Keeping Secrets (The Essien Trilogy, #1)

by Kiru Taye

Get someone to replace you immediately. I need you to take my wife home now.

  Sure thing. Give me ten minutes.

  Felix put his phone back down. He levered himself up, manoeuvring his injured leg with care, until he sat sideways on the bed. Pain throbbed in his leg. He’d been advised to keep it elevated.

  However, the wellbeing of the woman in his hospital suite ranked above his personal discomfort.

  He hadn’t needed his father’s chiding tone yesterday to see how exhausted she appeared.

  He would have lifted her into his arms but he couldn’t put any weight on his injured leg. Instead, he reached down and moved the strands of hair on her face, tucking them behind her ear. He stroked his fingertips up and down her smooth cheek in a gentle caress.

  “Ebony, wake up.”

  She stirred, her face pushing into his hand, a sleepy smile on her face. The curtain of long dark lashes lifted, revealing blurry, golden-brown eyes he didn't tire of watching.

  “Felix!” Seeming startled, she bolted upright. “What are you doing? You—you shouldn’t be sitting up like this.”

  Worry lines furrowed her brows as she stared at his injured leg and pushed the hair off her face.

  “It’s okay. The doctor says I can start moving, albeit slowly.” He grinned at her, drifting his hand to her chin and lifting it up so her eyes met his. “Moreover, I’ve been strapped up in this bed for too long.”

  She still didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure.” He patted the space beside him on the bed with his other hand. “Come.”

  She looked at him as if he was a man-eating lion. He nodded to encourage her and took her hand to help her up. The bed depressed as she settled on it. Their bodies didn’t touch. Yet, her heat seeped into his skin, with a strong need to pull her closer. She looked up at him, her eyes a golden pool that fascinated him. In their depths, he could see desire. Something else he couldn’t decipher shadowed that emotion.

  So many unanswered questions. They wouldn’t all be answered today.

  “What are you doing here?” He’d ordered her to take the day off. So had his father.

  “I know what you and Daddy said.” She looked away from him. “I met up with my friend for lunch and I enjoyed being pampered at the spa. But I’ve been here every day since you’ve been hospitalised and it felt strange not seeing you.”

  “But the chair...you shouldn’t sleep in it.”

  Shoulders rose and fell as she looked up at him through her long, dark lashes.

  “When I arrived, you were asleep, so I decided to read. I didn’t realise I was so tired. I just drifted to sleep.” She bit her bottom lip, drawing his attention to it.

  The need to kiss her overpowered him. On impulse, he settled a hand on her back, pulling her close. With the other, he lifted her chin and lowered his head to meet hers.

  Muscles on her back tensed. He massaged her skin like he would a skittish horse before a game of polo. With gentle brushes, he swept his lips across hers. The sealed, luscious pair called him to mine their depths. Instead, he coaxed and stroked and traced them with his tongue from one end to the other, bidding his time.

  He’d caught a glimpse of her banked passion yesterday when he asked about their wedding night. No matter what else went on, they desired each other. Mutual attraction.

  With a low moan, she leaned in and opened for him.

  As he slipped in, her sweet flavour exploded on his tongue. She tasted of peppermint and vanilla. In the recesses of his mind, the kiss registered. He’d done this before. Tasted her.

  A groan rumbled within and he slid his hands around her waist and lifted her onto his lap so that she straddled him.

  Whimpering, she rubbed against him, hips canting against hips, supple breasts crushed to his chest.

  Needing intimate contact, he ran a palm over her side, skimming the swell of soft breasts down to the hem of her tunic. He lifted it, his hand making contact with smooth, warm skin. Another moan escaped her lips. He swallowed it, loving her sound and taste. Moving his hand up till it reached her breast, he caressed it through the lace of her bra, flicking the already taut nipple with his thumb.

  In response, she ground against his bulge.

  Sweet fuck!

