The Illicit Affairs

by Marí, Brittani

  The moment I placed my purse on the bathroom cabinet, my phone began to ring. I felt a sense of relief. I knew it was Avery returning my call. The concern about her running into Alek vanished from my mind. It had just been a bad connection.

  That was the lie I tried to make myself believe. Truthfully, I knew something wasn’t right. Even if she hadn’t spoken to him directly, something had occurred. That was the only reason she would’ve become so frantic. She was worried for a reason.

  I held my breath as I reached into my purse for my phone. The vibrations as it rang made my nerves even worse. I didn’t want to look. I wanted to ignore it altogether, but I was smarter than that. I was a woman who knew everything had to be resolved. I was a woman who knew ignoring an issue never turned out in your favor. My life hadn’t always been filled with luxurious things. The ill-treatment from my husband wasn’t the biggest issue I had in my life. There had been more significant issues at one point. Even bigger than being married to a man often accused of being ruthless. A man with a reputation I knew was rugged. He was similar to a man I respected and loved. Someone who left me far too soon.

  By the time, I retrieved my phone from my purse. It had stopped ringing. I guess in a way that was what I hoped for, what I secretly wanted. I didn’t want to face the person on the other end of the phone. I didn’t want to deal with the problem I had unintentionally started.

  Was it unintentional? What made me choose this club? I waited for some type an answer, but the only response I received was a silent ringing in my ears, when everything gets eerily quiet except for that one distinctive sound. My phone was only inches away from me. The blinking light indicated there was a new voicemail. I was scared to listen. The person on the other end would deliver a message that could rip my somewhat perfect world into pieces. I knew before I hit play what it would say. The high-pitched voice of my friend made a nightmare my reality.

  “Alek is here, Mia. It seems he’s had several eyes in the club for a while. The only advice I can give you is to be cautious. I don’t know how long he’s been watching or what he knows. I just hope it isn’t too much.” She was quiet for a minute, contemplating. I could tell by her ragged breath. “Shit, Mia. Why did you have to get mixed up with Wesley Black, of all people. He’s just as bad as—”

  Then I heard the beep. The woman’s voice was asking if I wanted to save the message or delete it. I dropped my phone onto the bathroom floor. I suddenly felt light-headed. Deep down, I thought maybe I could get away with it. That I could sneak into the private elevator of this powerful man after betraying my husband and everything would be forgotten, erased. It seemed like a brilliant plan…until it wasn’t. I should have been smarter, but instead, I let my wild streak take the lead. I created a mess that proved hard to clean up. It just kept getting worse. The thought of it ever being forgotten was naïve.

  It was the reason my heart completely stopped when I spotted Alek on the screen in Wesley’s office. I knew it was the beginning of something that wouldn’t end well. Honestly, the first thought that crossed my mind when I spotted my husband on the screen was that he was going to kill me. I knew it seemed a bit extreme, but the thought was clear. What scared me even more was that I knew, deep down, he could easily get away with it. There weren’t many people who would question him. If I disappeared, who would risk the thought of questioning him? He was a man with a reputation that demanded respect. How could I compete with that? Being married to Alek was a privilege for me in certain ways. He could have any women he wanted, but he chose me. He made sure to remind me of this whenever I stepped out of line.

  His famous words were, “I made you, Mia. You would be nothing without me. This life is something I chose to grant you.” His words were like chains. I could feel them yanking me back as I tried to break free, but I knew his comment was accurate. He was right. I was nobody without him. The life I left behind was nothing compared to the life I led with him, and the life that was taken from me was one I would never get back.

  The slight suffocation of my husband wasn’t much of a sacrifice when I weighed my options. He was an attractive man. He was over six feet tall with a well-defined physique that let you know he was committed to the gym. Yes, Alek was several years older than Wesley, but he still turned heads everywhere he went. Age didn’t appear to affect him. He sported a low fade, the top of his hair brushed back, and his beard always trimmed. The image he portrayed was one desired by many women, myself included. I received hateful glares quite often. To women, he was the perfect husband, and for men, he was a man they strived to be. Power gave you the upper hand. I think it was something everyone wished they had. Alek had exactly that. He had power, the upper hand. Me? A woman who wasn’t his in the beginning. A woman who lived for herself once. He used my weakness against me, used it to trap me.

  There had been times when I considered leaving, moments when I felt I couldn’t do it anymore. The stress and constant abandonment made me question if it was all worth it. Was sacrificing my life necessary? Was the life he gave me that important? Could I forget my past and pretend none of it ever happened? But then I remembered. The truth quietly teased me. It showed me reality. Everything from my past was gone. What other option did I have?

  Those times when I found the courage to threaten to leave him, he laughed, like my threat was irrelevant. Those pale blue eyes challenged me as if I was joking and the conversation was a waste of his time. After we were married over a year, it seemed like it was. The joke was apparently on me. The weak wife. The shallow person who chose luxury over her own happiness. But it was more than that. I thought it seemed strange at first, but my gut told me to marry Alek for a reason. I tolerated this harsh man for a specific reason. I just hadn’t figured out what that reason was. I knew something was there, and whatever it was would make up for every ounce of pain he inflicted upon me.

