Leaning back in his office chair, he reached for the handkerchief that always sat in his jacket pocket and dabbed his damp brow. Damn, it was a hot day. He silently cursed and picked up the remote to turn the air conditioning in the room on higher. Standing up, he walked underneath the vent and allowed the cold air to cool him down.
It was no good rationalizing that it wasn't the weather that was making him hot and sweaty. He knew that like he knew the back of his hand. But there were no other options open to him now and he knew it. The house had to go and Nicole had to die.
Just thinking about Nicole made his blood pressure spike and his cock throb. Why had the bitch never looked that fucking hot when they'd been together? He wasn't jealous. Well, not really. He was merely peeved that his plans had gone to the shitter and that he'd missed out over all those years. Tracy was hot, but seeing Nicole all trussed up like she'd been fucked and had loved it, had made her seem more earthy and natural and his cock had reacted to the sight.
He frowned, why had she never looked like that after he'd fucked her?
Glaring at the air conditioning vent, he walked back over to his desk where his computer sat and rewound the footage the web cams had recorded earlier. Easing back into his desk chair, he unzipped his fly and watched his builders fuck his ex-wife.
Chapter Five
"Hi mama, how are you and the boys?" Nicole asked nervously.
For the last few months, she'd been uncomfortable speaking with her mother, mostly because her mother had been so insistent that she rekindle her marriage with Joe. In fact, the weekly phone call home had become a real pain in the ass. Procrastination had never sat well with her, but where this call was concerned, it was something she was doing more and more often.
"Me and the boys are fine, Nicole. What's going on with you and Joe?" Louise Merritt asked, getting right to the point and abruptly changing the subject.
Her voice was rough from the years of lung abuse from the factory she'd worked at her whole life, which had her clearing her throat every five minutes.
"Is that all that matters to you anymore, mama? Whether or not Joe and I are back together? Don't you care about how I am? Or if I'm OK?" she asked with a sigh.
She didn't need her mother to answer those questions. She knew for a fact that Nicole's marriage was all that mattered to her mother. She also knew that her happiness had long since lost its importance in Louise's eyes, if it had ever held any importance to her at all!
"Don't start with me, Nicole. You know how much your entire family relies on Joe. You know what he means to our lives. How do you expect all of us to cope if he doesn't help anymore, huh? What are we supposed to do then?" Louise asked coldly.
"I don't know, mama, but it's not my job to worry about everyone. The entire family is not my responsibility. They're all adults. I'm sure they'll find a way to manage. They managed before I married him," Nicole replied. She was part satisfied at the hiss she heard down the phone line and part terrified at her audacity. No one in the Merritt family gave back-talk to mama. Well, not if they didn't want to be flayed alive with her barbed tongue!
"How dare you, you ungrateful bitch! When I think of all I've done for you . . . ."
Interrupting her mother with a cold laugh, Nicole stopped thinking about the consequences of arguing with her mother and spoke the truth. "All you've done is force me into this hideous marriage when it should never have happened in the first place. You knew Joe wouldn't be good to me! You knew it then, just like you knew that nothing in the years we were married changed any of that. But still you push and push because you want to rely on Joe for support. He's no good and the marriage was never any good and here I made a fool out of myself in the hopes that I'd be able to get that bastard back and all for you! Not for me. For you!"
"What do you mean he's no good? How can the man be no good when he's been supporting your family since you married, when he's putting your brothers through college! You need to get your priorities straight, girl! You're just selfish. You always have been!"
"No, you need to get your priorities straight and don't even get me started on selfishness! You're so concerned with the welfare of yourself and the rest of the family that you can't even see how Joe treated me, what he put me through, what he's still putting me through. Don't you even care that he's fucking another woman? Don't you even care that he's probably fucked lots more during our marriage and has finally impregnated one after years of telling me he didn't want kids?
"I'm thirty five years old and all I've wanted all of my life is to have a big family. But I'm practically on the shelf now. I've only got a few years left to start, if I can even have them at all, but that's never going to happen if you get your way and Joe decides to take me back.
"You're the one that's selfish, mama! You don't even care that he makes me miserable! You don't care that he's cheated on me! You don't care that I'll never have a family like my friends do because he wouldn't let me have a baby! All you care about is yourself!"
"I am not selfish!" Louise vehemently denied.
"Oh yes you are. You don't care about me. All you care about is yourself."
"I won't be spoken to like this, Nicole Marie Merritt!"
"Oh the hell with that! I'm a grown ass woman now. I don't have to sit here and listen to you scold me like a child. I don't need you to tell me how to live, and I damn sure don't need your approval. I don't need you to threaten that you won't love me anymore if I don't do as I'm told because if what I've been receiving from you over the years is love, then I don't want any part of it."
"Nicole!" Louise screeched. "You get that man back, you hear me? How the hell do you expect me to help your brothers and your aunt and uncle if I don't have that money every month?"
