A Billionaire BWWM Romance 5: The Other Man (7 page)

“
I
thought I lost you,” she whispered. Steven planted a kiss on
her head.

“
You
wouldn’t even if you tried,” he reassured her. Julie
smiled and pulled away from him.

“
I’m
really sorry,” she apologized. Steven shook his head.

“
What
for? You can’t be sorry for something that is totally not your
fault.”

“
Well,
I at least should have known,” she said. He smiled and kissed
her again.

“
We
all marry people we hate and wonder why we did it in the first
place,” he said. She pulled away and looked at him. “Don’t
look at me like that. I’m just saying stuff to comfort you.”
She smiled and took his hand in hers.

“
Can
I get you something to eat?” she offered.

“
Maybe
just something really light,” he suggested. “My tummy is
still a bit unsettled from all the motion?” She looked at him
and raised an eyebrow.

“
So
you really were in New York?”

“
Did
you think I was avoiding you?” . She shrugged.

“
I
thought it was something you made up just so you didn’t have to
face me,” she admitted. Steven forced out a laugh.

“
That’s
not my style,” he said as the two made their way to the
kitchen.

“
Is
Terrence with you?” she asked. Steven ran his fingers through
his hair and sighed.

“
I
better release him,” he teased as he reached for his phone in
his jacket pocket. She looked at him and smiled. “Or would you
rather I left?” There was a playful tone in his voice when he
asked that.

“
Depends.
Are you sleeping with Terrence?” she asked. He frowned and
quickly dialed Terrence.

“
You
know you will pay for that, right?” he asked with a smile.
Julie flashed him a naughty smile and nodded. “Terrence,
listen, you can take off. I’ll call you in the morning and let
you know what time to come pick me up,” he told him before he
hung up. Julie got vegetables from the fridge and then set them on
the counter as Steven sat opposite her looking at her. She got him a
bottle of water and then washed her hands before she began chopping
the tomatoes. “So, have you thought of what you’re going
to do?” he asked. She shrugged and nodded.

“
I’m
getting an annulment,” she announced.

“
Not
a divorce?” he asked. She shook her head.

“
I
don’t want that to be on my record. It’s a part of my
life that I don’t know and don’t even remember
happening,” she said. Steven nodded. “It’s just one
of those things you want to get over and done with, you know?”
she asked even though her question was rhetorical. “It just
sucks. I mean I have had exes, but this one was the worst of them
all. I don’t know why it had to be him…it just…sucks,”
she repeated as she felt her eyes getting heavy again. Steven got off
the chair and walked round the counter to hold her. “I’m
so sorry, babe,” she apologized amidst sobs. She leaned her
head against his chest as he ran his hand up and down her back
comforting her. It seemed like forever before she finally stopped
crying.

“
You
okay?” he asked. She nodded, her head still on his chest.

“
I
just don’t think there is a feeling worse than the one I have
right now,” she groaned. He kissed the top of her head again
and then looked down at her.

“
Why
don’t we skip the salad and just lay in bed?” he
suggested. She pulled away and looked at him.

“
Could
we watch a movie instead?” she asked. He nodded.

“
But
no chick flicks,” he said quickly. She smiled and shook her
head.

“
I
was actually thinking of teenage mutant ninja turtles,” she
winked. Steven raised an eyebrow over the other.

“
Since
when do you watch teenage mutant ninja turtles?” he asked. She
smiled and shrugged.

“
My
new assistant programmed the theme song in my power walk mix. I liked
it so much I Googled it and then I found out that it is actually a TV
show,” she explained.

“
So
you rented it?” Steven asked still surprised. He shook her
head.

“
I
bought it. And it’s on Blu-ray too,” she said with a
smiled. Steven shook his head and then kissed her softly.

“
You
never cease to amaze me,” he said as she pulled away from him.
He pulled her back to him and looked into her eyes. “I just
want to let you know that I am going to stick around.” Julie
looked up and smiled.

“
Promise?”
she asked. He smiled and nodded.

“
Seriously,
I’m going to be on you like white on rice,” he joked. She
laughed.

“
While
I appreciate that, I’m not trying to rouse the inner stalker in
you or anything,” she said. Steven opened his mouth to speak
and she shrugged. “But I’m not complaining,” she
added as they walked back to the living room.

“
You
go on,” Steven said as he stayed behind. “I’ll
microwave some popcorn.” Julie smiled and walked to the living
room to get the movie started before he finished. She didn’t
care about the small mess in the kitchen. She would take care of it
later…maybe tomorrow.

**************************************************

Julie
looked at her father and sighed for the millionth time. She didn’t
know how she was supposed to break the news to him. She had always
been his little girl and now she was about to tell him that she had
gotten married to some jerk while under the influence of alcohol. She
had practiced the conversation in her head a million times, but every
time she ended up with the same response and a disgusted look on her
father’s face. This was hard.

“
Julie?”
Michael called. She looked up and smiled.

“
Yeah?”

“
Did
you hear what I said? Actually did you hear anything I said for the
last half hour?” he asked. Julie gave him a guilty smile.

“
I’m
sorry dad. What did you say?”

“
I
asked if you wanted your gumbo spicy or mild.”

“
I
don’t mind a little spice,” she said. Michael looked at
her as he emptied the plate of peppers in the pot.

“
Are
you sure you’re okay?” he asked. Julie smiled and nodded.

“
I’m
perfect,” she said. Michael shook his head as he stirred the
pot.

“
That
boy better not be giving you trouble because I will castrate him,”
he snapped. Julie frowned.

