Chapter 41

41

A manda

“Do you trust me?”

Elias paused from putting the spoon of chili into his mouth. The temperature was finally low enough for me to start cooking chili and soup, and him and his greedy son couldn’t wait to devour my chili. He was on his second bowl at this point, and I couldn’t hold the question back anymore. The only reason I asked was because of how easily we’d fallen back into a relationship. It made me wonder if he really expected me to be faithful or if a part of him thought I’d cheat on him again.

As he slowly put the spoon in his mouth and chewed, I laughed. He waited until he swallowed to respond.

“Yes. Do you trust me?”

“Of course.”

“Where did that come from?” he asked, dipping his grilled cheese in the chili.

“I just want to make sure you know I’m never going to cheat on you again. And I want you to know me cheating was never about you.”

Elias sat back in his seat. The way his eyes roamed my face filled me with curiosity. Normally, I could read every one of his expressions. This one was foreign.

“When we first started with this, you didn’t have any feelings involved. When you cheated, it was because you were going after a specific outcome. Whether that was money or pleasure. I can admit it was a hit to my ego, but I knew the game because I’d been around men who treated women the same way. Now, I’ve never been a cheater, but I know how they operate. What you were doing had nothing to do with me nor did it have anything to do with my worth or what I lacked. It was solely a reflection of your character and what you valued.”

“That’s why you didn’t want to be with me?”

“Yeah. We simply weren’t valuing the same things. Plus, for me, commitment, fidelity, and exclusivity are what create value in a relationship. If any man can have you, I don’t want you.” Elias shrugged before biting his grilled cheese.

“So what changed? I know you said I did, but what helped you realize you could trust me?”

“You want the raw truth?”

“Always.”

“Out of the twelve years we’ve known each other, this is the first year you’ve expressed and been emotional with me. When I started messing with Fiona, you gave me anger, hurt, sadness, a reflection of your love and desire for me. I feel like that was the first time you realized someone else could actually have me, and you saw what it would be like to lose me.

“With no ego but all the confidence in the world, I can say I trust that you won’t do anything to lose me again… just like I won’t do anything to lose you again.” He took my hand in his. “I was willing to give us a chance because I love you, and I want our family to be together. To grow. But this is the last chance, Mandy. If you were to cheat again—”

“I won’t,” I interrupted him quickly to say. “You’re right. I’d been wanting you for years, but when she came into the picture… things changed. Would I have watched you be with someone else if I had to? Yes. But I would have regretted it, and I don’t ever want to feel that way again. I know we can be with other people and be happy, but I chose you, and I want to choose you every day for the rest of my life.”

“Good, because you ain’t getting rid of me.” He took a couple of bites before asking, “Do your parents know we’re back together?”

My mouth twisted to the side, and I tapped my fingers on my glass of water. Whereas most young girls were raised to be wives and mothers, to save themselves, to only date one man at a time, I was raised to date several men and always keep my options open. To never equate provision and sex with love. To keep my heart closed and emote as little as possible.

Looking back, Mama set me up to be a damn good stripper and cheater, or even a woman who enjoyed quantity with no strings attached. She taught me how to protect my heart, even if it meant breaking someone else’s. But I’d come to learn I had a lot to learn when it came down to being in a healthy partnership. As happy as I was that we were back together, I hadn’t shared the news yet. There was no doubt in my mind that Mama would tell me either the relationship wasn’t going to work because of our past or that I was going to somehow fuck up our future. For now, I just wanted to keep the news away from her.

“I haven’t,” I admitted. “Have you told your people?”

He chuckled. “They knew this was going to happen, but yes, I’ve told them.”

“I will tell my parents soon. I just know Mama is going to have something negative to say. She’ll probably find a way to make me believe you’re with me just to be on some get back shit.”

“Regardless of what she says, all that matters is what I do and how I make you feel. I know that’s ya mama, and I’ll respect her because of you, but I’m not letting her fuck with your head this time around. We’re in a good space, so if you don’t need to tell them, I’m cool with that. I won’t feel like you’re hiding me for some reason. Whatever it takes to protect what we have, that’s what we’ll do.”

That made me feel a hell of a lot better. We continued to talk as he ate before going and taking turns playing chess with EJ. After that, we talked more about what we wanted our future together to look like. The conversation couples usually had when they first started dating felt weird to have with him, but I also loved talking to him about what we wanted, needed, and how we wanted to be loved and cared for. Prioritized. The effort and intention we put into our relationship this time was new, and I was sure it would be what made us a success.

A Little After Midnight

I hadn’t planned on falling asleep as early as I did, but when I woke up and found Elias’s side of the bed empty, I went to go look for him. It surprised me to find him in his office working. Usually, he had a good work-home balance.

“Can I help?” I asked, taking small steps into his office. “I’m ready for you to get in the bed.”

Elias gave me that dazzling smile while extending his arm for me. I sat on his lap and looked down at the papers that were sprawled across his desk.

“I’m trying to come up with something new to do at the Thanksgiving party this year. I feel a pressure to make this one the best one yet since it’s basically all on me. Neko and Mally Mal are coming back to attend, and I’ve been giving him updates on the decisions I’ve been making, but his input has been minimal since he’s been on vacation. I know I probably shouldn’t feel the pressure I do because we’re going to have some heavy pockets at both events, but I still want to do something to make this memorable.”

“Hmm…” Pulling the papers closer, I looked at all the ideas he’d written down and crossed out. They were good, but most of them were heavily centered on art itself. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was too niched down to try to appeal to a wider audience. “I have an idea.”

He kissed my neck before looking at me. “Let me hear it.”

“Why not take the focus away from art and business and do something for the city?” I watched his brain process my words as his expression shifted, but he remained silent. “This is the holiday season. A lot of people are struggling or dealing with seasonal depression and grief. Not everyone is capable of coming out and partying or even wanting to. Why not offer baskets of food, grocery store gift cards, and business scholarships to people?

“That way you can not only shine a positive light on N.E. Art, but you can also give people a chance to donate and do a great deed in the process. Things like this often reach thousands of people. So even if people couldn’t physically come to the party or auction, they could still participate. This is a business run by you and your brother after all, so I think it would be a really good look to give to other families or even siblings wanting to start a business. There are so many ways you can spin this.”

Elias wrapped his arms around me. He kissed my collarbone and neck, then my lips—three times before sucking the bottom one between his. When his hand held my neck in place and tilted my head, I moaned. The slow, careful kiss he gave me warmed my body and caused it to tingle. He pulled away and rested his forehead on mine.

“I think that’s a great idea. A beautiful idea. I also think you just proved why women were created to influence their men. There’s no way I would have thought of that on my own. Thank you, Mandy.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad I could help. And you may not have thought about it because you think big, but sometimes, the little things are mighty too. You’ve turned N.E. Art into a multi-million dollar firm. You’ve created something that allows your brother and so many other artists to live their dreams. I’m so proud of you, baby. I don’t think I’ve ever said that before.” When he lifted me and set me on his desk, I yelped. “Elias…”

“I want you to say that again while I’m in this pussy.”

“Wait. I’m excited to get to planning. We have so many things we can d—mm…ah!”

One second, his fingers were pushing my nightgown up, and the next, they were giving my pussy a love tap that instantly made it throb.

“If you ain’t figured it out yet, support and partnership turn me on. That shit makes my dick hard as fuck. We can plan later. Right now, I need to be inside of you.”

There was no way I’d deny him of something I wanted, too, so I leaned back slightly as he put my ankles on his shoulders and pressed his way inside of me. Had I known this would be his response to me being invested in what he did, I would have been sneaking to his office at the firm to talk about his work years ago.