Chasing Love: A Billionaire Love Triangle (Dark Love Series Book 1)

by Kat T. Masen

  “Lex, can you teach me how to dive?” he asks after doing a few laps.

  “Sure, buddy.” We swim to the edge, and I motion for him to put his hands together and stick his arms out.

  Charlotte is sitting on the sideline observing us with this strange look on her face.

  He dives in but belly-flops. Ouch. He’s quick to return to the edge and try again. I love this kid’s determination. After the fifth go, he finally gets it causing Charlotte and I both to cheer. I’d never spent any time around kids, but he makes it easy. He’s such a laid-back kid, not like those little brats you see in shopping malls.

  “Lex, are you Charlie’s boyfriend?”

  I don’t know how to respond to this, and Charlotte simply watches on with amusement. I search my brain for the easiest explanation I can give him, after all, the kid is only seven.

  “Uh, not really, buddy. I’m just her friend.”

  “But you act like Mommy and Daddy. All in love and stuff.”

  The observation catches me off-guard. Is that how people see us? Well, from my point of view, it’s the truth.

  “You know what, Will? Sometimes really good friends can love each other, but it’s a different type of love,” Charlotte intervenes.

  “But, Charlie, why don’t you marry Lex? Then you can have babies, and I can have someone to play with.”

  Whoa, kid. Babies?

  Babies scare me.

  So tiny and fragile, and I hear you get no sleep in like forever. Plus, dirty diapers. But then again it will be a tiny piece of Charlotte and me, and there’s also the trying to have a baby? That’s the fun part, right?

  “I’m not sure how to answer that. But look, Will, the sun is going down, and we have a fair to go to. Will you go on the bumper cars with me?”

  It’s a great distraction and he knows no different.

  “Oh, yes! Let’s make sure Daddy drives the other car. He can’t drive for shit.”

  “Will,” Charlotte and I exclaim in unison.

  What do you say to a kid who swears in front of you?

  “Sorry.” He bows his head, and we try our best to suppress our laughter.

  We head back inside and go our separate ways to take showers. I contemplate sneaking into Charlotte’s room, but I know she’s busy running a bath for Will. Instead, I take a shower by myself and wonder if I should jerk off, but I’d rather blow inside of her.

  As we are all dressed for the carnival, I finally get a moment to pull Charlotte aside as the others walk out onto the porch.

  “So, why won’t you marry me?”

  “What?”

  “Will asked… why won’t you marry me?”

  “Lex, he’s seven.”

  “Answer me,” I demand in a low voice trying not to cause a scene.

  “Well, for starters, we aren’t even dating. You’ve never asked me, and I recall the last time you were married you couldn’t stay faithful. What’s to say you won’t do that to me?”

  “I’m not the one seeing two people right now.”

  “Please don’t get into this, Lex.”

  “So, you don’t trust me? Is that it?”

  “Lex, it’s not just the trust. There are a lot of things.”

  “Like what? Tell me, Charlotte. How do you expect me to read your mind?”

  Will grabs Charlotte’s hand saying it’s time to go.

  The conversation may have been interrupted, but goddammit, I’ll find a way to bring this up again. Perhaps later tonight. Maybe I need to get some more alcohol in her to open up to me.

  The seven of us walk to the park where the carnival is held. It’s your typical rollercoaster, bumper cars, Ferris wheel type of shindig. Charlotte, Adriana, Rocky, Nikki, and Will go on the bumper cars. There’s quite a long line, so Elijah and I stand on the sidelines waiting for them to finish.

  “So, this weekend is looking promising for your two,” Elijah mentions.

  “Is it? I can’t read her. One minute she hates me, the next minute she wants to be friends. But she’s holding back and I don’t know why.”

  “Even though you had your reasons at the time you left her, imagine if the roles were reversed. It’s hard to get over the hurt. I’m surprised she has let you get this far. Charlie is one tough woman. Give her time. She needs to make this decision on her own. Don’t push her.”

