Page 36 of Scandalously Yours

These men talked about their women, and other than Anton, none of the others had one when I first joined the ranks of the Titans. Now after a marriage of convenience orchestrated by his uncle, Caspian had Paisley. Anton and Elsa had gone through some difficult patches in the beginning of their own marriage, but they were stronger because of them. Mason had fallen for one of his dancers, and Jonas reunited with the woman that my bad decisions had almost killed.

Our next set of drinks were delivered, and I slammed back mine, then stood up and announced, “I’m leaving.”

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Jonas asked me, and I gave a quick nod.

“I’m fine, and don’t worry about my driving, I’m taking a cab home.”

I tossed my keys at Mason, because I knew he would make sure my Aston Martin got back to my penthouse. Being a doctor, I had seen more people brought into the hospital either because of another intoxicated driver, or because they had been the ones on drugs and alcohol. Many of those mental pictures were enough to scar someone. I never wanted to take any chances, so I would often give one of my friends the keys, and they would have one of their women deliver my car back to me.

I strode out of the Vault and was able to flag a taxicab down. As I slid into the backseat, the driver asked me where I wanted to go. That answer was unfortunately not one I could give because of Hayley, so I sullenly responded, “Home. My address is...”

After rattling it off, I leaned back in my seat and thought about Alessia. I wondered where she was... what she was doing... what she was wearing... A groan of frustration fell from my lips. If only I would’ve refused the separation and just gotten the damn divorce in the first place, then we wouldn’t be in this situation. Well, I wouldn’t be. I would be back at the Vault shooting the shit with the guys, and not feeling like a buzzkill to the point where I left prematurely. I could be enjoying my night... my life... everything without the cloud of storm called Hayley hanging over my head. There was a bright light on the end of the horizon, and that was my Ale. One day, I would be able to live the life I had always dreamed of living, and with someone who loved and appreciated me like my ex never did.

We arrived in front of my building and after settling my tab, I went inside. I got up to my penthouse, and when I walked in, my eyes narrowed on the woman standing in front of the window. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Tsk, tsk. You don’t sound like you’re happy to see me, Kris,” Hayley answered, stating the obvious.

“Of course not, so I repeat... What the hell are you doing here?”

She stepped away from the glass and walked over to me. “You’ve been drinking?”

I walked away from her, then over to my small bar. Grabbing a bottle of whiskey, I poured some into a glass, then slammed it back. “That’s not an answer.”

Hayley was wearing a long coat, and when she parted the front of it, my eyes narrowed in on her body which appeared to be clad in nothing but one of those lingerie sets I used to spend a fortune buying for her. I had an idea of where she was going with this, but I waited to be sure. I watched as she slid the coat off, and as I suspected, she had nothing on but a bra and skimpy pair of lace panties.

“If that’s what you have come over here for, you might as well turn around and leave.” I didn’t wait for a response from her as I strode into my bedroom and locked the door behind me. I got undressed, showered, and by the time I had a pair of sweats on, I returned to my living room to find Hayley stretched out across my couch.

I growled, unable to hold my anger in. What I wouldn’t give to have someone enticing me the way that she was trying, except it wouldn’t be just any someone, but a specific one. If Hayley had been Alessia, she would’ve lost the lingerie within seconds of flashing it at me. I would’ve stripped her naked and fucked her where we stood. This wasn’t my Ale, but rather a woman I despised.

I picked up the coat which still lay on the floor, then tossed it at her. “You need to leave, and while you’re putting that damn jacket on, you can tell me how you got up here in the first place.”

Hayley threw the coat to the side of her as she rose from the couch. I couldn’t lie and say that she didn’t look damn good in the lingerie, but being beautiful on the outside did not make up for the ugly bitterness on the inside of her. This woman was toxic, and I was in no mood to go another round of anything with her.

“I’m waiting,” I told her, making sure my disapproval came through in my tone.

Once upon a time, I would talk in a specific voice and it would have her rushing to do my bidding. She loved being called a good girl, and used to do things to please me. She also liked to be punished like a bad one, so I used to indulge her wants and needs until I realized she had others willing to do the same.

The first time the private investigator had shown me photographs of her with another man, it had gutted me. I knew something was off in our marriage, but I had never imagined she would cheat on me. I was working a lot at that point, so I admit to not being as present as I should’ve been, but it hadn’t been like I had been out having sex with multiple partners at the same time like her. She had cheated on me, and not just once. It became a pattern, the sordid trysts happening so many times that when she told me she was pregnant with Kaylee, I had serious doubts as to whether she was even mine. Paternity tests proved that she was, but until those results were in my hands, I hadn’t known for sure.

Hayley stopped in front of me, and when she tried to touch my chest, I stepped back. “Fine,” she muttered. “You didn’t put my name on the list, but I convinced the doorman that it had been an oversight. I then used a combination of Karter and Kaylee’s birth years as your code and voila...” She made a sweeping motion before adding, “And now I’m here, and you’re here. We shouldn’t waste—”

I was aghast at her duplicity. I intended to talk to the doorman, as well as head of security right away. Her name had been omitted from the list of approved visitors on purpose. As far as the code went, I needed to come up with more creative ones in the future that were not as easily guessed by those with personal information on me.

“The only thing wasted is your time.” I turned to walk back to the bar when something glass sailed past my head. “What the fuck?” I cursed as one of my expensive crystal vases shattered against the wall in front of me.

I turned and found her fuming. I could see the fury in her eyes, and if she thought this would make me physically restrain her while I fucked every bit of anger out of her, she would be sadly disappointed. “I’m your wife, for Christ’s sake.”

I chuckled at that. “You haven’t been my wife for almost a year. Do you remember the court approved legal separation of ours?” When she didn’t answer, I also added, “But we both know that you haven’t been my wife for years. What happened tonight? None of your playthings want to lay beside you?”

“You’re such an asshole.” She seethed. I could see the anger of my continued rejection rising inside of her. “I hate you.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” I told her, then went to pour another drink. Before I could even bring the glass to my mouth, she came up behind me and slid her hands around my waist. Hayley pressed her venomous lips to my upper back and began to kiss her way from one shoulder to the other.

I tried to remain calm, but the attempt wasn’t easy. My fingers gripped the edge of the bar. The overwhelming urge to do something struck me, but I tried to calm down. When one of her hands slid beneath the waistband of my sweats, I grabbed her hand and spun around. I quickly pinned both of hers behind her, and I didn’t miss the flare of victory as it flashed in her cold, arctic eyes. I stared down into the face of this woman, and so many memories came flooding back.

There’d been so many nights where we’d started off in anger like this, but eventually allowed passion and need to take over. I would normally back her up to the wall or the couch, then pin her down. She would pretend to struggle, all the while begging me to continue. Soon, the rough foreplay would lead to sex, and I’d fuck her so damn hard. She liked the violence of sex, often buying toys and other things that she would ask me to use on her. I’d even gone to some clubs with her, but the whole lifestyle hadn’t been my scene. Still, I would give her what I could, and she’d find others to give her what I couldn’t.

“Are your little clubs closed for the night?” I asked her, still wondering why the hell she came here. She had to know that there was no way I would ever sleep with her again under any circumstances.

---