A Ruthless Lover Novel – My husband was too busy flirting with his assistant at work to miss the birth of our kid. “Babe –” “Don’t you dare call me that!” “What –” “You call Erika that! I’ve heard you! You know, the woman you were married to that you’re still calling pet names? The woman your family wishes you were still married to and makes no bones about letting me know that? The woman you’re going to get back together with according to the three of them? The woman you spend more time with and have more of a relationship with than you have with me? Ring any bells?” “Gem, calm down. I’m not sure you getting this upset is good for the baby.” “It’s fine for the baby,” she snarled at me. “Because the baby is no longer inside me!”
“OK, on the next contraction, I’m going to need you to push again,” my nurse said, calmly. “This next one should do it.” Once again, I looked toward the door to my room. And once again, it remained empty. I felt the contraction build and build, and I pushed and pushed…focusing on the pain of my labor instead of the pain in my heart. “You’re doing great,” the doctor encouraged me. “There…almost…here she is!” the doctor crowed, and I felt relief as, moments later, I heard my daughter’s first cry. They placed her on my chest and then it was my turn to cry as I looked at my baby, hair dark like her daddy’s, but beyond that, looking too much like a wrinkled gnome to determine which of us she favored. “Ainsley,” I whispered to her. “Welcome to the world.” While the doctor did whatever to wrap up this birth, things I probably didn’t want to know or think about, I counted fingers and toes, memorizing that little, scrunched-up face, running my fingers gently over her wet hair and along her downy-soft back. “Hello, little girl,” I whispered to her, and her unfocused eyes looked up at me, knowing that voice that had surrounded her for all these months. “Mama loves you so much. I’m so happy to finally meet you.”
The nurses came to take Ainsley from me to weigh her, footprint her, put drops in her eyes and all the other fun things they did to newborns that made them screech in protest. One of my nurses came to help me sit up, and when they brought Ainsley back to me, they showed me how to nurse her. My girl didn’t last long because being born just takes it out of a tiny girl. Forty minutes later, we were in our room, Ainsley in my arms because I wasn’t ready to set her down in the hospital bassinette yet. Unable to stop looking at her, I was also unable to stop shooting glances at the door that remained empty save for the nurse occasionally coming in to check on us. He’s not coming. Swallowing hard, I looked down at Ainsley, sleeping in my arms, swaddled snugly so she felt cocooned. Safe. I shut my eyes against the images I had imagined before I realized exactly what I was dealing with, who I was married to. Giddy, idealistic, romanticized versions of the birth of our child that would finally pull Case’s head out of his…work and make him see that family was more important than the almighty dollar.
Sighing, I reached for my phone. Still no texts. Still no missed calls. I’d called his cell six times between four and five in the afternoon (kicked to voice mail each time), I’d left him ten texts (all unread), and I’d even called his office phone three times. His PA didn’t answer, but I hoped the ever-efficient Rhiannon would at least check messages since she never left the office before my husband and she’d maybe pass along my messages to my husband. Rhiannon didn’t outright hate me, she was all-business, but she’d been with Case for ten years and guarded him like a junkyard dog. I’m not sure why she thought he needed defending from his wife, but I’d be the first to admit, I wasn’t into business the way they were, the way Case’s whole family was. I refused to call Prudence, his mother, or Courtney, his sister, Case’s only family.
They despised me and made no secret of it…unless Case was around and then it was the more subtle, catty remarks that flew over men’s heads. And I definitely refused to call his ex-wife, Erika, who still held an executive position at his corporation and who his mother and sister adored. For the last two years, since we announced our elopement, I’d heard all about the superiority of Erika, heard them lament her divorce from Case, heard the quiet comments they made about it being only a matter of time until the two of them got back together. When I saw Erika at every freaking holiday dinner, the three women together made me lose my appetite. Case was too busy discussing business with his uncles, and sometimes Erika, to notice my discomfort. On the occasions I’d tried to bring it up, Case had told me to not pay any attention to them, that only his opinion mattered and that was that. End of discussion. I finally stopped bringing it up when he tried to blame my sensitivity to their nasty comments on my age and told me when I gained some maturity, I wouldn’t feel so threatened by their jabs and I’d be able to ignore them.
