Page 26 of Scandalously Yours

Kristopher

It felt as if I hadn’t been able to breathe since getting the call that my daughter had collapsed, and was unresponsive on her way to the hospital. I’d been in Boston, and not in New York City, and while so many things could’ve happened in the time it took me to get from point A to point B, thankfully it had not. The doctors on my staff had been able to revive her, and they even had her blood sugar back under control. I knew there were so many factors that could’ve caused her insulin to spike, but Hayley said she had noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Now as I stared at her from the top of the stairs, I wondered how much of that was true.

I watched her for several long seconds before she turned and glanced up at me. “What the hell are you doing just standing there?”

I bit my tongue because I really needed to know what happened. Getting her upset would only make her throw me out, and I’d never get to the bottom of things. “I was just thinking about how thankful I am that our daughter is okay.”

Okay was a relative word, but the doctors didn’t think the spike was anything troublesome at the time, and they even chalked it up to her eating something she shouldn’t have. Kaylee was a lot like other kids, but she also understood her limitations when it came to her diet.

Hayley shot daggers at me as I walked down the stairs. As I got closer to her, she turned to stare out the window at the glittering skyline which was the only thing visible in the dark, night sky. It had been two days since I had flown back from Boston, and it had taken nearly that long for me to catch my breath again. I hadn’t talked to Alessia, but had noticed she had sent me a text message. Maybe tonight once I got home, I would answer her so she wouldn’t worry.

“You should’ve been here,” Hayley finally said when she turned to face me.

“I told you that I—”

“Yes, you were at a fundraiser. Was your trip just for charity?”

She arched her brow knowingly at me, but I dismissed it because there was no way she could know anything. I had been very careful when it came to the flight and hotel reservations. I wanted to protect Alessia the best I could and knowing how public my life was, it was a challenge, but one I had managed to conquer so far. Or had I?

“I can tell when you’re lying, Kristopher.”

“You can’t tell a damn thing. I was there for a juvenile diabetes—”

“And with a pretty, young doctor.”

“What?” I asked, then wondered how in the hell she could know that. I watched her intently to see if she would give anything away before I responded again. “There were many doctors there. It was for medical science, after all.”

Hayley smirked, then walked past me. I didn’t notice the envelope sitting on the coffee table until she picked it up and held it in her manicured hands. “As I said, I know when you’re lying.”

She then tossed it at me, and I practically ripped the envelope open to get to the contents. When I held them in my hand, I saw pictures of the two of us on the dance floor. Alessia was molded against me as we danced, and she was looking up at me with such adoration in her eyes. It was funny because I had never noticed all the small things I now did when looking at the two of us together.

Alessia had a particular twinkle in her eye, and her hands were placed just so. Anyone looking at us from afar would be able to see that, and unfortunately, Hayley did. I flipped to the next, and it showed the two of us headed upstairs. My hand was on the small of her back, and she was leaning into me like a lover would. More photographs were also in there, including ones of the two of us kissing in the car when we had first arrived. I had been caught, even though there was nothing wrong with what I had done. We were through, and had been for eight months, but even longer if one looked back at our marriage. I hadn’t touched Hayley in a romantic way in at least two years, which she hadn’t minded because she used the hired staff as her playthings.

At the time, I hadn’t cared because if others were touching her, I wouldn’t have to. I would’ve never used that against her, so I hadn’t gathered proof. Hayley on the other hand would run to the presses with these pictures if I let her, and it’d not only ruin my reputation, but it would also destroy Alessia’s. I would lose my chief of staff position, and we would both face consequences. My career could withstand the scandal, but hers could not.

“What do you want?” I asked my ex.

“You’re not trying to deny it anymore?”

I exhaled sharply. “You’ve got fucking pictures. What do you want in order for those to disappear?”

She smiled haughtily, and I wondered why I couldn’t have been at least warned about this snake before I ever got together with her. By the time others had thought to do so, she was already pregnant with Karter. “I didn’t think a Titan like yourself would have to go searching the daycare facilities for a piece of ass.”

I growled. Alessia was younger than me, but she was not a child. In fact, she was in her late twenties. “What do you want?” I asked her again.

“I want you to call off this separation.”

“Absolutely not,” I responded right away. “There’s not a chance in hell of that happening.”

“Tsk, tsk, Kristopher. All you have to do is drop the whore and stay married to me.”

Hearing her call Alessia that made my blood boil. “I’m not staying married to you. Whether I am with her or not, I will not be with you.”

I didn’t understand how many ways I had to say that for her to get it through her thick skull. Our problems had started before Kaylee was born, and things escalated between us as the years went on. Once upon a time, I had thought I loved this woman, but it wasn’t until we were married and I saw her for who she really was. It’d been volatile since Karter was born, and no matter how hard I tried to make things work, she never gave the same effort. Now, she had people following me, and just so she could stay married. It didn’t make any sense. We both hated one another. It was probably the only thing we could agree upon at this point.

She’d gotten with me because of the prestige my title gave her. From what I had found out later, the entire group of Queen Bees as they were known around town, would do anything to stay relevant in the spotlight. As a new Titan in town, I hadn’t been brought up to speed on their bullshit and tactics, and by the time I was educated, she had already entrapped me. I loved my son and wouldn’t trade him for anything in the world, but if he hadn’t been born, I would’ve left her long before Kaylee was even thought of.

It hurt my very soul to imagine a life without either of my children in it. The love I had for them came at a price, and for me, it was their mother. “Add a few more zeroes to the divorce settlement, and I might consider letting this little infidelity pass.”

---