PAPER VOWS Novel Chapter 17

“Good morning,” I greet Giselle after walking into the kitchen. She looks dressed up. I wonder where she is going on a Sunday like this. Dante said we were going to lie down for a second, but it’s now almost eleven am and that man is still sleeping. He must have been tired. God knows if he had any sleep last night since he was still working at three am and was at my house at seven.

With her focus on the bag in her hands, Giselle says, “Hey, I let Dante in this morning. I hope you don’t mind.”

“It’s fine. I also didn’t know he was coming; I would have updated you,” I say now, pouring myself a cup of coffee. This coffee maker is the best thing we ever bought in this house. I should make Dante something to eat. I hope he is not allergic to eggs and bacon because that is what I am going to make.

“What have you two been busy with all morning. If you were doing it, then you two know how to keep it down. I couldn’t hear anything.”

I look at her and shake my head. Why would she try to listen to anything Dante and I do? “Dante is still sleeping. He must have been tired. He was still up when I checked on him at three am and was here that early in the morning. When does he get the chance to even sleep?”

“That billionaire status didn’t just happen from thin air. A man has to work. Anyway, I am heading over to James’s house; he is not working today, so I am just going to pop up. You and your man have the apartment to yourself. Enjoy yourselves – just don’t do it on the couch or the kitchen counter.”

“Just go to your boyfriend, I never tell you where not to do it,” I say, now pouring another cup of coffee. This one is for Dante. I don’t even know how he likes his coffee – two teaspoons is what I have, so I do that for him too.

“See you later,” Giselle hugs me and gathers her things. “I’m taking your car.”

“You and James better fill up the tank.”

“My little sister is dating a billionaire who gave her a black card. I am pretty sure gas money is nothing to you now. Take care, I love you, okay?” She blows me a kiss and heads out.

I pick up the cups of coffee and go to my bedroom. Dante is still sleeping. I put the two cups on my dressing table and get into bed. I kiss him on the cheek, “Wakey wakey!”

“I’m not sleeping.”

This time, I kiss him on the lips, just a peck and say, “I brought you some coffee, then I will make you something to eat.”

“What are you making?”

“Eggs and bacon with toasted bread. I hope you are not allergic.” I don’t want to be the woman who kills Dante Lyon.

“I’m only allergic to nuts. Everything else I am good.”

“I will go and get started then. You must be famished,” I try to get out of bed, but he pulls me back, until I am hovering over him.

“Where is my good morning kiss?”

I haven’t brushed my teeth, but lean and kiss him, slow and unhurried. His hands rest on my waist, firm and possessive as the kiss deepens. The room seems to shrink, warmer now, as his touch lingers and my thoughts of leaving fade away. We make sweet love. It would be lovely to wake up like this every day – lost in each other’s warmth.

After our little session, Dante and I shower, then I make us something to eat while he is on his phone doing God knows what. I noticed that he is on his phone a lot.

“Question,” I say to Dante, causing him to look up and put his phone away. “What exactly do you do when you are in one of your clubs?”

“Make sure everything is up to date. Starting with the alcohol, making sure we don’t sell customers expired alcohol. Seeing what people buy more and make more money on that. Make sure we always have stock. Making sure my bartenders don’t rob me – etcetera.”

“I noticed you have male bartenders and waiters. Why not females?” I am curious.

“Customers tend to bother women more, so it’s better if men serve everyone.”

I clear my throat and mumble, “Do you guys have like a VIP section where people do things privately?”

“We do. We cannot stop grown adults from doing what they want to do.”

Eying him suspiciously, “Are there h*okers too?”

“No, Jade Marshal, we don’t do that at 4th Street Club.”

Dishing up for us, I say, “I need to check so that when someone throws it in my face, I am not surprised.”

“Valid. While we are at it, might as well tell you that my ex-girlfriend was at my house yesterday. I found her there when I got home after dropping you off. She was saying a bunch of things, I don’t remember them, but she is nothing to be worried about.”

