things uncomfortable. I shrugged away, his touch burning.
“It’s not,” he said more for forcefully, taking hold of my elbow and turning me around to face him. My heart pounding as our eyes locked. His glassed over, red-rimmed. “It’s damn, well, not okay. I would have lost it if I see what you saw today, Gabby. I would hate to ever see you with another man.” Both hands cupped my face tenderly. His thumbs caressing and I think this is the most affectionate he’s ever been. “I didn’t know you were coming.”
“Why would you have known? I was trying to do something new and surprise you.” Blinking back the tears, I quickly glanced away as they began to spill once again. “I should have called…” My words were failing me as I began to cry. “I don’t want to interrupt you next time.”
“There’s nothing to interrupt. Nothing is going on with her.”
I scoffed. “Don’t lie to me. I’m not stupid.”
The pads of his thumbs traced inwards and rubbed away the tears. “I never said you were stupid. I called. I left you a voice message, seven actually.”
“I deleted them.”
His expression was painful as he released my body, stepping backwards and a hand through his hair as he swallowed hard. “I feel like a bastard, Gabby. Jesus, I can’t get the way you looked out of my head.”
“How do you think I felt?” I couldn’t believe he was trying to make this about himself. This was more about easing his own guilty conscious than worrying about me. “Do you have lunch with her every day?” I asked.
“No. Of course not, today was a once off.” His voice was becoming frantic, pleading with me to believe him. “You believe me, right?”
“She must be comfortable around you to lay herself out like that. Why didn’t you tell her to sit on a chair?” I knew why, and I hated that I finally realised that. He liked it. He liked the attention from other women, and I wasn’t giving it to him. I shook my head, “Forget about it, Brody. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I don’t want to even speak to you.”
“You don’t?” He sounded hurt. “I screwed up. I know that now. Tell me what to do. How can I fix this?”
I just stared into the eyes of the man I had fallen madly in love with. “You can’t fix it. If I hadn’t gone there…”
“Don’t go there. Nothing else happened.”
I glared, shaking my head with anger. “I don’t believe you! How the hell am I meant to believe that? She was all over your desk!”
“I didn’t ask her to sit there. Fuck!” he growled back. This time, both hands dragged through his hair as he paced the kitchen. “I’m not fucking her.”
“Do you want to?” I didn’t want to ask, but I needed to know.
His eyes hardened and glared. “I don’t want to fuck anyone else.”
“Yeah because our sex life is just so wonderful.” I laughed and rolled my eyes as I reached for a tissue. “You don’t get it here, and clearly, she’s offering for it all. A midday quickie, I don’t think we’ve done that since before we were married.”
“Our marriage is based on more than just sex.”
I almost asked what marriage. What we have isn’t a marriage. Hearing Noah outside, I shook my head. “I’m done talking. I don’t want Noah or Lila to hear or see us.” I would hate for them to both see this and to hear their parents like this.
He glanced at the door, and Noah came inside with a wide grin. “Dad, you’re home!”
Brody bent down, grinning. “Sure am. I thought we could have dinner together and then go outside for a kick of the soccer ball. I hear you’re starting on Saturday?” I knew he was just as pleased as I was in regards to Noah playing sports.
“Sure am, dad! Mum got me a new ball. Can I show you it now?” he asked.
With a nod, he stood once again. “I’ll wait here for you,” he called out, Noah already running off. He began to undo his tie, slipping it off and then rolling the sleeves on his light blue buttoned shirt. “Will you come outside too?”
“I think I just want to go to bed once dinner is done. I’m tired.” Half was true; half was a lie. I was tired from crying.
“Am I allowed in the bedroom, too?” he asked quietly. “I just want to hold you.”
I bit my lower lip, shrugging. “If you want…”
Turning around, I went back to stirring the food and fought off the tears again as he kept quiet behind me. He was my weakness. To feel his arms around my body and that he wanted to hold me, it was what I wanted. What I have been craving. I also knew this was just him trying to feel less guilty.
Slowly, I heard his footsteps walking up behind me once more, and his arms slid around my waist. A ki
ss to the top of my head and he stayed like that. “I’m sorry, Gabriella. I’ve disrespected you. I disrespected our marriage. I won’t do it again.”
I didn’t believe him, and that should have been the first sign.
CHAPTER SIX
“Where is Brody?” Loretta, my sister, asked as she nosily glanced around the large auditorium. “I thought you were coming together.”
Leaning in, I spoke quietly wanting to keep this from Noah who was beside me. “Stuck at work again. He’s just going to stand in the back when he arrives. He doesn’t want to draw attention to himself if he’s late.” Lie.
My other sister, Maria, gave me a pointed look after she and Loretta shared another between the two of them. “He better turn up, this time. He missed the last one.” I knew that. The fact that she kept pointing it out bothered me. I loved my sisters and was extremely grateful that they were both here showing their support, but sometimes, they knew how to really tick me off.
It was bad enough that Brody wasn’t here but to sit and listen to them complain about him, the same way they had done since we first began dating eleven years ago, it just grew on my nerves.
Brody and I may have kept dating, but when our secret relationship was revealed, my God, I got into trouble, grounded and forbidden to see him. To this day, I had never seen my mama so wild and furious. I never revealed to Brody the full truth about what happened that night especially not about my papa striking me with his belt until I could barely stand straight. I only told him they just grounded me and nothing else. Every day, my sisters would tell me what a plain boy he is, nothing special, and it wouldn’t take long for me to find a nice Italian boy to make me forget.
It also didn’t take me long to learn how to sneak out of the house without causing the sensor lights to go off. That was my big screw you to them all.
Still, they kept their reservations about him, suggesting we weren’t the same family as my sisters had with their husbands. They lived the way my mama wanted me to, completely Italian. I was still Italian, but it was mostly with my cooking.
Forgotten Sweethearts: A Romance Novel Page 5
