Filthy Rich, Wild with Lust

Chapter 48

“In my opinion, you have posttraumatic stress disorder brought on by an apocalyptic event. The human mind has an intelligence of its own. It will do whatever it takes to protect you from future harm.”

I clench my jaw so hard that I feel like my teeth may crack.

“It’s called self-preservation, Henley. Your mind is unconsciously protecting you from harm. If you don’t love someone with your whole heart, you can never feel that pain again.”

The floor moves beneath me as I stare at him.

“But this behavior no longer serves you, Henley. It’s now sabotaging your happiness and future. You need to make a conscious decision to let it go.”

“Let it go,” I huff. “Like it’s that f*****g easy? You think I want to be like this?”

“Unconsciously, yes.”

“f**k you.”

“The first step of recovery is acknowledgement of this behavior.”

“You have no idea what you’re f*****g talking about,” I spit. “I’m not listening to this s**t for one minute longer.” I stand and march from the office. I’ve had as much of this f*****g i***t as I can take. “I won’t be back.”

“Henley,” he calls after me. “We are not finished.”

With my heart beating out of my chest, I push out through the heavy doors and storm to my car.

Fuck... just get me home.

Juliet

I watch through the kitchen window as Rebecca lies on a blanket in the morning sun in the back garden with Barry.

She’s strong.

It’s been days since that ungodly night where we caught her husband out. He’s begged for forgiveness and tried to force his way back into their house.

Blake won’t hear of it, won’t even let him drive in the street without waylaying him and threatening to kick his ass.

The joke of it is, after John got caught out that night, he went straight back to his mistress’s house. He’s still staying there now, clueless that, thanks to the Apple AirTag, we know his every move.

Rebecca has been staying with me, still not up to staying alone. If I’m honest, it’s helping me too. While she’s being brave, I still feel like my world is about to end.

I miss Henley. I miss the laughter we shared and the way he made me feel.

Rebecca is finally meeting with John this afternoon to discuss the future. She wanted to be stronger before she properly talked to him.

Hopefully now she is.

Knock, knock sounds at the door.

I flick the tea towel over my shoulder and open the door. “Blake.” I smile.

“Hi.” He smiles back. “You guys okay? I’m heading to the hospital to check in on some patients. Just wondering if you need anything.”

“We’re good.” Recently I’ve been seeing exactly what Chloe sees in the good doctor. He has a swoon factor of one thousand. “You know, for a gangbanging player... you are surprisingly attentive, Mr. Grayson.”

He chuckles. “Just checking in on you both.” He turns and walks down the front steps, and I follow him out. “How’s she doing... really?” he asks.

I shrug as we get to the mailbox. “She’s okay. I guess she’s had time to get her head around this long before it was actually confirmed as true.”

He nods as he listens.

“She’s meeting with him this afternoon to discuss what’s happening with them, so I guess she will know more after that.”

“What a f*****g i***t he is.” He shakes his head in disgust.

“I know.”

Henley’s front door opens, and we both look up. He walks out, wearing a perfectly fitted navy suit and a crisp white shirt. His back is ramrod straight. He glances over at us and nods but then keeps walking to his car. With my heart in my throat, I watch as he drives past us without so much as a wave.

My heart sinks. He really doesn’t care.

“Don’t mind him... he’s...” Blake shrugs. “Sorting through some stuff right now.”

I roll my lips so I don’t say something snarky.

“He’s a good man, Juliet.”

My eyes search his. “Is he?”

“Don’t give up on him.”

“He gave up on me.”

“Henley is”—he exhales heavily—“complicated.”

Suddenly I want all the information I can get from Blake. “How so?”

“It’s not for me to elaborate on... but just”—he shrugs—“give it some time.”

“Is there someone else?” I ask.

“God no.” He screws up his face. “It’s nothing like that.” He kisses my cheek. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Okay, thanks.” I watch as Blake crosses the cul-de-sac and gets into his new silver Porsche. It purrs like a kitten as he starts the engine. He waves happily as he drives off into the distance, and my mind wanders over his insight.

Don’t give up on him.

I wish it were that easy.

At 5:00 p.m., a text bounces through. It’s from Rebecca.

