Descent From Grace: A Luxe Novella Book 1.5 (3 page)

She pulls up to valet and gets out, handing her keys over.

I see my dad by the doors smoking and I turn to Lily. “I’ll be fast,” I say to her and she rolls her eyes.

  “Don’t.”
  “What?” I look at her, thinking maybe I shouldn’t go.
  “Don’t go there and rush, Ian. Fuck. If you want this to work can you please continue to act how you normally would with her? I’ll be fine with your father.”
I think I see her grin when she glances over at him, and fuck me, now I don’t want to go. She’s going to fuck my dad! She wouldn’t fuck my dad, but my dad would try and fuck her.

I gotta get to Karen.

*LUXE*

Ian almost leaned in for a kiss, but stopped himself. “I’ll call you,” he said quietly and touched her hand.

Expressionlessly looking up at him, she muttered, “I’ll be fine.”

  “This is a treat.” Ed grinned while escorting her inside. “We can get to know each other without the interruption of my son.” He stared at her like he wanted to get to know her
well
; she sweetly smiled then nervously looked at the hostess seating them.

After sitting, Lilith crossed her legs and looked over at him to observe how uncanny their resemblance was. 

  “You’re a very attractive woman, Lily. You’re going to be in high demand at Luxueux.”
  “Well that’ll make me some money, won’t it?” She smiled.

  “More than some.” His charming smile reddened her cheeks. The waitress approached and he pulled his glare from coy Lilith. “What’ll you drink?”
  “Water please.”

  “I’ll take a scotch on the rocks,” he said, making Lilith instantly think of Sloan. Quietly clearing her throat, she looked away. “You sure you don’t want a drink, Lily? Just one?”
  “I’ll have a glass of the 2009 Sassicaia,” she quickly read from the drink menu.
A pleased grin lit up his face. “You’re a wine drinker, eh?”

  “Not at all.” She smiled, knowing that’d let him down, but she didn’t want to mislead him.

With his chair pushed out from the table, he crossed his legs and rested his hands on his knee, not caring he was blocking the isle way. His arrogance
wasn’t
the spitting image of Ian.

  “So how’d you and Ian meet?” Feigning ignorance wasn’t his best suit and it annoyed her.

  “In my building, which incidentally is Karen’s building.” Looking away, she rolled her eyes, suddenly not feeling the flutter he was giving her stomach five minutes prior.

  “And you moved out?”
  “I did.” She nodded. “I lived there with my ex-boyfriend. We’re no longer together.” It took every ounce of control for her not to tell him to cut the crap.

Smirking, he picked up his menu. “I’d hope not.”
Cocking her eyebrow and fighting a snarky tone, she asked, “Would there really be a difference from me dating someone or Ian still being with Karen?”

With a degrading laugh, he responded, “I’d think so.”
  “I don’t agree. I’m allowing him—” She stopped and thought her words through, then decided against voicing her opinion.

Narrowing his eyes, he looked up from his menu at her. “Ian will give you the world, Lily, you couldn’t possibly offer him the same.”

Literally biting her tongue, she took a few deep breaths, trying her hardest not to tell Ian’s father off.

Unable to hold back, she leaned into the table. “I can offer him more than the world. Trust me.” 

His perverse eyes drifted to her breasts and he smirked. “You can definitely offer something.”

Her plan backfired and she didn’t even say what she wanted to, but it was her first meeting of her future husband’s father, she didn’t want him to hate her.

  “I’d say I’m being more than generous.” She sat back, lifting the menu. “You’re buying lunch, right?”

Ed shook his head with a grin. “Of course, dear.”

Ordering the most expensive thing on the menu, that she had no intent on eating, she ended up with steak and lobster.

  “You’re famished, Lily?” His nonstop condescending tone irked her to the core, but she kept her cool.

With a sweet smile, she replied, “Not at all.”

He let out a chuckle, entertained by the game she was playing. The remainder of lunch she let him subtly belittle her intellect but overzealously compliment her looks.

