21. Jane

My fingers glided across the keyboard with enough force to make the tips hurt. I didn't stop, not even as small waves of pain shot through me.

Working like this was the only way I could take my mind off William. It worked, for the most part. Every once in a while images of him, his lips, or his chest would flood my mind. It had been a really long time since I'd felt his lips on mine. I missed the way he held me when his lips were devouring my own.

I looked at the computer and groaned loudly when I saw that I had been typing about kissing William. He probably wasn't even thinking about me and yet I thought about him constantly. It was pathetic.

I deleted the part about kissing William, leaving behind my piece on the latest fashion trend—chunky necklaces. Personally, it wasn't my cup of tea but I had to admit that when paired correctly, chunky necklaces could look beautiful.

I had an interview with a top model in a few minutes and I wanted to finish this before then. It was the first time I was interviewing someone alone. I had to admit that I was a bit nervous. I'd sat in for several interviews at Bella's Elite but I'd never conducted them. This was my chance to really prove myself to Kiara.

She assured me that I didn't need to do anything to prove myself but that statement fell on deaf ears. I had to work hard so she would never consider firing me, not even after my divorce from her son.

Her son who had kissed me until my knees felt weak. He made his mark on my body and my mind. I still remember the way my body heated up when he trailed kisses down my neck.

My focus shifted to the computer and another loud groan escaped my lips. I wrote about kissing William again!

I heard a knock on my door. "Come in."

"She's here!" Lisa said, excitedly. She stepped into my office with a huge smile.

Her excitement could only mean one thing. The model was here. I took several deep breaths before standing up. She was early but that wasn't a problem for me. I was ready to do this.

I followed Lisa out of the office and into the lounge where most of the interviews were conducted. The sight of wavy dark brown hair halted me in place and for a minute I just stared at the back of her head.

Even her hair was beautiful.

I walked around the couch and my body halted for an entirely different reason. I blinked several times hoping that I was seeing things. It couldn't possibly be her. My luck couldn't possibly be this bad.

And yet, it was.

Sitting before me with the elegance of British royalty was the woman I saw in William"s office the other day. William"s ex-girlfriend was the woman I was interviewing today.

I suddenly understood why she looked so familiar. Layla De Luca was a popular model and I'd seen her a few times when I worked at Bella's Elite.

Heck! I'd led her into Mirabel's office on a few occasions.

Why did it take me so long to recognize her?

The woman glanced up at me and her face fell. Realization washed over both of us and I could tell the irony of our situation was not lost on her.

I straightened my shoulders and forced a smile onto my face. I needed to be professional even though jealousy was still eating me alive. The thought of William and Layla together made my blood boil.

I knew I had no right to be jealous but I couldn't help the way I felt. Layla smiled, smug and self-assured. She knew exactly how I was feeling. She knew I was comparing myself to her and coming up short.

How could I compete?

The woman was an international supermodel for crying out loud!

My smile dropped for a second but I restored it. I took a seat opposite Layla and smiled. "Miss. De Luca. It's a pleasure to have you here."

"I imagine that it is."

"This interview is—

She cut me off before I could finish my sentence. "What is your name again?"

"Jane," I said through gritted teeth while still managing to maintain a tight smile. "Now as I was saying, the—

"Jane." Layla's nose scrunched slightly as though she had smelt something putrid. "I wonder why he married you of all people."

"We're not here to discuss my private life."

"Fine. Then let's discuss mine," she said, her smug smile returning. "William and I have been together long before you came along. We understand each other."

"A relationship is about more than just understanding each other. There needs to be love."

"And you think he loves you?"

Her question cut through me, leaving me bruised and exposed. I knew William didn't love me and he never would. "Of course he does. He's my husband."

Layla laughed. The sound was angelic yet devilish. "William doesn't love you. He can't love you."

"And why is that?" I knew it was stupid of me to ask but I asked anyway.

"Because you, Jane, are simply not good enough. You will never be good enough. Soon William will realize he made a mistake marrying you. And when he kicks you out of his life, I will be there for him. Then he'll realize he should have married me. I am more worthy of the Aldaine name than you will ever be."

