It was the coward's way out, I knew. I was counting on him not wanting to tell her so that I never had to deal with it. She would forgive me for falling for him, I had no doubt. It had been her forgiveness I'd thought about when I'd first decided I was going to seduce him. Then, she would have believed I'd done it for her own good. Now, things were different. I'd gone from trying to prove that her husband was a sleaze, to enjoying sleeping with him, to whatever it was I was currently feeling. Even now, it wasn't that I was worried about her knowing. It was the lies.
The worst part was, every time I thought about her, I wanted to call her and tell her. If I actually spoke to her, I knew everything would come spilling out. So I avoided her, the guilt increasing every time I saw her name on my screen and I let it go to voicemail. Her messages were always brief, saying she was wondering how I was doing, but I could hear the worry in her voice with every new call.
I'd have to make a decision soon, I knew. Livie might think I was still angry at her for marrying Blayne and give me some space, but if I didn't at least answer a single call soon, she'd come by the apartment and I'd have to speak with her face to face. That would be so much worse.
The entire week before we left for New York, my stomach was in knots. I was so torn and I didn't know what to do. A guy had never come between Livie and me before. She said she didn't want Blayne that way, so I knew that wouldn't be an issue. It also wasn’t the point. I knew the right thing would be to tell her everything, but that would be betraying Blayne's trust. But the longer this went on without Livie knowing, the longer I was betraying her trust.
I muttered a stream of curse words as I ran my brush through my hair, the curls as tangled as the web of lies I found myself in. I yanked the bristles free and winced at the pain in my scalp. It didn't stop me though. I continued to attack my hair with a vengeance. Why couldn't things be simple? Didn't Livie and I deserve a break? It was so unfair.
I let out a bark of a laugh as I looked at my reflection. Fair. I was having an affair with my sister's husband and I was accusing the universe of being unfair to us. I'd told myself that telling everything to Livie would be the right thing to do, but I knew I was lying to myself. The right thing, the real right thing, would be to break things off with Blayne and then come clean. To not risk everything my sister was trying to build for us for some fling.
I closed my eyes, pain going through my heart. I didn't know what this was for Blayne, but it wasn't a fling for me. What I was feeling terrified me, but the thought of walking away from Blayne scared me more. I didn't think I could do it. I wasn't strong enough. If he left me, it would break my heart, but I could accept it. What I couldn't do was do it to myself.
“What am I going to do?” I whispered. This was a disaster. Everything had backfired on me and now I was stuck in this twisted affair and didn't know how to get out without hurting everyone involved.
Not for the first time, I wished Blayne Westmore had never walked into Frankie's that night. I wished he'd kept walking. While that meant I never would've known him, it also meant none of this would be happening right now. Livie and I would be together at home, wondering if anything would ever change.
I sighed. We’d gotten change alright, but it hadn't been the kind we'd hoped for. I put my hands over my face, despair flowing through me. If we weren't careful, it would destroy everything.
– End of Vol. 3 –
Twisted Affair Vol. 4
Chapter 1
Blayne
I'd never planned a romantic getaway before and it was harder than I'd thought. It wasn't just about booking a room to party in. It was putting together a bunch of pieces to create a perfect weekend. The worst part was, I didn't have anyone I could talk to.
If I'd been planning this for my wife or if I'd been able to date Katka openly, I could've gone to the other sister for help. I could've even gone to Samuel then, but no way in hell could I tell my brother that I was taking my wife's sister to New York so we could avoid my dad’s ‘anti-infidelity’ spies. I couldn’t put Samuel in that situation.
All my life, Samuel had been the only one of my family who'd ever been on my side. I just couldn’t ask him to lie or hide my affair from our father, especially since he seemed to like Livie a great deal. My family hadn't spent much time with my wife, but she'd managed to charm them nonetheless. They weren't exactly scheduling family vacations, but my father had actually admitted that he liked her, so that was something. Actually, it was a lot more than something. I was shocked.
The downside to my dad liking my wife made things even more complicated. If Dad found out I was cheating on her, he'd be even more pissed than he would've been if I’d simply disobeying him. I'd be in breach of contract and lose my inheritance, my allowance, my home and my car. I'd also have my father and at least Samuel guilting me for what they’d see as a betrayal of my marriage vows.
Thing was, I didn't think Livie would mind what I was doing, as long as I didn't get caught and ruin the business arrangement she and I had. The two of us weren't romantically involved, never had been. She'd made it abundantly clear from moment one that she didn't want me that way. She also loved her sister. I didn't talk to her about Katka much, not wanting to tip my hand and accidentally give something away, but it was clear in how Livie talked about her, the work she did was to make a better life for both of them.
I blew out a long breath as I checked the clock again. Forty minutes until I was supposed to meet Katka at the train station. Normally, I'd take much more expensive and lavish transportation from Philadelphia to New York City, but Katka and I were trying to stay under the radar, and the train was the best way to do it. I didn't think it was a very romantic start to our weekend, but she'd assured me that it made sense and she didn't mind.
Yet another thing I loved about my Kat. Having grown up in an orphanage in the Czech Republic after her parents were murdered, she should've been all about the money and the things I could give her. Even if it wasn't in a selfish way, a lot of times people who spent years living in poverty never wanted to go back to that again, so they would focus on the best things they could get. Katka never asked for anything. Never seemed displeased with anything. She didn't complain about us not going out or not accompanying me to fancy events.
Now that I thought about it, Livie wasn't like that either. The two of them had that in common, as well as their determination. While Katka wasn't as driven as her minutes older twin, I could see that once she set her mind to something, she would do it, no matter what.
I smiled fondly as I realized that was the reason the two of us had ended up together. She'd made a choice about me and here I was. If she hadn't been so stubborn and intent on proving that I wasn't a good guy, we never would've slept together.