  “I’m sick of waiting,” I utter with frustration. “Plus, I think she’s still fucking Julian.”

  “Honestly, Lex, do you really believe that?”

  “I don’t know. She hasn’t denied it. I need to get rid of him.”

  “Which you know is wrong because Charlie will hate you for it. Lex, he hasn’t done anything wrong. He fell in love with a woman and then in walks her ex. You gotta feel sorry for him.”

  “Sorry for him?” I let out a ridiculous laugh. “The jerk should know not to mess with me by now.”

  The rides finish, and the five of them come back laughing, talking about Rocky and his poor driving skills. I didn’t hear much of the conversation apart from Rocky whining about a little girl who kept ramming into him which is why he got stuck in the corner for most of the ride.

  “Lex, can you play the shooting game with me, please?” Will begs.

  “Sure, buddy. Let’s go.”

  We sit down at the stools while the others get food. We gear up to play, and as the buzzer rings, the gun squirts onto the target, and I released my grip every so often so Will can catch up. He wins and happily picks out a large stuffed lion.

  “Cha Cha, look… I won!” He jumps up proudly showing off his toy.

  “Yay! Did you kick Lex’s butt?” She grins, ruffling his hair.

  “I sure did.”

  He runs off to show his parents while Charlotte and I decide to walk around.

  “He’s such a great kid,” I say, watching him as he proudly holds up the lion to Nikki, mimicking his shooting. She hugs him tight before he finds Adriana and does the exact same thing.

  “Who? Will? Yeah, I know.” Her expression softens as she parts her lips with an adoring smile. “Since the moment I held him for the first time, I knew he was special. There’s a reason why he came at that time.”

  “What do you mean?” I question, confused.

  Twisting her neck, she glances in the opposite direction. “I mean, like, you know, a blessing

  in disguise. Nikki and Rocky weren’t ready to be parents, but it worked out. They made it work.”

  She bows her head, shuffling her feet nervously.

  Something is off.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  We’re interrupted as Will asks to walk over to this magic show that’s about to start. He grabs her hand, and with his other, he grabs mine. He happily chats away, and although the kid can ramble nonstop, I like the thought of having my own son one day.

  My phone vibrates in my pocket. Curious to see who’s calling me on a Sunday night, I pull it out and check the screen. Bryce. Shit! I have missed several of his calls, but something warns me he’s trying so desperately to get in touch with me for a reason, so I excuse myself to take the call.

  “Mr. Edwards, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I managed to get my hands on some personal information regarding Miss Mason.”

  I move further away from where Charlotte stands, listening to Bryce mention dates.

  “She was admitted to a Connecticut private hospital for five days. I’m unable to get any information regarding her illness.”

  “Okay, so maybe she had appendicitis or something?”

  “Mr. Edwards, September 21st was the day Althea Mason passed away.”

  Her grandmother. So she was admitted to hospital the day her grandmother passed away? Maybe it was the shock of losing a loved one. September 21st is two days away. There’s a strong possibility that her moods are up and down due to grieving her grandmother’s death anniversary.

  �
��Mr. Edwards, there’s one more thing. The reason I was unable to retrieve any further information on her illness was because—” The phone cut out, the crackling sound barreling down the speaker.

  “Mr. Edwards, are you there?”

  “Yes, Bryce, I didn’t get that last part.”

  “She was in the psych ward.”

  The words are like dynamite, leaving me stunned and confused. My eyes drift toward where she stands, gazing at her, lost for words.

  The psych ward is heavy stuff. I know this back from my medical degree. It’s traumatizing, and the grief of losing a loved one can have emotional side effects, but to be placed in the psych ward? I can’t get my head around this.

  Charlotte is smart. She’s headstrong. Something else must have been plaguing her, something else weighing her down for her to break down and be diagnosed that way. My imagination is running wild, but then I think of it logically. Having your boyfriend leave town with a knocked-up wife never to speak to you again, moving across the country to live with someone you barely know and making decisions on which college to attend and what career path to choose, then to have your grandmother pass away suddenly, without any warning. Okay, that’s a pretty fucked-up six months she had to endure.

