Secret Smiles and Three Little Words Pt. 43

Chapter 59

"You're late," Royce complained the moment Elizabeth sat down.

"I'm sorry," she frowned. "Traffic was bad."

"You should plan ahead," he continued angrily.

"I know," she agreed.

She didn't know why he was upset. It was not like he was going to wait for her anyway. The wine bottle on the table was half gone already. He swirled the burgundy liquid around in his glass.

"I've ordered already," he said downing the last bit in his glass. He then reached out and filled his glass again, never bothering to offer her any. She finally had to fill her own glass. The waiter came and took her order as they sat in silence. She could feel the anger radiate off him and knew the meeting with his father went poorly.

She was growing tired of Royce's temper tantrums. They reminded her of why she didn't want kids. She never knew how to approach him. It was always a guessing game. There would be the good days where he would spend his time pleasuring her. Then there would be the days he was aloof, preferring her to leave and go elsewhere while he went about his business. Then there were the days he met with his father or the man his father put in charge of Royce's soon to be presidential campaign.

Those days left him bitter and angry and he usually took it out on her. Either with harsh words meant to cut at her. Or spankings that left her unable to sit. Then there were the really bad days when he would flog her, harshly, so harshly she felt abused rather than cherished.

"Guess what I heard today," Royce's smile ticked up at the corners.

"What's that Master?"

"It seems your replacement has the Super Dom, Gavin, wrapped around her finger!" Royce laughed derisively. Elizabeth cocked her head and waited for him to explain.

"It seems not only did she manage to get him to pop the question, but now they have taken in her niece!" Royce chuckled as he shook his head.

"Gavin with a child?" Elizabeth smiled.

"Yes," Royce shook his head. "So much for his Dom days!"

"I think you can be both a father and a Dom!" Elizabeth disagreed.

"My point is, he was supposed to be this perfect Dom! All the women want him, and lots of the men hold him in high esteem, but that little slut you picked out for him has converted him to a little bitch!" Royce mocked.

"Gavin is not a bitch," Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"Well then, I guess you aren't the sub you thought you were," Royce told her, his voice and eyes going cold. "She managed to at least to get him to pop the question, something you could never do!"

Elizabeth turned her eyes from him and his ridicule. Now he was hitting too close to home! She had thought the same thing. She always assumed Gavin had no interest in marriage as he never gave off the signals of anything but a Dom. The idea was never broached at any point in their relationship.

"Perhaps I chose the wrong woman to steal from him," Royce continued. "I mean, she must fuck like a hurricane to make a man convert that quickly!"

"I've been with her," Elizabeth growled back. "She isn't all that, I had to teach her how to be a proper sub!"

"Well, it seems the student has surpassed the teacher!" Royce laughed as his meal was brought to him. "I mean, first she manages to last longer than a year, then marriage, now she is making him take in her family? Must be one fabulous fuck!"

"Why do you do this?" Elizabeth asked him.

"Do this?"

"Take your anger out on me?" She complained. "You meet with your father, then get pissed off and I have to take the brunt of it! If you would man up and stand up to him, you wouldn't be angry all the damn time!"

"Are you questioning my manhood?" he dared her.

"You think I'm afraid of anything you can do to me?" she laughed. "Trust me, I can handle much better than you can give!"

"You think I won't strike you in this restaurant?" he growled pushing his plate to the side.

"You think hitting me is going bother me?" she threw back. "I'm a fucking slave, I love the rough stuff!"

They ate in silence, the people around them enjoying their meal. Unlike her. The meal they were enjoying had laughter with friends or family. Several couples looking into each other's eyes lustfully, passing time at dinner but wanting to get home to indulge in their sexual desires.

The table she was at had no laughter. It had no conversation. It most definitely didn't have the lustful looks. That had long since passed. Now they just fought with one another. The sex was infrequent and infuriating. She never came anymore unless she did it herself. Their sex life had fallen into a rut of two minutes of Royce gruffly fucking her without foreplay until he came. There were no sessions like she had enjoyed with Gavin. No intrigue in wondering what was in store for her.

