Page 10 of Matrimonial Merger (Lakeshore Empire #2)

Daphne

I held my mother’s hand in one hand and Dora’s in the other as I sat in a courtroom, back straight as I’d always been taught.

I used my outfit to convey strength. I showed up in a dark teal dress—a color Chandler loathed on me and my favorite earrings.

I wanted him to see me living proudly. The verdict awaited.

It was either very good or very bad. Deliberations took only two hours—almost unheard of—and now we received the fated decision from the mouths of the people who held all my hopes—and Chandler’s fate—in their hot little hands.

To my surprise, Chandler was relatively calm. He looked convinced this was all a good sign. After all, we both knew a quick verdict could be very good for a defendant. I hoped it was the opposite, that we won.

“We find the defendant?—”

Dora squeezed my hand hardest. I knew her little heart was beating out of her compassionate little chest.

“Guilty.”

I’d warned everyone not to celebrate this win, but Chloe still let out a little squeal of sheer joy on my behalf. Her squeal was largely unheard over the wailing of Chandler’s mother and his very pregnant girlfriend who showed up to court.

The judge called us to order once more, and followed next steps while the women continued crying.

“When do they sentence him?” Delanie whispered.

“They don’t. Not today. I have to come back for a victim impact statement in a few weeks,” I whispered.

“What? Why?”

“It’s just that way,” I said. “It’s like that in the US, too—except on TV.”

Upon adjournment, I sat in disbelief watching a man I’d spent more than a decade with—a man I’d once loved with all my heart—be put in handcuffs and led away.

His time with an ankle bracelet was over.

For now, he would be in prison. Suddenly, he looked so small.

The bailiff let him stand as his family and girlfriend hugged him tightly, the women sobbing as they did.

It was surreal. He was gone. And likely, he was gone for years.

“Daphne, we should go,” Mum said.

“I… I need a minute,” I insisted. I just needed to see him led out to believe it.

“But darling?—”

Her worries became clear as Chandler’s mother barged up.

“I hope you rot in hell, you conniving little whore!” She shouted at me. “This was all because of you and your meddling?—”

“No. You do not get to speak to her like that,” Mum insisted. “You are embarrassing yourself.”

“She had an axe to grind. She is so satisfied!” Chandler’s mother pointed her finger at me, almost hitting Mum in the process.

“Excuse me, but do I need to throw hands or are you going to shut the fuck up?” Chloe clapped back, ignoring all social decorum. Her righteous indignation was what gave Elise Markham fits and made Cal proud.

“Is there an issue?” The Crown prosecutor stepped forward, his wig still atop his head. “Or will you please step aside, ma’am.”

“I am allowed to have opinions!” She sobbed. “My son isn’t guilty! He did nothing wrong! This is all this mob mentality. She called him a rapist! He is no such thing.”

“He wasn’t tried for rape, so I did no such thing,” I insisted, annoyed.

“But he was,” Chloe said. “And I will say that with my full chest.”

“That is libel!”

“It’s slander,” I corrected her. “And if it’s true, it’s not defamation.”

Frustrated with my legal clap back, she threw a small sachet of tissues at her husband and stormed out.

Following close behind was Natasha, the woman he’d left in the lurch.

Her parents were prominent Tories but were nowhere to be found.

As the party deserted Chandler, I worried they deserted this girl, too.

She wasn’t even twenty-five. She was a baby. And now she was having a baby.

“I… I do not know what to say,” she said, stopping.

“Then move along!” Delanie barked.

Natasha appeared remorseful, so I spoke up. “It’s fine, Lanie.”

“I’m… I don’t mean to cause trouble,” Natasha said. “What we did was wrong. And what he did… was unforgivable. I do love him, but… what he did hurt you. I am sorry.”

Without thinking, I took her hand, tears welling. In the most maternal way, I said, “You, too, were a victim, Natasha. He did the same thing to me. I hope someday you can find peace with your child. She didn’t do this. He did.”

“But it was me?—”

I cut her off. “It was you that woke me up, honestly. You gave me the strength to leave him. Please do not think that I blame you, sweetheart. That isn’t it.”

Tears ran down her face. She gave a small, weak smile and nodded. “You are kinder than you should be. I am dreadfully sorry. At the very least, just know that it will pain me to know how I enabled him. And I will sit with that. All I wanted to do was make a difference and?—”

“You were sucked in. I get it. I was there. He was my boss once. Natasha, you are so young. Please, go on with your life. Do something for women and we will call it even,” I said. “And if you haven’t hired a family law attorney, please do. Do you know the name of my barrister?”