"Joe seems happy with this new slut of his, so I don't know if he would come back to me even if I tried, but I'm past caring. In fact, I'm past caring about you and him. I think it's about time I started being selfish and thinking about number one because it's looking highly unlikely that anyone else ever will.
Slamming down the phone and cutting off her mother's screeches felt damn good. In fact, it felt better than good. It felt wonderful. It was liberating, really.
She was damned sick and tired of being pushed around by her mother. Maybe it wasn't wise to push Louise, but, for the minute, she'd had enough with everything in her life. She was tired and weary and a part of her just wanted to roll up into a small ball and hibernate the winter away. She knew that hiding wasn't the answer, but it seemed like a hell of a good idea at the moment!
Joe had been behaving odd all this last week, and, tired of it and his games, she'd finally plucked up the courage to phone her mother in the vain hope that she'd receive a little motherly support and succor. But instead, as per usual, she'd been besieged with nasty comments that pertained solely to what Nicole could do for the family. The only time her mother contacted her was to ask for something. It seemed like it had been that way her entire life, as if the only reason she'd had children was so that they could work and take care of her.
In fact, she wasn't sure why she put up with how her family treated her. She'd long since left the nest. But she supposed it had just taken her a long time to realize that it hadn't been that great a nest. If anything, she'd always received more support from friends than her mama. Maybe it was time to stop burying her head in the sand, time to realize that they were after one thing from her and love and affection weren't it!
Sighing, she tapped her fingers on the desk and contemplated the email she'd received that morning from Joe.
Unlike his other correspondence, there were no curse words in it. It was actually very polite.
For that very reason alone, she was suspicious. Joe didn't do polite. He was an ignorant, arrogant jackass and behaving in a cordial manner was a complete contradiction to the real Joe.
Biting her lip, she frowned at the email that was asking for specific dates on the house's readiness.
Why was it so damne
d important that the house be finished?
She'd known for a while that he wanted her to move out after the renovations of the old Victorian house were complete. It was almost time to start looking for some place else to live. She would be sad to leave here. A lot of her hopes and dreams for a family had been riding on this place, and they'd all come to naught. It was just such a damn shame, but, now that she thought about it, perhaps it was better that she hadn't been able to have children. She couldn't imagine what kind of hell Joe would've made her life where they were concerned. He'd probably have taken her to court and gotten full custody and made her pay child support.
The phone started to ring. Checking the caller ID, she saw that it was her mother again. Ignoring the call, she muted the ring and sighed morosely.
Despite herself and despite the fact that none was ever offered to her, family loyalty ran deep in Nicole's heart. It was something she valued highly. She knew how much her mother relied on Joe's support, and it pained her to think of her mother, her family, suffering because of her.
While sleeping with Byron and Hugh had been a wonderful diversion, she wasn't sure whether or not she'd succeeded in her original intent. Had she made Joe jealous? Or was he just annoyed that she was using his place and his builders for her own pleasure?
Joe, despite his boorishness, could be a shrewd man. Whether or not he was jealous, she knew that he wouldn't like the fact that the Jakman brothers were fucking his ex old lady. That she knew for certain. She also knew that he had some clout in this district. A part of her worried that he might use that to hurt Hugh and Byron, especially if it suited his purposes.
The thought that they could be hurt by what she'd led them into made her gasp out loud with pain. She'd grown to care deeply for them both, more deeply than was wise, she knew. She'd never been treated so kindly by men before, never had her affection or tenderness reciprocated. Maybe it had become a novelty to be cared for. Nicole didn't know, but she did know that she was falling desperately in love with them, which only served to make her feel like a silly old fool.
Hell, she was five years older than Hugh and at least seven years older than Byron. Why they were interested in her, she didn't know. Were the younger generation of women blind to these two men? Why the hell hadn't they been snapped up long ago? It seemed crazy that they were both single. A part of her was so damned glad that they weren't spoken for because she knew that jealousy would drive her up the wall.
Feelings of possessiveness had begun to assail her recently in regards to them, and she knew that she had to stop it. Everything that had been going on had to stop because she knew damned good and well that the only person who would wind up getting hurt was herself!
She'd been the biggest kind of fool for them, but even she could see the writing on the wall.
Why would this gorgeous pair of hunks want her when they could easily get a woman like Joe's new girlfriend? Surely that bimbo was more likely to be their type than her? Why on earth were they even interested in her when there were women out there like that?
Either way, something had to give, and she knew that she had to protect both her own heart and their business.
With a sigh, she closed down her computer, ignoring Joe's email for the moment. Not only was she not sure about the final date of completion, but she wanted to think on the email a little more. Something wasn't right about it. Trustworthiness had never been that strong a feature in Joe's character and this email made some alarm bells ring in her head.
Instead of pondering the damn thing any longer, she retreated to her bedroom and pulled on some outdoor clothes. Shimmying into a pair of jeans before slipping on a small coffee colored vest and a thickly knitted cream color wool cardigan, it wasn't long before she was tugging on some brown leather boots.
