When I offered to send her in a car service to the shoot, she had balked. She was furious that I had not allowed her to drive one of my cars and had opted to catch an Uber instead. That should have been the first sign that she wasn’t going where she claimed.
I pushed myself up from where I had reclined on my white leather couch and made my way from the living room to the kitchen. Grabbing my food from the counter, I placed it in the microwave. I warmed it for several seconds before removing it and carrying it to my bedroom to eat.
I seldom ate in this room. The few times I did eat at home, I ate in the dining room or at the breakfast nook. This room was my comfort and haven now, often reminding me of Nic and all the things we had done here. I missed her body cuddled against mine at night, and the soft feel of her curves pressed against mine.
I wanted to inhale her scent of honey and cinnamon. I wanted to escape within her soft, velvety depths and get coated with all her juices. She had a way of making me forget about all my problems, as we laughed, made love, and she showed me her simpler way of life.
When this debacle with Heather was over and behind me, I vowed to show Nicole the true way I lived. To expose her to a different side of life. I already knew she was familiar with my wealth and family, but she had never seen how I truly lived.
The closest indication she had was this two-story three thousand square foot penthouse I lived in with its marble flooring running in the living space, and wall of windows that provided a scenic view of the river. The two bedrooms featured heated wooden floors that ran through the bathrooms. With its open living area, vaulted ceilings, and crown molding, this penthouse was an interior designer’s dream.
The second indicator was my vehicles. Yet, Nicole did not know about my mansion in Atlanta, the condo in New York, my vacation villa in Spain, or my house in Beverly Hills. All of them had been purchased for dirt cheap, flipped, and turned into the homes of my dreams. The only one that I had purchased for the price it was on the market and left as is was the condo in New York. I had sold the home in LA no sooner than I caught Heather and Claude-Jean there.
There was so much more of my life, I wanted to show her. I knew she was not in this for the money, as Heather had been. I was now certain of that.
I must have fallen asleep at some point because I never heard Heather return to the condo. I never even heard her come to my bedroom instead of the guest room she had been allotted. I had been putting in several hours at the hotel each day. Partly to ensure the project stayed on schedule, and the other part to ensure that I made up for any missed hours I had spent boning Nicole.
Whatever it was, I was in a deep sleep when something pulled me awoke. I was aroused that much I knew. I stretched, coming out from a dream about Nicole, smiling when I realized it wasn’t just a dream. She had my full length in her mouth, sucking me. I propped one arm underneath my head and reached down to grab her hair with my other hand.
What I found caused my eyes to fly open. Heather’s stringy blonde hair was wrapped around my fingers. I released and instantly pulled back. My mind and body were at war with one another. My mind telling me to get Heather as far from me as possible, while my body wanted what she was serving up.
My mind won out as I leaped from my bed, dragging her along with me.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Heather?” I roared, pulling my underwear back up and pushing my disappointed arousal back inside.
She was wiping at her mouth with a smile on her lips. “Baby, I was just trying to remind you of old times, Grey.”
Heather was walking back towards me, a flimsy peach nightgown hanging down one bony shoulder. Her once ash-blonde hair looked more like a dishwater blonde now and had lost its luster and natural curl.
“Please, Grey. I just want it to be like old times. I missed you, babe,” she said, reaching out for my wood. I dodged from her grasp.
She stood there looking pitiful. “He just doesn’t do it for me the way you did.”
I looked at her in confusion before it dawned on me what she was talking about. Was she serious? How the hell was she going to stand here and compare me to the man who had been the final straw that broke our marriage apart?
My heart hurt and went out to her. I reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards my doorway.
“Heather, I don’t know where the hell you’ve been tonight. But you’re going to sleep it off, and in the morning after breakfast, you and I are going to have a little talk and go for a long ride.”
She pulled her nightgown off her shoulder and tossed it back towards my bed. I watched as it landed at the foot of the bed and turned back towards her.
Heather was rubbing her breasts in a way that used to turn me on but only served to disgust me further now. Why had I made her my personal mission and opened my home to her? I shoved her out the door and into the hallway, heading towards her room.
“Please,” she begged, looping her arms around me and pulling me towards her to kiss me.
“Stop!” I growled through clenched teeth, jerking back and reaching behind my neck to undo her grasp. When I was successful, I pushed her into the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind me.
I could hear her in the room, grumbling, and complaining. I sat outside her door for the next hour until she quieted down, and I was certain she was asleep. Then I finally returned to my room, and after tossing and turning for another hour and a half, I fell into a deep, restless, and dreamless sleep.
THE SMELL OF COOKING was what pulled me from the vestiges of sleep. I stretched and yawned, reaching one hand down to tug at my manhood. Last night came rushing back in waves. I felt a headache coming on. I was not ready to deal with the mess that Heather had made of her life, although I knew she had no one else to count on.
Getting out of bed, I prepared to go to the bathroom to use it, before I heard talking. Who was Heather out there speaking with? I heard soft giggles and then her voice again. Perhaps, she was on the phone. I still headed in the direction of my bathroom before I caught a different voice.