She nodded. “God, do I ever!”

“Ring her when you get home. Tell you that I sent you.”

She cocked her head.

“You need her. She will gladly take you on.”

Natasha nodded again. “Thank you. I don’t deserve this.”

As she departed Mum stared at me, mouth agape.

“What?” I asked. “She’s a child. I won’t curse her. What she did hurt me, but I won’t blame her for his sins. I hope she leaves.”

“Leaves and gets her bag,” Chloe snickered.

“It was the greatest act of parental kindness I have seen from you,” Mum agreed. “Daddy would be so proud of your compassion and strength, Daphne. Now, I am desperate for supper. Can we please take ourselves somewhere with food?”

I replied, “I suppose I could eat, too.”

Cal

I woke to rustling in the corner of the room. I spied Daphne disrobing and throwing her clothes in the hamper.

“Is it done-done?” I whispered as she darted around the closet in near-darkness.

“I tried not to wake you,” Daphne said, coming back to bed in one of my t-shirts.

“You don’t have to worry about that. I’m glad to have you back.”

Daphne settled into my arms, reseting her head on my chest and let out a long, happy sigh.

“I love you,” she said. “I missed you. And yes, it is done-done.”

Daphne had gotten on a plane late after the sentencing hearing, flying back private. By the time the verdict was released, I was knee-deep in an alderman meltdown, followed by a fundraiser. By the time I made it home, I went straight to bed.

“You didn’t hear?” Daphne asked.

“I didn’t check. I wanted it to come from you, Daph.”

“Well, he got walloped—for this charge. Two years in prison and the maximum fine.”

“Two years? That’s a joke!”

She looked up at me, “That is the maximum penalty. Judging by the way his attorneys acted, they thought he’d walk away with nothing more than home monitoring.”

“Shit. I’m sorry, baby.” I kissed the top of her head. “For what he did?—”

“He deserved worse, but he has no career left. He’s isolated?—”

“And he can live on his divorce settlement.”

“That’s unsure. His girlfriend wasn’t there. I mean, she’d just had a baby, but if you believe the rumor mill, Chandler is about to be taken to court for support.”

“Well, he’s not making money in prison.”

“Doesn’t matter. He has assets,” I insisted. “His assets will be enough to support them, I hope. I feel for that girl.”

I held Daphne tight, taking in the smell of her. I was so glad to have her back.

“It feels like home with you here,” I said. “I am glad this is over for a million reasons, but most of all because you’re home for good.”

“I was barely gone?—”

“Daph, any time I am apart from you is too much.”

“You sound like a sap,” Daphne giggled.

“I am. For you I always will be. How are you feeling?”

“Today, better,” Daphne said. “This past week has been better. I’m a little spooked, but I guess we will see what happens at the ultrasound appointment. We still haven’t gotten our results back, of course.”

“I meant about the whole thing,” I said. “The trial and life now?”

She sighed long. “I… I guess I’m okay? This is the next chapter—a new step. I told myself this would bring me peace, but… I don’t know. With so much changing, I feel like I’m leaving a part of myself behind but I don’t know the woman before me.”

“Daphne, the woman before you gets to live her life without constraints.”

“I just… I want to get our lives on the road. I want to marry you and live. I want to know this baby will be okay and start our lives together. I want to put the past behind me and own my future.”

“And you will,” I promised.

“Then why do I feel like I am stuck in this grey area?”

I kissed the top of her head. “You’ve been through something unimaginable, baby. You were tested and pulled back into the abuse—and very publicly so! I think it is okay to feel a little out of it. Give yourself time. Just enjoy the quiet now.”

She paused, then said, “You’re right. I need to give myself more credit. This was exhausting. And being pregnant alone is a lot. I love you, Cal. I love you so much.”

“I love you, too. And you will feel better after this appointment.”

“I hope so,” Daphne said. “I hope we will get some good news.”

“We will,” I said.

“I missed you so much,” Daphne said. “Just this… the safety and the quiet. I could just go on like this. Thank you.”

“For what, baby?”

“For just… being good. For just being honest and here for me. This year has been a disaster. We haven’t even made it to the anniversary of Dad’s death. Cal, it hasn’t even been a year, but it feels like a good forever all the same.”