Can we go out for dinner and drinks.

I need to vent.

Shit. It must not have gone well. I reply.

Sounds good, I’ll book and call Chloe.

Seven ok?

Margaritas are on the menu.

I watch as her dots bounce.

Sounds great.

7:00 p.m.

I walk into the restaurant and see Chloe and Rebecca already at the table with margaritas in their hands. I did a four-hour shift at the retirement home this afternoon to cover for someone and am running late. They have started without me.

“Hey.” I smile as I take a seat.

“Welcome to the Man Haters Anonymous table.” Chloe holds her margarita up to me in a toast. “All men are fuckers,” she slurs.

I giggle and pick up the margarita that is waiting for me on the table. “How long have you two been here?”

“Long enough to establish that we hate men,” Chloe says in a way-too-loud voice.

Rebecca holds her glass up too. “Hear, hear.”

I giggle. “Well, just so happens I am the president of man hating, so I’m glad to be in good company.”

We clink our glasses in a toast.

“So...” I widen my eyes. “What happened?”

Rebecca rolls her lips. “He cheated because I wouldn’t give him anal.”

“What?”

“What a f*****g i***t,” Chloe gasps. “I’m going to give him anal with a f*****g mop handle.”

“What do you mean?” I stammer. “Explain everything to me. Where did you meet?”

“Okay.” Rebecca sips her drink. “We went to a coffee shop that we always go to. I wanted somewhere public that would force us to have a civilized conversation.”

“Sounds fair.” I listen intently.

“I told him that I needed complete honesty and that if he gave me that, then we may possibly work through this.”

“Right.” I frown. My eyes flick to Chloe, and she pulls her finger across her throat. “What happened?”

“He has been sleeping with her for over a year.”

“Fuck.”

“He says it’s just s*x and that he is completely in love with me and had no intention of ever ending our marriage.”

“What a f*****g i***t,” Chloe gasps. “I f*****g hate this guy. Can we cut his d**k off and feed it to the feral cats?”

I bubble up a giggle but try to hold it in. “Right.” I try to stay focused on being a good listener for Rebecca. “How did it start?”

“Get this,” Chloe slurs. She points her drink to me, and it sloshes over the side.

Rebecca leans in toward the table. “He said that he had always wanted anal sex.”

“Right.” I roll my lips. “Is that true?”

“It is, and to be fair, I wouldn’t even try it.”

“Okay.”

“He said that one day he was in the lunchroom with Mia, eating their lunch. They had become friends over time, and Mia said that she was having s****l problems with her boyfriend.”

I frown, and my eyes flick to Chloe, who is giving an overexaggerated eye roll. “Give me a f*****g break,” she spits.

I giggle as I sip my drink. “Right. What kind of s****l problems? I’m-a-whorebag problems?”

“Exactly,” Chloe splutters.

“He said that Mia was upset with her boyfriend because he wouldn’t try anal sex.”

“What?” I explode. “Who tells their f*****g boss that in the lunchroom unless they want to f**k his brains out? This woman is the living end.”

“I know, shameless,” Rebecca whispers angrily. “Anyway, that opened the conversation for them to talk about s****l fantasies, and yada, yada, and two months later they decided to have one night together at a work conference.”

My eyes widen. “Their first time was anal?”

“Apparently.”

“f**k off,” I snap. “He is using anal against you to justify him being a f*****g sleazebag.”

“Exactly,” Chloe spits. “If he was good at s*x, she would have given him anal, wouldn’t you, Bec?”

Rebecca shrugs as she sips her margarita. “Who knows, but he’s not the f*****g porn star he thinks he is, that’s for sure.”

“God.” I drain my glass and gesture to the waiter for another round of drinks. “Then what?”

“He said that it was never emotional, that they fell into the habit of having s*x, and that she has a boyfriend she is in love with too. They told each other every time that this was going to be the last time.”

“What?” I gasp. “f**k her.”

“That’s exactly what he did,” Chloe snaps.

I’m shocked to my core. “What do you even say to this?”

“He said that he thinks that we met too young and that he just needed to do some s****l exploration but he knows that it’s me who is the love of his life.”