Page 64 of Someone Like You

“That’s light work. Let me handle that.”

“Her family has power, Cas. Money.”

“I’ve got power and money.”

I scoffed. “Not their kind, and according to her, you’ve quit your job.”

“Baby, they have a militia, but I’ve got a fucking army behind me.”

“Your street friends don’t have anything on the Huffingtons and Bradwells, I’m sure.”

A smirk tilted his lips and transformed the man before me. I had seen various sides of Casimir before, but I swear to God, I didn’t know the man who stood before me now.

“Never underestimate your man. General Leo Anthony Perez didn’t become a four-star general by sitting on his ass. My father is a brilliant man who always employed both critical thinking and strategic vision in everything that he did. I learned from the best. They’re not ready for me. I will win this war. The only thingI need is for my woman to believe in me. I can do anything with your faith and belief in me. You understand?”

“I understand what you’re saying, but I need you to understand how hard this is for me, Cas. When I lost Elijah, I vowed to myself that I would never put myself in a position where I would hurt this way again. I never wanted to love someone so much again that I lost myself if I lost them.”

“We all take that risk, baby. Any time we love, we take the risk. Whether it’s our parents, siblings, friends, or a lover, there will always be that risk because we’re all going to die one day. But this ain’t that.”

“I have no idea what you’re planning, but it’s scaring me. And what scares me even more is the loss of my independence. I worked hard as hell to get my doctoral degree, to become licensed, to start my practice, and to build my clientele. To have that taken away from me because I love a man who once belonged to someone else . . . I cannot fathom that, Cas.”

A strange look crossed his face, and it wasn’t until he squinted his eyes and held my face in his hands that I realized my mistake. I vowed that I wouldn’t tell him how I truly felt. I believed that if I kept it to myself and did not acknowledge it verbally, it wouldn’t have the power to hurt me. But the love I felt for this man caught me by surprise and stole my breath away at the most inconvenient of moments.

“Did you just say that you love me?”

Casimir lifted my face again and forced me to look into his eyes.

“Please don’t act like that makes this the end of the world. Do you know how long I’ve wanted to hear a woman say that and mean that shit? Do you know what it feels like to have women fawn over you and treat you like a commodity but never know if their love is really real? With you, I know that it is true, Giselle.”

I swiped at the tears that fell from my eyes. “That’s what makes it so hard, Cas. The way I feel about you makes it hard for me to breathe sometimes. I don’t know what to do with that.”

“Loving is not always easy, Giselle. It’s a battle sometimes, but one worth fighting for. I will fight for your love until time ends and begins again because you’re worth that to me. Do you want to know the day that I fell in love with you?”

“You don’t love me.”

“Can’t you see it in how I care for and protect you? The way that I hold you through the night, massage your feet when you’re tired, and run your baths are all small tokens of my love.”

“It’s convenient for you to say it now, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t want to risk running you away. But I’ve loved you for a long time. I knew that I loved you the day that I walked out of your office, and you forced me to turn around and look in your eyes. You gave me a warning about how to handle myself in volatile times, and then you called me ‘king.’

“I already wanted to protect you from Beth’s evil ways, but what you did . . . no one had ever done anything like that for me before. You showed how much you cared with those simple words. And I fell in love with you at that moment. That was the day that I told Beth I wanted a divorce. We hadn’t even made it out of your parking lot.”

“Yet, you lied to me.”

“About what?”

“You said you hadn’t been with anyone, but you were with her the night before you returned to me.” I spun away from him and locked myself in the room.

Casimir

Some may say that I took advantage of the moment. I wasn’t an opportunist, but I was strategic. Giselle was a guarded woman when it came to her feelings, especially where I was concerned. Her guard was down, and I wanted to strengthen her with my love.

It took three days before she would speak to me and let me explain what happened between Beth and me that night. She was in her room packing when it happened, and I had returned home early. When I finished, she cursed me out, slammed her fists against my chest, and then told me how I failed to protect her despite promising her that I always would. She broke down crying after that, and I inserted myself into the moment.

I kissed her tears away and worked my way down her neck. I lifted her in my arms and carried her back to my room. With her arms locked around my neck, she kissed me passionately, almost desperately, like she was afraid she might lose me. I lay her on the bed and slowly peeled away her yoga pants and thong.

I kissed her inner thighs and nestled my face between them. Giselle spread her legs wide and cradled my head with her hands. Sliding my thumb through her folds, I stared up at her and spoke.

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