Fully dressed, she stalked out of her room, making her way to the console table to grab her car keys. Locking up the house, she walked to her car and settled in for the quick drive over to Hugh and Byron's new project, the Mall revamp. Checking the clock, she reassured herself that that was where they would more than likely be.
As she drove over to the mall, she tried to shore up her defenses and arguments as to why they had to stop sleeping together. They'd already refused to acknowledge her deal after that disastrous first date. She wasn't sure what they considered their relationship as being, but whatever it was, she had to persuade them that it was no good for any of them.
The thought made her close her eyes in misery because being with Byron and Hugh made her feel damned good, better than she'd ever felt in her life. It seemed stupid to be pushing them away when they made her so happy, but the reality was that she had no choice. If she ever stood any chance of winning Joe back and, in turn, continuing the family support he paid to her mother, then she had to make this clean break with the Jakman brothers, even if it killed her.
Pulling up outside the mall, she took a deep breath and prayed for fortitude. Jumping out of the car, she slammed the door shut before running into the construction site. As soon as she entered, she grimaced at the overwhelming noise of saws and the thick veil of dust that seemed nearly impenetrable. When they'd said revamp, they'd meant it. Not a single inch of the entire building seemed to have been left untouched.
She walked through what had been and what would soon be once again, the main hall. She called out, "Byron! Hugh!" But she didn't receive an answer. Spying one of the work men that had been at her house, she hurried over to him.
"Mrs. Durst? Is that you?" the man asked, surprise evident in his voice.
"Yes, it's me," she said as casually as she could. She smiled nervously and had to fight the need to wring her hands together. "Do you know where Mr. Jakman is? I need to speak with him urgently."
"Well, I'm sorry, ma'am, but both brothers hightailed it back to their office over on Jefferson Street. You know where it is, don't you? They must have left about an hour ago. I imagine they're still there."
"Damn," she muttered softly then smiled at the man before thanking him and saying goodbye.
Running back to the car, her nerves once more began to wreak havoc with her stomach. She sincerely did not want to do this. She did not want to call it off with them, but she felt as though she'd been backed into a corner and had no other choice.
Even if what they had between all three of them could be called a relationship, it couldn't go anywhere. How could it? Not only were they younger than her, but it was completely unorthodox! The town they lived in was small and whispers would soon spread about how she was a slut and had settled in with two boy toys. Younger women would glare at her for taking two guys that were in their age range. Older women would bitch about her, probably because they were jealous. People would snicker and talk about her, because she'd made the mistake of falling in love with two men.
That thought made her sit back in her seat with a jolt.
No.
She did not love them.
She refused to be stupid enough to love them.
Resolutely, she ignored the butterflies in her gut and the pain that was located on the left hand side of her chest.
She was being silly. That was all.
The back of her eyes began to fill with tears and she had to gulp several times to keep them at bay. She began the drive to their office, and it was immensely difficult to concentrate on the traffic or the drive. Her mind was completely on what she had to do and the misery that would soon assail her.
She parked outside the building and once more had to gather the courage to go through with her plans. She ran from the car to the office door and opened it with a harsh gulp of breath.
Once inside, she looked around the reception area and noticed that Byron was looking up at her from the front desk with a warm smile on his lips.
She returned it, but hers was rather wobbly. She felt like sobbing at the tenderness in his gaze. It bathed her in a gentle heat. Had she been five, she would have thrown a tantrum in order to run away from this situation. But she was
three decades older than that and had learned that procrastination was never the key.
She bit her lip. "Is Hugh here too, Byron?"
She winced at the rawness of her voice and saw that Byron had heard it, too, that he'd heard the emotion that was gathering in her throat and preventing her from speaking normally.
"Is everything alright, baby?" he asked, a note of concern in his voice.
She wanted to scream that nothing was alright, because it was the truth. She would never be alright, never again. Hearing him call her baby was just another knife to the gut. Dammit to hell! Why had she ever let them get so close to her?
"No," she said wearily. "Is he here, Byron? I need to speak to both of you."
"Nicole," Hugh interrupted as he walked from the back office and into the front. "This is a surprise. What are you doing here?"
She didn't answer. She couldn't answer. Her gaze flitted back and forth from Byron to Hugh, as though they wanted to absorb every possible detail so that they could never forget them as they looked now, the way they were before they knew she wanted to end whatever it was they all had together.
Seeing the handsomeness of both men made her heart wallop in her chest, and her breathing began to grow steadily heavier and faster. They were so damned sexy that it should have been illegal to look at them. They exuded a raw earthy sex appeal, and it set her aflame. Every single inch of her responded and reacted to their scent. Nerve endings came to life, and her body began to prepare itself for them, for their attentions.
She could feel the moistness start to crawl down her pussy and begin to coat the lips. Her nipples had stiffened into little peaks that were begging for their touch. And, what was worse, she felt as if they could sense her body's reaction to them.
Their nostrils were quivering as though they could scent her arousal. Their eyes had sharpened and were focused on her. She felt surrounded by them, and it was both a scary and exhilarating feeling.
Gulping, she murmured hoarsely, "I need to talk to you both."
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