  Fighting the urge to remove her tunic and take her nipples into his mouth, to strip her bare and take her on the hospital bed, he broke off the kiss. They both panted as he took a steadying breath to control his raging body. Her glazed eyes looked lost, her lips parted.

  The vibrating phone prevented him from delving back in.

  “That’ll be Kola ready to take you home.” He ran his thumb across her lips.

  She stiffened and blinked. Then the shutters returned, her eyes hardening. Hands shoved his chest. He let her go. She scrambled off his lap, turned her back to him, and straightened her clothes.

  “That shouldn’t have happened.” Her whispery voice sounded strained.

  Disappointment punched his gut. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he dropped his head and closed his eyes.

  “Why?” The one-word query tore from his lips, grated over open sores.

  “You said....”

  Head lifted and eyes opened, he stared at her stiffened back, her green, gold-embroidered tunic draped over round hips and limbs encased in skinny black denim. Those bum cheeks had cushioned his thighs moments ago. Staring at them now, his arousal spiked.

  If he pulled her back into his arms, would she let him spread her out on the bed and taste everything she had to offer?

  Not by the way she shunned him with her back and arms wrapped around her mid-riff.

  “Ebony.” Her name rolled off his lips, an entreaty.

  “Felix, I can’t do this.”

  Bending her knees, she picked up the discarded book, her tote, and walked towards the door.

  “Wait.”

  Desperation. Pride. Sheer bullheadedness. Whatever. Something made him stand despite the doctor warning against it without support. Pain shot up his body. Sweat beaded his forehead.

  He swayed, grabbed the bar at the bottom of the bed to steady himself.

  Ebony swivelled, eyes wide as saucers.

  “Felix! What are you doing?”

  “I can’t let you leave just like that,” he gritted past the pain turning his body feverish. “Don’t go. Please.”

  The cooled air from the air-conditioners had no effect on him. Perspiration dripped down his face and back.

  “I’ll stay. Please sit down.”

  “You first.” He nodded at the chair she’d vacated.

  She complied, placing her bag on her lap like some kind of shield to protect against him. At least, that’s how it seemed to him as he lowered his body back onto the bed.

  A ragged breath whooshed out of him and his eyes watered in relief as the pain receded.

  “Excuse me while I inform Kola to hold off.”

  She nodded as he typed out the message. Phone back on the table, he stared at his wife.

  The interested look she’d given him earlier and the passion of their kiss had disappeared. In their place, she eyed him with wry suspicion, as if unsure of what to make of him.

  By all accounts and her behaviour, something bad happened between them. Only one way to find out.

  “What happened on our wedding night?”

  A defiant tilt of the chin, lips pursed in a straight line, and eyes glaring daggers delivered her scathing response.

  Cheeks burning, he puffed out in defeat. They needed to talk. He needed to find out more about them together.

  “How about how we met? Surely, that’s got to be a good topic.”

  The corners of her eyes softened and she sucked in a corner of her bottom lip. Result.

  “Please, tell me how we met.”

  “Okay.” She nodded. “First, though, please lay back in bed. You need to keep you injured leg elevated.”

  He gave his best charming smile. “For you, I will.”


  She quirked up an eyebrow in surprise, a hint of a smile playing on her mouth.

  He pushed back on the bed and lifted his right leg with his hands. She abandoned her bag on the chair and raced to his side. On contact, his skin scorched. He tried to stifle a groan.

  “Sorry. Did I hurt you?” She lifted her hands.

  “No.” The word rushed out of him. Missing her touch, he almost begged for her to place her hands back on him. She stared at him, waiting. “It’s okay. You didn’t hurt me.”

  She returned her hands to his leg and helped as he pushed back with the other. With care, she placed the bound foot on the elevated pillows.

  “Thank you.” He reached out and held her hand when she moved back. “Please sit beside me.”

  “Felix, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “I promise I won’t pounce on you again. Scouts’ honour,” he said, hand on chest.

  She smiled and nodded. Taking her sandals off, she tucked her feet under her Buddha-style as she sat on the mattress.

  “So tell me, on what auspicious day did we meet?”

