The Devoted Winter: BWWM Billionaire Romance Novel (Her Winter Love Series Book 1) (8 page)

“Nadiyya, I know how this looks. Just please promise me you’ll listen. There’s a reason I didn’t tell you about Martine and I realize that wasn’t as smart as I thought it was. I couldn’t have expected to hide this from you forever. Will you please listen?” Lucian asked.

Nadiyya nodded. It was all she could do to keep herself from assaulting Lucian right there.

“Martine and I met when she was a young model in Paris. She was drop dead gorgeous, had a contagious laugh. She was sweet. I thought she was the girl of my dreams and at that point, I knew I could have whoever I wanted. A French model seemed like exactly who I wanted.

I was young and I had just made my first billion dollars. Back then, all that mattered to me was my money and living what I thought was the dream life. Martine had just the look I thought I wanted. We were married after two weeks. She pressured me into it and heck, I was young. I didn’t fully understand what that would mean.

After two months, Martine started to change. At least it appeared she was changing to me. Looking back, that was probably the real Martine. She was no longer the beautiful sweetheart I married. She was often aggressive and violent. I know it’s hard to believe, looking at her. She’s stronger than she looks.

“One evening, she broke every last bit of our china. She took a knife and she threatened to run into it and frame me for murdering her. Her insanity only got worse, although at first I was foolish enough to think she had a chance of getting better.

She would accuse me of raping her, ruining her life and modeling career during some of her rampages. She would bring men into our house constantly, flagrantly cheating on me. But I felt like I could fix her… I felt like I could still get close to the beautiful butterfly I’d met in Paris. I didn’t want to leave her. Everyone always talked about how perfect we were for each other. Plus, she’d never actually harmed me physically. I thought she was just sick.

At that time, Martine was addicted to coke and heroine. I tried to get her into rehab but she’d just manipulate her way out. Before I knew it she would be back home accusing me of cheating on her and threatening to kill herself. I never knew how she convinced them to let her free.

Four months before I got here, I filed for a divorce. We had been separated for over a year. I’ve asked her to go by her maiden name again but she’s refusing. We’re only waiting for the last part of the divorce to go through but she refuses to take no for an answer. She’s convinced she can win me back. But Nadiyya… I don’t love her. I haven’t loved her in a while. We are divorced in my mind. I don’t think of her as my wife. She isn’t Martine Wynter to me. She’s Martine Dubois.”

Nadiyya was glad she’d let Lucian explain, but this was all so confusing. She wasn’t sure she could trust him, but why would anyone lie about something like that? Men wouldn’t confess to being quite so vulnerable if it weren’t true. Nadiyya was glad that Lucian had trusted her enough to finally tell the truth. Yes, she was mad at him for keeping his wife a secret from her, but she understood why. Who wants to share their biggest shame with a complete stranger?

“I understand Lucian. I’m so sorry. I think you should go have lunch with her, see what you can do to fix her coming here. I’ll finish up work by three. We can always meet up later,” Nadiyya said. Lucian didn’t know what he’d done to deserve having such an understanding woman in his life. Most women probably wouldn’t have accepted Lucian’s story so easily. He was telling the truth of course, but he didn’t expect it to go over quite so well. He had learned that honesty about Martine only led to mockery, especially from his family and peers.

Lucian kissed Nadiyya before he went to lunch. He wanted desperately to tell her that he loved her, but he held back. That would just make things even more complicated than he could stand at this point.

As Lucian walked to lunch, he wondered what on earth Martine wanted. She’d managed to lure him back into her bed a few times during their separation, but since he’d filed for divorce he had been strong against Martine’s wiles. She used every manipulative trick in the book but finally Lucian felt truly free of her. Lucian knew that he had to stay strong when dealing with Martine. Even if he felt free, she would always try to find new ways to lure him back in.

Now at least he had more of a reason to stay strong… Nadiyya. He knew they couldn’t really be together but thinking of her helped him to strengthen his resolve. Lucian was troubled by how weak Martine made him seem. He considered himself a strong guy by all accounts but she seemed to have a devastating effect on him. Lucian wondered how on earth Martine had found him and what exactly she was doing here in Vermont.

The woman must want something. How much did she know about him and Nadiyya? Lucian wondered if Slade somehow had anything to do with this. He’d already paid the price for underestimating the little shit. If this was another part of his elaborate plot, Lucian knew that he needed to be careful.

He agreed to meet Martine at a nearby bistro. Lucian was prepared to do anything to make this problem go away. He was already having trouble getting his money back, the last thing he needed was to break Nadiyya’s trust even more by having his soon-to-be ex wife around causing trouble. Martine was a tornado and she was sure to destroy everything in her path.

How could something so beautiful be so deadly?

*********

Chapter 8

Nadiyya was certain that Slade had brought Martine back into Lucian’s life. Exactly the kind of nefarious plot she was starting to expect from him. Nadiyya wondered how she had managed to let someone so clearly psychotic so close to her. Weren’t there supposed to be signs for that kind of thing? Slade had seemed perfectly kind of gentle, but he obviously possessed a deeply rooted darkness that had grown in power since they’d started working closely with each other.

Nadiyya knew she couldn’t let Slade get away with the torture he seemed to keep throwing into her life. She had to let him know that she was onto him. It didn’t matter if he knew her secret anymore. She couldn’t let Slade get control over her life. Nadiyya had always considered herself a Christian, but it had been a while since she’d turned to God for help. In her time of need, she knew she needed Christ more than ever.