  I picked up my phone off the floor and walked back downstairs to the kitchen. It was spotless as the rest of the apartment. Everything was in its proper place. Eventually, I found the wine glasses. They had their own individual nook in the kitchen, directly above the wine bottles themselves. I stood on my tiptoes and pulled one from its place. I picked a random bottle, quickly realizing I didn’t have a corkscrew, and I didn’t feel like searching for one. I remembered seeing the bar when I walked into the apartment, so I decided to pour myself a glass of liquor. I just needed something to help me forget for a minute. The decision was easy—Crown over ice. I would skip the Coke for once. The liquor wasn’t for taste, but instead to fill the need to be numb. Numb from all the worries, issues, and what ifs. With my drink in hand, I took a seat on the couch and waited.

  The liquor became my escape while waiting until the moment I would have to see Wesley Black once again. He was a mistake I wasn’t sure I regretted making.

  Chapter Five

  Wesley

  THERE WAS NO EXPLANATION for sin. When you committed a sin, you owned it. That was what I was taught. Over the years, I had lost count of my sins. The guilt and regret often caused me to lose sleep at night. I remembered confiding in my mother about my troubles. I asked her opinion. If she thought I would be sent to hell for the life I had lived. It was a place often described to me as misery. A place where your worst nightmare would play out endlessly. Then I wondered if anything could be worse than life on earth.

  I had seen things no one ever dreamed of seeing. I had witnessed things I wished my father would have spared me from, but he told me being a man required knowledge, strength. He explained carrying the last name Black required fearlessness. No son of his could afford to be weak.

  My mother had told me I would be spared. She explained she prayed for my brothers and I, asking God to forgive us. She told me He understood my difficult position and was willing to accept me, regardless of my faults. I asked her if our father would be granted the same understanding, but she never replied. Instead, she chose to change the subject.

  I didn’t know why I thought of this as I
rode the elevator up to my apartment. I guessed seeing Alek brought back all the things I had tried to forget, and seeing my father reminded me of who I truly was—the seed of Satan himself.

  I didn’t know what I expected when I walked through the foyer of my apartment, but what I stepped into certainly was not it. Mia was dancing. Her heels were left on the side of the couch as she moved to the beat of a popular Caribbean tune playing through the sound system. The lights were all turned off as she danced in front of the large window. Her silhouette was illuminated by the various lights of the buildings outside. Her dark hair swayed back and forth as she moved sensually around the floor. She was wild and free, reckless. I was starting to desire her even more.

  I knew before Alek clarified the situation I had seen this woman before. Before she had blossomed and become his wife. It surprised me Alek hadn’t realized who she was sooner, but he wasn’t there the night so many people’s lives changed. He just made the decision. So how could he have known who this vibrant, attractive woman was?

  It appeared Alek getting everything he wanted was shifting on him. The past he thought he could bury lived right underneath his roof, slept right beside him at night.

  As I watched her dance barefoot around my living room, I realized this woman was nothing like the papers portrayed her to be. They described her as fragile and beautiful. Instead, she was sexy, adventurous, and possibly a force to be reckoned with. I could see right through the role she was playing. The obedient wife. A woman who kept her mouth shut to avoid issues. A People Pleaser. No. She definitely was not that. It seemed her patience was beginning to unravel. It appeared that was what brought people to my establishments. They needed a place to go and be themselves. A place where judgment wasn’t made.

  I quietly walked over to the bar and poured myself a glass of scotch. This particular night, I had exceeded my daily limit. For some people, it might have been too much, but I was unaffected. I had built up a strong tolerance. The woman who danced around my living room was an entirely different story. I didn’t realize she had continued drinking until I noticed the freshly opened bottle of Crown sitting on the bar. She wasn’t necessarily drunk, but she was far from being sober.

  I didn’t interrupt her. Instead, I watched her for a good five minutes. The more I watched, the more I started to wonder what she knew. I had always been told I was good a reading people. It was a gift that helped me succeed in business. I was known to make smart decisions in determining if people were trustworthy.

  Sadly, my gift wasn’t worth anything with Mia. If she knew something, she had a damn good poker face. The look that crossed her face when I accused her of setting me up in my office didn’t seem staged. She was genuinely shocked and confused. I also felt if she really knew her husband, she would’ve never stepped out on him. She would have never stepped foot into my club…period.

  I took a few more sips of my drink before clearing my throat. She paused, then slowly turned in my direction. I decided to point out the obvious.

  “I see you’ve made yourself at home.”

  She took her time walking toward the bar, obviously timid. Her facial expression was blank. It bugged the shit out of me that she affected me so much. I had already finished my drink by the time she reached me.

  “I’m starting to believe this shy business is an act, beautiful. A way to throw off people.”

  She casually leaned against the bar. “I thought I was your guest, and I needed something to help get my mind off things. I was going insane waiting for you to come back. It was so quiet up here, my mind did nothing but wander. I figured the alcohol would help.”

