Page 36 of Vow to Hate You

“Yes,” I answered, returning her smile. “But you can call me Talie.”

“I’m Sylvia,” she introduced herself. “Damian told me you were coming today. It’s good to finally meet his wife. You’ve been at school overseas?”

“Yes,” I lied, wondering if she worked solely for Damian or for the Valentin family. Either way, I needed to be careful what I said to her. Though it was almost impossible to be suspicious of her. She had a motherly air about her, and it tugged at my heart more than I wanted to admit.

“I’ve been working for Damian since he bought the house,” Sylvia said, pouring some lemon into her tea. “It’s been a good three years.”

I frowned. “Three years? He bought this house three years ago?”

Sylvia nodded. “The day it went on the market, he put in an offer.”

The information confused the hell out of me. Why did Damian lie to me about when he bought it?

“Do you need help with anything today?” she asked, grabbing the full coffee pot. She poured me a cup before finding the sugar and offering it to me.

“I plan on exploring the house.” I added some sugar to my cup. “Unlike Damian, I have nowhere to be.”

Not anymore.My heart panged, a lump growing in my throat as I thought of the life I left behind. I didn’t have much. No house. No car. But I loved it. I traveled and worked in the music scene. Late nights and sleeping all day was my routine. Now I was stuck here. In this giant house with nothing to do.

“There’s a library on the other end of the house,” Sylvia said softly. “A pool out back, along with a tennis court.”

I smiled. “Thanks. I’m sure I’ll find something to do. Maybe I’ll call my sister.”

“If you need anything, I’m here.”

I nodded, gripping my coffee cup as I strolled out of the kitchen. My quiet footsteps seemed ridiculously loud in this huge house. I passed the curved staircase, exiting the foyer and heading toward the back of the house.

There was a wide hall with closed doors lining both sides. I opened each one, not finding anything that caught my interest. One room was a formal dining area. The dark oak table took up most of the space and had at least sixteen chairs around it. A beautiful flower arrangement sat in the middle under the crystal chandelier. The white curtains were open, letting in the morning sun. Like the rest of the house, the floors were hardwood and the walls a light beige.

The walls were pretty much bare of art or decor. It was plain. Boring. I wondered who Damian had hired to decorate this house. When we were engaged, we used to talk about how we wanted our future house. Beige walls and boring decor were not what I was expecting when I walked into this house.

The next room was what I was guessing was his office. The desk was a heavy wood with a comfortable looking chair behind it. There were two computer screens filling the top of the desk. Along the wall was a small drink cart next to a leather sofa. Two bookcases full of business looking books stood behind the desk. I slowly closed the door, curious about how often Damian worked from home.

Farther down the hall was a small movie theater area, which I planned to take full advantage of at some point. I pushed open the next door, frowning in confusion. The room was completely empty. Nothing on the walls. No furniture. He moved here three years ago. Why did he still have an empty room?

I wandered through the house, stopping in front of a pair of double doors. After pushing them open, I stopped in my tracks, my lips parting in surprise.

This was the library Sylvia was telling me about. I had pictured a few shelves with books, but this was one of the most beautiful libraries I’d ever seen. The black bookshelves went from the floor to the ceiling and were bursting with books. There were two ladders, one on each side of the room, to reach the books on the taller shelves.

A plush, soft light gray carpet covered the entire floor. A small table sat in the middle of the room with two oversized round chaises on either side of it. There were pillows on each of them with a blanket folded neatly on the cushions. There were only two spots on the walls the shelves didn’t cover, and it was where the windows were. I slowly crossed the room, setting my empty coffee mug on the table.

This was my favorite room in the house, and I didn’t even read. But Damian did. He grew up reading, choosing that hobby over anything other than dancing. I sank into one of the chaises, letting out a sigh of comfort.

Relaxing against the pillows, I inspected the bookshelves. It seemed like he had every genre in here. There was even an entire area of classic encyclopedias. I tilted my head, studying them closer. Every book in here was organized to perfection.

I sighed, leaning my head back on the plush cushion. The house was beautiful. Now, I just needed to get control of my life so I wouldn’t be miserable here.

CHAPTER 15

damian

I’d been standing right outside the patio doors for a full five minutes, staring at Talie. She was laying in a lounge chair next to the pool in a bikini that rivaled the lingerie I’d bought her. My dick was already rock hard, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to have a conversation without thinking about all the dirty things I wanted to do to her.

“I know you’re there,” she sang out without looking at me. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

A muscle in my jaw ticked as I strode toward her. In the few days we’d been in Connecticut, my devious wife had been trying to drive me insane. And it’d been fucking working. She had been choosing outfits like this bathing suit every day. Showing enough of her stunning body that I had a permanent hard-on if I wasn’t at work.

“Is this what you do every day when I’m gone?” I question, purposefully keeping my eyes on her face.

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