  My stare fixates on her face, but something has changed in the few minutes I’ve been lost in my own thoughts. With a vacant stare, her smile has disappeared. Around her, people are laughing at the magician, but her mouth is set in a hard line, her shoulders slumping while everyone appears relaxed and at ease.

  The image looks familiar, and I rack my brain as to why.

  Fuck, what the hell is going on here?

  Then it clicks.

  The photograph of her grandmother and her on the porch swing. How gaunt her face looked, how her eyes had no spark left in them. How she so desperately tried to force a smile for the camera, but it only revealed what was blatantly obvious—she was broken.

  I broke her, there’s no denying that.

  But I have no idea how much.

  CHARLIE

  This weekend leaves me questioning everything I believe in, everything I said I wouldn’t fall for again.

  I know I said nothing’s off-limits, but I meant sexually. This other attachment which sort of fell into place I didn’t expect that—the hand holding, the tender kissing, stroking of the hair-type gestures, and the constant questions about marriage.

  It terrifies me.

  I was drunk when he put that ring on my finger, and I was happy to play along with the game, but somewhere in the past few hours it’s gone from fantasy to reality.

  He asks me if the problem is that I don’t trust him. Do I? Of course, he can have anyone he wants, and anyone who has a pussy wants him. My insecurities are getting the better of me and I don’t like it one bit.

  As the magic show plays in the background I stand there dazed, trying to put my thoughts together. My emotions are getting the better of me, and this isn’t the place to breakdown. Instead, I put on my best smile and ask Lex if he wants to go on the Ferris wheel, just him and me. Nothing better than a slow amusement park ride to distract you from asking yourself ‘what if.’

  We pay for the tickets and jump in the next carriage to arrive. It’s a beautiful night with a clear sky. The moon is shining bright, and if you stare long enough, you can catch a glimpse of a shooting star.

  There are only a few people riding the wheel, but there’s no one in the carriages immediately surrounding us. We sit there silently staring at the view below us, but his stare remains fixated on me.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You know, when a woman says she’s fine, she’s usually not fine,” he tells me with a warm smile.

  He can’t possibly understand the thoughts in my head, so I do the only thing I can to distract him, I run my hand along his thigh stopping in the middle of his legs.

  Pulling me close to him, I devour his scent, allowing it to intoxicate my senses. I place my lips on his, kissing him. He returns the kiss until the Ferris wheel stops because more people are getting on. I want more, something dirtier than just kissing on the Ferris wheel.

  As if he can read my mind, his hand grazes my thigh, but instead of lifting my dress he slides his hand behind and under my ass. My body shivers in anticipation—the movement of the carriage, the warm breeze, and the loud noises surrounding us—as he moves slowly until he finds what he’s looking for. I can see the turmoil in his eyes as he slowly slides a finger inside of me, causing me to gasp when he pushes in deeper. Closing my eyes momentarily, I allow my entire body to feel the rush until his lips brush against my ear.

  “Another finger?”

  My thoughts are incoherent, and only managing to nod, he slides in another finger. I squeeze my legs tight, adding to the intensity. I want to push the boundaries we never could push before.

  “Should I be a nice husband and make you come on the Ferris wheel?”

  I turn to look at him, my eyes wild, ready to combust on his fingers. I moan, my breaths deepening, desperate to finish after his incessant teasing all day.

  The carriage sways as we sit at the top. I can’t even admire the view because it’s all a blur. There’s no one around us. No one who can see us, anyway.

  “Answer me,” he demands.

  “Yes… please.”

  I don’t care that I’m begging, and my panties are soaked. Just a slight push is all I need as he thrusts his third finger in—the power of his touch barreling through every inch of my body. I’m falling into a beautiful abyss. Struggling to control my body, I buckle in his embrace, bowing my head as I’m consumed by the tingling sensation lingering.

