272 What makes an idiot
Before Devonte could say a word, she made a beeline for his bedroom to use his ensuite bathroom. She waited a few minutes and was certain that he had bought the act so she looked around the room. He had a cabinet where he kept his first aid kit and medical supplies. When she checked, there were indeed new bottles of pills that she was certain needed a prescription. She opened them and picked a pill from each, which she slid into her purse when she got back to the living room under the pretense of taking out her phone. A sigh of relief left her lips when he didn’t notice anything.
“Are you sure you really don’t need help cleaning the house?” She asked to break the awkward silence.
“If you want it spotless, it will be in an hour or two.” He promised.
“That’s not what I meant but okay.” She stood to leave. “I’ll see you when I can prove what I said earlier.”
He grabbed her wrist to stop her from leaving, which she had somewhat expected. What she didn’t think would happen was her ending up sprawled across him in a scandalous position.
“Stay.”
It was more like an order than a request.
She gently pulled away. “No. I’m not your girlfriend.”
“Fair enough.” He shifted and their eyes met, his lips hovering dangerously close to hers. But just when she thought he was going to close the distance and kiss her, he pulled away.
.....
She bit back the words that threatened to spill out of her mouth. Then she stood up with a forced smile and left. Her mind was a mess. She had thought that he would want to change his mind since she had already caught on his lie but she was wrong.
What was she even thinking? It wasn’t like she wanted him back either. She just couldn’t stand knowing that a life was being ruined and not do anything about it. She was just helping an innocent patient know what he was getting himself into. She floored the accelerator and went to Grand View Hospital. While it was possible to get any doctor to run lab tests on the pills, the matter would blow up if it turned out to be anything harmful. She would never be able to explain how she got them without getting Dr. Stanley into trouble. It would be great for the fucker to get what he deserved but she wanted Devonte to be the one to decide what to do with the information. Hence, she directly sought Kara and asked her for a favor. Luckily, the woman couldn’t stand unethical doctors either so she agreed to help.
____
“Welcome, ma’am.” Lucy was shown into the Su mansion by the butler, as if she didn’t know her way into the prison she had lived in for more than a third of her life.
“Where’s Nathaniel?” She asked, ignoring his questions about whether she would like something to eat or drink.
“You can’t just address your father by his name, Luci.” Nathaniel spoke on the mezzanine, having left the study when he was notified of her arrival.
“I’ll call you whatever the fuck I want.” She made her way up the stairs, ignoring his teasing lament. He mumbled something about knowing that nothing good would ever have come out of her meeting Theodore, and showed her to the balcony through his study. Again, she was being treated as though she had not grown up in this house.
She sat down regardless, and got straight to the point.
“I came to offer you a deal.” She started.
“Don’t be in such a rush, Luci.” He let out a hearty laugh. She hated it when he called her that.
“Well, unfortunately for you, I’m actually in a rush. Take a look at this.” She opened her bag and took out a contract which she placed on the table.
He curiously glanced through it and nearly scoffed. “You want to take over the management of the hotel and casino.”
“With your best interests at heart. I can promise impressive profit if you let me work for you for a year.”
He pretended to think about it but she knew that it was an offer he couldn’t possibly say no to if he was in his right mind. He had investigators crawling up in his business as they were starting to suspect the source of his money. If there was a way to make it seem like he was making a lot of money on his side business, they would no longer raise eyebrows.
He pondered for a while and pushed the contract back to her. “What do you want in exchange?”
“Stay away from my family.” She bit out.
“They are my family too, aren’t they?” He chuckled in ridicule.
She had to take a deep breath to calm herself. “Listen here, Nathaniel. There is a much easier way to make you stop bothering my children. I could put a bullet in your heart and pin the blame on your rivals. Yet here I am, trying to solve this peacefully.”
“Should I be grateful?” He feigned fear.
“Yes.”
If she noticed his sarcasm, she did a good job skirting around it.
“Stay away from Zaria, Zeus and Theodore. This includes anyone they care about as well.” She warned and pointed at the contract for him to sign.
He reclined in his seat. “Just how much do you love that man, Luci? You would become a slave for a year just to protect him and his children.”
She frowned at his choice of words. She had given birth to those children and unlike him, she cared about her offspring. And it didn’t matter what she had to do to protect them.
“Are you in or not?” She probed impatiently.
“What can I say? It’s tempting.” He waved the butler over and asked for a pen, which he used to sign the contract.
Her gaze narrowed. He had not read through all the terms. Instinct told her he was certain that there was a way to void the terms. She had to be careful.
“Since you and I are now partners, I will make it official.”
He let the butler bring a bottle of champagne and two flutes, which he poured the drink into and held his up. “Here’s to a happy collaboration.”
She glanced at her flute on the table and stood up, ignoring it. “I have lived long enough to know better than to drink and make a toast with the man who wouldn’t hesitate to stab me in the back.”
“What would that make me? I’m having a drink with the woman who would joke about killing me.”
He was joking, but she snickered. An idiot. That was what it made him.
____
“I miss you.” Desmond was on the verge of bursting through the screen to get to her side. It had been ten days since he left but each day without her felt like torture. They would have a video call every night so he would say hi to her and Rosaly but it wasn’t enough.
“We miss you too, Daddy.” Rosaly mumbled sleepily. It was her bedtime and she had played with Theodore and Des all evening, so she couldn’t wait to sleep.
Desmond gazed at her lovingly as Zaria tucked her in and kissed her cheek.
When she was done, he cleared his throat. “So...Rosaly and Des are asleep.” He pointed at the puppy who had just made himself comfortable by Rosaly’s stomach.
“They are.” She smiled along, no longer certain whether she wanted Desmond to return so soon.
She missed him alright, but his return would mean Rosaly couldn’t stay over anymore. She would miss having the cute roommate, and Des would miss his new friend.
As if he could read her mind, he called her out for it. “You don’t want me back, do you?”
“I do. Just...” She sighed.
“Hey, don’t worry. You can always drop by to see Rosaly when you want to, and bring Des with you. She can also sleep over at your place whenever she wants.”
A smile curled her lips. “If you keep doing everything we want, Rosaly and I will be spoilt rotten.”
“And why is that a problem?” He teased. “I miss having you in my arms, kissing you and... touching you.”
She gasped at how fast the topic had changed. When he started firing off the things he missed doing to her, her jaw dropped. “I’m not having video call sex with you, Desmond!”
He threw his head back in a deep laugh. “It looks like I’ll have to rub one off, then.”
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