I’d planned on staying married to Mario for a lifetime, so this could very well blow up in Jaylin’s face. He waited for a response. I gave him one when I put my purse back on his desk.
“Okay, Mr. Greed. Half is yours, if I get a divorce within the next two years. In the meantime, I want you at the restaurant of Mario’s choice, kissing his entire ass, paying for dinner and telling him how deeply sorry you are for fucking me. Tell him it was your idea, not mine. That you refused to let me go. That you finally realize how much I love him, and you have no other choice but to move on. I may think of some other things before then, but that’s a start.”
Jaylin displayed a wide smile. “Hey, it’s whatever you want, baby. Just tell me where I need to be, and what time I should be there. In the meantime, I don’t show up anywhere until you sign a contractual agreement my attorney, Frick, will happily put together for you. After you sign, the deal is done.”
“No, the deal is already done. I don’t know why you think I’m not in love with my husband, because I am. His money is surely an asset, but at the end of the day, with or without it, I’m good because I still have you as my baby’s daddy.”
“You got lucky, big deal. As for what you said about Mario, I’m not convinced. Hopefully, he will be, after I pay for dinner. Do I have to pay for your dinner too?”
“Hell yes you do, so be sure to bring a credit card that won’t decline.”
“That has never happened in my world. In yours, I’m sure it has and I’m sure it will.”
Jaylin snatched up his phone and hit a button to dial out. He put the phone on speakerphone, so I could hear him talking to Frick. He gave Frick specific details about what the contract should include.
“She what!” Frick shouted. “This is a joke, isn’t it? Please tell me this is a joke. That’s like taking candy from a baby.”
I hurried to speak up. “I’m so glad you know me well, Mr. Frick. I assure you that you don’t. You’re going to be wasting your time on that contract, and Jaylin will waste money paying you because my husband and I will be together forever.”
Frick chuckled. “Anything could happen, sweetheart. You should rethink this. You may consider it a laughing matter now, but this could become serious, if you’re ever in a position where you have to honor the contract.”
“Damn,” Jaylin said. “Are you her lawyer or mine? Don’t be giving her no advice. If this is what she feels comfortable doing, and she believes there will be no divorce, then what does she have to lose?”
“Nothing, I guess,” Frick said. “But if the two of you want me to proceed with this, I most certainly will.”
Jaylin looked at me; I looked at him. In unison, we both told Frick to “proceed.”
SCORPIO
The big day had finally arrived. Contract was signed and Jaylin agreed to meet Mario and me for dinner. I’d come up with a longer, detailed list of things for Jaylin to say, and before dinner wrapped up, I expected him to make Mario feel like a king.
As for Mario, he’d been conducting himself much better. With all the drama going on, we hadn’t finished getting our house together like we wanted to. Last night, he finally helped me rearrange some of the furniture in the parlor. I wanted to use that room for reading. It was decked out with wall-to-wall bookshelves, a sofa and numerous velvet chairs, just in case the kids wanted to chill and read with me. Even when we’d gone to bed last night, Mario held me in his arms and whispered that he loved me. I returned the love, but for whatever reason, he didn’t pursue sex with me. That was why I needed Jaylin to put the nail in the coffin today. If he failed to deliver in a major way, this time, he would be dead to me.
Around seven o’clock that evening, Mario and I sat at one of the Italian restaurants his family owned. His aunt was the one who managed this particular restaurant, and she was delighted to see Mario and me come in. The first thing she did was compliment my short hair, as well as the soft yellow baby-doll dress I wore that cut right at my thighs. It had thin straps, and with a round neckline, my breasts sat firm, as did my toned, soft legs that looked dipped in baby oil. A diamond necklace Mario had given me added bling to my neck. With my wedding ring weighing down my finger, couldn’t nobody tell me anything. All they could do was take a glance at Mario and me—we certainly made an attractive couple.
The restaurant was packed, but Roseabella made sure our glasses were filled with wine, breadsticks were on the table and our food, she said, would be ready in minutes, after we ordered. We were seated in a cozy booth on the second floor, where classical music thumped through the speakers. The area was somewhat private, and behind a half-glass wall was a view of nearly everyone in the restaurant.