  Smile widening, her chest lifted as she sucked in a steadying breath and then told him.

  Five months earlier.

  Exhaustion weighed upon Ebony’s shoulders. With her tired state of mind came irritability and the penchant for annoyance at the slightest aggravation. She stepped off the plane from a long-haul flight from New York with a huff.

  The regulated air of the plane didn’t prepare her for the humid wall of heat that hit her as soon as she disembarked and started the walk towards passport control. The controlled air in the terminal still didn’t feel cool enough for her non-acclimatised body. Her magazine became a makeshift fan, agitating the tepid air around her face.

  She shifted from one leg to another in the long wait to clear immigration, her irritation heightened by a further wait to pick up her luggage. It seemed several flights had landed about the same time, increasing the human traffic in the airport’s arrivals.

  At last with luggage in hand, she went through customs into the arrivals’ lobby, hurrying out to meet with the family driver picking her up.

  As soon as she stepped into the busy entrance hall, a man approached her. She swallowed hard and stared, her brain seemingly unable to process embarrassment or shame at the moment as it analysed this specimen of sheer masculinity.

  Probably unfair describing him as a mere man. Tall, he stood head and shoulders above everyone around, except for one other man standing next to him. Broad-shouldered, she guessed that underneath his well-cut gray pinstripe suit lay a lean, muscular body. His complexion gleamed like polished brown teak wood and his facial features could’ve been carved out of a rugged rock wall. She couldn’t help picturing him as a descendant of famous African warriors.

  Where do I know the face from? He looked familiar but she didn’t know him. Features squeezed into a frown, she worked her brain to figure out his identity.

  He smiled at her, a decadent curl of full, sensuous lips that promised so much, and her heart thudded in her chest.

  Then it hit her. She pulled out the magazine in her bag and looked at the image in the front cover.

  Gosh! It’s him. Felix Essien—the oldest of the Essien brothers, the kings of African finance, and one of Africa’s most eligible bachelors, according to Time magazine.

  Here, in the airport terminal, striding towards her with powerful, purposeful steps, he looked straight at her. She bit down the urge to glance behind her and check if someone else stood there.

  What could he want with her? Did he hang around international arrivals looking out for his next plaything? Had he chosen her?

  She snorted in amusement. To her annoyance, her heart rate increased and heat licked her skin as she pictured two bodies tangled in dark silk bed sheets—she and Felix!

  Oh, my!

  The object of her new, insalubrious dream stopped in front of her, piercing her with midnight black eyes that sparkled like stars.

  “Ebony?” he enquired, his smooth deep voice flowing over her like silk.

  He knows my name? Even the way he said it reminded her of melted chocolate on ice cream.

  What’s the matter with me? I’m regressing into a teenage girl on the spot. All because a cover page playboy spoke to me. I must be more tired than I thought.

  “And you are?” she replied, injecting impatience into her tone and making a show of appraising him from head to toe.

  The best defence is a good attack. All those novels she’d read about feudal Japan now came in handy.

  Men like him collected women like trophies. She wouldn’t give him a glimpse of what she’d been thinking so he could capitalise on it.

  As she regarded his athletic frame from polished black shoes to arrive back to his face, she noticed his sardonic grin, as if he could read her mind.

  “Like what you see?” he asked, his dark brow rising and the corner of his lips lifting with wry amusement.

  At his words, her ears burnt. Who needs blusher with men like him around? Lowering her eyes, she bit her lip.

  Blast! Where is this driver?

  She had to get out of here before she did something she’d regret later. Exhaustion and not thinking straight wouldn’t be good enough excuses for wanting to rip the clothes off the man. Haven’t I learned to keep away from men? Having dedicated ten years to one man only to find out she didn’t know him at all should be a hard enough lesson for anyone.

  She needed a warm shower, some fresh clothes, and some home-cooked Nigerian delicacies. Nothing more. She definitely didn’t need to stand in the middle of the airport lobby trading words with this tempting, handsome man, or playing mind games with him, either.