“Is she the crazy type? I don’t want to get beaten up,” I say, placing the plate of food and then pouring orange juice for him.

“You beat up men, I am not much worried about you when it comes to that,” he says and I eye. I told him it was a once-off thing. “I am joking, Jade Marshal.”

“In the little time I have known you, I know that you don’t joke around.”

“True,” he says, tasting the eggs. He looks at me and says, “This is not bad.”

“Of course, you would say that. You are used to eating food made by chefs. At least if you ever go broke and cannot afford a chef, I can cook for us.”

“We ain’t going broke anytime soon baby,” he says, with a small smile.

I noticed that he uses a lot of WEs. He already sees me as a part of his life – I love that. We eat, then I do the dishes. I doubt this man even knows how to properly wash a cup. His phone rings – he leaves the room, going to mine to answer it. I finish up with the dishes, clean up, then wait for Dante. He is sure taking his time.

‘Did you arrive at James’ safe?’ I send a text message to Giselle. She better not scratch my car. I know I want to give it to her, but for now, she’d better keep my baby safe. I paid a lot of money for that car.

I get off the chair and go to my bedroom to check on Dante. He says his goodbyes as soon as I walk into the room. It sounded serious, I don’t know why he is hanging up just because I walked into the room.

“Was I talking too long?” Dante asks. I tell him that I was just checking on him.

Then I ask, “Was that work?”

He nods, “Yes.”

“It sounded serious. What is it about?”

He walks closer to me and pulls me to him with my waist. “Nothing interesting. Since I don’t have any work today, what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know, what do you usually do? I haven’t had a life in a hot minute. I was always busy with work – I barely had time to do anything.”

“What would you like to do then? Let’s do what you want to do? Anything you want and anywhere you want to go,” he says. When he says anywhere, does outside the country count? But then the movies would also do for today. I change into jeans and a tee with sneakers. Dante says we will drive to his house so he can change, then we drive to the movies.

‘Hey, Dante and I are going out. I will tell you if I am coming back or sleeping at his place.” I send another text message to Giselle.

She still hasn’t responded to the other one. I am sure she and James are busy since they cannot get off each other. Dante and I drive to his house. His house is so far from mine that it makes me want to move in with him, so that we don’t have to drive so much. When we get to Dante’s house, I tell him to ahead and change while I get water.

“Miss Marshal, hi!” Anne greets me from behind. She startled me; I almost choked on my water. “My apologies, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s fine, how are you?”

“I’m good, Mr Lyon mentioned that I should get your phone number in case you need me,” she says politely. I give her my phone number, then she leaves the room. While waiting for Dante, I walk around the house. I was promised a house tour but never got it. In my walking around, I end up getting lost in this big house. All the doors are the same colour I have to go from room to room looking for Dante’s bedroom.

I walk into one room. It seems like this is Dante’s home office. I walk into the room and close the door behind me. His office looks neat and cosy. I sit on his chair and spin around. It must be lovely being Mr Lyon. My phone vibrates in my pocket. I quickly check it, thinking it’s Dante looking for me. It’s just my mother forwarding prayer messages to the family group. This is why I mute groups – unfortunately, I can’t mute this one since it’s family.

I put my way my phone and my eyes scan around the room. He has another ugly portrait here too. It’s almost similar to the one in his room. He’d better not permit me to change things around the house because that’s the first thing I will throw out. Portraits should be pretty, not this. I understand that art is subjective, but this is just hideous. I will also make sure to force Dante to take a picture with me and put it on the table. What kind of man doesn’t have a single photo on his desk?

I find myself opening his drawers. A big yellow envelope catches my attention. I know I shouldn’t be going through his things, but I cannot help but look inside. There are pictures of me – literally my whole life in this envelope. I know Dante said he did a little digging, but I didn’t expect this. This is everything there is to know about me – no stone left unturned.

As I am putting the file back in the drawer, my hand rubs against something cold. I lean in trying to see what it is. It’s a gun! I quickly close the drawer when the door opens.