Prologue
Grayson
“No, Nichole. I would give you anything in the world, but not this. Please, I beg of you, ask for something else, anything else.”
“What else do you expect us to do? I can’t give you a baby on my own. This is the next best thing. Please, Grayson, listen to reason,” she pleads. “I have made peace with my decision; why can’t you?”
“Because, Nichole, it’s insane. You’re literally asking me to cheat on you just so I can knock someone up so we can have a baby. Don’t you hear how crazy that sounds? I’m not doing it.” My stare is hard. I want her to see just how ludicrous this request is. This isn’t some movie where the wife gives her husband a hall pass.
“It’s not insane, Grayson. I’m being a realist here. I can’t give you kids. Chemo messed up my insides and killed off any chance I had at reproduction.”
Interrupting her, I say, “Then do IVF. Or if you want to bring a stranger into the mix so badly, then we can go the surrogate route and have my sperm planted into her medically, but I’m not fucking anyone.”
“You know as well as I do that the chances of IVF succeeding in me is zero to none. I had a partial hysterectomy and chemo and radiation lowered my ability to produce an egg each month. I don’t want to put myself through anymore surgeries and spend a bunch of money hoping for something that will never happen. I don’t want to deal with any machines or have my baby subjected to any radical new age treatments. Look what it has done to me.” Her voice cracks, and I can feel my heart breaking by the agony in her words. Going to her, I hold her in a tight embrace and she lets her tears run free onto the crook of my neck. “I want us to have a child naturally. It may not have my genes, but he or she will have yours. Please, will you do this for me?”
Holding her at shoulder length, I gaze deeply into her eyes searching for any doubt in this crazy ass plan of hers. I’m dismayed when I see nothing but determination shining back at me. She’s not going to relent or be swayed. I know her well enough that when she gets that determined look, there's no changing her mind and she will fight to the death to make what she wants happen. That fiery will is what made her such a great defense attorney. She fought hard for her clients and came out the victor most of the time. Before her diagnosis, when she got too sick to practice law, she was quite the whirlwind in the courtroom, looking just like she does now standing before me. She stole my heart then but she’s breaking it now.
“Fine,” I relent. I never thought Nichole would ever do something to make me hate her, but this, forcing me to go against my vows, is a decision that will hold dire consequences for the both of us. I just hope we'll be prepared to face them when the time comes.
Giving me a small smile that doesn’t reach her eyes, she walks to her office, leaving me alone to my thoughts.
1
Jade
“I’m sorry, Jade, but if you don’t come up with the rent money before the close of business today, I’m going to have to kick you out.”
“Come on, John, give me a little more time. I got a really good feeling about this interview I’m about to go on. Please, just give me a couple more days to come up with the money,” I beg, giving him the puppy dog face.
“Sorry, kid. If it were up to me, I’d let you stay, but these are the landlord's terms, not mine.”
“Fucking Billy,” I mutter under my breath. I knew I shouldn’t have gone out with the asshole. Who knew he’d turn into such a prick? He’s only being a hardass because his feelings got hurt when I didn’t call him back the next day after our date. I just wanted a quick fuck, not a relationship. “Well, where is Billy? I’ll talk to him,” I ask, looking at my watch. I still have an hour to burn before I have to leave.
“Don’t know. He said he had some meeting up town and sent me to tell you,” John replies.
“Fucking asshole. The fucking coward, I bet he doesn’t even have a meeting. He just didn’t want to face me.”
“Yeah, well, don’t shoot the messenger kid.” Sighing, he gives me a sad look. “I really hope everything works out for you,” he says, squeezing my shoulder before walking off.
Taking a deep breath, I try to reign in my anger. Right now, I want to find Billy and punch him in his face. Who does he think he is? The asshole actually thinks he owns The Five Seasons, when in actuality this place was just a step up from a homeless shelter. No one wants to stay in this shitty apartment complex in this shitty neighborhood but me and that’s only because I can’t afford to go anywhere else nicer. If he kicks me out, his next tenant will more than likely be some crackhead or a hooker. I guess he gets off knowing the rent was paid by a nut bust every hour.
Well, like my mama would say, there's no use crying over spilled milk or don’t borrow trouble or however that fucking saying goes. My mama had a lot of them. Too many to keep track of. Mama never lived in the real world. Instead, she found the good in everything and everybody. I’m not my mama. I’m the rotten to the core apple that fell off my daddy’s poisonous tree. Fuck Billy. I’ll get this gig and when I come back, I can show him proof I’ll have steady income coming in then he’ll let me stay. If not, I’m sure I can seduce him. A quickie or maybe a blowjob will do the trick.
Just my luck, my old beater didn’t want to start and I had to flag someone down to give me a jump and then had to give the asshole five bucks for his trouble. Chivalry is definitely dead in Jersey. Then I ran into traffic crossing the bridge from the Jersey Pike to New York and even more traffic once I entered the city. Maybe I should have saved myself the trouble and took the bus. Either way, I arrived twenty minutes late for my interview.
Running inside the fancy building, I fling myself into the elevator before the doors close. I’m already late, I don’t have time to wait for another elevator and the stairs are a definite no, not in these heels. For the interview, I put on my best dress. Okay, maybe it’s the only dress I own decent enough to wear to an interview. A simple, all black, high-low dress that stops a little above my knee in the front and long in the back, paired with red patent leather pumps, and a bulky fake pearl necklace I bought at a sidewalk sale. It was kinda chilly out when I left, so I wore my leather jacket with the studs. A parting gift from Daddy before he took off on my mama.
Inside the elevator, an uppity couple shoots me a scathing look from my abrupt arrival. Yeah, I get it. I may have looked like a loon charging in here, but going by the look of these two, they know nothing about money problems. The woman is beautiful, with straight blonde hair wrapped in a neat chignon, big blue doe eyes with pale pink lips. Her clothes are designer, and the heels she’s wearing cost enough to feed me for a year. She’s all bright and shiny, the typical upper Manhattan girl that makes you want to hate her. But as impressive as she was, she had nothing on the hunk of hotness standing next to her, holding tightly to her hand. Now he is every girl’s wet dream. The epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. His hair was dark and wavy, making me itch to run my fingers through it, his fair skin perfect and blemish free, his bone structure could only be compared to the work of the gods and those eyes. Grey with hints of silver like a thunderstorm. He was also impeccably dressed in a fitted suit, perfectly tailored to his delectable body and shoes so shiny, I’m sure if I got close enough, I could see my reflection. I wanted to lick him and stake a claim, even though he’s clearly her husband. Bad Jade. We’re a lot of things, but a homewrecker isn’t one of them.