Page 114 of Past Due

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Mom? Are you there?

Mom, I’m worried.

Please.

Call me.

Text me.

Something.

Please.

Mom?

The sound of our bedroom door opening woke me from a restful sleep. The sharp wave of panic subsided as soon as I saw Besian silhouetted in the doorway. I sat up as he carefully shut the door, and he hurriedly apologized, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s okay,” I assured him. “What time is it?”

“Late,” he said, still near the door. “Or early,” he amended. “Depending on how you look at it.” He crawled up the bed toward me and noisily kissed my cheek. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” I yawned. “Is Jet still here?”

“No,” Besian said in between kisses he dotted along my bare shoulder and upper arm. “I sent him home.”

“He was really nice. I wouldn’t mind having him stay with me again.”

Besian grunted. “Well, now he’s definitely not coming back to sit with you.”

“You’re ridiculous.” I laughed softly. Wrinkling my nose at the heavy cloud of sweet cotton candy and vanilla perfume clinging to him, I said, “You need a shower.”

“Sorry,” he apologized. “Hazard of the job,” he explained. “Glitter, too.”

“Oh, fun.” I yawned again. “Can’t wait to vacuum that up later.”

“Go back to sleep,” he urged and kissed my cheek one last time. “I’ll be quiet when I come back.”

He slipped away from the bed and into the bathroom. I tried not to feel jealous about the perfume. I had married him with both eyes wide open. I knew exactly where he went at night, exactly what kind of beautiful bodies and blatantly sexual environment he was surrounded by at work. He had sworn his loyalty to me, had married me and promised to love only me.

He loves me. He’s committed to me.

I sighed and rolled over, reaching for his pillow. It didn’t matter what he had done in his past. It didn’t matter how many relationships and one-night stands he had enjoyed. He was mine now. All mine.

My thoughts turned back to the stack of paperwork he had left for me to examine in his office. I had always suspected he had more money than he let on, but I hadn’t had any idea he had accumulated that much. Between the properties he owned, the clubs and his investments, he had amassed a fortune.

He was careful with his money. I had done the math on his expenses each month. He lived very well and enjoyed luxuries, but he wasn’t foolish. Even though I fully intended to continue working and contributing to our household, it was reassuring to see that Besian had things under control.

My phone screen lit up behind me, throwing a bluish glow onto the ceiling that caught my attention. I rolled over to grab my phone, hoping against hope that it was my mother. I stared at the screen, and my hope deflated. It was another apology from Nicole.

Even though we had talked around midnight and made up, she was still sending me messages. She had hurt my feelings so much, but I felt so badly for her. That thing with Dan had been going on for months, and he had lied to her about breaking it off with the other woman and committing to her. She had been blindsided, and I’m sure seeing me so happy had been a painful, raw experience. She shouldn’t have said the things she did, but I had forgiven her.

I sent her a message telling her that I loved her and we were fine. I begged her to go to sleep and rest and take a mental health day instead of going to work. I reminded her that Besian had promised not to say anything to Marissa and that she didn’t need to worry about losing her job.

“Everything okay?” Besian asked as he came out of the bathroom and found me looking at my phone.

“Yeah,” I said, turning my phone face down on the table. “It was just Nicole apologizing for the millionth time.”

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