  But he didn’t disappear like she hoped he would.

  “You still haven’t told me your name.” She kept her tone dismissive, looking away from him towards the entrance in the hope that her driver would appear anytime now. She wasn’t about to give mister playboy here the upper hand. Moreover, she needed to hear him say his name; to confirm what she already believed.

  “Felix Essien. But you already know that.”

  The unruffled voice coupled with its sexy baritone had her cheeks smarting with surprise. Anyone would think he dealt with irritable women every day of his life.

  She quirked her brow and he nodded towards her handbag sitting on the top of the luggage on the trolley. She looked at it; the magazine with his photo on the front cover stuck out of the front compartment.

  “Oh.” She blanched with mortification and stuffed the glossy back in.

  Where is that earthquake when I need it? “So what are you, then? Some kind of welcoming committee? Am I the one-millionth person to walk out of the terminal and my prize a reception from the king of finance himself? Should I expect a camera to be shoved in my face any minute?” she rambled on with sarcasm to hide her horror at being caught out with the gossip mag.

  Felix chuckled, a real head back from the gut warm and hearty laugh that vibrated through her body.

  It became her undoing. Sheer desire pulsed in her core. But this crack in the casing around her heart indicated something more substantial. Something she couldn’t allow.

  “You could say that, though I haven’t been counting, nor did I arrive with a camera crew. I’ve come to take you home, Ebony.”

  His face softened when he smiled and his eyes twinkled, making him seem more human, more approachable. She could see why women fell over themselves to be with him. Felix had an effusive charm that could overpower any woman if she didn’t tread careful.

  “You’ve come to do what? Take me home? I think you’ve got the wrong person. Our family driver is picking me up.”

  As if on cue, something beeped in her pocket. She picked up her phone and recognised the number.

  “Hi, Mum, I’m here. I can’t find the driver,” she spoke into the gadget, holding up her palm to Felix.

  “That’s what I wanted to tell you. Afam is not the on
e picking you up today,” her mother replied. “Felix Essien is. He should be there already. Can’t you find him?”

  She stared up at Felix who stood there watching her with eyes that didn’t seem to miss anything. Squinting, she squeezed her forehead in a frown as her mind raced.

  What’s going on?

  “He is here, standing right in front of me.” She turned her back to Felix and took a step away from him. She lowered her voice, concerned. “Mum, what’s going on? Why isn’t Afam here?”

  “Don’t worry about it. We’ll talk when you get home. I can’t wait to see you.” Her mum sounded unconcerned, relaxed even.

  “See you soon, Mum. Bye.” She pressed the end button and turned around.

  Felix still stood where she’d left him, his hands folded across his chest, his dark brow raised in a silent query, his pose majestic. A smile tugged at her lips. For sure, he looked the part of a King!

  Am I supposed to accept a ride in this man’s car? A man I know nothing about except what I’ve read in business news and gossip columns. Why had Mum arranged for him to pick me up?

  Heart thumping in her chest, her stomach knotted with suspicion. She’d never liked surprises. In her past experiences, they all seemed to end with disaster. Closing her eyes, she took a deep gulp of air to calm down.

  I just want to get home and rest.

  She opened her eyes and picked up her handbag from the trolley.

  “It seems I’m going with you after all, Mr. Essien. So lead on,” she said, planting a wary smile on her face and bracing her body for the puzzling time ahead.

  Ebony bit her lower lip, her hand tightening in the corner of the plush, soft leather car seat as she tried to quell the swirling sensation in her stomach.

  Her initial exhaustion has been replaced by something darker and more deeply rooted. An emotion that tore at her soul and twisted her mind.

  She never discussed it with anyone or vocalised it. Now it loomed large over her, a monster threatening to swallow her into an abyss.

  Tears built up on her eyeballs and she shut her eyes tight, refusing to let them drop.

  Face your monster, Ebony. Don’t let it overwhelm you.

  Deep breaths in. Slow breaths out.