Kelley straightened up as the inner doors of the chapel opened and he clasped his hands in front of him as a woman appeared with a small bouquet of flowers in front of her. Kelley recognized her as Fernanda, the older sister.She was even more beautiful in person but Kelley saw past that. She wore too much make-up and her dress was too tight, revealed too much cleavage and her heels were ridiculous in the chapel, essentially a holy place.Kelley looked past her and the two other sisters that followed and he exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding when Ernesto came into view and on his arm, his bride. The music softened and slowed as they entered the chapel.Lee and Mason stood behind him and he caught Carey’s gaze. Her eyes held love and pride and she smiled encouragingly at him. Kelley smiled back at her and then Ernesto was right in front of him. Ernesto gripped his hand tightly and Kelley cringed inwardly at the sweaty feel.“Who gives this woman to this man?” The p
Lee closed the front door behind him softly, the entryway dark and the living room beyond it too. He stood at the bottom of the stairs, knowing he had to talk to Marella but dreading the outcome of the conversation. “You came home.” Lee looked up at Marella standing at the head of the stairs in her pajamas. She looked younger with her hair down and the make-up rubbed from her face. One hand had inadvertently gone to her flat stomach and Lee swallowed the rising bile away. “We should talk.” “I’m really tired, Lee, and I’m just glad you’re home.” Lee’s heart broke a little as he took the steps slowly towards her. She reached out her hand and he took it, followed her back into their bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed. Marella sat down next to him and her hand found his cheek. “I can’t do this, Marella.” “Do what?” “It’s me or the baby. I can’t give you both. I … I lo … You’re my whole life, Marella, but a life with me is without children.” “Why, Lee? I don’t understand.
Kelley rushed up the stairs after Milana, who had spun on her heel after her last statement and power walked away from him and Connor. He heard Connor’s laugh from the living room and silently swore the man laughing at his predicament.“Milana … wait.”“Yes, Mr Alexander?”Milana had stopped walking and turned around so fast that Kelley almost walked right into her. The momentum was too great and he grabbed her shoulders, crashing her against the wall next to her bedroom door.“Sorry.”Milana looked up at him, swallowed nervously and then looked down. “It’s okay.”She twisted out of his arms and walked into her bedroom. It was neat, the bed made up and her suitcases unpacked. On the side table was a framed picture of a dog. Milana stopped halfway into the room then turned to look at him.“What you saw last night …”“Has nothing to do with me.”“I’m not a cheater, Milana. She was emotional and her hormones are all over the place.”“You really don’t have to explain your extra curricular
People rarely knocked on Kelley’s study door. Lee and Mason would just walk in and Connor cleared his throat right before walking in. If he needed privacy he’d lock the door, at least that’s what he told Mason when he asked about walking in on something he’d rather not see.The knock on his study door came again, a bit harder this time and Kelley stood up from behind his desk with annoyance. He yanked the door open ready to lay in to whoever it was since he’d made it clear to the staff that he didn’t want anyone near the study.Kelley blinked and relaxed his stance. Milana’s eyes found his and then she lowered her gaze. She held the schedule in her hands and Kelley looked her up and down. Her shoes were worn, her denim frayed at the ends and the t-shirt she wore a little washed out.“I didn’t mean to disturb you. I mean … you said the study was off limits … I’ll just go.”“Milana, wait.”She stopped halfway in her turn but didn’t turn back, her hand now clutching the schedule like she
Milana took the dress off and looked at herself in the dressing room mirror. Carey had just handed her the fifth dress over the door and she already wanted to go home. She’d waited up for Kelley, night after night, but she always woke in the morning realizing she’d fallen asleep.He hadn’t brought sex up and he made no move towards her, in fact it seemed more like he was avoiding her. She liked Carey though, the woman was real. In the next stall Marella was talking about men and how vile they were. She smiled to herself now knowing the whole sordid story of Lee dumping Marella after almost seven years because he wasn’t ready to be a father.Marley’s voice interrupted as she complained about Jesse not getting the message and just thinking up more elaborate schemes in trying her to say yes to wearing his ring. The women were all nice, she liked them but she had no idea where she stood with Kelley.“Come on, Milana, show us how it looks.”Milana climbed into the dress and pulled it over
“You need to get laid.”Kelley looked up from where he stood next to his Escalade and Lee’s eyes bore into him. “I’m not a cheater.”“He meant with your wife.”“That’s not likely to happen, Mase. We don’t have that kind of marriage.”Mason put his phone back into his jacket pocket and looked at Kelley. “You need to get your head back in the game and then you can take care of Hanson Chadney.”Kelley’s jaw clenched and he closed his eyes briefly, willing away the images of Hanson and Milana, his hand on her ass. He felt jealous because Milana didn’t even give him the time of day, spent as much time away from him as she possibly could and she let Hanson touch her.“My head’s fine, let’s go take over a hotel.”Charles had rebuffed every attempt to set up a meeting and finally Lee lost it and filed a motion with the courts to force Charles and his lawyers into a meeting. Blaire and Blain were keeping a fine eye on the accounts of the hotels and Charles had just dug his own grave earlier in
Mason had just finished breakfast and Grace sat at the counter eating blueberry pancakes. He hadn’t slept much the previous night for fear of waking up and finding Grace gone. He knew it was a ridiculous fear but he couldn’t help it.“Daddy …”“Sorry, princess, what?”“There’s someone knocking on the door.”Mason stalked to the front door, unlocked the latch and opened it. Andrea stood there in jeans and a checked shirt and Mason gripped the door tighter. “I don’t want to fight, Mason.”“Then what do you want?”“I won’t tell her who I am, please, I just need to see her.”Mason stood unmoving, thinking about what she’d just said. He saw the pleading in her eyes, the need to see her daughter and he couldn’t deny her that one small act. “Come in.”“Thank you, Mason.”“Don’t make me regret it.”Andrea nodded her head. “I won’t.”Mason closed the door and Andrea followed him through to the kitchen. Grace turned her head and Andrea faltered in her steps. Grace looked quizzically at the woma
Kelley sat at the dining table and looked at Milana where she sat looking down pushing her food around. She hadn’t left the house since his outburst, not even to go into the garden and he felt like an even bigger asshole.“I’m sorry I yelled at you.”Milana looked up shocked to hear Kelley speak to her. “It’s okay.”“It’s not. I was being an asshole and Black reported that day’s happenings to me after I had already yelled at you.”“I see.” Milana’s words were short and clipped.“I have history with Hanson Chadney. My first girlfriend cheated on me for a year with him. I saw him touching you and … I don’t know … my mind went back there. It wasn’t fair to you and I apologize.”“If you’d given me the chance to say anything I would’ve told you that I got out of there as fast as I could, that I didn’t want anyone touching me.”Kelley linked his fingers together in front of him. “You’re right. It’s something I’ll have to work on.”Milana looked him over again before going back to pushing he