  My body starts to gain its composure as I slowly open my eyes. The first thing I notice is his arousal standing up like an eyesore—a beautiful eyesore, mind you.

  With a roguish smirk smeared across his face, he demands I open my mouth, forcing me to taste my arousal on his fingers. A spark inside me ignites, and despite my earlier release, I’m back to square one again. What’s he doing to me?

  I attempt to fix my dress, so it isn’t obvious I got finger-fucked on the Ferris wheel. If anyone can spot that it will be Nikki. It isn’t a surprise when Nikki laughs at me on the way toward the exit, pulling me aside, asking me if I enjoyed my Mark Wahlberg-Reese Witherspoon moment. I swear she has some sex radar, it’s frightening.

  Will begins to get whiny, a sign of his exhaustion. I feel the same after last night’s poker game. After Will’s sugar rush wore off, he complains about walking home. Lex offers to piggyback him to the house which he gladly accepts. Will went on and on about the magician and how cool it was when the rabbit disappeared. Lex smiles, nodding along with everything Will says.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” I say to Nikki as she watches them.

  “Go on then, Charlie. What am I thinking?”

  “That I should stop. That he’s no good for me.”

  “I never said that.”

  “But I know that’s what you’re thinking.”

  She remains quiet, her usual judgment expression absent. Nikki has an opinion on everything, and from day one, she disliked Lex and everything about us.

  “Charlie… he’s not who I thought he was.”

  “Oh?” Raising my brows, my head jerks back. “Do you care to elaborate?”

  Rocky places his arm around Nikki and whispers something into her ear, interrupting us. She giggles, and I refuse to ask what he said. I swore I heard the word strap-on. Again, I didn’t want to ask.

  Adriana and Elijah make a decision to take a walk along the beach while Nikki and Rocky decide to stay in and watch a movie since Will’s gone to bed. Lex asks me if I want to go for a ride on the bike. Of course, I agree. I love to ride, but for once, I’ll be the passenger.

  We place our helmets on as he starts up the engine. He’s beaming from the thrill of it all, racing in and out of the streets. I grip him tight but decide it will be fun to tease him.r />
  As he takes on a straight part of the road, I slide my hands down to the top of his jeans. The moment I do, I’m sure it’s no coincidence that I feel the engine roar. Slowly, I slide them into the front of his jeans until his cock is lying firmly in my hands.

  I’m obsessed with it.

  I want it twenty-four seven—in my mouth, my pussy, my ass, fucking everywhere.

  It’s incredibly hard, but his skin’s so smooth at the same time. I tighten my grip, stroking him.

  Driving up through a windy road, we end up at the top of the cliffs in a secluded area. Lex parks the bike, so I pull my hand out of his jeans and jump off, undoing my helmet.

  The second I’m able to breathe, he crashes his lips onto mine, thrusting his tongue in my mouth. He never stops even to take a breath, sucking on my bottom lip as I struggle to breathe. The sheer force of it all takes the wind from me, leaving my lips swollen.

  “You start it, you finish it,” he barks.

  He unbuttons his jeans, pushing my head down to his cock. There’s no waiting, no more teasing. I take him all in, sucking greedily while he leans against the bike.

  My saliva builds up around his cock, making sounds as he arches his back. I take him as deep as I can while he tugs my hair, watching me. His eyes are on fire, his body tense as he struggles to hold on. This time, I’ll push him over the edge.

  Distancing my mouth, I continue to stroke him. “Should I be a nice wife and make you come here on the bike?”

  He groans, nodding his head, unable to form any type of coherent answer for me. Seconds later, a warm sweet taste hits the back of my throat. I swallow every drop, licking my lips as I finish him off then licking his cock clean.

  “Fuck, Charlotte,” he grunts, still gripping onto my hair.

  I button his jeans, but his hand grips around my wrist. My eyes meet his, and in one glance, I know this is far from over. Lex has the stamina of a wild stallion—he can put porn stars to shame.