With Gavin, he always kept her guessing, and that was half the fun. How was he going to please her? Was he going to fuck her roughly? Was he going to tie her up in one of his intricate knots? She never really knew. With Royce, that wasn't the case. She knew what was in store for her...utter disappointment.

She longed for the days with Gavin, the sessions that took hours and left her exhausted and satisfied. She longed for the spoiling Gavin always doled out. Soft baths, pleasurable massages. Pampering. Cooking for her, serving her dinner, opening her car door. Making sure she always took care of herself.

She thought of Alexandria. The first day she saw her there in the coffee shop she was turned on by her. The way she was looking at her through the top of her eyelashes as she drew her. Nothing made her feel as sexy as having someone steal looks at her to draw her. She didn't know why that simple situation struck her the way it did, but the idea she intrigued someone enough to spend multiple hours just drawing her made her feel important.

At the time, she felt Alexandria was a way out. A way to a better life. A more satisfying life, that is why she stopped her that day. She knew Gavin would like her, that was without question. She knew what he liked, what he liked to look at. She knew what his previous subs looked like. He liked the girl next door look. He liked a girl that could dress up and stun a crowd one night, then the next day throw a ball cap on and drink a beer with his friends watching a ballgame.

Elizabeth could do the wowing, but the beer with friends wasn't her. The more she learned about Alexandria the more she knew that Alexandria was the one to replace her. There would be no way Gavin could turn her down. Not sweet innocent Alexandria who was so eager to learn the life!

Now she regretted it. If she had known then what she knew now, she would have let the blue eyed girl next door walk on by. She missed the old lifestyle. Yes, at first she liked the rougher sex, being taken by force. But the newness and the excitement of that soon waned. Now it was disappointing. He didn't fuck her roughly to her satisfaction, he didn't take that type of time.

He was also having erection problems and he was too proud to go to a doctor to get Viagra. The one time she suggested it he whipped her to the point it hurt to put a shirt on. Now it also seemed her trip to the White House was also in jeopardy. Royce's father was constantly complaining about her. Cutting her down. Suggesting other women, sometimes right in front of her. At least Royce didn't back down, but she doubted it was because he was committed to her. It was more he refused to bow to his father about everything.

They were planning her wedding. Something quick and private so it didn't look like Royce just ran off and got married for appearances, which is exactly what it was. She heard through the grapevine that Alexandria's wedding was going to be elaborate and expensive. She had also heard that the wedding dress alone was five figures. A custom made dress by one of the preeminent dress designers. That struck a jealous bone that caused her to begin to hate Alexandria. She was getting the life Elizabeth wanted.

"Well, I have another meeting set," Royce said standing up. "I'll see you later." He walked away briskly without touching her. No gentle kiss the way Gavin always did. No soft fingers to the shoulder or her available skin. Hell, she would have taken a gritty, dirty sexual comment in her ear.

"How do you know that man?"

The voice brought her out of her doldrums to look upon a young woman, perhaps in her early twenties. Elizabeth looked her over. Her milk chocolate skin was tight and wrinkle free showing she was young. Time had not begun its brutal assault on her fragile skin.

"He is my fiancé," Elizabeth told her warily. The look on the woman's face said it all.

"Oh God," the woman hung her head.

"He's fucking you," Elizabeth stated not overly surprised even if the young beauty before her was.

"He said he was single!" the young woman defended. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's not your fault," Elizabeth said softly as she stood up and took hold of her purse. "Men are pigs...my advice? Don't get mixed up with Royce...he can be abusive."

"You're not angry with me?" the woman asked her surprised the dark headed woman didn't launch into a tirade like she wanted to when she saw Royce with her.

"No," Elizabeth shook her head. "He's a user, he uses people to get what he wants then he moves on."

"If you know this then why are you with him?" the woman asked.

"Because using people is what I used to do for a living, I'm better at it than anyone. Royce may use girls like you for gratification, but I'm using him to get what I want!" Elizabeth left the woman there, her jaw dropped open in disbelief at what Elizabeth had said.

Storming into their apartment twenty minutes later the anger hadn't subsided in her. Things were spiraling beyond her control now. She needed to tilt the balance back in her favor. She went to the window and stared out of it. She saw the reflection of Royce's desk in the glass. She spun and saw it. His laptop. He never went anywhere without his computer.