As they got into her car he looked over at her. “I like Karen,” he said; Lilith politely smiled at the random comment. “But she’s no Lily.” Placing his hand on her knee, he doggishly said, “I like Lily.”
After lifting his hand from her knee, she said, “I enjoy your company as well.” Offering a kind smile, she continued. “But I don’t really care if you like me more than her because your son does and that’s all that matters to me.” Immediately, she felt guilty, but she put up with so much of his haughty behavior through lunch, her sweet layer was melting into a sugary pile capable of causing a cavity.
  “Oh, well,” he impertinently boasted. “That’s a fact. He’s bought you a car, a condo, and a two hundred thousand dollar platinum diamond ring. He’s enamored by you, dear.”

Lilith’s eyes shot to her ring and a sick feeling washed over her.

  “That’s how us Jacks show love.”

The confusion on her face made him smirk.

  “Money.” His impudent attitude and devilish tone churned her stomach.

  “Where to, Mr. Jacks?” she asked through the queasy upset of her stomach.
  “Lily.” He conceitedly laughed at her. “We just spent a lunch together and I told you I like you. Call me Ed.”

Lilith gave him a forced smiled; all the prior feelings of lust she felt for him were officially gone. Long gone. On the same note, she didn’t detest him because she imagined that personality had gotten him where he was, and where he was, was a very attractive, very rich, product engineer for BMW.

Can She save Herself from Herself

I don’t know what I’m doing here. I’ve dropped Ed Jacks off at his boathouse on the pier and now I’m approaching Sloan’s apartment building with my mace ready in my pocket if needed. What do I want? I think I just want to see him, see if he’s in jail. I kind of want to know if I have a shit storm of legal trouble coming my way.

  “Ms. Lily!” Spencer could not sound more delighted and it’s a nice sound, the best I’ve heard since Barbados. I hug him tightly. “We miss you here, Ms. Lily.”
My face stretched into this smile feels refreshing, it feels like a workout because I haven’t smiled like this in at least three days.

  “I miss you guys too, Spence.”

  “Up to Mr. Mac’s?”

Looking to the elevator I silently nod. When I step into the cart, I automatically think about what I did with Ian in this elevator and it makes me smile and squeeze my thighs together. My brain is telling me not to go, but my legs won’t stop traveling the route to his door. The echo from my knuckles hitting the apartment door makes me jump and I hear shuffling inside. My brain was hoping he wouldn’t be here. The door opens and I’m shocked at what I see. He has a beard and he looks like hell! I barely recognize him, except when he smiles and his eyes light up.

  “Lil,” he breathes my name and it turns my stomach. I
hate
Lil
. 

Though I’m staring at him, I don’t see him, he’s a blur. With no idea what to say I lose myself in my head where I’m asking myself ‘why the hell are you here?’ and I’m fighting an urge to cry.

  “Come in.” He steps to the side and before I enter I look inside the apartment, mentally begging myself to get out of here.
  “Do you still have my Tiki mask?” I ask as if that’s the reason I’m here while he closes the door behind me.
  “Um.” He looks around clueless.

My second mask is sitting right where he left it eight months ago when he said he’d hang it the next day. Nothing’s changed; the apartment’s still spotless and almost boring. I walk over to the dusty mask sitting on the bookshelf then notice a picture he has up of us. When I slowly turn to him with the mask in hand, I’m no longer sick to my stomach, I feel an overwhelming sadness sweeping over me. He’s unshaved, he’s lost at least twenty pounds, maybe more, and he looks sick.

  “Are you well?” I stupidly ask; he smirks.
It’s obvious he’s uncomfortable; he’s looking around like he’s trying to avoid eye contact. “I’ve been better. Can I get you something? A drink?”
  “No.” I hold out the mask. “I came for this.” God, I hope he buys that because I have no freaking idea why I’m here other than I feel myself on a self-destructive path I need to stop immediately.