“Enjoy the wine,” Roseabella said. “I’ll be back to check on you two. When Jaylin arrives, I’ll send him right over.” She reached out to Mario’s cheek, squeezing it. “Have you spoken to Papa today?”
He nodded his head. “Si. I spoke to him around noon.”
“Is he still upset with you?”
“He’s always upset with me, Bella. But I can’t do anything about that.”
Roseabella shook her head, before walking away. I looked across the table at Mario who wore gray slacks and a light green silk shirt that meshed with his eyes. The shirt was partially unbuttoned and a dog tag was draped around his neck. His hair was parted and slicked back into a ponytail, fine hair on his chin suited it well. Based on what Roseabella had said, I jumped into a conversation with him that I didn’t want to have.
“Why is your father upset with you?” I asked. “Does it have anything to do with me?”
Mario cocked his neck from side-to-side, before lifting his wineglass to me.
“I don’t wish to talk about Papa right now. But as I said to Roseabella, he’s always upset about something. You’re just a small piece of his unfortunate problems.”
I certainly didn’t want to know what those problems were, and when Jaylin swooped around the corner, garnering attention with his stride, my attention diverted to him. He appeared real clean-cut in an embroidered, button-down shirt and jeans. He came up to the table, apologizing for being ten minutes late.
“My tardiness rarely happens, but I needed to take care of something real important,” he said, looking at Mario, not me.
Mario extended his hand across the table where Jaylin stood, before taking a seat. “No problem. Have a seat and let’s talk.”
Jaylin slid into the spacious circular booth next to me. I was slightly nervous. I wasn’t sure how all of this was going to play out. For starters, though, Jaylin picked up the menu, looking it over.
“What’s good, Mario? I’ve never been here, so tell me what I should order.”
Mario quickly went on the attack. “Everything on the menu is good. My wife is, too, so maybe that’s why you can’t keep your hands off her.”
Jaylin released a soft chuckle and laid the menu down. “Yes, your wife is good, very good, and I wholeheartedly agree with you on that. She was so good to me that I couldn’t imagine myself being without her. But what I knew was, I could never make her as happy as you could. She has certain requirements in a man that I could never meet. I felt that it would be wise for me to finally release her, and when she met you, I was skeptical but pleased that a man of your stature had stepped in and persuaded her to fall in love with you. She loves you, Mario, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. When I asked Scorpio to come over that night and make love to me, I did so because my ego was a little bruised. She continued to tell me no, but as I proceeded to pressure her, she finally gave in.”
Jaylin was putting it on a little thick, so I had to send him a signal by lightly kicking him underneath the table. He turned his head to look at me. A grin was on his face.
“By the way,” he said then winked at me. “You look lovely tonight. Mario is truly a blessed man.”
I smiled, but lightly kicked him again. He was being sarcastic. I didn’t want Mario to notice how fake Jaylin was.
&nbs
p; Mario tapped the table with his fingers. “If I can recall, we had numerous conversations where you pretended to be okay with me. We were cool, man, and not once did you tell me you still had deep feelings for my woman. I never knew how serious your relationship was with Scorpio. She told me it had always been a fuck thing, nothing more. No love, no nothing. Now, I’m hearing differently. I’m hearing how you can’t let her go, she can’t let you go. I mean, who’s telling the truth, man? You or her?”
“Truthfully,” Jaylin said then leaned in closer to the table. His hands went underneath it, and when I felt him pinch my leg, I moved it. “We both are being honest. Our relationship started out as a fuck thing, but then, for me anyway, it grew into something more special. Maybe I did love her more than she loved me, or maybe she didn’t love me at all. If she said it was just a fuck thing, then that’s what it was for her. At this point, however, what you need to know is I will never interfere in your marriage. And as good as your wife may be,” Jaylin paused to softly rub my leg. I attempted to move it, but this time, he gripped it tight, pulling it closer to his leg. I lifted my heel, adding pressure to his shoe so he would remove his hand. All that did was make his hand travel further up my leg—I hurried to clamp my legs shut. “She is your wife, not mine. I get that now, and even though I have lost plenty of sleep over this, it is what it is.”