"Royce?" she called out. She searched the apartment but he wasn't home. She came back to his desk and sat down. Pulling open the computer she typed in his password to gain access.

Scrolling through the files she found what she was looking for. Royce had told her that he had blackmail on his father that he could use to make his father go away. Once Royce got his Senate seat anyway.

The file was generic and Royce detailed the names for the rest of his files. This one only said "keeper stuff". She opened it. She scrolled through it. There were photocopies of lab reports, bills for hospitals and a copy of a blood test. There were also copies of memos sent to Royce's father, Limon, that detailed payoffs to women that Limon had slept with to keep them from going to the papers. There were several.

There were also copies of receipts and bank transfers to and from his campaign account to various other offshore accounts. In all, it appeared that Limon Rentrom had taken twenty million dollars from his campaign fund and hid it in overseas account. It was from that account that he paid off these women.

The DNA test confirmed that Limon was actually the father of his sister in law's baby, Royce's cousin. She slipped her jump drive into the port on the side of the computer and began downloading files. She would go through them all later, when she was sure Royce wouldn't walk in on her.

Now if she was tossed aside like Limon wanted, she could not only bring Royce down with his drug use and the rape she endured in New Orleans, but she could take the father as well. Wire fraud, campaign finance misappropriations were a big deal in politics. It was one of the few things that was still taboo in the world of politics, one of the very few things.

She wouldn't just take out Royce and Limon, she would take apart the entire Rentrom family. She now had the power to destroy the most powerful family in America. She could rip them apart piece by piece if she wanted.

***

Alex lifted her head and looked about her, Nora's laugh had woken her. She looked about her and found that the sun had longs since disappeared. She dropped her head and laughed.

"Well he did say he was going to use you to the point of exhaustion!" Alex laughed into the pillow. She rolled over and the rawness of her sex caused her to flinch. She shivered in remembrance of what Gavin had done to her.

She got up quickly from bed, she had slept through picking up Nora from school! She threw a robe on and left the bedroom quickly. She found Gavin and Nora on the floor playing a board game.

"Hey sleepy head!" Nora teased.

"Hey there!" Alex smiled as she dropped to the floor to sit with them.

"Feeling better?" Gavin asked as he rolled the dice.

"Yes," she answered unsure what he was talking about but assuming he had covered for her with Nora.

"Migraine gone?" he smiled as he moved his piece.

"It came on pretty strong, so thank you for having the medicine I needed!" Alex blushed out.

"I'm a doctor, that's my job," Gavin winked at her.

"And you are oh soooo good at it!" Alex told him leaning into him to kiss him.

"Gross!" Nora complained.

"How was your first day?" Alex asked her as she pulled the girl into her lap.

"It was ok," Nora said pushing her hair back from her eyes. "Some of the people are real nice but there is one boy who is real mean."

"Well, they say that if a boy is mean to you that means he likes you," Alex told her.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Nora pointed out.

"Yep," Gavin nodded as he moved his piece around the board. "When I first met your Aunt, to show her I liked her, I was mean to her."

"How?"

"I spanked her," Gavin smiled causing Alex to widen her eyes and blush that he would just blurt out the spanking she receives from time to time.

"What did you do?" Nora asked her.

"When a guy likes you, you don't have to do anything!" Alex smiled.

"If a guy spanks me, I'm going to punch him in the nose!" Nora said forcefully. This caused Gavin and Alex to burst into laughter.

"Hey," Gavin said changing the subject. "After you drop Nora off at school tomorrow meet me here."

He handed Alex a slip of paper with an address on it.

"What's this?" Alex asked him.

"Wedding stuff," Gavin exhaled deeply.

"I thought that was on hold?" Alex asked him.

"Do you think, for one second, Madelyn put things on hold?" Gavin cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Damn that woman!" Alex growled and laughed at the same time.

***

The next morning, Alex followed the turn by turn voice navigation and it took her into the suburbs north of Chicago. Turning her final corner, she saw Gavin standing next to his car with a woman in her mid-forties. Attractive and physically fit and for some reason her jealous bone twanged.

She pulled her Mercedes up behind Gavin's car and he came around to open her door.

"Morning Beautiful," he smiled as he kissed her.