My eyes twitched but I knew I couldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing me lose control. She wanted to break me but I wouldn't let her.

"Let's s-start the interview now, Miss. De Luca." I tried to sound unphased but my voice broke and that told Layla everything she needed to know.

She leaned back into her seat and smiled. "Sure thing."

You will never be good enough.

Layla"s words stayed with me for the rest of the day. They replayed until it felt like she had engraved the words on my skull.

You will never be good enough.

She was right. I wasn't in William's social class and I never would be. I wasn't the type of girl that guys like him get married to. The press had called me a gold digger and even my own brother had implied it.

You will never be good enough.

It was stupid of me to even think I could measure up. William only married me because he had no other choice. He didn't want to marry me. I was just the only one available. I was sure he'd rather be with Layla.

And why do you care?a voice in my head asked.

Why did I care? William and I weren't really married. It shouldn't matter to me that he didn't love me. After all, we'd be divorced in a year. Then he could be with Layla.

My fingers tightened around my pen at the thought of William divorcing me to marry Layla. I glared at the unfinished article in front of me. It was difficult to write about chunky necklaces when my mind kept drifting to what Layla said earlier today.

I checked the time on my phone and frowned when I saw it was only 9 pm. William would still be at work. I wanted to leave the office late so he would be sleeping by the time I got home. The last thing I needed was to see him after what Layla told me today.

I pushed all thoughts of William and Layla out of my head and focused on work. An hour and a half later, I finally finished the article. Writing about chunky necklaces was a lot harder than I thought.

It was about ten-thirty p.m. now. Hopefully, William was already in bed. I packed my things and said goodbye to Lisa. She was pulling an all-nighter because she had overdue work. She would have finished it during the day but she was too enamored by Layla De Luca to concentrate.

The penthouse was deathly quiet when I walked into it a few minutes later. I timed it all perfectly. William was sleeping and I—

The lights in the living room came on and I jumped when I saw William sitting on the couch. He looked livid. "Why are you coming home so late?"

I placed a hand on my chest and tried to calm my heart down. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Consider it payback for the one you gave me. I've been waiting for hours. I was worried sick. Why did you come home so late?"

"I… I had some work to finish."

"And there was no way you could work from home?" He asked, incredulously.

"I don't like to work in bed."

"You could just use my office. Don't ever stay out this late again."

I hated hearing him give me orders. What right did he have to tell me what to do? "And why do you care?"

"What?"

"If I come home late then you'll have enough time to be with Layla. Isn't that what you want?"

His eyebrows furrowed as he leaned forward. "Did something happen today?"

"No."

"Jane." There was a slight warning in his tone and he stood up so he towered above me.

"I interviewed her today."

"Layla?"

"Yes," I said, looking away from him.

William pushed a strand of hair from my face. His hand lowered until he gripped my chin and forced me to look at him. "I already told you that there's nothing between us."

"That's not what she—

His lips collided with mine, causing my words to die in my throat. I wanted to pull away but I couldn't because deep down, I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to lose myself in him.

I kissed William back. My hands moved to the buttons of his shirt and I undid them slowly. I was dying to touch the hard muscles of his shirt. William pulled away so he could pull the shirt off and returned to me with the speed of a man starved.

He unbuttoned my shirt, exposing my lacy pink bra to him. I noticed the small smile on his lips before his head dipped to my chest. His kisses were slow and deliberate like he was savoring the taste of my skin. I realized that this was exactly what I'd been needing since the moment he kissed me at our wedding.

My hands were in his hair, relishing in the feel of his soft strands. William's hand reached behind me and my bra came off in a second. He looked at me and a look of uncertainty washed over him.

"We shouldn't be doing this," he said as he shook his head. His voice sounded strained. I could tell he wanted this just as much as I did so why was he pulling away?

William covered me with his shirt. The white button-down shirt was too big for me. It provided the warmth I needed in the face of William's rejection.

"I'm sorry."

With that, he walked away, leaving me standing in the living room in his shirt and with my body still on fire from his kisses.

How would we ever move past this?