Not thinking, I ran to the bedroom door and pulled it open, running down the stairs, worried that my worst nightmare had come true.
Nicole stood in the doorway with two bags in her hands of what appeared to be food in Styrofoam containers. The look in her eyes broke me, literally tore me in two. I could only imagine what it all looked like.
Heather standing there in the panties that matched the nightgown that now lay on the floor at my bed. Her bare perky titties with the rose-colored nipples standing at attention in the cool morning air, as if they had just been loved on. She didn’t seem to care that the door was wide open or that a stranger was there. I guess in the scheme of things, it did not matter since no one else had access to the thirty-second and thirty-third floors except those coming to visit me.
Now here I came right behind Heather, with nothing but my underwear on, and what appeared to be an arousal, but was nothing more than a dick full of piss. I knew from resting my hand on top of my head that my hair was a rat’s nest, similar to the way Heather’s now looked as if we had just been interrupted or basking in postcoital bliss.
Looking back and forth between Heather and Nicole, I wondered what I should say and what had already been said.
“So, this is your little girlfriend?” Heather asked, removing any confusion I may have been under.
“Heather, go put some clothes on,” I ordered roughly. She frowned up at me before smiling.
“Grey, babe. Don’t be like that,” she said, turning to reach out a hand to stroke my chest as I drew near the two women. “See, honey,” she said, turning back to Nicole. “Told you, I’m his wife.”
“Ex,” I said through clenched teeth, wanting Heather to disappear for the moment.
“Whatever,” she said, demurely before reaching out and grabbing my shit. I was caught off guard. I swatted her hand away.
“Get dressed!” I commanded again.
I turned back to Nicole, who w
as staring beyond me at Heather as she traipsed down the hallway to my bedroom.
“Nicole,” I said, reaching out to touch her.
She shot a hostile look my way and said, “Don’t bother!”
“Baby, I swear it’s not what it seems.”
“What does it seem like to me, Grey? Because what it looks like to me is that you’ve been fucking your wife...”
“Ex!” I said again in my stupidity, not thinking to refute the claim altogether.
“Whatever. You might want to clean that up,” she said, reaching in her bag and handing me a napkin.
I frowned in confusion as she indicated my mouth. Fearing what I knew would be true, I patted my lips, pulled the napkin away to confirm that my lip color matched Heather’s. My ex-wife chose that moment to come flouncing from my bedroom, wearing the matching nightie she had discarded there the night before. The one that I had failed to remove from my bedroom.
“Baby,” I said, reaching out to Nicole.
The first teardrop had fallen, and I felt like shit. I could not imagine what Nicole might be feeling at the moment, but I wished I could take it away. She dropped the bag of food at my feet, and those big brown pools of milk chocolate bubbled up and spilled over with tears.
“Delivery for Mr. Black. Cabot and Cove will complete the services we were hired to perform. As for the services, for one Miss Nicole Cabot, that contract has been terminated. Have a wonderful Sunday,” she said, before storming out of the doorway and my life.
Heather made her way back to where I was standing and picked up the food. That was the smell that I had woken up to. Not Heather cooking, but my sweet Nicole coming to surprise me early on a Sunday morning. Boy, had she surprised me, and she too had been surprised. And now she was brokenhearted on her way to only God knew where.
My mouth was wide open as I stood in shock, knowing I had just let my life walk out the door. I looked down at Heather, who was rifling through the food bags and turning to walk past me.
“Mmm, this smells good. I sure am hungry.”
She didn’t seem to care that once again, she had wrecked my life and left it in shambles. And once again, I had stood back like a fool and allowed her to do it.
CHAPTER 14 – NICOLE (Two Weeks Later)
“Over two-hundred-fifty-thousand people have been forced to evacuate. The category four storm, Rhonda, is producing maximum sustained wind speeds of one-hundred-forty miles per hour. The storm is expected to make landfall on the southeastern coast of Georgia by tonight into tomorrow morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Life-threatening storm surges are expected along the coast of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. The hardest-hit areas are expected to sustain fifteen to twenty inches of flooding through the next couple of days.
Residents in Chatham county began receiving evacuation orders on Sunday. The National Hurricane Center predicts the storm could strengthen into a category five storm within the next twenty-four hours.”
I flicked the television off and tossed the remote onto the couch beside me. None of it mattered to me. I didn’t seem to have enough energy to care about anything anymore, including saving myself from the imminent threat of danger.
I was empty inside. The first time I took a chance and opened my heart, it had been returned to me empty. I sat on the couch, feet pulled underneath me, staring out on the dreary gray day. Storm clouds blew through Savannah, depicting my stormy mood on the inside.
I did not have the inclination or the courage to get up from that seat and pack up, preparing to head north as the weather forecasters warned we should. My parents had already left and had been calling me the last couple of days, which had increased to every hour for the last few hours. I had listened to their voicemail, but not returned their calls. Nor had I returned Jocelyn’s messages either.
Selfishly, I waited alone in my pain, not giving them any source of comfort to know that I was okay. They deserved better than that. But a part of me knew that if I answered their calls, they would try to convince me to come to Atlanta with Zion and Zoe and the kids. That’s where they were headed. And if I didn’t listen, they would threaten to come back for me.
