Lust For My Husband’s Best Friend (Book 3)

Chapter 24

Colette

I sat at the breakfast table eating my meal quietly. My son sat next to me chewing loudly and quickly. He was so much like his father.

“Where did you go last night?” Leon asked. His voice was cold and demanding.

“Whatever do you mean?” I asked as I prepared my tea. “I went directly to bed.”

“Don’t play coy with me.” Leon growled. He looked at me with his stone gray eyes. “You left the box and went off somewhere.”

I took in a small breath. I thought I had been discreet. His father and him were deep in conversation about the woman who was performing and how they’d both slept with her. My husband’s crude honesty and shameless bragging of his mistresses in front of me was nothing new. 20 years ago it would have brought me to tears but not anymore.

“Where did you go Mother?” Leon growled again. “Father may not have noticed but I did.”

I knew there was no point in lying so I decided to play along. I nodded and sighed. “I had to step away to collect myself for a moment.”

For a split second there was a distant and familiar softness in Leon’s eyes. “Are you alright?”

His concern warmed my heart. It had been so long since Leon had shown any warmth or care. His father had turned him into a monster.

“Yes, I am alright, thank you.” I smiled and set my tea cup down. “Your father’s comments deeply impacted me, no matter how much I’d like to pretend otherwise.”

I wanted to laugh at the complete absurdity of my lie. I no longer cared for my husband, I actually prayed for his death almost every night. He was not a good man and definitely not a loving partner. But for some reason Leon believed me and nodded.

“I see.”

I opened my mouth to say more, to try to enjoy the version of Leon that had been shoved into a corner for so long but when he looked at me again the cruelness in his eyes was back.

“Maybe if you were a better wife then Father wouldn’t be driven to finding pleasure in other women.”

The fork fell out of my hand and I felt the air knocked out of me.

“What did you just say to me?” I almost yelled.

“Father says you haven’t been pleasing him, that it’s been years since you’ve been a worthy bed companion.”

I gritted my teeth, knowing that when I had to be intimate with my husband I tried my best not to cry and I would force myself to get through it.

“You have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Maybe if you took some tips and tricks from his wh*res then you’d be a decent wife again.”

Before I knew what I was doing my hand slapped across my son’s face and there was a loud crack that echoed through the room. Leon’s left cheek was burning red and my right hand was trembling as I pulled it back.

There was a deadly silence that followed and for a mere moment when Leon turned back to look at me, I saw the shock and hurt in his eyes. I saw the sweet boy I had raised for 10 years before his father took him from me. I could see the pain in those crystal eyes of his and for a moment I regretted my choice.

But then the evil in those eyes returned. I had been so frozen in shock that I didn’t notice him raise his hand to strike me as well until a scream filled the room and I was pushed out of the way.

I toppled over some chairs and landed on the ground but when I looked up I saw a small figure in a green dress standing where I was and receive the slap that was meant for me.

My heart broke and I shouted in anger as Cecilia landed on the floor next to me. I reached for her and when I cradled her face I saw blood coming from her mouth and tears in her eyes. A hot rage boiled inside of me seeing this young girl in my arms so full of fear and pain. Mostly because I had been in her place so many times for so many years.

We both looked up at Leon who was towering over us. There was no shock or regret in his face as he saw his wife in my arms crying and didn’t even acknowledge the fact that he had almost hit me-his own mother.

Instead he fixed his jacket and hair, stepped over us and headed for the hall.

“Don’t get involved in situations that you’re not called for Cecilia. This is all your fault.”

Cecilia and I both remained on the floor for what seemed like hours. The slap must have been deadly because her eyes began to flutter and her bleeding worsened. I was on the verge of crying for help when the young maid who served Cecilia walked in.

Her eyes widened in horror and she stumbled backwards but then quickly recovered and ran to her mistress.

“My lady! My lady please look at me! What happened?” She shrieked.

I grabbed her arm firmly and she looked at me in fear. I hated that everyone looked at me in the same way they looked at my son and husband. I was not evil, I was nothing like them.

So I softened my tone but remained firm. “Get a carriage ready right away and bring it out back through the servant’s entrance. And send for a doctor to meet us.”

The young girl nodded and got to her feet. “Of course my lady. Where should I send him to?”

I looked back down at the beautiful, brave and loving girl in my arms. The one who had defended me when she didn’t have to. Who kept fighting no matter what.

I was in her debt now, and there was only one person that could care for and protect her right now.

I lowered my voice and raised head my eyebrow at the young maid.

“We will head to the Duke of DuPont’s home. And you are to tell no one, is that understood?”

The maid nodded her head quickly and scurried off. But before she turned the corner she looked back.

“What should I tell the Lord, if he were to ask?”

I laughed to myself. “He won’t, but if he does, just lie. And it better be a good one.”