Page 45 of Shattered Souls
“Riley.”
My fingers tighten around the fork at the sound ofhername in his mouth, and my appetite flees. I glare at the tabletop, and it takes everything in me to sound unaffected when I ask, “And what, exactly, am I supposed to have invited her to?”
He sighs, his frustration audible all the way on my end of the table. “We discussed this yesterday,” he grits out.
Making my own exasperation known, I lift my head to look at him. “We discussed a lot of things yesterday.” I wait, letting my words hang in the air. One minute. Two. By the timefiveminutes have passed, I’m squirming uncomfortably beneath his piercing stare. Eventually, I’m forced to admit defeat. “I’m delaying our trip,” I say primly. It’s not as though I had any other choice. Yes, Ineedto get away, but I refuse to lose my husband toher—again. I’d planned for both of us to leave the country once he was released from prison, butsheis ruining all my carefully laid plans.
He hardly mentioned my slut of a daughter while he was in prison. Beyond the first couple of months of his sentence, any time I visited or we talked on the phone, her name was never brought up in conversation.
I’d assumed he’d moved on. That, with her out of the house, he’d be mine, but this obsession he has with reconnecting as a family is foiling all of my carefully laid plans.
It reaffirms my decision to remove Aurora from the chessboard. My so-called daughter is enough to contend with, but at least she can be controlled. However, with every day that passes, that control weakens. Riley, the perfect little bitch that she is, has been hounding me religiously, demanding to speak to and see her kid. Seriously, that girl needs to get a life. It’s pathetic how involved she tries to be in that kid’s life. Regardless, there is only so long I can delay the inevitable. I’d expected to be sipping champagne on a beach in Montenegro by the time she realized her snot-nosed kid was gone.
Except Bertram is making that far more challenging than I’d anticipated. With the company in Grayson’s hands and his ruined reputation amongst all his old friends and acquaintances, I’d assumed it would be easy to convince him to leave.
Obviously, I underestimated him.
He leans back in his chair, swirling his whiskey glass between his fingers as he holds my gaze. “So?” he retorts with a cool indifference that infuriates me. How dare he speak to me that way! I’ve stood by his side all these years, supporting him.
Despite trying to school my expression, he must catch a flash of my irritation as he smirks openly. “Invite her to dinner on Saturday.”
“Will you be inviting Grayson to this little family soiree?” I snipe.
Tutting, Bertram shakes his head. “You’d think you’dwantto spend time with your daughter, Lydia.”
Lifting my napkin from my lap, I set it on the table and push back my chair as I rise before walking the length of the long dining room table that could easily seat a dozen people. My heels clack against the hard floor, and I add an extra sway to my hips, knowing I look absolutely killer in my low-cut, short-hemmed burgundy dress, with my makeup done perfectly and hair styled.
His eyes rake over me as I approach before returning to my face. When I’m close enough, I reach out and run a manicured finger along his shoulder before moving to stand behind him and gliding my hand over his chest. Leaning in, I bring my lips to his ear. “She’s really not someone worth wasting your time over. Not when you have me, and I’m happy to play out whatever fantasy you wish. She’s vanilla. Boring. Not worthy of a man with your… appetite.” My hand sinks lower, over the defined ridges of his abdomen. Prison has kept him taut and lean, exactly as he was the day I met him. The only difference now in his appearance is the gray dusting along his temples, but I find it makes himappear more distinguished. Refined.Sexier. “Why obsess overherwhen you could be fucking me?”
I sink my teeth into his earlobe as I palm his growing erection through his slacks.
Chuckling darkly, he grabs the wrist of the hand resting on his shoulder and tugs me forward until I fall into his lap.
“You want to play out my fantasies,wife?” Pushing his empty plate away, he shoves me down onto the table. With one hand squeezing the back of my neck, he keeps my face pressed into the hard surface as he hikes up my dress and drags my lace panties down my thighs. Bending down, he growls in my ear, “Then be a good girl for Daddy and spread your legs.”
I do, soaking up his harsh breaths. His eyes roam over my ass as he unzips himself and strokes his hard length.
“Please, Daddy,” I plead. He groans in pure pleasure before slotting his blunt head at my entrance and driving in.
I moan, his groan mixing with mine as he fills me up. For a moment, he doesn’t move, relishing our joining. “Did you miss me?” he rasps. “Did you miss your daddy?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck,” he hisses, his fingernails digging bruisingly into my hips. “Daddy missed you too.” One hand strokes along the strands of my hair and down my back with a reverence I’ve never felt from him, right before he pulls out and slams back in.
The room is silent except for the sounds of our fucking. The slap of skin against skin mingled with our heavy breaths and low moans. “Show Daddy how much you missed him,” he growls, pulling my ass back as he plows deeper. “Come all over my cock like a good little girl.” With one final slam of his hips against mine, he buries himself deep inside me and groans out his release.
Still breathing heavily, he leans down to whisper in my ear. “You’re right. As long as I don’t have to look at your face, I can doa pretty decent job of pretending you’re your daughter... At least, until I get a taste of the real thing again.”
I bristle but bite back the wordsover my dead body.He’smine, and I won’t let that little harlot steal him away from me this time. I listen as he tucks himself away, pulling up his zipper before he steps around the table. “Invite Riley to dinner,” he dictates like he wasn’t just dick-deep in my pussy two seconds ago. “And don’t play dumb with me this time. If you fail at that simple task, I’ll have to question whether I have any use for you at all.”
Scoffing, I push myself upright and yank down my dress. I don’t bother to pick up my discarded panties on the floor. Let the housekeeper deal with them. “Please, Bertram, we both know youneedme to maintain your perfect image, to help curry favor with your used-to-be associates, and help weasel your way back into your own company. Despite your attempts to squash them, the whispers remain.I’mthe only way to keep them at bay. You couldn’t possibly have done what was rumored if you’re still with the mother, right?” I taunt.
With his cum sticking to my thighs, I stalk toward him in my heels. When I’m directly in front of him, I slide a hand over his chest and peer into his dark, agitated eyes. “With time, they’ll eventually move on. And you will, too. You’ll realize the appeal she once held has gone, but I’ll still be here.” Pushing up onto my toes, I whisper into his ear, “I’llalwaysbe here,” before stepping past him and walking away.
I recline on the chaise lounge, the sun lamps overhead casting a warm, golden glow over my flawless skin as I sip on a chilled glass of Chardonnay. The pool, heated to a perfect temperature,steams slightly in the crisp February air, creating an oasis of warmth in the meticulously manicured estate Bertram secured upon his release. The glass walls of the solarium enclose me, shielding me from the biting cold outside while letting in the winter sunlight.
It’s quite an upgrade from the crapbox I was relegated to during the years of his incarceration. It’s as ifIwas being punished too. It’s not likeIembezzled money.Not that the government cared aboutmywelfare when they froze all of Bertram’s accounts. Neither did his little shit of a son when he kicked me out ofBertram’shouse. Even after I stood by his father, providing the excuses necessary to ensure no further resources were spent determining the legitimacy of my daughter’s so-called claims.