“A good forever?” I asked.

“Because I feel like you were always meant to end up with me—and me with you. But it doesn’t feel like an eternity in a bad way.”

I kissed her slowly, understanding what she meant. It took us time to get here, but now that we were, I couldn’t imagine life without her. It wasn’t fleeting. It wasn’t scary.

I pulled back and said, “There is nothing missing.”

“What?”

“There’s no sense of some big elephant in the room,” I insisted, tucking her hair behind her ear. “You are the most wonderful person and I feel completely and utterly sure of this.”

“Well, then, I guess you should marry me,” Daphne snickered.

“I cannot explain it, but… I have always had a ‘what if’ playing in the background. With Kristy, I knew she couldn’t give me what I wanted—even if I refused to admit it. It wasn’t that I wasn’t committed. I just wanted different things. With you, I was always hook, line, and sinker, Daph.”

“It just took us time to be on the same trajectory,” Daphne agreed. “I must admit I kicked myself many times for listening to you in that elevator. I think about the what-ifs of it. What if I’d been brave enough to send Chandler home and love you anyway? What if I’d just called you out?—”

“I wasn’t ready,” I admitted. “I wasn’t going to settle down or risk my career then. I was stupid to think you weren’t worth it. I’m ashamed of it, Daphne. I think about it, too. But the truth? I wasn’t mature enough to love you like you deserved—to put you first always.”

“Why now then?”

“I have watched everything slip away. I knew what I wanted. And what I wanted was this—a peaceful life with someone who is there at night. A life where I am free to dote on you, but where you do not need me to always rescue you.”

“I can save myself. You remind me of that enough.”

“And you do.” I smiled down at her. “You are beyond wonderful, Daphne. I am so lucky.”

“You’re also nuts.”

“A little. But who isn’t?”

She ran her index finger down my chest and bit her lip, knowing it would send me over the edge. Suddenly, I was awake and wanting much more than to roll over and go to sleep.

“You want to fuck me, don’t you?” Daphne asked.

“Yeah if it ’s not too much to ask. Only if?—”

She cut me off with a long, hungry kiss and pulled my hand down to her center.

“You think you can be demanding, princess?” I asked, pressing her back against the bed.

“Am I not allowed, Cal?”

“Oh, no, you’re allowed. Always. What do you want, princess? I want to hear you say it.”

“I want you to unravel me,” she commanded. “And to watch me cum. I want you to watch what you do to me.”

Delighted, I tossed her panties aside.

“I want to listen to you cum. I want to watch what I do to you, yes, princess,” I growled. “But first, I want to taste you.”

“I…” Her eyes grew wide. “I…”

“You will say yes, Daphne, because you’ll never deny me this, will you? The sound, sight, and taste of you, princess.”

She bit her lip and threw her head back as I played with her clit.

“Sit on my face.”

“Cal—”

“No. No excuses,” I said. “Sit on my face, Daphne.”

She gave me a combative look—mostly for show—before she fought a smile and followed orders.

I reminded myself it had been ages since she rode me face like this.

And yet? I loved lapping her up and listening to her panting, losing herself, earth shattering climax.

I lived for the ways her legs quaked around me.

“I don’t… it doesn’t. I won’t—” She protested, but stopped, breath becoming frantic.

No cumming during oral? I fought a snicker since that never went down. Daphne would cum—and hard.

“Oh, fuck,” Daphne moaned. “I’ve been… so fucking… horny…”

Every gyration of her hips brought her closer. My grip on her ass tightened.

“Oh, fuck! I’m going to… lose.. it,” she panted, gripping the headboard. “Cal, oh fuck! Oh! God!”

She came as loudly as I could remember in recent memory—whether for my benefit or due to being so desperate—and I got to taste her properly. As her legs twitched and she panted, coming down from her high, I gave her a spanking.

“Give me… a sec,” she said, breath even more ragged. “That was… the world’s longest… orgasm.”

She fell to the side, flushed and frayed at the seams.

“You’re complaining about a long orgasm, princess?”

Daphne shook her head. “No. I just feel like it took forever to come down. It was so good.”

She curled around me. Instinctively, I kissed her forehead.

“Cal,” she said quietly.

“Yes, baby?”

“I’m sleepy.”

I snickered. “That’s okay. We’ll pick it up another day.”

I’d get the best of her another time. For now, I had enough material for this week’s spank bank and then some.