Deloris nodded. “Go. You have time. Maybe it will help put things in focus.”
Focus, as if a swim could align the magnitude of my thoughts.
The doors of the elevator closed as I was whisked down to the ground floor. The private elevator was another reason I liked this resort.
“Mr. Demetri,” the doorman guarding the private hallway to the isolated elevator said. “Sir, I’m Fredrick. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you, Fredrick. I’d like water in my pool. Other than that, everything is as accommodating as usual.”
“Sir, we are very sorry. There was evidently a mix-up on your arrival. We promise to have it filled by this afternoon. May I secure you a chair at the large pool?”
“That won’t be necessary. I only plan to swim and return.”
He nodded. “If you change your mind, it will be immediately arranged.”
Thoughts of the resort’s dedication to service replaced my annoyance over the pool situation. It was as I was mulling the names over in my mind—the names that Deloris had discovered—that she caught my attention.
For only a moment, my steps stuttered.
This wasn’t me.
I didn’t notice women, not in a way that knocked me off my feet while simultaneously, rerouting my circulation. And yet, as I stood in the Southern California sunshine, surrounded by more people than I cared for, I saw only one. At the far end of the pool, with a large floppy hat and a figure that beckoned me closer, a cosmic explosion erupted.
I stood unmoving as the stars shifted.
At the other end of the pool was one of the only women to ever take my breath away.
Perhaps she is a mirage?
Kicking off my sandals, I dove into the pool, allowing the cool water to return my blood supply to where it belonged, especially when surrounded by strangers. I pushed against the water, stroke after stroke, lifting my head for air as I somersaulted and swam the other direction—away from her.
It didn’t help. Even under the water, even behind my closed eyes, I saw her.
Reading and smiling, as if the words she saw gave her happiness. With each stroke, I became filled with an overwhelming need, the need to be the one who did that—to provide her happiness, relief, and reason to smile. The feeling was overpowering in a way I hadn’t experienced since...my thumb went to the gold band. In the cool water it rotated easier than usual, almost too easily.
Ten lengths back and forth and I stood in the shallow end. The water came to below my waist as I took in the view, now different than earlier. Where before she’d been reading, now she was talking with the woman by her side. I was about to swim another lap when I noticed two men approaching them.
It shouldn’t upset me. I didn’t have any right to step in, and yet, I recognized the men.
Men or man was a generous description. They were really only boys. They worked this resort and I knew that. They didn’t work at this resort. They worked it.
I wasn’t sure what kind of a deal they had with the management. Maybe the young men cut the supervision in on their earnings. Maybe the resort personnel turned a blind eye or perhaps refused to see what was under their noses. I didn’t care. The two blonds now standing near her and her friend were familiar because from my view high above, I’d watched as they conned women out of money, drinks, food, and God knows what else.
It wasn’t a conscious decision, yet before I knew it, I was at the end of the pool near her chair.
In the time it took me to swim the length, her friend had gone and one of the blonds was in the chair beside her. My muscles flexed as I pulled myself from the water.
His voice was flirtatious and filled with suggestion. Another step closer to his chair and I could hear him better. It took almost more self-restraint than I possessed to keep my hands at my side. I imagined lifting the little shit from the chair and throwing him into the pool where I’d just been.
“...we’re being secretive,” he said. “My guess is there’s a boyfriend…” He glanced at her hand. “…no ring. So it can’t be a fiancé. But there’s someone back wherever home is.”
“Guess again.” Her voice was a melody flowing through the air, breaking the sameness of my mundane monotone world.
“You’re an aspiring actress, and this is the week before you do a big shoot.”
She laughed. “Two strikes. One more and you’re—”
“Out,” I said, unable to remain silent any longer. With the sun to my back, my shadow loomed over their legs as the muscles in my neck tightened and my hands balled into fists at my sides. There was something about seeing her with this con artist that brought out a primal response.
No longer was I thinking about the senator or my meeting. Rescuing this beauty was my only thought. That’s not true. Causing bodily harm to Mike or Max or whatever the hell he was calling himself today was also in my thoughts.
When they didn’t speak, I repeated, “You’re out.”
“Excuse me?” the little shit asked. “Who the hell are you?”
She didn’t speak. Instead, the beauty in the hat and bikini lowered her sunglasses, revealing the most stunning golden eyes. Peering up at me, they sparkled with the reflections of the sun, surf, and glistening pool.
Each second her gaze lingered on me, mine did the same on her.
There was a buzz of electricity that I’d forgotten. Cosmic alignment. A magnetic pull that I couldn’t back away from if I’d tried. My feet were rooted to the concrete as my jaw clenched.
I no longer cared about the little shit beside her. I couldn’t even think about him as I unashamedly scanned from her dark auburn hair and floppy hat, along her sexy, toned body barely concealed by the material of her bathing suit, and all the way to her brightly painted toes. The longer I stared, the more intense the connection.
She felt it too. I knew it. Not only in my heart but by the way her skin peppered with goose bumps. My cheeks rose as my attention went to the way her nipples pebbled beneath the thin material.