In the comfort of her bedroom, Nadiyya got down on her knees and gave her problems up to God. She thanked God for her blessings, the charming investor who had come to save her business from failure and her recent successes in life. She asked God to guide her and show her what to do next. Nadiyya was sure her recent difficulties were merely tests to see if she could maintain her faith in God. She wouldn’t let her faith falter. Nadiyya gave her problems to God and as his peace washed over her, she was given the answers she wanted.

Nadiyya called Slade.

He picked up after one ring. He was thrilled that she was reaching out to him. Slade had constructed a fantasy of what he expected to happen once Nadiyya found out about Lucian’s wife. He imagined that Nadiyya would call him with tears in her eyes. She would ask for his forgiveness for turning him down in favor of a man who was obviously a liar. She would beg Slade to come over and comfort her. In that moment, Slade would be free to make love to her. Slade’s delusions had replaced reality.

What he perceived as his love for Nadiyya was merely the desire to possess her. It had grown and grown until Slade was no longer in control of himself. His desire had taken over his faculties completely. Logic was replaced by entitlement. Humanity was replaced by his need to take and take. But Slade had another thing coming…

“Slade. It’s me. I don’t want to hear any of your bullshit. I’m calling you so I can give this to you straight. I don’t want there to be gray area between us. I want to make myself clear. I don’t know how you did it, but I knew you brought Martine here. I know you were trying to cause trouble but it didn’t work. Slade… You were my best friend but I want you out of my life completely. Delete my number, delete me from social networks and never try to get in touch with me again. You are nothing to me. This is for the best. I just can’t take the lies. I wish I could be sorry…”

Nadiyya didn’t wait for a response. She hung up and deleted Slade’s number from her phone. He was really gone this time. She didn’t leave any ways for him to sneak back into her life. She rarely believed in cutting people off like this without giving them a second chance, but she felt like she was left with no other choice. God wouldn’t have directed her to do this without a reason. Nadiyya felt like crying, but she held back. She had no one else in Vermont who she was close to. Lucian was great, but there was still a definitive timeline on his presence. She would go back to being the lonely black girl in this white rural wasteland before she knew it.

But before that, there was no real need to suffer. Nadiyya texted Lucian, hoping he could meet her later. He was more than happy to come over. His lunch with Martine had gone relatively well, but he could never really tell how long that would last with her before she began plotting again. Nadiyya waited excitedly for Lucian to show up. She needed to feel loved at a time like this, when she’d just really lost a best friend.

Lucian arrived with a bottle of red wine, just the thing they both needed. Nadiyya and Lucian had a lot to catch up on. Lucian told her how lunch with Martine went. Martine had seemed like her usual self. Lucian found out that Slade really was the one to bring Martine all the way to Vermont seemingly to torture them both.

“What are we going to do about him?” Lucian asked as he pulled Nadiyya close to him. He inhaled the fresh cocoa scent of her hair.

“I’ve already taken care it,” Nadiyya replied.

“Oh yeah?” Lucian asked as he twirled her curls around his fingertips.

“I had to cut him off, Lucian,” Nadiyya said. Lucian knew having to do that would upset Nadiyya.

“Are you alright?” Lucian asked. Nadiyya nodded. He lifted her face up to his and kissed her lips softly. That one kiss was enough to turn them both on. Nadiyya straddled Lucian on the couch and kissed him deeply. She stroked his  five o’clock shadow, feeling the prickly stubble in contrast to his soft lips. Nadiyya whispered in his ear as she fondled his cock through his pants, “Let’s take this upstairs.”

Nadiyya bounded upstairs with Lucian trailing excitedly behind her. He was starting to enjoy his occasional romps with her. Once they were upstairs in her room, Lucian kissed Nadiyya again. He lifted her up onto her bed again.

“What do you say to trying something new tonight?” Lucian asked.

“What do you have in mind?” Nadiyya asked him with a flirty voice.

Lucian undid his tie and began to secure Nadiyya’s wrist to her bedpost. Using one of her silk scarves, he secured her other hand to the bed. Nadiyya couldn’t move a bit. The restriction of her movement turned her on. The loss of control was a new feeling to Nadiyya but she was aroused by it. Lucian worked her slowly.

He unbuttoned her shirt and removed her bra. Then Lucian removed Nadiyya’s pants. Even in the dead of winter, her skin managed to remain smooth to the touch. Lucian pressed his lips to her tummy and then traveled down to her panties. He kissed her pussy through her panties and then eased them off of her. Nadiyya’s skin was prickling with anticipation. Lucian slid a finger between her slit. Nadiyya was wet already.

Lucian pushed his finger into her entrance slowly. Nadiyya moaned loudly as Lucian started started fucking her with his finger. He plunged deep inside her, stroking her g spot as he thrust in and out of her. Nadiyya bucked her hips up to meet Lucian’s finger. He added a second finger in her pussy. It was still a tight squeeze. Nadiyya cried out in pleasure as her first orgasm for the night blazed through her body.

Lucian began to lick her pussy as he fucked her with his finger. Nadiyya moaned when his lips first made contact with her clit. She groaned loudly as he thrust even deeper inside of her. Lucian swirled his tongue around Nadiyya’s clit and then flicked his tongue around her little love button. She cried out in pleasure as he ran his tongue along the length of her slit, all the while his fingers were deep inside of her. Nadiyya came again, this time harder than before. She moaned loudly and tried to wriggle free from her bondage but that only seemed to make them tighter.

“Stay still,” Lucian commanded her as he removed his fingers and continued to pleasure her with his tongue. Nadiyya’s pussy juices tasted delicious. She was sweet in every way and Lucian savored her scent and delicious flavor as he ate her out. As Lucian pleasured her and admired the way she looked as she moaned beneath him, he wondered if he really loved her.