Page 28 of When We Collide

“Those were under very special circumstances.”

“You were horny.”

“I wasveryhorny.” Jeyla’s tongue lightly trails along her bottom lip and there’s a hint of a smile on her face. “And you have a very naughty habit of sleeping naked, Mrs Reyes. How do you expect me to control myself when I wake up and the first thing that I see is your beautiful body sprawled out before me so invitingly.” I murmur as I lean in to brush a kiss to her lips. “It would be rude of me to abstain from such enticing offerings, no?”

Jeyla's soft hands grasp my face, stopping me in my tracks before I can fully press my lips to hers. Her touch is gentle yet firm, and I can feel the warmth of her fingertips against my skin. “First of all,” she begins, her voice teasing, “I only sleep naked because you have a wicked habit of undressing me in the middle of the night.” A sly grin spreads across my face at her words, memories of our late-night escapades flooding back to me.

“And secondly,” she continues, “it's Miss Jenkins now. I'm no longer Mrs Reyes.”

I furrow my brows in confusion and stare at her. “What do you mean?”

“We're no longer married,” she explains calmly. “You died, remember? I was a widow—which means our marriage is null and void.”

My jaw drops in disbelief. “Say’s fucking who?”

Jeyla shrugs nonchalantly. “Well, for one, there's the death certificate sitting upstairs in my drawer,” she says with a slight nod towards the ceiling. “And… Google.”

Unable to hold back my amusement, I let out a snort of laughter. “Google?” I repeat incredulously and she simply nodsin confirmation. “Do you mean to tell me that you've based your evaluation on whether or not we're still legally married onGoogle?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

“I mean,” Jeyla begins with an impish grin, “technically I haven't legally changed my name back to Jenkins… yet.”

“Then you're still Jeyla Reyes and you’re not going to change your name back,” I tell her, my tone taking on a more serious note. “And as you can see, I'm not dead. So, that certificate holds no weight—you're still my wife.” A predatory gleam enters my eyes as I add, “And even if our marriage is considered void, it doesn't change the fact that you will be mine now and always.” My tone drops an octave as I lean in to continue, “Or am I going to have to take you back upstairs, bend you over that bedand fuck you till you remember?”

A spark of desire flashes in Jeyla’s eyes and she opens her mouth to respond when DJ’s whimpering interrupts her. “Saved by the baby,” I tease and press a kiss to her lips before I let her back on her feet. Jeyla turns to walk upstairs but I take hold of her hand, stopping her. “Hey,” she looks back at me questioningly, “We need to be out of here by midday.” And just like that a saddened look falls upon her pretty face and it feels like a million daggers being plunged straight into my heart.

“Dean—”

Jeyla's pleading eyes meet mine, and I can feel the weight of her unspoken words. I hate seeing the pain in her gaze, but I know that arguing with me on this matter will only lead to frustration for both of us. With a heavy sigh, she nods in resignation and makes her way up the stairs to tend to our son.

I close my eyes and massage my throbbing temples, feeling the weight of my responsibilities crushing down on me more with every second that ticks on by. The fate of my life seems to be a never-ending cycle of difficult decisions and sacrifices. But as I hear the faint sound of Jeyla's footsteps fade away and the sound of our son crying, I am reminded that it is all for the sake of them.

“Are you nervous?”

Staring at the road ahead, my fingers tighten on the steering wheel, and I nod mutely in response to my brother’s question. We’re halfway to my parents’ house and I have a million and one thoughts whirring in my mind and a nagging feeling deep in my gut that is screaming at me that something horrible is lurking around the corner. “What’s wrong?”

Sighing, I turn to Oz in the passenger seat. “Maybe you should have stayed back with Jeyla and DJ,” I say, my voice heavy with concern and worry. Oz's brow furrows as he shifts to face me, his eyes filled with genuine concern.

“Dean, they have a team of highly trained security officers watching the house around the clock, right?” I nod in confirmation, but my mind is still racing with all the potential dangers that could happen. But I push those thoughts aside for now. “So, stop fretting,” Oz continues, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “They'll be safe for an hour or so.” Despite his words, I can't shake off the feeling of unease. In my line of work,one hour can seem like an eternity. A lot of bad shit can happen in that time. “What you need to worry about right now is how you're going to face the wrath of Ash and not give poor mum a heart attack,” Oz voices, bringing my attention back to our current dilemma. My stomach churns at the thought of facing Ash and my mother.

Fifteen minutes later, I’m pulling up outside my old childhood home, in my black Lexus. Everything looks the same as I left it, yet everything feels different. I sit with a ball of nerves sitting in my stomach as I look across the road at Jeyla’s childhood home. My mind is flooded with so many fond memories it overwhelms me. I can feel a lump forming in my throat as I swallow.

“Dean?” Oz’s voice jerks me out of my thoughts, and I turn to look at him. “You all right?”

No, I’m far from all right.

I nod, pulling my hood up I turn the ignition off and pull the key out before I open the door. “Yeah, let’s get this over with.”

My brother and I step out of the car and walk over to the front door. While Oz unlocks the door, my eyes scan the area and find the black unmarked car sitting across the street with the security officers inside watching the house. I give them a discreet nod and they nod back.

Rolling my shoulders to ease the tension I follow Oz inside. The house still smells like my childhood. The smell of baked goods and flowers from mum’s potpourri she has in almost every corner of the house.

“Oscar?” I hear my mother’s voice call out to him from the living room and my heart squeezes inside my chest. “Is that you love?”

“Who else is it going to be Mum, we’re all here.” I hear Ashley respond with a snigger and I smirk.

“Uh, yeah it’s me.” Oz replies looking back at me. We make our way to the living room. Oz walks in first and I hang back in the corridor by the stairs for a moment to pull my shit together.

“Took your damn time. What did you do crawl here?” Ashley chides with a huff. “You said to be here at ten it’s almost eleven.” I can’t see my twin’s face, but I can picture the perturbed look on her face as she scolds our brother for his tardiness.

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