Glancing over his shoulder and down the hall, he says, “There’re a few more things of yours in the spare room.”

I don’t want to go down the hall with him. I don’t want to be reminded of when I lived here. The first real place I lived without my parents.

  “You look great, Lil,” he says and I frown. I’m wearing eye makeup, lipstick, and a short purple dress. I’m wearing the entire reason we broke up.

  “How’s work?” I question.
  “I’m no longer employed.”
When I nodded, I didn’t act surprised enough, but I don’t care.

  “How are you managing, Sloan? You don’t look well.”
  “I’m managing.”

This is too awkward and I really regret being here.

  “I’m sorry to have bothered you,” I say, walking to the door.
  “You don’t have to go. How have you been? What’ve you been up to?”

When he grabs my hand as I reach for the knob, he feels the diamond and his eyes shoot to my ring. Slowly, his hand falls from mine and he’s gawking.
  “You’re. . . .” The dismal eyes boring into mine are starting to make me tremble. It was so stupid to come here. I know the man can be violent!

  “Take care of yourself, Sloan.” I put my hand to his face like an apology and it’s a huge mistake.

His hand is at the back of my neck and his lips are at mine; desperate lips. I drop the Tiki mask. This is a kiss we’ve never shared and I can’t pull away immediately. It gives me a pulse between my legs and when his hand slips to my hip, I step into him, feeling his erection on my thigh.

Oh god, this is so different from what we’ve ever had and it’s everything I wanted from him in the end.

What the fuck am I doing! I push him back and step back while putting my hand to my mouth, seeing my lipstick smeared across his lips. I push past him to the bathroom and lock the door before rushing to the medicine cabinet. My fingers graze the top shelf; I threw that razor away, dammit. In the cupboard, I pull a white washcloth out to wipe away the smeared lipstick. Scrubbing at my face, I turn the area around my mouth red.

I need to get the fuck out of here! I really have gone insane.

*LUXE*

  “Lil,” he said as she rushed to the door, picking the Tiki mask up from the ground.

Without looking at him, she was out the door and in the elevator before she could even blink. Leaning against the mirrored wall, she closed her eyes as tears sprung. The tears were for the intolerable feelings she had for him, and the tears were because what she did was cheating on Ian unless she told him. Quickly wiping her eyes, she rushed out of the elevator and hugged Spencer, then slipped away before he could start a conversation.

In the car, she gripped the steering wheel, taking a few deep breaths.

  “Fuck him!” she screamed, and she meant Ian. He was with his girlfriend and she needed him.

With nowhere else to go, she headed back to the condo. The blue tinted windows made it stand out amongst the others, helping her find it with ease.

While inside, she frantically looked around, wondering what she should do. Tell Ian or keep it to herself? Would Sloan eventually tell him if he ever found out she was engaged to Ian? Fanning her face as her breathing began to pick up, there was a knock at the door. The movers were there with her things from Ian’s place.

In His eyes there’s a world that does not exist

I’ve called Lily three times, now I decide to try my father. “Are you two still together?”
  “Can’t locate your soon to be wife already, eh?” He laughs and I grit my teeth. “We are not still together. We had an elegant lunch, she informed me of how dirty she plays, and she dropped me at the boat.”
  “What?” I snap. What the fuck does that mean? How dirty she plays!

  “I’m at the boat.” He’s acting like he doesn’t understand my outburst, but I know the son of a bitch fully knows what I’m pissed about.
  “What did you two discuss? What did you do?” I’m trying not to have implication in my tone.

He laughs. “Oh come on, Ian,” he says this like I’m an ignorant bastard that doesn’t know my fiancée. “She likes money.” His mocking laughter is infuriating. “Anyway, I’m not with her.”

I’m racing to the condo and thank god the roads are clear because I have to locate her
right now
. The convertible in the drive is the first thing I see as I approach, then the moving guys.

Rushing in, I call out loudly into the busy condo, “Lily?”