It was so hot, the way he held himself back from moaning my name or losing control while I squirmed against the mattress. His hands slid up to palm my breasts after pushing down the straps of my dress and a few more punishing thrusts later, I climaxed hard.
"Oh, Cole," I gasped, screwing my eyes shut. "Baby."
He increased his pace right before approaching his own orgasm and didn't even cry out when his load shot into me. His fingers were buried in my hair, then caressing my back and going around to my neck as he came down from his ecstasy.
After several seconds, he pulled out of me and flipped me over before leaning into me and kissing me thoroughly. I messed up his hair, bruised his lips with mine and tightened my arms around his neck, feeling needy and hungry all over again.
"Honey," I breathed into his ear and kissed it. "That was incredible. Now I wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it all day."
Cole murmured something I didn't quite catch and drew back to regard me with affection. "You're only fifty percent forgiven," he said to me. "I'm going to need a bit more convincing."
I made a face at him and giggled when he kissed my nose before straightening. While he went about cleaning himself up and getting ready for work once more, I watched him with an absent smile on my face, feeling so satisfied and loved.
"I can't wait for Christmas," I murmured dreamily, making myself comfortable on the bed. "The whole family will be together and we could go for a vacation somewhere. It'll be amazing."
The festive season was just three weeks away and I was really looking forward to it. Jasper would be home by then. He had been right. It was time to turn this family around. Mould it into a loving, secure unit instead of allowing it to fall to ruins by letting all our differences get in the way. The three of us needed it. Our kids needed it.
"Baby? I know you don't want to hear it but I really am willing to work things out with Jasper," I told my husband as he put some designs inside his briefcase and clasped it. "I feel bad for how I treated him all these years, okay. Tell him I want to speak to him because he isn't replying to my messages. Guess he's still pissed off."
Cole picked up his phone, bent over to give me one last kiss and started to exit the room without responding to my last statement.
"Cole?"
With a sigh, he paused at the door and turned to give me a sad look. It caused my heart to clench with apprehension.
"He isn't mad at you, honey. He's decided to move on," Cole informed me gravely. "There was nobody in this world who was more happy with the idea of us being a throuple again. But he hurt you once, eighteen years ago, Skye. You've been hurting him over and over since then." He dropped his gaze to the floor. "I'm not mad at you either, anymore. I just think you should let him go. Jasper deserves to be happy. He's tortured himself enough trying to live up to your expectations and failing every single time. Just let him be. I love you."
He walked away after saying those words to me while I lay there in bed, unable to believe that I truly had lost my chance of ever being in a relationship with Jasper Wells again.
~~~
Ziad
They were in the kitchen when I went downstairs later that morning with my heart in my throat. I guess they didn't know I was still at home because they were being all romantic. My dad was leaning against the counter watching a video on his phone and aunt Jasmine was sitting right behind him on that same counter with her arms and legs wrapped around him as she laughed at something he showed her.
I watched them for a long minute, envying how easy it was for them to be happy and how amazing their relationship was. But they were in their forties so I bet it hadn't been that simple. They must have crossed their own share of hurdles to get to this place. When she started nibbling on his ear, I knew the kitchen counter was about to get blessed so I strode over quickly and cleared my throat to get their attention.
Abbu looked up at me in surprise, lowering his phone and straightening. "Ziad? Hey, I thought you'd gone to school already. Is everything okay?"
I drew in a painful breath and bit down on my lip. Aunt Jasmine and I exchanged a look. Her dark eyes grew serious and she instinctively put a hand on my dad's shoulder, appearing slightly worried. When I swallowed, trying to gather up the courage that was quickly deserting me, she gave me a tight smile and nodded at me.
Tears started to stream down my face again. She didn't want to see my father in pain but despite that, she was giving more importance to mine. I loved her for that. I didn't just like her anymore. I loved her.
"Ziad, what's wrong?" Abbu asked me shakily, tears forming in his eyes as well.
But he was my father. I knew that no matter what, he was going to be there for me. I kept telling Jacob to talk to his parents and all the time, I hadn't realised that I should follow my own advice because I was way in over my head.
"Abbu," I whispered to him. "I need your help."
****
Chapter 26
Armaan
"You knew about this but you decided to keep me in the dark?" I demanded to know once I had shut the bedroom door and was alone with Jasmine in our room later that day.
"I didn't know about the rape. Just his affair with Skye."
"Just? Jasmine, you should've told me!" I yelled and slammed my fist into the mirror lining one wall of the bedroom. It didn’t shatter but I wish it had.
I was so mad. All of this had been going on in my son's life, he'd been suffering, getting used and raped right under my nose and I hadn't even suspected. I'd thought it was just normal girl problems.
"You throwing a tantrum is not going to help him right now," she stated calmly.
I shot her an angry look. "First of all, Miss. Khan, this isn't Armaan Qureshi throwing a normal tantrum. This is a father's rage for the way his kid has been treated, something I don't fucking expect you to understand. And second, you're talking about helping him now? Where were you when all of this was happening? I mean, fuck, Jasmine, we don't lie to each other! Why would you do this to me? Why would you keep secrets?"