Fuck. I needed to see under that material.
How do you miss a feeling when you forgot it existed?
I wasn’t sure. It had been too long since I’d felt like this. The energy was potent to the point of overpowering. I turned back to the blond shit and lowered the tone of my voice. It came out decisive, protective, and arrogant.
“I’m her husband. That person you mentioned…” I paused to let my words sink in, “is me and I'm not somewhere else. I'm here. Leave my wife alone or I’ll have you thrown out.”
My stare zeroed in on the boy until he shook his head, lifted his hands in surrender, and wisely stood. I was easily six inches taller than him, probably outweighed him by thirty pounds, and none of that mentioned my time as an MMA champion. It would be nothing to send him squirming into the pool.
That wasn’t my objective. I simply wanted him gone.
“Bye, Charli with an i,” he said. But before he walked away, he added, “Maybe you should wear your rings?”
His words prompted me to scan her fingers. He was right. She was without a ring. I couldn’t refrain from adding to her scolding, “Yes, Charli, don’t tell me you’ve misplaced them again.”
Her gaze never left mine as her lips quirked upward to a grin. “No. I’m most certain they're right where I left them.”
I hope you enjoyed this alternative POV to the beginning of Betrayal, book one of the Infidelity series (not about cheating).
* * *
If this was your first experience with Lennox Demetri and Alexandria Collins and, after this small taste, you’d like to learn more about this sexy, cocky hero and strong, intelligent heroine, please give Betrayal a chance. It’s the first book of the completed six-book Infidelity series and is free on all sales platforms.
* * *
For those of you who have met Lennox and Alex and have enjoyed the Infidelity series... I have one more chapter for you.
* * *
Warnin
g: if you haven’t read the Infidelity series, the bonus chapter contains spoilers.
Enjoy!
And turn the page.
Bonus Chapter
*Contains spoilers if you haven’t read the Infidelity series*
Nox: (You’ve been warned)
Years into the future
My footsteps echoed up the stairs. Reaching the top, I stilled, not wanting to wake anyone at this late hour. Step by step, I continued until I reached the large double doors to our bedroom suite. I imagined Charli asleep in our bed, her beautiful hair fanned over her pillow, her pert lips parted as she breathed.
My dick hardened as I pictured her beneath the blankets, her sexy body unclothed, nothing to stop my touch as I pulled her warmth close.
I shook my head. That fantasy most certainly wouldn’t be the reality. Not with our two children sleeping down the hall, the same two children who had strict orders not to disturb Mom and Dad while we slept.
The same two who managed at least one middle-of-the-night emergency every other night.
Of course, emergencies for a six-and-a-half-year-old beautiful girl and her nearly three-year-old rambunctious brother weren’t exactly the kind of emergencies that in my head warranted the opening of our bedroom door or the leaping into our bed. Yet on each occasion, in their minds, their reasons were valid.
Unquenchable thirst.
Ravenous hunger.
You’d think we starved the poor children.
A noise.
A monster under the bed.
The list could go on and on.
The moral of that story was that my beautiful wife no longer slept in the nude nor did I. My lips quirked upward as I reached for the door handle. I was all right with that, unwrapping her was equally as fun and built the anticipation.
The darkened suite was bathed in the moon’s blue glint as the sphere hung low over the Long Island Sound and cast eerie shadows over the familiar surroundings. Turning to the bed, I found it empty. Even the covers were undisturbed.
My pulse quickened.
It was after midnight. I’d gotten home as soon as I could from the meetings on the West Coast. My Charli was great about keeping me informed of her whereabouts. So too was her necklace. She should be here.
Where was she?
Last week she’d taken the children to Savannah for some annual party her mother threw. It was funny to think about the way my wife now enjoyed her childhood home, something that came about after we met.
One night, she explained it to me.
“I want Angi and Dominic to love Montague Manor. Someday they will be the ones who decide what happens with it. I don’t want it to be a monstrous, unfriendly castle. I want them to think of it as a home.”
“Their grandparents’ home,” I said.
Charli smiled. “As weird as that still is, yes. And also where their momma grew up.”
“If it makes you happy...”
“It does,” she said. “And you don’t know how much I like that.”
Looking around our house in Rye where we now lived and called home, I did know.
I wasn’t able to go with my family to that party, though they flew on our bat plane.
Although I refused to be the workaholic my father was while I was young, there was still work that needed to be done. There were still Demetri Enterprises and Montague Corporation. Charli and I knew the pressures. She worked part time in Demetri Enterprises’ legal department. After all that she and her mother had been through, learning the ins and outs of corporate law became her passion.
My wife was as smart as they came and nothing stood in her way.
However, I was thankful that practicing law wasn’t her only passion. And as I scanned our darkened suite, I wondered about another, the passion I’d planned on showing her upon my arrival home.
The drapes covering the glass doors leading to our balcony rustled in the autumn breeze as a shadow outside caught my attention.
Going to the open door, I peered out. Standing at the railing in a long satin robe was my wife. Her beautiful hair wasn’t fanned over her pillow, but blowing back, clearing her gorgeous face as she watched the lights play across the dark waters of the sound.
