44
The next three weeks passed by in a relative blur but Rylee and I could talk to each other in a civil manner although she didn’t come back to our room and we didn’t talk about anything that really mattered unless it was lair business.
The other three girls had been reunited with their families and Nadia had accepted our offer to stay in the guest house and work with Tessa. She had expanded her network and she took in women from other lairs that were being abused or needed a place to stay until they could get back on their feet.
I mostly ignored the Elders and I had Hannah talk to them when we needed to make claims on behalf of these women that we took in. Rylee had seemed to settle her differences with Tessa and she was very involved in the happenings at the guest house.
Brandon had phoned to let me know that Kimberley had spent a week at home with her parents and family and everyone loved him. She had gone back to Wisconsin with him and she had settled into his house. His mother was also thrilled that he was finally settling down.
Preston had marked Jennifer and she wore her mark proudly and they were making wedding plans. I had received a surprise invitation to Marcus and Cindy’s wedding and I was currently looking at it thinking of how to broach the subject with Rylee since she would have to attend it with me.
“Hello,” I answered my phone as I put the invitation down on my table.
“Hey, it’s Timothy,” he said.
“How are you?” I asked him.
“Good, good, interesting chatter on the dark web I thought you’d want to know about,” he said.
“Sounds intriguing,” I said.
“They’ve cancelled this month’s auction, talks about security breaches and what not although from what I can see on their system they’re still clueless about what happened,” he said with a laugh.
“That’s great,” I said to them.
“I’ll call you back if anything changes so we can regroup but for now it’s all quiet,” he said.
“Thanks Timothy I appreciate your dedication to this,” I said.
“Of course, I don’t condone shit like this and even I feel the need to kill now and then,” he said and I laughed.
“Don’t we all,” I said.
“Take care, we’ll talk soon,” he said and ended the phone call.
I knocked on Rylee’s bedroom door and she took a few minutes to answer it. She looked at me and then left it open as she walked back to the bed and sat down.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“Yes I’m fine,” she said looking terrible, “did you need something?”
“We were invited to Marcus and Cindy’s wedding this coming weekend. It’s a bit last minute but not really an invitation we can refuse,” I said to her.
“Okay,” she said not looking at me.
“What’s wrong with you Rylee?” I asked her.
“Nothing, I’m just tired,” she said and I could see it. It almost looked as if this was hitting her harder or she was struggling more to cope with it.
“Do you want me to lie down next to you for a bit?” I asked her.
“I don’t want to bother you, I know you’re busy,” she said and lay down on her side.
I stood there looking at her and then I took my jacket off and lay down next to her. I put my arm around her and I could feel her relax against me. Her breathing was calming and her scent made me relax as well.
“I know you don’t believe me but I do love you,” she whispered so softly that I almost missed it.
“I love you too Rylee,” I said to her.
It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep and I lay there thinking about everything. I had to let go of the anger I was feeling and forgive her, she couldn’t even remember what she did and I knew that neither of us could spend our lives like this. Other than that one mistake, she had been the perfect wife and Drakaina and I hadn’t been the perfect husband either.
I left her after an hour and went back to my office and sent our RSVP for the wedding. Maybe during this trip Rylee and I could find each other again, we’d be going alone and time away was always a good thing.
That night I ate dinner in my office while working and making arrangements to fly to Canada for the wedding. I booked us into a hotel near the venue and I realized after two hours how quiet the house had become. It was eleven pm already.
I walked to Rylee’s room and opened the door. She was asleep and I sat down next to her on the bed. I scooped her up and she felt clammy to me. I walked upstairs to our room and put her down in our bed. Her eyes opened briefly as I put her down but she closed them again as I pulled the light cover over her.
“What are you doing?” she asked me softly.
“It’s time we sorted this shit out, no more sleeping alone,” I said as I climbed in behind her.
“Okay,” she said and settled against me.
