The Don's Laughter

                POV: Vivienne Ashford

Seven men had their guns pointed at me.

I kept my finger pointed at the man sitting at the head of the table. He didn't reach for a weapon or make any move to stop me.

Instead, he laughed.

The men around the table looked at him in disbelief.

"Lower your weapons," he ordered.

"Don Roman," one of them said. "She got past security. We don't know who she is."

"I said lower them."

The men put their guns away. One by one, they left the room.

I remained where I was, still facing the man at the head of the table.

I didn't know who he was. I didn't care. I had come here for one reason.

"I want to sleep with you tonight," I said. "How much do you charge for a night?"

He looked at me, still amused.

I didn't wait for an answer.

I walked up to him, grabbed his suit jacket and climbed onto his lap. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled his face towards mine and kissed him.

For a moment, he didn't move. Then his hands settled on my waist, and he returned the kiss.

I wanted to forget Damon. I wanted to forget the humiliation, the betrayal and the two years I'd wasted trying to make my marriage work.

That night, I wanted nothing else.

When I woke up, sunlight was coming through the curtains.

I was in a strange bed, with a man sleeping beside me. His bare back was turned towards me, and faint scratches marked his skin.

I stared at him, then looked around the room.

What had I done?

I got out of bed and gathered my clothes. After dressing, I picked up my shoes and hurried towards the door.

I had just reached for the handle when a hand caught my wrist.

I turned around.

The man from last night stood behind me, bare-chested.

"Where are you going?"

I looked down at his hand.

"I'm sorry. Last night was a mistake."

His expression changed.

"A mistake?"

"I'm married. I drank too much. I was having problems with my husband, and I wasn't thinking clearly." I pulled gently against his grip. "You lost nothing. Please, just forget it happened."

He watched me for a moment before letting go of my wrist.

I didn't wait for him to change his mind. I opened the door and left.

I took a taxi straight back to Ashford Manor.

---

Thirty minutes later, I entered the house.

Before I could get far into the foyer, Loretta Pruitt threw a crystal glass at my face. It struck my cheek and shattered, leaving a cut on my skin.

I touched my cheek and saw blood on my fingers.

"You shameless bitch!" Loretta shouted. "Where have you been all night? You didn't come home, you didn't answer your phone, and the servants didn't know what to prepare for breakfast!"

Loretta was visiting that morning. Kayla and Brianna were sitting at the dining table.

"Mom, we're starving!" one of them complained. "Vivienne, tell the cook to make us eggs Benedict!"

I wiped the blood from my cheek.

"If you're hungry, go to the kitchen and ask the cook yourself. You have hands."

"What did you just say to my mother?"

Damon came out of the dining room in his silk bathrobe.

"Where the hell were you last night, Vivienne?"

"It's none of your business."

He raised his hand and slapped me.

My head turned with the force of the blow. My collar shifted, exposing the mark at the base of my throat.

Damon stared at it.

"You dirty whore!" he shouted, grabbing my shoulder. "You were out cheating on me! Who touched you? Who gave you that mark?"

I looked at him.

"Are you really going to lecture me about fidelity, Damon?"

He tightened his grip.

"Yesterday afternoon, I was at St. Catherine's General Hospital. I stood outside Dr. Evelyn Moore's consultation room."

He went still.

"I saw you with Camille Rowe. I heard the doctor congratulate you both on her four-week pregnancy. I heard you call me your frigid, sterile wife!"

Loretta and his sisters gasped.

Damon's expression changed, but his shock didn't last.

"So what if you found out?" he sneered. "How did you expect me to stay faithful to a woman who couldn't give me a child in two whole years of marriage? Camille is carrying my heir after just four weeks! It's your own fault I went to her bed!"