10. Marcus

We stayed on the beach for a while, leaving her family, Carl and Monique, back at the house. I'd originally brought them here as sort of chaperones just in case anyone found out she was here with a man and tried to make something of it in her divorce.

That's how my mind works, always ten steps ahead of the enemy. It's the only thing that has kept me alive all this time. We hadn't talked much as we walked; we were both lost in our thoughts, but we never let go of each other's hands, and that was more than enough for me.

She's not the only one who had to think about where this was going. I, too, have to think of the best way to navigate our budding relationship without scaring her off. I know I can come off a bit strong.

Monique hadn't been too far off the mark with her comments earlier; I do want to bundle her and her kids up and take them behind the protective walls of my family estate.

But I know, standing by her side right now, even though I've been out of the country for years, and it can be proven that she and I didn't have an affair before all this, that the mere hint of such a scandal would only make her life more difficult.

I want her to get the most out of this. I want her to skin her ex in the divorce and then use his money to wipe her ass because no matter how much it is, it won't be as much as I throw away on bullshit every year.

I also have to think ahead because once she gets the ball rolling to start unraveling the life she'd built with this man for the past ten years she's not going to be in any position to deal with certain things. I know how men with money use that money to manipulate the less fortunate.

I watched my father do that to my mother, the woman he'd met and married straight out of college. Mom was from a poor background, but she was astonishingly beautiful. That's what attracted Dad to her when they met at a party on campus.

She was there on scholarship, and he was there to piss away my grandparents' money with his dumb ass. Years later, when I had just finished college, right after graduation, in fact, is when, he asked for a divorce.

I found out later that he had been cheating on her for years but only waited for me to become an adult to hit her with the last blow. She had been genuinely in love with him, but she was no match for the high society bitch he left her for, or so she thought. He'd claimed that he was tired of being embarrassed by her background. Yeah, it took him twenty years to come to that conclusion.

I was so mad I almost killed him, and then when she took her own life, I almost did. It was only my grandmother pleading with me not to throw my life away that saved his ass.

And then, I left the country and proceeded to put my life in danger every chance I got. Had it not been for Carl, I would've died ten times already. Because I just stopped caring. But now, now I have something to live for, and it's not because of a good cause.

I'm now teaching people in third-world countries how to run their own corporations and take control of their country's assets without the need for outside help that was meant only to rob them of their resources and give them pennies on the dollar.

That's what I've been doing for the past fifteen years. Monique claims I'm doing it for my mother because of where she came from, maybe. I'm not sure anymore. I just know I have a strong hatred for those who prey on the weak and use their money to oppress the innocent.

My father tried to leave my mother broke, and it was only my grandparents who stepped in in the end and made sure she got her fair share in the divorce. But she was never in it for the money; she genuinely loved him. Then he let that bitch he married treat her like shit and ostracized her from everyone she knew until she had no other choice, or so she thought, but to end it all.

That's the day I almost killed my father, a day that I still relive day in and day out. A day that I plan to revisit one day when no one is looking.

* * *

JUSTINE

* * *

I hadto head back early Sunday evening because my oldest daughter needed to be at school the next day. I was not looking forward to seeing my mother-in-law because who knows what lies her son had fed her, but the mood I was in, she wouldn't want to get in my face the way she always did.

Marcus followed me back while my family was taken back home because they had lives to get back to but promised to come out again in a couple of weeks when school was out, which is when we usually got together at the beach house.

It was only about eight when I pulled up to her house and rang the bell and I was glad not to see my ex's car in the driveway. She opened the door with her stink face on. "Where are the kids?"

I heard my babies calling for me once they heard my voice.

"You're not taking them anywhere this time of night."

"Bitch, if you don't move out of my face right now."

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to like that in my own house?" I moved to walk past her, and she body-checked me. Twelve years of pent-up fury rushed down to my fist, and before I could help myself, it was connecting with her cheek.

"Show some fucking respect." My kids came running into the room while she was holding her cheek, and I grabbed them and left. I didn't even know what the hell they had on, but that was okay. The ride back to the house wasn't that long.

* * *

Shit,what the hell did I just do? I knew that bitch was going to call the cops, and I wasn't wrong. They reached the house five minutes after I arrived and I had to use my new phone way sooner than I expected. "Marcus, I fucked up."

"What happened?"

I gave him a quick rundown and told him that the cops were there. "I'm on my way. Tell them someone will be there to watch the kids. Do not let them take the kids." How the hell was he thinking about this shit when I couldn't even remember what my name was?

I went outside before they knocked on the door. "I'll come with you guys. Just let me wait for someone to come get my kids." For once, they were understanding and even let me stand outside the car, though my hands were in cuffs.

Monique showed up first, all squealing tires and resting bitch face. She didn't even acknowledge the cops; she just told me Marcus was on his way and not to worry about the kids. I was given enough time to say bye to my kids and introduce them to Mommy's nice friend before I was hauled off.

I wasn't scared for some reason; just a bit resolved. We had barely reached the end of my street when two cars stopped diagonally in front of the cop car. Marcus got out of one with Carl, while someone I had never seen before climbed out of the other.

Carl showed the cops something that I did not see, and Marcus tapped on the back door where I was seated until one of the cops came around to open it. They were apologizing while the other man was speaking to them, and all I heard Marcus say was apologize to her, not me.

What the frig is going on? What the hell? I heard the words diplomatic immunity and looked at him like I'd never seen him before. "Who are you really?"

"Your future husband."

He pulled me into his chest, and I felt like crying. How come I never knew what feeling protected felt like? He started walking me back toward his car, and I looked back at the cops. "What about them?"

"What about them?"

"I'm pretty sure she's going to press charges. She's been looking for an excuse for years."

"She can't. Not only that, after tomorrow, she won't dare."

"What's tomorrow?"

"Your first day as my executive assistant."

"Isn't that Monique's job?"

"She's my personal assistant, that's different. Besides, can you imagine Monique sitting behind a desk dealing with corporate types all day? Half of them would quit by the end of the week."

How can I laugh at a time like this? In fact, now that I think about it, all that I've been doing since we met is laughing. Laughing and eating. The man loves to feed me.

We went back to the house where Monique and the kids were already having some kind of party. I'm not kidding. She had what looked like every snack known to man spread out on my kitchen island and music was blasting from Alexa. It"s nine o'clock on a school night.

I looked at her, then at them; the youngest one had an ice cream mustache and looked guilty as hell. "Aunty Mo-Mo said we could have it."

"Aunty Mo-Mo?"

"This is grown folk business, Missy. Don't get involved." Believe it or not, she was talking to me, not the three pint-sized people she was corrupting.

"Alright, munchkins, who wants some more swizzle sticks?"

The noise level went up a notch, and all I could do was look back at Marcus, who was standing near the door with Carl by his side. Both of them with an indulgent look on their face.

I can see I'm going to have trouble on my hands when it comes to these three and my kids.

‘Oh, leave the poor kids alone, you stuck-up twit.'

You're becoming more of a bitch every day.

‘Takes one, honey. By the way, that was hot as fuck back there. Diplomatic immunity bitch, you can suck a dick. I'd love to see the look on the old hag's face when she hears she can't do shit. Heyyyyyyyy.'

No!

‘Hear me out. Now that we have a free pass, shouldn't we use that shit? I got a list.'

"What's your twin conspiring now?"

"You don't wanna know." I'm gonna have to get used to him knowing my secret.