“
Oww,
daddy!” she groaned as she looked at her father.

“
What?
I’m serious!”

“
Well,
it has nothing to do with him,” she promised. Michael looked
up.

“
So
there is something bothering you?”

“
Damn
it! I fell right into that one,”
she
thought as she looked at him. “Come here. I need to tell you
something.” Michael looked at her and she saw a wave of concern
wash over his face.

“
Now
you’re scaring me,” he frowned.

“
For
starters, stop thinking the worst. It could be just a small thing,”
she said. Michael shook his head.

“
You
don’t tell someone to sit down for a small thing,” he
replied nervously as he sat down and looked into her eyes. “Tell
me what it is, already. You’re making me nervous.”. She
took one last deep breath and shrugged.

“
Do
you remember Evan Lockwood?” she asked. If she didn’t
know any better, she could have sworn she saw the color draining from
her father’s face. At that moment, she could have been looking
right into the eyes of the grim reaper for all she cared. She had
always known that her father was not Evan’s biggest fan, but at
the same time, she didn’t think mentioning his name would have
invoked this kind of emotion. She put her hand on his and smiled.

“
I
will need you to soften that look a little if there is any hope of me
talking,” she told him.

“
I
hated that Lockwood boy. I still do,” Michael said without
blinking.

“
Clearly,”
Julie retorted. “But then again, join the club. It’s
growing fast,” she added. Michael raised an eyebrow.

“
Really?
I’d pay an arm and a leg to be a part of that club,” he
teased. She smiled and nodded.

“
I
know you would,” she sighed.

“
So,
what about that ass?” Julie’s eyes grew wide.

“
Dad,
language!” she scolded.

“
I’d
watch it if we were talking about any other person worth my time, but
seriously, this is Lockwood,” he said. Julie shook her head.
This was going nowhere fast. She shrugged.

“
So,
as it turns out, I might have had a bit too much fun with him,”
she started. Michael raised an eyebrow.

“
Do
you have a kid I don’t know about?” Julie smiled.

“
Please
keep that in mind, it will make you realize that there are worse
things in this world,” she frowned.

“
What
do you mean? What did that boy do?” he asked.

“
Well,
in all fairness, we are both to blame,” she said as she took
another deep breath.

“
Julie,
I am about to give you a spanking. I need to know what the hell you
are talking about already!” Michael said.

“
Apparently,
he and I have been married for the last few years,” she
muttered. Michael didn’t talk. He just looked at her and closed
his eyes.

“
I’m
sorry. What?” he asked in disbelief.

“
Yeah,
I had the same feeling when I first found out,” she said.

“
Of
all the people…” he started saying before she put her
hands up in defense. “Were you drunk or something? I mean you
would have to be to marry…” he never got a chance to
finish that sentence. She looked at him and nodded. “He made
you drink, didn’t he? That bastard! I’ll kill him. I
swear I’ll kill him,” he muttered. Julie wanted to talk,
but her father was still cursing. “And he did it without even
talking to me at least giving me a heads up. What kind of man is
he…no, he is no man. No man would do that. The bastard!”
he looked at her and she fought the urge to smile. This was turning
out to be better than she expected it to. It was actually comical.

“
It
happened in Vegas. There was this time we took a trip down there and
I think we had too much to drink, but I didn’t know…I
just found out the other day,” she explained.

“
How
did you find out?”

“
Evan
told me,” she grimaced. Michael’s face grew grim again.
“He went to get a marriage license and ours was still on file.”

“
The
Lockwood boy is in my town?” Julie wanted to burst out
laughing. He sounded like some old school Texas sheriff. “And
he made my baby girl drink,” he said under his breath. But he
was still loud enough for her to hear. She looked at him and fought
the urge to smile.

“
Daddy,
you realize I’m almost someone’s mother right now,
right?”

“
Well,
you will always be my baby and he wanted to take you away from me,”
Michael yelled as he made a fist. Julie shook her head. ‘

“
What’s
the real story between you and Evan anyway? I don’t remember
you having such animosity towards any other exes,” she
questioned as she looked into her father’s eyes. Michael
shrugged.

“
As
a parent, it is basic instinct to be able to smell bullshit from a
mile away and he was so full of it, I could smell it all the way in
Kuwait.” Julie smiled and raised an eyebrow.

“
Kuwait?
When did you ever go there?” she asked. Michael shrugged.

“
It’s
a figure of speech. You know what I mean,” he said. “And
to think some poor woman is going to marry him? I would love to talk
some sense into her,” he said under his breath again but Julie
still heard him.

“
Well,
people usually say Tibet. No one has ever used Kuwait instead of
Tibet,” she said. He shook his head and then took her hand in
his.

“
What
is going to happen now? Is the wedding still on?” he queried
Julie smiled.

“
Of
course it is. This is just a minor setback. Once I have the marriage
annulled, I can go back to living my life.” He looked at her
and shook his head.

“
Is
there anything I can do? Get you a lawyer or something?” She
shook her head.

“
Trust
me. I have everything handled,” she promised. Michael forced a
smile and then sighed. This was definitely one of the worst things
he’d ever heard. “So apart from him taking your baby as
you said,” she said as she put up finger quotes to insist on
the fact that she was a grown up. “Is there anything else he
did that pissed you off so much?”

“
Really?
You don’t remember how distraught you were after he left? It
took me an entire month to get you out of bed,” he reminded
her. “I mean the least he could have done is breaking up with
you like an adult instead of skipping town like the coward he is,”
he added. Julie leaned forward and hugged her father.