Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

K elly Hughes moved like the diva she was. She took full advantage of her husband being Carrington Hughes, who was now the CEO of Hughes Industries after his father’s death. And like her father, Carrington indulged Kelly’s every whim in exchange for her overlooking his transgressions. Without being given permission to enter his office, Kelly breezed past Carrington’s administrative assistant, ignoring her protests. Impatiently, she took a seat opposite him and his enormous desk. This time, Kelly would be patient and not demand he end his call.

While waiting for him to finish his conversation, Kelly took mental notes of everything she had to do before flying out with friends to Guadalajara. Pick up dry-cleaning. Confirm the boys’ Saturday playdate. Get nails done. And...figure out which of Carrington’s mistresses he will see while I’m away.

“So, how much would it cost to sponsor the car?”

Carrington? Sponsor? Those words grabbed her attention. Kelly found them curious, so she began to listen. Carrington had never sponsored anything that she could recall. He barely gave to charities. As she continued to eavesdrop, Kelly casually reached over and picked up the glossy magazine from his desk that he had been studying. Oh . It all started to make sense.

The title, “Get to Know the People Behind the Phenom, Colby James,” splashed across the cover. Kelly rolled her eyes when she saw Colby’s family and crew, but one person in particular stood out. Heat rose up the back of her neck. Colby James stood next to a racecar. The woman had seemingly come out of nowhere, and now her image was plastered everywhere. However, Kelly knew that Carrington wasn’t interested in the cover model. He was interested in that other woman. The darker-skinned woman standing next to her.

The rage pulsing through Kelly was likely to cause a stroke. Slowly, she inhaled while trying to calm down.

Carrington glanced at Kelly just as the lightbulb went off in her head. Her nostrils flared. Be mad . He didn’t care. Carrington was not going to explain himself or deny whatever she was thinking because in all likelihood, she was right.

Irritated, Carrington spoke into the phone, “Kelly’s here but not for long. Come down to my office so that we can discuss this further.” He disconnected the call.

Carrington sat up straight and met Kelly’s eyes. He refused to bend underneath her accusatory stare.

She held his gaze. “Really? I thought you were over this?”

“Not your business.”

“Making sure you don’t embarrass me again, make an ass out of yourself, and financially ruin us is my business.”

“Well...Hughes Industries has a problem, and Colby James just might be the answer.”

“Bullshit.” Kelly wasn’t buying it. She leaned forward. “You’ve had other mistresses. I don’t understand why she is so special.” Kelly tapped the woman beside Colby with a pointed, perfectly manicured nail.

“You don’t need to understand.” He was agitated and responded sharply. “Why are you here?”

“You might be over this conversation, but I still have something to say.” Kelly’s voice lowered but was dripping with disgust. “If you are not careful, you’re going to allow your obsession with Lila James to damage not just you but our family. We can’t handle another scandal.”

Carrington blew her off. “If I wanted your advice, I would have asked for it.”

“I’m your wife! Don’t forget that it was my father’s money that bailed out this company from that last nasty scandal you caused!”

Carrington wasn’t moved by her outburst. He drummed his fingers on his desk. “You’re being unnecessarily melodramatic.”

“No! You , not being able to keep it in your pants, have put all of us in precarious situations. We’ve barely recovered from your affair with Lila. You allowed it to get totally out of control.”

His piercing gray eyes bore into hers as he sat stone-faced. Carrington was unmoved by the reminder. “I said that I’m done talking about this. For the last time, why are you here?”

Kelly knew that tone. He was shutting down, and there would be no reasoning with him when he was like this. She held Carrington’s gaze for a second more before backing down. However, this fight was far from over. Kelly would table it for later, but in the meantime, she might as well get on with why she came to his office in the first place.

Kelly couldn’t even stand to look at him, so she focused on the painting above his head. “I’m flying to Guadalajara later today and need more money.”

Carrington shook his head in disgust. “If anyone is going to bankrupt us, it’s you. It’s not even the middle of the month, and you’ve already spent your stipend?”

“This is exactly what I’m talking about! You can do whatever the hell you want, but you hold me to rules you would never follow.”

“I run a business.”

Kelly growled, leaning forward and tossing the magazine pointedly across the desk toward Carrington. “And you seem to keep forgetting that if it weren’t for my father’s money, you wouldn’t have a business to run! Anyway, I’m not used to being on a...” Kelly searched for the right words.

Carrington finished for her. “A budget?”

She shivered as if he’d cursed her out. “Yes, that. It’s silly. Daddy would just give me the credit card, and that was that.”

“Then ask Daddy !”

She would have, but her father had cut her off. After the entire Lila fiasco and having had to bail them out to keep from embarrassing the family, Kelly’s father wanted her to divorce Carrington. Until she did, he vowed not to give either another cent.

In her own twisted way, Kelly loved and hated Carrington. She wasn’t quite ready to pull the plug on their marriage. “I shouldn’t have to! You’re my husband.”

“Exactly. I’m your husband, not your father. I’m not going to do the same shit he does.”

“You have a lot of nerve. Your poor decisions over the past few years have caused Hughes to take a major hit in stock prices. You’ve paid out millions in harassment lawsuits. The company has barely been making it, and the shareholders are still antsy. Stop punishing me for your mistakes.”

Carrington had to admit that Kelly did have a point, but he wouldn’t squirm under her stare. Nor would he acknowledge it.

She sighed like a petulant child. “I just need a little more shopping money. I can’t be there with all my friends, acting like the poor relation.”

Carrington ran a hand down the back of his head. He didn’t feel an ounce of guilt, but if he didn’t give her the money, Kelly might cancel the trip altogether, and he needed the break. “How much?”

Kelly beamed. “Thirty thousand should do it.”

“Thirty thousand? Are you serious?! What the hell kind of shopping will you be doing to need that amount of money?”

“C’mon, Carrington. A Birkin bag alone can run ten thousand or more.”

“Then don’t get one. I’m not giving you thirty. I’ll give you ten, and you better make do.” Carrington shook his head. Even with all he’d done, Kelly was being unreasonable.

“Fifteen?”

Begrudgingly, Carrington agreed. “Fine.”

Kelly was irritated. She wanted to argue. She wanted to use his indiscretions to barter, but after his earlier look, she decided to take the fifteen. “Now that we’ve agreed on a figure, please call the finance man so that he can release the funds.”

Carrington leaned over to pick up the phone, his teeth silently grinding. His knuckles whitened on the handset. If only it were Kelly’s neck.

Once the deed was done, Kelly stood to leave. Her eyes connected with his and narrowed. “I suggest you toss that magazine in the garbage. Whatever ideas you have in your head, forget about them. My life should not have to change because that bitch still makes your dick hard.”

As Kelly turned to walk out the door, she brushed past Carrington’s cousin, Philip. She couldn’t stand him either, so she didn’t offer a greeting. The dirty look she gave, though, spoke volumes.