Two days later we flew to Canada and I rented a car to drive to the hotel. I had booked the penthouse and I could see Rylee liked it. She smiled as she took the room and view in and I grabbed her hand as soon as the usher left the room.
“This is nice,” she smiled.
“Don’t get too comfortable, we’re going out,” I said as I pulled her towards the door.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“I’ve booked a private session for you with Phillip Suarez,” I said to her.
“Who’s that?” she asked me.
“Shit Rylee don’t let Hannah hear you say that,” I laughed.
“I have no clue who he is,” she said as I pressed the button for the elevator.
“He’s like the Lucas Grey of the makeover world,” I said and she laughed.
“You and your ego,” she said as I smiled.
“Well for the next few hours you’re going to be pampered and spoiled,” I said as I looked at her.
“And what will you be doing in that time?” she asked me.
“I’ll be waiting for you in a strip club nearby,” I said and her head snapped towards mine, “I’m kidding!”
“Yeah right,” she said and crossed her arms.
“I’m meeting Marcus for lunch to talk some more about expanding the whole wine deal and then I’ll be joining you as you get fitted for your dress for tonight,” I said.
“In a strip club?” she asked me.
“No, in a restaurant within walking distance from you, I’ll activate the gps on my phone and then you can check where I am at any time,” I said to her.
“Don’t be an idiot, we’re grownups,” she said.
“If it makes you feel better then I don’t mind doing it,” I said to her.
“Okay,” she said.
I drove the ten minutes to Phillip’s studio and he air kissed Rylee’s cheeks and I gave him a glare as he looked at me. Nobody was air kissing me, I didn't care how famous they were.
“Take care of my girl,” I said as he grabbed Rylee’s hand and pulled her deeper into his salon.
“She’ll be ready,” he said.
I left Rylee with Phillip and walked to the corner where the restaurant was and found Marcus already inside waiting for me. He looked relaxed and he’d already ordered drinks for us.
“Marcus, you look well,” I said as he stood up and we shook hands.
“So do you,” he said and we sat down.
“Ready for your big night?” I asked him.
“Absolutely, I just needed to get out of that house. My mother is driving me insane, I don’t know how Cindy’s handling all this,” he said and I laughed.
“It’ll all be over soon and then you can get back to your normal lives,” I said to him.
“I’m really glad you could make it,” he said.
We spent the afternoon having a few drinks until it was time to meet Rylee. She took my breath away the moment I walked into the studio. Phillip had cut her hair and left it loose around her shoulders in big loose curls.
Her make up accentuated her own beauty and the dress, well the dress looked amazing on her. It was tight fitting and I could see then that she’d actually lost weight as her hip bones were prominent. She took a step towards me and the dress opened up to almost where you would see her underwear.
“You look stunning,” I said after a while and Phillip smiled at me.
“I told you,” he said and took my card.
We drove back to the hotel where I glared at everyone as we went back up to our room so I could change into a more suitable suit. Men looked at her openly as we walked through the lobby back to our car and I pulled her closer to me.
“Possessive much?” she asked me with a smile as I opened the car door for her.
“If I had my way you wouldn’t even have left the room,” I said to her closing her door.
“It’s weird don’t you think,” she began the conversation as I drove off.
“What is?” I asked her.
“We have these terrible fights, then we get along for a week and catch up on all the sex we missed out on and then we go back to hating each other,” she said looking slightly sad.
“We should probably work on that,” I said as I turned into the parking lot.
“We should, you only have three more days before the week is up,” she said and I laughed.
“And we haven’t even had make up sex yet,” I said.
“The last time didn’t end so well,” she said and I felt the moment go away.
“I was a jerk I know,” I said as I climbed out of the car.
“We both were,” she said.
“So new slate? Let’s start by enjoying this wedding and having some alone time before we go home,” I said to her.
“New slate it is,” she said and took my hand.
“I didn’t lie Rylee, I do love you even though you infuriate the hell out of me,” I said before opening the door for her.
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