She looked away miserably when I asked her that. It hurt so much to find out what Ziad had been going through on his own but it hurt twice as much knowing she kept it from me. Fifteen years had passed since we'd decided to commit to each other no holds barred and never, never had we lied to each other once in all that time.
I turned my back on her and breathed out hard, clamping down on the pain. Right now, my son needed me. I had to cool off and go deal with the whole mess his life had turned into. Starting with that Giselle girl. She was not going to get away with this.
And as for Skye, I found all of it really hard to believe. She loved Cole and Jasper so much and they loved her so I didn't understand how this could've happened. I still remembered that conversation with her in my very own kitchen years ago, how adamant she had been about fidelity in a relationship.
Why couldn't she have told me when Ziad was starting to behave inappropriately with her? I would've knocked some sense into him, forbidden him from ever looking at her the wrong way. If I'd sat my son down and spoken to him weeks ago, none of this would've happened.
How blind had I been as a father? I'd failed him. Terribly. It made me want to sob when I imagined all the times he had been hurting and helpless but he couldn't tell me about it. Fuck. What kind of parent was I? I'd stood up against my family and not even bothered to let Jasmine know in advance when I'd decided to adopt Ziad. I'd promised to give him a life where he felt loved and protected. Instead, I'd been too busy being his buddy to learn the true meaning of fatherhood.
Frantically, I wiped at my tears and straightened, breathing in and out deeply to control my emotions. But it was damn difficult. I wanted to smash a few things before I felt able to go back out and face my kid again.
"I'm sorry," Jasmine said softly from behind me. "I'm sorry I kept you in the dark. I thought I was helping by just being there for him...to talk to. I thought he'd rebel if I put my foot down. And he really didn't wa
nt Skye to be implicated in any of this."
"Do you even realise how stupid that sounds?" I asked her in a biting tone. "He wanted to protect his married, much older girlfriend and you thought it was a good idea? Jasmine...after what happened to you, I never thought you'd-"
"I tried to talk him out of it, Aaru," she snapped at me. "You know what teenagers are like. Sometimes, people don't learn from interference. They learn by screwing up. We all did!"
I scoffed at her last statement. "I know I did," I replied and turned to peer at her. "But I'm not sure about everyone else. Please. Stay away from me today. I'm way too pissed off to keep myself from hurting you right now."
She was regarding me with a pained expression to which I closed my eyes. I didn't want to forgive her this easily. What she had done wasn't okay.
"I know you think I don't care about them but it isn't true," she told me. "I couldn't give you children but I do understand your love for them, Armaan. I want to help him too. All this time, I thought it was a broken heart. He never told me about the rape or the blackmailing or coercion."
It stung when she said those words to me and the reality of Ziad's problems penetrated through my brain once more. I had to harden myself for what I was about to do next. What had been done to my son couldn't be undone but I would get him justice. He wasn't going to go through the rest of his life by blaming himself for fucking up once in his adolescence.
….
A man walking at the end of via Feracia (Feracia street) waved at me before turning and disappearing inside a large, opulent house. I recognised him as the father of one of the players in the Pavian Bladers team. A lot of people knew me around here even though I hardly frequented this area of the neighbourhood. I had an entire network of Italians and foreigners alike who either considered me a friend or someone to turn to when they needed sponsors for charity work.
Leaning against my car, I checked the time on my watch and saw that it was almost five in the afternoon. I was betting on the off-chance that she might be home soon. I knew the girl's parents were travelling abroad and had found out everything I needed to know about her before coming here.
She liked to manipulate people. Ziad was not the first boy she had done this to. A few months ago, there had been a married man and she'd almost destroyed his entire life and family by using blackmail against him to get what she wanted. Until she had set her sights on my son.
Well, two can play this game even if I did have an unfair advantage. I was the master of manipulation. My skills needed brushing up though because I hadn't resorted to anything like this in years. I hadn't felt the need to. The fight with Jasmine had upset me but it had also steeled me against what I was about to do. I had to dive down into that depraved, flawed aspect of my nature which abandoned all sense of morality because I couldn't think about the woman I loved right now.
No. Right now, I needed to put my son first.
The sound of a car pulling up behind mine made me look up and pin my gaze on the person in the driver's seat. Giselle Maroni. It didn't matter that she was only eighteen; you could sense the evil in her corrupt soul from miles away.
I watched as she got out slowly and strutted over to me with an air of indifference and notoriety. I'd seen her in passing several times over the past few months and spoken to her once at their school to find out what was going on with Ziad. Little had I known then that she was the one partially responsible for the mental and emotional distress my son was in even though it had given me the creeps when she'd dragged those cold, grey eyes over me while I stood there expressing my concerns.
Now I had to bear that. I had to welcome it, in fact, or my plan wouldn't work.
"Hi," she said with a shrewd, cunning expression in her eyes as she reached me on the street. "Mr. Qureshi, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
From the way she was looking at me, I knew that teaching her a lesson would be easier than I had anticipated.
