Page 135 of Songbird: Black Kite
Mick shook his head, blowing out a huge breath before throwing down the pen he’d been holding and staring at me, his normally uptight demeanor softened.
“Hawk,” he breathed, frowning. “Why didn’t you say something? We all know you would never have done something like that. Why did you allow yourself to face this alone? Nine years, man. Nine years you spent trapped in that marriage, and we would have done anything to help you get out of it.” Running a hand down his face, Mick looked exhausted as he considered all the information I’d just handed him.
“That’s a good question, actually,” Gavin said, not looking at me. “How did you get out of it? If Castor worked that hard to trap you into a marriage to his harpy of a daughter, there’s no way he’d let something as mundane as Tori’s infidelity set you free.”
Thinking back on that day—the day I was finally able to break free of my prison sentence of a marriage—I cracked the first smile I’d been able to muster since I’d walked out Wren’s door in Grand Rapids.
Getting one over on Cornelius Castor would do that to a guy.
Chapter seventy-seven
Hawk
Five Years Ago
Toriwasdrunk.
That wasn’t something unusual; she tended to be drunk most days, starting with her breakfast mimosa and then her lunchtime martini, and by the time the evening rolled around, she tended to be a bit sloppy.
But tonight, she was more than sloppy. She was drunk and horny and that was a terrible combination for me.
“Hello, husband,” she slurred, and I looked up to see her standing in the door to my studio, a black silk and lace negligee hanging off one shoulder as she leaned unsteadily against the door frame.
“Victoria,” I said tiredly. She knew I hated it when she bothered me in here. The studio was the one place in the house that truly felt like mine. It was where I did most of my writing, and having her in my space tended to fuck with my mojo. “Is there something you need.”
“You know exactly what I need, Hawk.” Pushing off the door, she stumbled across the floor, the half-empty wineglass dangling from her fingers as she ran her other hand through her hair, trying to be seductive.
She failed.
“Go to bed, Tori,” I sighed, beyond done with her shit. Even though Tori and I were still legally married, I hadn’t fucked her once in all that time. When she and her daddy were coercing me into this sham of a marriage, they’d neglected to lay down specific terms regarding my husbandly duties. There was nothing in the fucking contract they’d made me sign that said I was in any way required to dick down my wife, therefore I hadn’t.
Not even once.
There was, however, an infidelity clause. Apparently, Victoria didn’t like the idea of being humiliated by me, so if I ever dipped my wick anywhere outside our marriage bed, then all bets were off, and Cornelius would make good on his threats to end our careers.
Unfortunately, there was no such clause for Victoria, and I had on more than one occasion, walked in our house to find her bent over a random piece of furniture, offering up fake moans as some guy she’d probably just met gave her what she wanted.
She probably thought she was making me jealous, but nothing could have been further from the truth.
I was fuckin’ grateful those dudes were keeping her busy and out of my hair. Saved me from a million more conversations as awful as this one.
But every once in a while, when the mood struck her just right, or she’d had just a little too much to drink, Victoria figured she’d try her luck with me again.
She was always disappointed, and tonight would be no different.
“Come on, baby. You didn’t used to be this boring.” Coming into the room, Tori sat her ass on the edge of the soundboard beside me, hiking one leg up and showing me a flash of her naked thigh. “Remember that time in Atlanta? We got high and fucked in the rooftop pool of the hotel?”
She reached for me, attempting to run her fingers through my hair, but I pulled away, pushing the rolling chair back and making sure she knew exactly how I felt about her touching me.
“Fine.” Standing, she tossed back the last of the wine in her glass. “If that’s how you still want to play it, then that’s just fine.” Blinking back the tears that were gathering on her lashes, Tori lifted her chin in defiance. “But you know what happens if you cheat on me.”
“Like you’ve been cheating on me?” I scoffed. “I haven’t broken the deal, Tori.”
“Liar!” she screamed, tossing the glass at the wall beside me. I didn’t even flinch when it shattered, the tiny pieces of crystal scattering over the dark carpet like diamonds. “I know you’re fucking someone else! There’s no way you’ve gone this long without fuckingsomeone.” Sniffing, she crossed her arms over her chest, her artificially enhanced breasts nearly spilling out of the lace. “I know you, Hawk. I know how much you love sex. You’ve been cheating on me, and I’ll make youpay.”
“Tori,” I said, keeping my voice even. Nine years of marriage to this lunatic had taught me that engaging on her level only made things worse. “Believe me when I tell you that a decade without sex is a small price to pay for keeping my band and my boys safe.” Her mouth popped open at my words, spots of color rising on her cheeks when she realized I was serious. That I hadn’t been with anyone else.
Frowning, I thought about it, realizing that also meant I hadn’t been with anyone since that night.