"Morning," she smiled as any thoughts of jealousy left her the moment his lips were on her.

"Alex this is Shirley Palyoon," Gavin said introducing them. "Shirley this is my beautiful fiancé Alex."

"Good morning Alex," Shirley smiled. "I think you are going to love this!"

"Love what?" Alex asked looking to Gavin.

"This neighborhood has a lot of kids," Gavin grinned. Alex snapped her head around and saw the "For Sale" sign in the yard.

"We're house shopping?" Alex gasped her smile broadening.

"The condo has zero kids for Nora," Gavin pointed out. "It's time we find a place to raise a family."

"Holy shit," Alex croaked. "HOLY SHIT!" she jumped into Gavin's arms and kissed him deeply.

Shirley waited patiently for the couple to finish their affection before walking up the walkway.

"We have about six places to see today, so don't fall in love with anything right of the bat," Gavin told her.

Alex was lost in looking at the area on the outside of the house. The yard was fairly large, the house was two story and looked to have a basement. Large bay windows flanked a double door in the front with large glass window all the way to the roof above the door showing off a large chandelier in the entry way that was visible from the outside.

"Ok," Shirley smiled as she unlocked the door. "Now, as you can see you have a large entry way, just to the left here is the main office and to the right the living room. Take a look at the dual staircases! Isn't that a beautiful chandelier? It also retracts up so you can put a very large Christmas tree here!"

"There are four bedrooms upstairs and of course the master bedroom is downstairs, per your request," Shirley pointed out to Gavin.

"What did you ask for?" Alex asked him.

"I asked for a family home in a neighborhood with young children, a master bedroom away from the other bedrooms and a large yard," Gavin shrugged.

"He also said he needed a room with lots of natural light for your studio!" Shirley told her. "This has a great sunroom! It could easily be converted and used for you painting!"

"You are absolutely beyond words!" Alex told him as they toured the lower level of the home. "When did you decide we needed a new place?"

"As soon as Mike told me there were no kids in the building," Gavin shrugged.

Gavin and Alex spent the day going through homes in the area. Each one was large, elaborate and expensive. Shirley giving the prices of each home as they went, showing the highlights.

"What do you think?" Gavin asked as they finished the last house.

"Honestly?" Alex smiled. "I really like that first one...it was so perfect! With the treehouse and all in the back yard? I think Nora would love that!"

"God I would have loved a treehouse when I was a kid!" Gavin smiled as he opened her door. "What do you say we pick her up and bring her here to look at it?"

"Can we get back in?" Alex asked him. He held a small key ring up with six keys.

"I told her Nora would have to see them as well before we decide," Gavin winked. "I do think we should narrow it down to one or two though. Not burden her with all six."

"I agree," Alex nodded. "Let's show her the first one, see what she thinks?" Gavin nodded and closed the door and went to the passenger side and got in.

"Do you want to drive?" Alex asked him.

"No, I have to work a bit here," he said showing her his phone. "You drive and let me check in with my patients and make sure all is ok." She nodded.

Twenty minutes later they were sitting in front of St. Timothy waiting for Nora. Gavin was going over test results that had come back for a patient. The bell ringing had him shutting his phone down and looking towards the door.

A security guard walked down the row of cars waiting to pick up their child, he was talking into a hand held radio as he went, obviously calling out the names of the parents there to pick up their child. He stopped at the bumper of Alex's Mercedes and looked in at them. Alex waved and he smiled at her and moved on.

Nora came out, her Steelers backpack standing out. It seemed that most girls had pink backpacks and most of the boys had Chicago Bears or Cubs backpacks if they had sports teams. Nora's black and gold color scheme drew Gavin's smile. He hopped out and opened the back door for her. She handed him her backpack and climbed in.

"Hey baby!" Alex called out happily.

"Hey," Nora said softly. The smile she put on was forced and neither adult missed it.

"How was your day?" Gavin asked. Nora shrugged. "That good, huh?" Nora tossed her eyes at him at his tease.

"I hate math!" she told him.

"Math?" Gavin laughed. "Well, I'm not bad at math, maybe I can help." Nora nodded.

"Do we have to go straight home?" Nora asked Alex.