Page 59 of Playing With Fire
His grunts cut me off mid-sentence as his release shoots from his tip, some of it on his hand, some of it into the sink.
My breathing matches Hudson’s even though I’m not the one who just came. It’s been a long time since I spoke words like that to anyone. Even before Gregor, I knew that some guys got intimidated by a woman with a dirty mouth, but I can’t seem to help myself around Hudson. Gregor used to tolerate it a little, but as he’s gotten older, he isn’t into it. I wait with baited breath to see how Hudson feels.
He props the phone up on the vanity against the mirror and there’s something soothing about watching him clean himself up. There’s a slowness to his movements and the lack ofurgency to get off the phone and end the moment has my head spinning and my heart swooning.
Once he’s done, he picks the phone up and shows me his grinning face this time.
“I swear you were made for me. You know that?” The gravel in his voice has me desperate.
"That was so hot. The only problem is now I need?—”
“Shannon?” Gregor’s voice comes through the door a split second before he opens it, still in his suit from the plane.
I hate myself for it, but I hang up on Hudson and frantically open my camera app, pretending to take pictures of Serafina.
Annoyed with Gregor for interrupting my call—and no, I don’t want to examine the hypocrisy of that right now, thank you very much—I give a short, “What?”
“I thought you were coming downstairs so we could talk? I want to tell you about the trip and yes, we should probably talk about the upcoming retreat.”
“And the other thing?” I ask, seemingly begging for a fight.
Gregor scrubs a hand down his face. “Fine. If you need to talk it to death so we can move on, then yes, we’ll talk about that too.”
I scoop Serafina off her mat, sing her our nighttime song even though it’s a little early, trail my fingers along the planes of her face, and watch as her eyelids grow heavy.
Satisfied that she’s down for the count, I steel my nerves and follow Gregor into the hallway and down the massive staircase. Instead of going toward the living room, he turns to his office.
I briefly think about asking to have this conversation in a different room, but decide it most likely won’t affect the outcome in a positive way, so I stay silent as he takes hisseat behind the large wooden desk, and I’m forced into one of the chairs in front of it as if I were one of his criminal clients.
“The firm is hosting a fall retreat at the coast at the end of the month. I’ve already RSVP’d and it would mean a lot if you would go with me. They’re hosting a dinner on Saturday in my honor for making partner finally. Besides, I figured you’d jump at the opportunity. You’ve been practically begging to go to the beach for a while.”
“And yet you took us to another city on our getaway becausegoing to the beach in cooler weather is ridiculous, if I remember correctly,” I say, reciting his words back to him. “It feels like you haven’t heard a word I’ve been saying recently, Greg, and I need to make some changes because my life as it is currently isn’t working for me anymore.”
He stands, smacking both palms flat on his desk, in full attorney mode now.
“Sitdown,” I demand, finding strength I haven’t had with him for quite some time. Without truly considering leaving as an option—until recently—I would wait these storms out, staying silent to appease the outburst. “I amnota client and this isnota courtroom. You will have a civilized conversation with me or we won’t converse at all.”
“My apologies,” he sneers. “What about this life isn’t living up to your expectations? Is it our gorgeous home that you resent so much? Or perhaps it’s our beautiful daughter that’s made you so bitter?”
“When did you become so cruel?” My heart is pounding in my chest as I realize I don’t know the man sitting across from me. Perhaps I never did.
“When did you become so obstinate?” he fires back. All of this I can handle, but his next words chill me to the bone. “Some fucking delivery boy brings you half-dead flowers and suddenly you’re on my case about every-fucking-thing.”
Because again, this is obviously all my fault.
“Is that what this is about? Insecurity because another man performed an act of kindness for me? Perhaps if you would remove your head from your ass long enough to do something kind for me yourself, we wouldn’t be having this utterly pointless conversation, Gregor.” I’m desperate to tell him I want a divorce. That I’m leaving him in his big fancy house all alone. That he will have copious amounts of time to devote to his clients and his colleagues because Serafina and I won’t be around to distract him anymore. That he can have his flashy cars and his fancy watches and I’m sure his money will be enough to lure the perfect woman to his arm.
But I can’t say any of that.
Not yet. There are too many things that have to happen first and for now, my best option is to play nice and stay put. I’m getting closer, but trying to lessen the fallout means I need just a little more time.
Chapter 22
Hudson
Iknew this would happen at some point. Shannon’s husband would come home and we’d go back to stealing a few minutes of interaction here and there, but I’m pissed that our brief period of freedom got cut short. And the way she hung up on me makes me afraid for her.
It’s getting late, but I need to talk to my sister before I go, not to mention, I still have bedtime duties for Cam and Ally.