Jaylin continued to rub my thighs, and in an effort not to make Mario aware of the festivities underneath the table, I sat real still with my legs as tight as they could be. I knew what Jaylin was aiming for. Before his hand got closer to my pussy, I reached for a cloth napkin, laying it over my lap. I then moved closer to the table and took a sip of water to wet my dry mouth.
“That’s right, man, it is what it is. My biggest problem with the whole thing was the lies. I didn’t appreciate the lies, nor did I like how you spoke to me when I tried to get at you about what I’d found out. You weren’t really kind to me that day. That shit made me maaaad.”
Jaylin shrugged. “Hey, look. I was upset too. I was already having a bad day. Scorpio knows how I am when I’m having a bad day, don’t you?”
He shifted his head to look at me again. His fingers crept up my leg like a spider, and he forced his hand between my thighs, massaging them. I coughed and cleared my throat.
“I do know when you’re having a bad day and that explains why you said what you did. Maybe you should apologize to Mario for not telling the complete truth. I’m sure an apology would go a long way.”
Jaylin nodded and glided his middle finger up and down, between my thighs. Was he finger fucking my thighs? Or was he signaling something else?
“You’re right,” Jaylin said. “I do owe Mario an apology. I owe you one, too, and instead of telling the two of you to go fuck yourselves,” his middle finger between my thighs moved faster, “I should have been kinder. I shouldn’t have made this all about me, but I’m known for being a selfish man. In addition to that, there was a time when I was pussy whipped. Scorpio had me making some very bad decisions, all because of that magic she has brewing between her legs.”
Right then, Jaylin touched the upper crotch section of my silk panties. His words caused Mario to shoot him a hard stare. Jaylin quickly corrected himself. I, on the other hand, took a deep breath and lifted my butt from the seat, inching over.
“No offense,” Jaylin said. “I was just thinking about some of the unfortunate mistakes I made, during and after our relationship ended.”
“That was then and this is now,” I snapped back. “We both made them, so let’s just be thankful that you’ve moved on and so have I.”
After poking at my pussy through my panties, he finally removed his hand. He placed his fingers on his lips, rubbing across them. I was sure my scent was on his fingers.
“We have moved on, and even though I won’t be able to stay for dinner, I don’t mind paying for dinner for you two. It’ll be my treat. My way of expressing how deeply sorry I am, again, for what I encouraged to happen. I know how important trust and loyalty is to you, Mario. It is just as important to me as well.”
Mario nodded and tossed back the red wine in his flute glass. “It is very important. Without trust and loyalty, a marriage is nothing.”
His words were convincing; he truly believed what he’d said. Jaylin, however, snickered and narrowed his eyes as he glared across the table at Mario.
“Yeah, I know all about that trust and loyalty shit. I used to feel the same way, until I finally realized one day that things ain’t always that simple. That shit happens sometimes, and the people who truly love you can unintentionally hurt you as well. When it comes to loyalty, realistically, very few people are. The ones you think are loyal, they’re really not. I’m surprised that you keep talking about how important it is to be truthful, Mario, especially if you haven’t been totally honest with your wife about certain things.”
Jaylin’s words caused me to swallow and turn my attention to Mario. He repositioned himself in his seat, appearing slightly uncomfortable. I wasn’t exactly sure why.
“I don’t know what you mean by that,” he said to Jaylin in a more timid tone. “But if you think trust and loyalty isn’t important, that’s your prerogative.”
“I said it was important, but I also said it applies to very few individuals. For example, look at you. You go around pretending to live by your words, but you also had sex the night before your wedding. With three women, may I add, and to my surprise, one of those women is now saying she’s pregnant by you. The least you could have done was use a condom, but I do understand if the pussy is so good, like your wife’s is, you just want to hit it raw sometimes.”
My heart sank, mouth dropped open, eyes locked on Mario. He shot up from his seat like a rocket, and threw his napkin on the table.
“You son of a bitch! Who do you think you are, digging into my business? How dare you spew your lies in front of my wife like this!”
