Page 57 of Avenging Devil: Part 1

I’d neither expected nor wanted to marry again. When my previous husband had cheated on me, I’d left his sorry ass. With hindsight, I should have known far earlier than I had. The signs had been there, but at the time, blinded by love, I’d missed them. Gradually, though, doubts came into my mind. Were his excuses just a little too smooth? When concerns about him had crept up on me, I’d spoken to my mom. Her only response was to tell me in no uncertain terms that I was expecting too much, and it was obvious Clive was a man in love.

Whatever she said, and she’d said a lot, I couldn’t rid myself of my suspicions that Clive was being unfaithful.

When I had the proof in front of my eyes, I wasn’t happy to be proved right.

I’m sure my mom had known all along, and I suspected my own dad had been unfaithful, but marriage vows apparently trump all. Even when confronted with concrete evidence that my suspicions had proved correct, she’d told me to be adult about it.

You can’t get divorced, Sapphire. Just think of the shame it would bring.

But even if sticking in a relationship built on deceit was expected, I couldn’t do it. Not when I realised Mom had been partly right. Clive was indeed a man in love, but with the other woman and not with me.

I’d left, bringing disgrace on our family. As Clive had been quite happy to carry on with the sham, all the blame for the dissolution of our marriage had fallen on me. Divorce in our family wasn’t the done thing.

Burned, I wasn’t sure I’d trust anyone again, so I set out to prove I could be happy on my own, and had been busy trying to live for me, and not revolving my life around a man. In that I’d been successful. I made friends. I was happy. I grew as a person. For the first time in my life, I no longer needed to be a wife or a daughter, I became me. I was happier for it.

Then Duke entered my life, and I was knocked off my feet. He was everything my ex hadn’t been. Charming, and from the start, making it clear he only had eyes for me. He was handsome, tall, a man who obviously worked out. His body was covered in tattoos which I’d found both naughty and at the same time delicious. I was proud to have snagged his attention, aware that other women spared him more than one glance, but it was me he was with. Duke was generous to a fault. I only had to indicate there was something I wanted, and the next day, or sooner, it would be in my hand. As for the sex, it was out of this world. He was so considerate, gentle and loving.

I loved Clive once, I trusted him. I wasn’t going to fall into the same trap again. Duke, though, was persistent. While I just wanted to date, he wanted something more permanent.

Still, I held back. Being bitten once, this time I was determined to be shy. I wasn’t going to rush into anything.

My parents were rich with old money. Clive had been an investment banker of whom they’d approved, to the extent they couldn’t understand why I hadn’t been able to overlook the ‘little issues’ in our marriage. Duke, a man who owned a motorcycle shop, they hated on sight. Maybe it was some kind of delayed rebellious stage, but the more they put obstacles between us, the more they pushed me Duke’s way. It was after one particular row with my father, when he declared if I continued to see Duke he’d no longer recognise me as his daughter, that focused my mind. When Duke had next proposed, I’d overcome my own objections to things moving too fast, and I’d accepted.

I was an adult, a grown woman. I could make up my own mind.

As I stand in the sunlight admiring my ring, coming to grips with the thought that once again I’m married, but this time it’s to the man of my dreams. Sure, I’d sacrificed my family, but Duke is the one who makes my world turn. I turn to him with a beaming smile. He doesn’t disappoint, planting a scorching, possessive kiss on my lips.

I’m his ‘little socialite’ as he fondly calls me. I think that’s sweet. Sure, there’s a world of difference in our backgrounds, but that doesn’t affect anything between him and me.

Having come from money, I’d been cautious enough, doing my own due diligence until I was certain Duke didn’t want anything from me. At the start, I’d been prepared for Duke to make monetary demands, but those demands never came. He would pay for everything, as though determined to show me he was a successful businessman in his own way. Duke was a proud man. I had nothing to worry about him.

Although I’d been burned once by a man who cheated on me, because it wasDuke,I accepted the many times away and trips out of town as requirements of his business. He needed to source parts, or check on a bargain, or go give advice. Each time he returned, it was with a generous and thoughtful present, proving it was me who’d been on his mind. That he also stayed a number of nights in his own home was logically explained by his garage being full of expensive bikes, and the need for him to watch over them.

It might sound strange now I’m his wife to admit I’ve never seen his garage or where he lives. At first, because it was a bachelor mess he was too embarrassed to invite me to visit, then it became a project to turn it into the home of my dreams. I can’t count the evenings when he’d bring home catalogues, wanting my advice on furniture and fittings to set it up just how I wanted, though the final unveiling was to be a surprise on our wedding day.

Soon, I’ll see the home he’s designed for me.

It follows that due to his business, Duke has many friends, all of whom seem to own motorcycles, and who take up a lot of his time. I’ve asked before when I can meet them, but on every occasion, he’d brush me off with kisses and loving, telling me he wanted me all to himself for now. Now that we’re married, it seems more imperative I should know everyone important in his life.

“You want to meet my friends, Sapphire?” There’s a glint in his eyes as he turns to me, then, raising my hand, admires the wedding band as it sparkles in the light.

“I do.” Going on tiptoe, I kiss his cheek. “I’m your wife.”

“You are, aren’t you, my little socialite. You’ve given up everything for me.”

I have, and I don’t regret it. But there was something in his tone that put me on edge, just like your mood can momentarily sour when a cloud moves over the sun. I shake that feeling off. This is the happiest day of my life. What care have I my parents hadn’t been there to witness it? I have Duke, he is my future, they’re in my past.

Suddenly Duke grins. “As it happens, my friends want to meet you too, Sapphire. In fact, they’re throwing us a party.”

“A wedding reception?” Over the past few months, I’d lost contact with many of the friends that I had. Arrangements to meet had fallen apart when Duke had been free that same night. Others had taken my parents side and had tried to dissuade me from seeing the man who was so perfect for me. As old friendships had drifted apart, I hadn’t thought anyone would have wanted to join us in celebrating our matrimony. That his friends do makes me want to dance on the spot.

“Of sorts,” he says, mysteriously, reaching again for my hand and this time curling his fingers around it. “Come on. We’ll go to the club, and then I’ll show you the home I’ve made for you.” Before he moves, he lowers his head, taking my lips in a scorching kiss. “Only for you, Sapphire. You’re mine now.”

Oh yes, I’m his, you can bet on it. I’m positively glowing with the emotions his statement brings forth.

In my specially bought pure-white figure-hugging dress that flares from my hips, I walk at his side as we approach his car.

“Gotta get you some bike wear, pretty thing,” he says, unlocking the passenger door. “You’ll be riding on my bike from now on.”

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