"I think you know why I'm here, Giselle," I said to her in a cool voice. "I know what you did to Zi. What you've been doing to him all these weeks. You and I need to have a little talk."
She appeared delighted at the prospect and eyed me up and down again. "Sounds intriguing. He finally talked, huh? That sucks. I was having so much fun with him."
I tried not to scowl at her, not to curl my fingers until my hands turned into fists and I was compelled to resort to violence. She felt no guilt at all. She enjoyed this sort of thing. And this is what my Ziad had had to put up with. To protect someone he loved. My heart broke just at the reminder of that and I used those emotions as fuel to propel me.
"Listen. I'll give you whatever you want," I said tightly. "Any amount. Just say it and I'll transfer the money right now. But please leave him alone."
I could tell I'd used the right mixture of distress and pleading in my tone from the way her eyes brightened with an almost unholy glow. Yeah. She definitely got off on this sort of thing.
"I don't need money, Mr. Qureshi," she replied easily while playing with her hair. "I happen to have lots of it myself. However," she dragged out the word in a thoughtful manner, "I'm sure we can come up with a better, much more exciting way to handle the situation." She grinned at me then. "Would you like to come inside?"
I shook my head at her before stepping aside to open the passenger door of my car. "How about we go for a drive instead?"
~~~
Cole
"Here." I dumped a bunch of brand new historical romance novels I had picked up on my way home, on our bed. "Thought you might like these," I murmured to Skye, removing my tie and clothes. "I'm going to go for a swim. Want to join me?"
She appeared more than a little surprised at that which was understandable. I reserved all my extra-curricular activities for the weekend. Weekdays were for work and the occasional meeting with Armaan but mostly, dinner with the family, a quick shower and bed. I liked my routine the way it was but I was trying to cheer her up because she seemed to have taken the news about Jasper a little too hard. Her replies to my texts today had been lukewarm at best.
Getting out of bed, Skye walked over to the wardrobe to change. Her hair was a mess, her clothes all shabby and she had on no make-up.
I understood the feeling. If either she or Jasper ever told me they were moving on from me, I'd be devastated as well. But it was for the best. All this back and forth she did with him was toxic. His last night here, Jasper had almost spiralled. Aali had been the distraction that got him to stop focusing on Skye's rejection. I didn't ever want to see that misery on his face again. Enough was enough. One of my partners already constantly doubted her worth and I tried to reassure her as much as possible but it still proved difficult. The last thing I wanted was for Jasper to turn into the male version of Skye.
He was tough, thank God. He'd told me he wanted us all to be happy. And I also knew that after his hook-up with Aaliyah, he wouldn't feel right about coming back to Skye. It would be another complication that might come back to sabotage whatever relationship they did manage to build. Jasper wouldn't do that to her. Not again.
Later on, we lounged beside the pool with cocktails and novels like a boring, old married couple and I smiled again because isn't this how life was supposed to be? Content. Peaceful. Comfortable. My version of happiness was pretty simple compared to both my partners. Skye needed compliments, reassurance, attention and swoon-worthy romance. Jasper needed weed and sex and more weed and more sex. Okay and also change, excitement, for me to tell him I loved him every once in a while and snuggle with him in bed.
Me? I just needed them both around me, happy and safe. But we couldn't always have what we wanted. Life was tricky like that.
"Wanna go out for dinner?" I asked my wife as she reclined on a lounger next to me and peered up at the sky.
She shook her head to decline and turned on her side to face me. I watched her while sipping on my cocktail.
"I'll cook for us at home today, then. What do you want to eat?"
&nb
sp; She regarded me unblinkingly and I felt so sorry for her then. She was clearly heartbroken.
"He tried to give me that." She pointed to my hand, to the ring I was wearing. Not my wedding band from her but the one Jasper had slipped on my finger the night she had rejected him. "He was holding his heart out in his hands for me to accept and I was so cruel to him. Are you guys going to get married now?"
I licked my lips, shifting my gaze towards the pool, unable to see the sadness in her eyes. I couldn't explain it to her without making her feel even worse. The relationship I had with Jasper could survive and thrive without vows and rings or any concrete proof of our commitment to each other. He didn't need all that to know I was his. But she did.
"It's nothing," I mumbled and rubbed my face. "He was drunk and just being silly that night. We're not getting married, baby. Can you imagine Wells as a husband? He'd drive me nuts."
There was silence except for the lapping of pool water against the sides and a soft breeze floating around us.
"How much do you love me?" she asked me quietly.
Her question made me glance over at her again. She was still studying me with a morose expression. My lips curved slightly and I said, "Darling, I would catch a grenade for you."
Skye appeared disconcerted and her brow furrowed at my rather extreme response.
"Throw my hand on a blade for you," I added. "I'd jump in front of a train for you-"
"Oh my god, stop quoting Bruno Mars," she finally laughed at me and threw her book at my chest.
I gasped and whispered, "That's sacrilegious."
She shook her head at me and smiled, seeming a little bit happier.
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