“Princess?”
Charli jumped as she spun my direction. “Oh my God, Nox, you scared me.”
In merely one stride, I was before her, my hands upon her arms as I pulled her petite frame close to mine. “What are you doing out here? It’s late.”
She nodded against my chest as we melded together. Like two pieces of an interlocking puzzle, we were strong on our own, but together we were invincible. “I was waiting for you. Isaac said you wouldn’t be too late.”
I grinned. “I told you the same thing.”
She peered upward as her golden eyes shone with amusement. “And I believed you. I just like confirmation from Isaac or Deloris.”
Lifting her chin, I brushed my lips over hers. The small moan as she snuggled closer returned the blood to my cock. Wrapping my arms around her small waist, I pulled her closer.
“Nox?”
“Princess, I’ve missed you.”
Her small hand found its way to the front of my trousers and rubbed my growing erection. “I didn’t notice.”
My head fell backward with a laugh. “Then I’m losing my touch.”
“No way,” she purred. “I’ve missed you, too.”
Reaching for her hand, I tugged her inside our room. The late September night air held a hint of the impending season change, leaving her hand chilled in my grasp. “How about we go check on the kids,” I asked, “and then we come back here and I show you how much I missed you?”
Charli nodded. “I like that. Just please don’t wake them.”
“No way. I have plans for our bed that include two, not four.”
I slipped off my shoes and wiggled my sock-covered toes, peering at her with a grin and a wink. “We can be sneaky.”
“I like sneaky,” she said. “Like Batman.”
“I think that would be stealthy.”
Together we made our way first to Dominic’s room. At nearly three years of age, he resembled something of a starfish as he slept, arms and legs pointing all different directions. His little head was covered with dark hair, reminding me of myself as a child. And as if life hadn’t thrown us enough obstacles, he seemed to have a bit of my defiant attitude. When he’s older, some may call it cocky.
It was hard to argue that Charli and I were in for some rough waters as opinions clashed. Luckily, right now our disagreements were over things like screen time and snacks. My father was quick to remind us that we had no idea what we were in for, but he would enjoy watching every minute of it.
I ran my palm over my son’s hair. When he barely noticed, I leaned down and gave him a kiss. My senses were filled with the scent of baby shampoo and lotion. It was something Jane had done for Charli when she was young, and now my wife insisted on nightly baths with head-to-toe lotion. It had gone on for all of their lives. At this point, it was almost as if the children couldn’t sleep without it.
Closing Dominic’s door, we moved farther down the hall to Angelina’s room. Her lilac walls glowed by the light of her nightlight. I stifled a giggle as Charli began to move Angi’s menagerie of stuffed animals until she uncovered our daughter. I wasn’t sure how our little girl slept with all of those friends in her bed. However, from experience, I could attest that if even one were missing, the entire household was on alert until the search-and-rescue mission was complete.
No one slept until the wayward animal was found and safely returned to her bed.
The image I’d had of Charli was there before us, shrunk to pint-sized form, as we stood above Angi’s bed. Long auburn curls fanned over her pillow and her small mouth was drawn to a bow as she slept. Again, I ran my hand over her hair and leaned down to give her a kiss.
“Daddy?” she said, rolling toward us.
“Yes, princess. I’m home.”
“Good. I love you.”
“I love you, too. Go back to sleep.”
“All right.”
Charli and I stood for a moment in complete quiet, both undoubtedly saying silent prayers that our daughter would do as she was told and go back to sleep. When she remained still, Charli and I made our way back to the hallway. As soon as I closed the door, Charli shook her head and leaned against my chest.
“I guarantee she won’t remember that in the morning. If she were really awake, that would not have gone as well.”
I puffed my chest. “Even in her sleep she loves her daddy.”
Charli reached for my hand. “Now, Mr. Demetri, come with me. It’s my turn to love her daddy.”
My smile grew as we made our way down the hall and back to our room.
Taking off my jacket and throwing it to a chair, I said, “Beautiful, I know it’s late, but could I convince you to wait up for me while I take a quick shower?”
Charli leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her breasts. Her gaze sparkled as she watched me undress. “I think my answer is no.”
I stopped in motion as I removed my shirt over my shoulders. “No?”
She nodded with a grin. “No.”
“You won’t stay awake?”
She reached for the sash of her robe, untying the tether and releasing the satin, revealing that underneath she was as I had imagined—every inch of my wife, my princess, at my disposal. “I won’t wait.” She stepped forward, allowing the white robe to float to the floor as she reached for my belt. Her hand stilled on the buckle—the one with a silver swirl—as she looked up at me. “I’ve always been partial to this belt.”
Fuck!
“Princess, you’re playing with fire.”
“After all these years, haven’t you noticed? I like to be burnt.”
Minutes later, mist filled the air within the shower as warm spray peppered our skin. As the water flattened her hair and covered mine, I took her in my arms, pulling her close. She was as stunning as the day we met. “Have I told you that on the day I first saw you in Del Mar, it was as if the stars had aligned?”
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