Page 71 of The Marriage Agreement (Agreement)

“I’ll meet you back out. I need to clean up.” I kiss her forehead and her lips. I leave and close the door to the bedroom. Osei is watching a soccer game. I sit next to him.

“Don’t ever get between me and my wife again,” I say in a stern tone. He scoffs.

“Don’t expect that I won’t protect my best friend from you if she comes to me,” he replies, matching my tone.

“Dele is my wife and mine to protect.” Seems I need to keep reminding him of the fact.

“Dele is my best friend and she’ll always be my friend, even after she stops being Mrs. Luke Blythe.”

“She will always be Mrs. Luke Blythe.” He scoffs at my response. I have a fight on my hands, but we live to fight another day.

“She is coming home with me,” I snap.

“Sure, and if she returns tomorrow needing my help, I’ll open the door for her, guaranteed,” he snaps back.

“You and I will talk about this later,” I reply when I hear the door to the bedroom open.

“Sure, I’m always right here,” he retorts in a low growl as Dele’s steps get closer. I get up and head to the door. She goes to hug Osei, who whispers something in her ear that makes her laugh. I watch them for a moment. Much as I dislike the fact she ran to him, I also know he’ll always protect her. Annoying as he may be, it’s comforting to know that he’s got her back, but I have it first.

They pull from the hug; she takes my hand. “My car is outside the building. I’ll drive behind you,” she says the moment we get on the elevator. She tries to pull out of my hand. I won’t let go.

“I’ll have Martin pick it up.”

“Okay,” she agrees, no doubt trying to stop any argument with me, but I’m not letting her go just yet.

We get in the car. “Dad was worried about you and—” I pause. If I tell her he threatened my inheritance if we broke up, she might think all I said was for my inheritance.

“And?” she asks.

“He wants us to come together tomorrow for lunch.”

“I can’t do lunch. I have a study group, but I can stop by tomorrow to see him.”

“He wants to see us together, or he’s coming over to our place.”

“No, he shouldn’t be moving around. You can pick me up at work during my break hour. We can pay him a quick visit and you can drop me back at work.”

“Okay.”

Our drive is quiet. The good thing is, it’s a short drive, and we head to our unit with me holding her hand.

She heads to her room; I still can’t get her to move into the primary room. For now, I sleep where she sleeps. She goes to shower, and I join her there. She keeps her back to me as my hand caresses her breast. I wrap my arms around her; she relaxes in my arms as the water cascades down our bodies, but she doesn’t turn to face me.

“I love you, Dele.” She stiffens for a moment. “I love you and only you. I have loved you since your eyes met mine and I felt a connection deep within my soul, making my heartbeat for you. I’ve loved you since my feet followed you onto that balcony, and when your lips touched mine there. I knew your kiss is the one I want forever. I would never cheat on you.” She turns to face me, her eyes glassy despite the water running down our bodies.

“Do you mean that?” she asks in a shaky voice.

“Yes, with all my being.” She cups my face and starts to kiss me. I take over and pull her closer, passionately kissing her, before sliding down to her breast and then to her lips to feast on them. I hold her steady as I swirl my tongue deeper into her, licking and sucking on her, causing pleasurable gasps and moans to escape her mouth. She grips my hair and shoulder tight and lets out more cries of pleasure as she climaxes in my mouth. I lift her up. She wraps her legs around me, and I enter her slowly, savoring every moment of our connection. I move her back to the shower wall and hold nothing back from her. We make love with the warm water cascading down our bodies, our movements synchronized and filled with pure bliss. She comes again with a loud cry that’s pleasing to my ears and soul.

When she drops her head on my shoulder, the low rumbles in my heart whisper, “I love you,” to her, and she nods. We dry off and go to bed, curled up together. I doubt I can ever sleep soundly again without her.

Next morning, as soon as I walk into my office:

“Come with me,” I say to Kevin. He grabs his iPad and follows me in. I sit, and he does the same.

“The deal we just signed with the McIntyres—I’m killing it.” His mouth drops open.

“It’s going to cost five million in losses,” he says, clearly shocked. I always find my way to a deal; I never kill a deal. Considering what’s at stake here, the only way around is to end it and send a loud messageYou upset my wife, you deal with me.Besides, it’s going to cost the McIntyres even more in losses. That should really get the message across to fucking Lily.

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