“No lies,” Jaylin said, sitting calmly. “Just facts, Mario. If you wish to dispute the facts, we can. I can make some phone calls and show your wife, right now on my phone, pictures of this fine, sexy ass Brazilian woman you will soon call your baby’s mama. Her name is Camila, right? I know she’s been harassing you for money, threatening to tell Scorpio . . . you know, all of that exciting stuff that happens when you’re not loyal to the person you’re married to. What I’m going to recommend that you do is, sit down, explain this little fucked-up situation to your wife over dinner, beg for her forgiveness, hope that she gives it, and then take her home so you can delve into more of that good pussy. As for me, keep me out of it. I already told Scorpio that she’s dead to me. As far as I’m concerned, so are you.”
Jaylin reached in his pocket and tossed a hundred dollar bill on the table. “Eat light, and discontinue the wine. Hopefully, that should cover it.”
After that, he strutted out of the restaurant as if he was the one who owned it. To say I was blown away by all of this would be an understatement. I never saw any of this coming and the wideness of my eyes, as well as the visible anger trapped in them, represented how shocked and furious I was. I hurried out of the booth to go after Jaylin. Mario snatched my arm. Having nothing to say to him, I raised my hand, slapping him so hard that his head jerked in another direction.
“I will deal with your lying ass when I get back. If you want to take this marriage there, muthafucka, by all means let’s do!”
I stormed away, trying to catch up with Jaylin. As soon as I got to the parking lot, I saw him leaning against his car with a bold stance and arms across his chest. I yelled at him from a distance.
“You knew this all along, didn’t you? That’s why you asked me to sign that fucking agreement!”
He opened his arms and shrugged, speaking nonchalantly. “Hey, don’t be upset with me if you didn’t do your homework. Whenever anyone threatens me, I go to the extreme to do mine. Whether you like it or not, the agreement stands. Either you deal with that muthafucka in there for the
next two years or prepare yourself to divorce him and give me my money.”
My face had to be beet red; I was so damn mad. I couldn’t believe Jaylin had done this—it was totally unbelievable to me. I spoke through clenched teeth with my finger pointing at him.
“I am the mother of your children, and as much as I’ve always had your back, you damn well should have had mine. If you knew something . . . anything about Mario, you should have told me! You knew this was going to hurt me. I don’t understand why you continue to do shit that always hurts me! Then to create a gotdamn agreement to benefit yourself off my pain is gut wrenching! Who in the fuck are you, Jaylin! Why do you keep doing shit like this?”
“Look, if you want to yell at somebody, I suggest you take your ass back into that restaurant and have a real talk with your husband. You’re wasting your breath and your tears on me, because I do not give a fuck anymore. I told you that I’m sick of this shit and I meant it. But you just kept pushing. You stooped to an all-time low, asking me to apologize for making love to you. Basically, telling me to concoct lies to appease your stupid ass husband. You should have known better coming to me like that, and just in case you’ve forgotten, my name is Jaylin Jerome Rogers. I do not apologize to anyone unless I feel it’s necessary, I only make love to and or fuck women who mean something to me, I love making money, but not as much as I love my kids.”
“You don’t have to remind me who you are. I know, but never did I—”
“You don’t know shit. If you did, you wouldn’t be out here talking about all the pain I’ve caused you. You’d be inside with Mario, telling him about your pain. But before you go tackle your overwhelming problems, here’s something I want you to know, pertaining to the last time, and I do mean the last time we had sex. I told you I regretted it, but I didn’t. I wanted you to believe that it meant nothing to me, but it did. It did because I’ve always loved the connection between us, and when you came to me that night, I was ecstatic. You kept asking what I was thinking during sex, my thoughts reflected on how much I loved you. On how I will always love you, Scorpio, yet I didn’t say it because I didn’t want my words to hold you back anymore. The whole night was special, and years down the road, I figured I’d look back on that day to reflect on the memories of our last intimate time together. So when you asked me to apologize for it, when you made it seem like it was nothing but sex, when you wanted me to sum it up as wrong, I couldn’t. Wrong or not, I just didn’t want to view it that way, alright?”
Jaylin Page 18