“Hey.” Samuel's voice came from the doorway. “Hannah was wondering if you and Livie wanted to come over for dinner tonight.”
“Huh?” I blinked at my brother and then his words registered. “Oh, um, not tonight.”
“Tomorrow then?”
“We have plans,” I blurted out. “The whole weekend, actually. But maybe next week.”
Samuel's eyes, gray like mine with a hint of blue, narrowed and I knew he was trying to figure out if I was up to something. Samuel wasn't the oldest of my four older siblings, but he was the only one who'd ever really been supportive of me. My oldest brother thought I was a fuck-up and my sisters pretty much disregarded everything I did. Samuel was the one who looked out for me and knew me best. I could tell that, right now, he suspected I was doing something stupid.
He wasn't wrong, but I wasn't going to let him know that, of course.
My phone buzzed and I glanced at it. My hotel reservation confirmation had come through. I hadn't chosen the most expensive hotel in the city because the Westmore name, while not as well known in New York as it was here, was still enough to get attention. Especially with my first name attached. I'd generally kept my partying to Philly, but I'd made a few trips into NYC over the years and the hotel staff would remember me. I'd managed to find a nice, quiet one that I hadn't frequented and it was near a fancy, but not pretentious restaurant. We weren't planning to go out to a club or anything like that for this trip, but at least we'd have some sort of a normal date.
“Well, you look like you're completely distracted.” Samuel sounded amused. “So I'll just be going. Let me know when you and Livie are free. Hannah really wants to get to know your wife.” He grinned at me. “I'm pretty sure Livie's snarky comment to Benjamin last week made her Hannah's new hero.”
I smiled at that. I knew I hadn't been the only one who'd appreciated seeing my eldest brother put in his place. That night had given me a new appreciation of the type of person Livie was.
I didn't dwell on that though. It was time to go and meet my Kat.
The train ride wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be, though it could've been because I spent the entire ride with Katka curled up against me, close enough that I could smell her floral shampoo. She was tall enough that tucking her feet up under her should've been uncomfortable, but she didn't complain. If anything, she looked entirely content. We held hands and made small talk, enjoying the relaxing ride. I told her about our reservations, both at the hotel and the restaurant, enjoying the thrill of excitement that went through me at the look of sheer delight on her face. I'd never realized how much I would love to see her excited by something I did. Then again, I did love seeing how I could make her come apart beneath me...
By the time we arrived at the hotel, I was extremely glad I hadn't made those dinner reservations for tonight. I intended to be very busy as soon as we got to our room. I did ask Katka if she was hungry though. I'd be willing to work around room service.
“Not for food.”
The sultry smile that accompanied her barely audible reply was almost enough to make me forget the elderly couple standing next to us in the elevator. If they hadn't been there, the guys monitoring the security footage for the elevators would've gotten an eyeful. The thought of another man seeing any part of my Kat, however, made me frown. Elevator sex was definitely out then. I didn't want anyone but me seeing her expression when she came.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, concern in her voice.
I shook my head and threw the thoughts aside. “Just eager to get to our room.”
“Me too.” She smiled at me, her dark green eyes sparkling. “I brought something special for you.”
Shit. She was seriously testing my self-control.
As soon as I opened the door to our suite, I started to reach for her, but she moved out of arm's reach and headed for the bathroom.
“While you put our things in the bedroom, I will go change,” she called over her shoulder. “I do not want to wait any longer.”
She was almost as impatient as I was. I carried the bags through the small sitting room and into the bedroom. It was just as gorgeous in real life as it had been in the pictures I'd found. A king-sized bed in the center of the room with a bedspread and pillows that matched the taupe-colored walls. The wall to my left wasn't so much a wall as it was glass with a pair of French doors in the center that led out to a balcony. The curtains that hung across the glass were opaque, thick enough that people couldn't see in, but would still allow in light to keep the room from being completely dark. Tied at either side of the wall were heavy burgundy curtains I felt sure would close out all of the light completely.
I'd just kicked off my shoes and was putting some things into the closet when the bathroom door opened. I turned and my jaw dropped. The dress shirt I'd been in the process of hanging up fell to the floor and I didn't care.
“Kat.” I almost squeaked like some adolescent boy.
“I am taking that to mean you like it?”
I nodded, not trusting myself with another attempt to speak though I wanted to clarify that I more than liked what she was wearing. I'd seen a lot of lingerie in my life, but never anything quite like this. It was silk and lace, put together so that it hugged every curve, almost as if it had been made for her. Unlike a lot of lingerie, what she was wearing covered most of her breasts, but with a sheer material slit in such a way that it offered tantalizing glimpses of her pale flesh. It wasn't until she took a few steps towards me that I realized the rest of the garment was cut that same way so every movement revealed and hid.
“Livie designed it,” Katka said as she pushed a few wayward curls back from her face. “She prefers dresses, but I convinced her that lingerie may have its perks.”
“I definitely agree.” Even as I stared at Katka, I couldn't help but think that I found the idea of Livie designing something like this to be a bit surprising. I didn't think she was a nun or anything like that, but I also didn't see her as a sexy lingerie kind of girl either.
“You are wearing too many clothes,” Katka said, reaching for my shirt.
I let her pull it over my head and toss it aside. Not many of the women I'd been with were tall enough to manage that without some help. I caught my breath as her fingers ran along my chest and down my stomach, blazing a trail of fire across my skin.
“Kat.”
Her name was little more than a whisper, but it filled the air between us. Her fingers kept working on my pants, but she tilted her head back to look at me. I bent my head the short distance needed to bring our mouths together. There was heat and desire in the kiss, but not the fierce need that I'd felt before. This was something deeper, a longing for a connection beyond two bodies coming together.