Lustly(44)

“You lied to me too. You told me little lies to appease me.”

“You pretended to be someone else. My little lies don’t even compare, you prick.”

He reached in his pants that he was about to put back on. “You’re right. I f*cked up, but it was the only way I knew you’d let me help you. No way I spin this is going to help me. If you want to hate me it’s your damn choice, but everything I did was to protect the good woman that you’ve always been. Sure, you thought you were an escort. You played the part terribly, by the way. Had I been a real client your ass would have been fired the first five minutes.”

“Screw you!” I tossed his shirt toward him.

“It’s true.”

I was shaking so badly, unable to come with an ounce of energy to see past what he’d done to me. “I’m leaving. If you try to give me money, I’ll cut off your dick and serve it to your dog.”

Eli watched me dress and leave the hotel room. I didn’t bother waiting to watch him leave. I was so confused, hurt, and angry. I drove straight to his mother’s house, eager to give her a piece of my mind.

By the time I’d arrived, I’d cried and screamed a dozen times. She greeted me at the door, already having heard what happened from her son. “Dear, this was all his idea,” She confirmed.

“It doesn’t matter. You both conned me. I told him before that I didn’t want his money. This is bullshit!”

She motioned for me to sit down. “My son and I don’t see eye to eye. He just started having dinner with me again last year. I think he only did it for his sister’s sake. They don’t get along either, but he’s always tried to save her from whatever catastrophe she’s gotten herself into. I suppose most of it is my fault. You see my daughter wanted fortune, but she didn’t want to have to work. She threatened to work for someone else if I didn’t give her a job. She fell in love with her first client and married him, after he divorced his wife. I told her it was a terrible idea, but she did it anyway. Now she’s got kids, and she’s up shit creek again.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Excuse me for being rude, but I didn’t come here to talk about your daughter. I came here to tell you to not direct deposit my check like we discussed. I don’t want Eli’s money.”

She began to laugh. “May I ask how you found out? Did my honest boy finally come clean?”

I leaned over her desk and looked her right in the eye. “It doesn’t take a whore to know one man from another.”

“Darling, you are the one that thought you were sleeping with both men.”

She had a point. “Does it even matter? Your son is sick, and I never want to see him again. You both knew my situation.”

“In his defense I can tell he did it because he cares about you. Though I don’t believe in the term anymore, I’d say he was in love with you.”

“So he says.” I looked the other way. “I’ve said my peace. You can take the blood tests, the private investigators, and your threats and shove them up your ass. I’m done with you and your son.”

I left the mansion without looking back, even passing Eli on the road. I didn’t look back to see if he’d turned around, because I didn’t care. He’d lied to me, and disgraced me when I thought he was my closest friend. I thought I loved him, but I didn’t know him.



For the next two weeks I went into a state of depression. I couldn’t eat, or sleep and I certainly couldn’t be the mom that my kids needed me to be. Finally one night my son asked if he could talk to me. He led me into his room and locked the door behind us. For a moment I could have sworn that he was going to tell me that he got a girl pregnant. With my luck it was bound to happen when I felt like nothing else could bring me down.

He sat down on his bed next to me and grabbed my hand. “I know why you’re so sad.”

“Everything is fine. I’m just going through changes,” I lied.

“Mom, I saw them together. I know about dad, and I know you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know about him and Kate. I’ve known for a long time, and so has Violet.”

I looked over at him and started to cry. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He wiped away his own tears. “Because I didn’t want to believe it at first. Then I couldn’t bring myself to hurt you.”

“How did you find out?”

“Last year when you took my phone away I found where you would hide it. When you’d go up to bed I’d sneak down and go outside to call my girlfriend. I saw dad coming downstairs and hid behind the pool so he wouldn’t catch me. I watched him sneak over to Kate’s and saw them kissing before he went inside. He didn’t come out for another hour, and in that time I saw her bedroom light going on and the shadow of two people. I’m not stupid.”

I felt so bad for my son and my daughter. “What about Violet? Did you tell her?”

“No. A few months ago she came to me crying. She said she saw them together when she was out with one of her friends. She said they were at the movies making out. She didn’t tell you she went because the movie was R rated and she knew she wasn’t allowed to see it.”

I played with my pants while I spoke to him, unable to look him in the eyes. “I just found out a few months ago. I didn’t have the heart to tell anyone. You kids mean everything to me, and the idea of our family breaking up hurt me so much. I’ve been trying to find a way to get a place, for all of us to be able to start over. I don’t know what to do anymore.”