“No.”
“He came home late from work, asked me to meet with him in his home office where he passed me a stack of divorce papers. He then bluntly told me he had an indiscretion at my sister’s wedding, and she was pregnant. He demanded I sign the papers so he could wed the mother of his child immediately.” She shook her head. “He barely showed me an ounce of emotion and when I did breakdown, upon learning who it was he impregnated, he left me sobbing on his office floor. He suggested I leave the house to go to my friend’s. He didn’t hold me. He didn’t apologize. He didn’t do anything to try to make it hurt less. He was cold, matter of fact and brutally honest. I once saw him behave this way during a business transaction and thought it sexy how he could simply turn off his emotions for business. It didn’t feel so sexy to be on the receiving end.” She squeezed her fingers together.
“I’m sorry, Liesl. It must have been painful.”
“It was brutally cruel. Even if it hadn’t been with my sister, or only been one time and not anything he did over eleven months, I would never go back to him after what he did to me that night. He broke me, he knew it and he didn’t care.”
He reached for her hands and squeezed them between his larger ones, “I am sorry for upsetting you. I thought it best you know.”
She nodded, “I appreciate your honesty, Isaias, and I’m grateful. This entire situation is difficult but I’m trying to find new purposes and new goals.”
“You know the best revenge is to move on with your life,” he kissed her fingertips.
“And I am,” she nodded, “but sometimes I really want to just stick it up his ass.” She saw the amusement in his eyes at her vehemence. “Too much?”
“No. Not at all. I love your enthusiasm. To be clear, you do not want me to back off?”
“Absolutely not. I enjoy being with you, Isaias. If nothing else, meeting you is a blessing for me.”
“Here,” he patted his lap. “Come.”
“We’re in a car.” She was confused by his command.
“Yes, we are. Now, come here,” he pulled her onto his lap and pulled his phone open. He searched for the number which had called him earlier in the day.
Liesl watched him type the message.
“She doesn’t want me to back off.”
He took a selfie of her sitting on his lap in the back of the car, his lips pressed to her ear flirtatiously. When he pressed send, she giggled.
“Isaias,” she shivered when his lips on her ear turned into a tongue, and he licked her earlobe naughtily. “What are you doing?”
“It dawned on me how your stick-in-the-mud ex didn’t know how to have fun.” He drew his tongue along her neck, “which means you’ve probably never been inducted into the mile high club.”
At her wide eyes he grinned a wickedly devilish smirk which made her shiver. It was going to be a night to remember.
Liesl considered as she held Isaias’ hand in the limousine which transported them from the restaurant where they’d had an incredible meal, her date was quite possibly the most interesting person she had ever met.
The flight had been one of the most erotic episodes of her life. Isaias words the rest of the ride on the way to the airport where she had remained on his lap, had been downright filthy. The seatbelt sign had barely been shut off before he had been dragging her to the bedroom at the back of the plane where he demonstrated the things he could do with his tongue was not limited to his dirty language.
He’d then vigorously exhausted every single minute of their airtime in various positions in the bed, against the vanity in the bathroom, once even upright against the door. She had felt sweaty, hungry, disheveled as she’d quickly redressed for the landing. She grimaced at him for appearing no worse for the wear.
During dinner he had regaled her with anecdotes of his childhood and the trouble he got into with his cousin Joaquim. His father’s sister had moved her family to New York when her children had been teenagers. After getting their children back, Isaias’ father had insisted they spend as much time with their family as they could making frequent trips to visit the family in New York and vice versa. Joaquim and Isaias became very close bonding over their desires to live the ultimate American dream of being rich.
Their parents had instilled a strong work ethic in both men, but the sons knew how to throw a party. Joaquim turned it into a profession, opening nightclub after nightclub all along the eastern coast. Their businesses often intertwined with Isaias weighing in on design and architectural aspects of the places his cousin purchased.
Isaias told her he had a degree in architecture but also held a general contracting license for building and was able to use with great confidence any of the tools his construction guys could use. He was a smart man, highly intellectual, but Liesl found him very down to earth. Despite his wealth, he was friendly and kind, even to the wait staff.
Whan the server had spilled water on the table, he had laughed and told her not to panic because water only hurt witches in Oz. Liesl had giggled while the girl had profusely thanked him for not freaking out at her. Liesl had seen the number he had put on the bill for a gratuity, and she had almost gasped. He’d tipped the same amount as the bill and yet he did with such ease. He had done it quickly not realizing she had noticed. To her, it demonstrated this was the manner in which he was accustomed to behaving.
Now in the car, he was pointing out various landmarks. “Next time we come, we’ll make a full week of it, if you can get time off from the gallery.” He squeezed her hand. “You could spend a year here yet never see it all.”
“It’s so bright and it’s nighttime,” Liesl said as she took in the lights of the city. She looked to him, “you’re very familiar with the city. You’ve been here a lot. Do you have your own place here?”
“I am here a lot because Joaquim doesn’t let me rest,” he chuckled, “I did have a condo, but I sold it last year. I quadrupled my investment. Joaquim was pissed because the lady I sold it to is a movie star and she now lives in the penthouse above him. She won’t give him the time of day unless she wants to party in his club. He’s a bit of a womanizer.”
“A bit? How can you be a bit of a womanizer? Either you are or aren’t.”
“Touché,” he acknowledged her question with a nod. “He’s a womanizer. He never dates the same girl more than a few times and he called me the other day to complain his mother showed up at his place to clean it and found him with two women in his bed.”
“No!” she cupped her hands to his mouth. “Why?”
“His mother thinks he’s a slob, so she routinely goes to his house,” he trailed off laughing as she slapped his hand. “Oh, you mean why did he have two girls? I imagine it has to do with drugs, alcohol, and willing participants.”
She frowned, “do you do drugs?”
“No. You’ve met my mother. Alcohol is it for me and even then, rarely to excess. I’m thirty-nine Liesl and my mom still scares the hell out of me. When I was a kid, she traded the wooden spoon for this really long wooden rolling pin she had. One crack on the thigh or backside from that thing and you found yourself regretting all your life choices.”
“Your mom didn’t spare the rod, huh?”
“Nope. Beatings happened in my family. Still do. She’s a tough nut.”
“My mom never raised her hands to us and neither did my dad.” She thought about it, “my sister could seriously have used a smack or two growing up.”
“Why is she so different than you and Fred? Fred’s great. I had several laughs with him today.”
“He’s hilarious. We’re very close.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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