  I nodded in agreement. Fair enough. However, the wait was over and we needed to talk. The position she put me in was stifling. She had no idea how bad things had gotten. She had no idea what she was up against. If she even knew anything at all. I had purposely taken some extra time to process things before making the trip back up to my apartment. I went from having mind-blowing sex with a beautiful woman, who just so happened to be married, to receiving a surprise visit from the infamous Alek Johnson in the flesh. Yes, my night had become quite interesting. I had a strange feeling it was just getting started.

  “If we’re honest, Mia, what bothers me is you failed to put the bottle back in its place. I don’t care that you decided to indulge yourself in some of my liquor,” I remarked.

  She started to speak, but I quickly raised my hand to silence her. Her eyes traveled to the bandage, but she quickly averted her gaze. It appeared she wasn’t a person to ask questions, but I could see the growing curiosity in her expression.

  “However, Mia, that’s beside the point. We need to discuss the reason you lied to me when I asked your name.”

  She decided to turn away, ignore me. I chose that moment to walk behind her and pull her back against my chest.

  “It’s a simple question.” I added.

  She leaned against me and replied, “I didn’t lie, Wesley.”

  She turned to face me directly. She had to look up to meet my gaze. I was dying to know what type of excuse she was going to feed me. Everyone lied, but with all the cards on the table, I figured she would admit the truth…or at least a small part of it.

  “Am I hearing this correctly? You’re pleading your innocence right now?” I asked, giving her a small laugh.

  She frowned while answering. “I’m not pleading anything. I’m simply stating the facts.”

  I released her from my grip and walked over to the medicine cabinet in the kitchen. If I was going to listen to whatever explanation she had, I needed a drink. If I continued drinking, I would need medication. So I swallowed two Advil and chased them down with a glass of water. I had just placed my glass on the cabinet when I felt her small hands slide over my shoulders. I braced myself for what she had to say.

  “What I meant to say was that I didn’t lie to you intentionally.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “You caught me off guard, and I didn’t feel it was necessary to give you my last name. I honestly didn’t think it was important, and if we’re pointing fingers, you didn’t tell me yours, either.”

  I quickly turned around to study her. Her hands slid off my shoulders as she gently collided with the kitchen island. She went from hot to cold effortlessly. One minute, she was pleading her innocence; the next, she was owning her mistakes—with a matter-of-fact explanation­—and calling me out on my own. How could I argue with her?

  The funny thing about it was I couldn’t be upset. She was right. It wasn’t relevant in the beginning, but things had changed. She wasn’t just some random woman I’d slept with anymore. She was Mia Johnson. A woman who was off limits to every man except her husband. As any married woman should be. The game changer was her husband was different than other men. When dealing with Alek, you didn’t know which way he would turn. What card he would decide to play. He also didn’t handle any type of deceit well. The one thing Mia had done to him tonight. She apparently wasn’t aware of his true colors.

  “This particular situation is different, Mia. You’re different. I think we both can see that now. Let’s not forget, I’m not the one who’s married.”

  She studied me closely, her eyes occasionally losing their focus. “It wasn’t supposed to be this complicated.” She shook her head in defeat. “It was just supposed to be a fun night out with my best friend. I just started drinking, and when I met you I couldn’t resist…”

  She started pacing back and forth. “When I was with you tonight, it felt right. You made me question myself. I thought maybe this wasn’t just about sex with you. Maybe this was what it was supposed to feel like when you really had a connection with someone.”

  I softly gripped her shoulders, trailing one of my hands up to her face. I gently lifted her chin, and our eyes met. “It still doesn’t change the fact you’re married, beautiful. I spotted that diamond on your finger about two seconds after we started talking. I’m surprised you didn’t blind anyone with it when you walked in toni
ght.”

  I tried lightening the mood with a joke, but it seemed Mia was in another world. She brought her hand up to examine her ring, and it started to shake. I noticed her whole body shaking. I knew what was coming. The tears of a woman were not my forte. I quickly changed the subject.

  “So, I have to admit, you don’t really seem like the type of woman to tolerate the likes of Alek Johnson.”

  This caught her attention. “I think we all deal with people for certain reasons, Wesley. How about we get to the reason why he came to see you.”

  Her tears never formed. It seemed the victim card wasn’t needed anymore. She was a woman who wanted answers. She had no idea I wanted the same thing from her. She was right about the sex. I had felt the connection just like she did, but the fact she was part of this twisted situation made me question everything. It made me question her.

  I just couldn’t figure out how this woman had ended up marrying the man who ordered the murder of her mother. It didn’t go quite according to his original plan, but the result was all the same—except worse. I still couldn’t completely erase the night from my head. I would’ve thought she would have put together some type of connection, but the past had its way of staying hidden. I chose my words carefully when I answered.

  “It was just something pertaining to business. I deal with a lot of different people on a daily basis. Your husband just happened to need my services tonight.” I delivered the words smoothly, giving her no reason to press the issue.

  “I see.” She hesitated before asking a simple question that caught me off guard. “Do you think he knows I’m here with you?”