Their happiness was not a place for me right now. I just wanted to be left alone, and whatever happened would just happen. It had been one whole week since I popped up at Greyson’s place. I had busied myself with trips to Atlanta to purchase the final items that were needed to complete the project. However, any visits to his place of business I reserved for Jocelyn to make. And she did it without asking questions or issuing, “I told you so’s.” Instead, she had just been there for me, like the friend she had always been.
Not once did she ask what happened or exercise any more cautionary tales. She just did things that she knew needed to be done. She took care of me, making sure I ate breakfast and lunch on the rare occasion I stopped in at the office. Often, I worked from a hotel not far from the office. I did not want to be at home, because I had a feeling Greyson would pop up. And he had. There were flowers, notes of apology in my mailbox, cards, and he had been blowing my phone up with text messages and voicemails. My voicemail was now full.
I had returned the call to Piper Smith and met with her about the schematics of the renovation project she had planned. I altered my route around town to avoid places that I knew Greyson might frequent. I did not dare pass by his condo or the hotel. The one that I had grown so fond of and was loving to see thrive.
It was scheduled to open a week from now. I would not be in attendance, but Jocelyn would be. I planned to be out of town on a mini-vacation to visit my sister in New York. I still had not told Mady about the surprise pop up visit I had planned for her. I could only hope my plan did not backfire, as another one had. I flinched as I thought about the woman at Greyson’s house.
She had said she was his wife, and I had been shocked. I had never heard about any of the Black sons being married. And when I went online to do a search, there was nothing there either. If she wasn’t his wife, who was she? He bore her lipstick on her lips, and I watched as she shamelessly traipsed back to his bedroom, returning with her matching nightie. I saw how hard his dick was when he popped up and the look of guilt that colored his face crimson.
The proof was irrefutable, and I was not a woman keen on playing the fool. I had too much to offer any man in a relationship. The last thing I needed was to become a broken woman with a bitter heart carrying it around to give to some other poor unsuspecting man who did not deserve it.
No, it was better to cleanse my hands of this mess and get out now while I could salvage the remnants of my heart. At least that’s what I told myself as I sat staring out the window at the sad gray day, while the numbness in me grew colder. It was the only way I could keep the tears at bay and deal with the pain in my heart.
I needed to stop staring at the clouds in the sky. Something about the way they looked at this moment reminded me of Greyson’s silvery blue eyes. The day I had been confronted by his wife, his eyes had appeared the same way. As though a storm were brewing and there was about to be tumultuous, perhaps even catastrophic damage on the way.
A pounding at my door sent my heart racing as I jerked my attention away from the window and towards the door. I had expected no one to come looking for me, but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t. Pulling myself off the couch, I hesitantly made my way to the front door, hoping it wasn’t Greyson.
Peering out the peephole, I did not recognize the person standing on the opposite side. When he stood back and announced himself, I realized I did not need to procrastinate any longer.
“Ma’am, I’m Sheriff Eric Enright, and we are issuing mandatory orders for residents to vacate the premises immediately. Do you have any other individuals here with you or pets?”
I was dazed. I knew the evacuation order was in effect but had hoped I could somehow escape and buckle down, remaining in place.
“Uh, no, there’s just me,” I replied to him, and the other office
r standing slightly behind him.
“You should pack the following items, ma’am...”
He began issuing a list of things that I might need and advised that they would return within ten minutes to ensure I followed the orders.
I watched in a daze as they moved along to my neighbors’ houses. Slowly picking up my feet, I shook my head, my heart filled with sorrow. It seemed that everything that had once been so bright in my life was turning solemn and dismal. I had lost the new burgeoning love I felt in my heart, now I would lose my home and place of business, as well? It seemed everything that I had worked so hard for was being strategically removed from my life.
I don’t recall most of what I packed other than the underwear, clothing, shoes, and grooming supplies required. I did find my laptop and iPad to pack, and within ten minutes, I was ready to go. I shuffled along to where I had parked my car around the corner.
In a moment of desperation, I had crept out of the house the evening before and moved it. I wanted everyone to think I was gone, hoping they would leave me alone.
When I pulled back around to the house, I went back in and loaded myself with the things I would be taking. Returning to the car on a final drop off, head down, heart aching, I popped the trunk to drop most of what I could into my vehicle. Where I was headed? I had no idea. The only true place I had to go was to my brother’s in Atlanta, but I wasn’t up to it.
“Nicole, are you going to be okay?” My neighbor Joan called to me from across the walk.
I looked up and into her lean, tanned face and nodded with a smile I didn’t quite feel. “Sure, I’ll be fine. Where are you guys headed to?”
“Oh, we’re going to Ben’s family in Mississippi. I just wanted to make sure that you have a place to go. If not, feel free to travel with me, Ben, and the kids. There’s more than enough room.”
I shook my head from side to side and smiled. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. I have family in Atlanta.” Not that I had planned on going there, but I did not need another soul to be worried about my whereabouts.
Greyson Page 8