I didn’t think our ten-year age difference had anything to do with my misery at those family events — I laid that squarely at the feet of the three witches — but after a while, I stopped tilting at windmills and a little bit of who I was got shut down each time. I walked in the house just a little before midnight. Gem hadn’t left the light on for me as she usually did, and I stumbled into my study, exhausted from the last two days. Yesterday, I hadn’t gotten home until two in the morning, all of us on both sides of the deal wanting to hammer out some last-minute details so we could look through the contract today with the lawyers and finally, after months and months of endless negotiations, seal the deal on this merger that would be beneficial for both sides — especially my company. We’d started again at seven this morning, and I just snuck out of the house and showered in my office, opting to wear one of the ten suits I kept at work so I wouldn’t have to disturb Gem.
Once the deal had been inked after a long day of the lawyers haggling, all of us went out to celebrate, about thirty of us in total, and we had the restaurant to ourselves, thanks to Rhiannon. My assistant never slept, I swear, and I really needed to give her a raise so I wouldn’t lose her to another company. Dad had taught me the importance of taking care of your employees to make sure they stayed loyal. Every time I sent her out to buy Gemma a gift, I made sure she bought herself something as well, to show her my appreciation for her willingness to handle those domestic tasks so I didn’t lose time from the office. Rhiannon had joined us at the restaurant, sharing in the relief the team was feeling for the successful completion of this merger. “Tomorrow the real work begins,” I said to her. “But tonight, just enjoy yourself.
You’ve been a huge help and you worked as hard as anyone to make this possible.” “What about me?” Erika asked teasingly, giving me a hug and a peck on the cheek. As VP of Mergers and Acquisitions, she’d started the whole ball rolling just based on some industry rumors she’d heard so we were able to approach Garnet Tech before anyone else had with a lucrative offer that would be hard to beat. We’d fought off some other competitors and had nailed them down pretty quickly. I’d always been glad I’d kept Erika on even after our divorce. She was a single-minded shark and had an amazing network that kept us ahead of industry happenings and rumors. Through Erika’s efforts, we’d increased our company’s bottom line many times over. “Of course you were slightly important to the deal,” I teased her as we walked to the bar and ordered our drinks. Leaning sideways against the bar, I watched as photographers from our PR department roamed the room looking for candid shots to capture the elation of both sides of the merger.
They’d already taken some posed shots of the executive team in various arrangements. I saw the flash go off as Erika and I clinked out drink glasses in a toast to the contract signing. We both knew the hardest work, absorbing the Garnet Tech employees into MartinCorp, was about to begin. We’d have executive sessions daily for the next month to ensure the plan we’d put into place during negotiations was running smoothly. This next month was going to make the last few months look like child’s play and I fully expected to put in eighty-hour weeks for the foreseeable future. By the time we all left the restaurant, it was after eleven thirty and I was glad the restaurant wasn’t far from home. I was ready to fall into bed, and it was so late that another night on the bed in my study was in the cards. “See you tomorrow, Case,” Erika had said as she headed for her limo. Rhiannon had ordered a fleet to take everyone home safely after a long night celebrating. “Night, babe,” I said without thinking, then winced.
Sometimes, it was easy to fall back into the habits of our years together, beginning as freshmen in college. Erika had been comfortable to be with and we’d shared the same drive to succeed. It was only after we were in our late twenties that we realized business was all we shared and we’d been living like roommates. After my father had died, Erika had been instrumental in propping me up and getting us through the transition of me taking over as CEO. I owed her a huge debt and we’d divorced amicably so we were able to maintain the working relationship we’d always had and hadn’t missed a beat. I fell into bed, setting my alarm for seven, and passed out. Since it was early and my pregnant wife needed her sleep, I headed for the office and once again showered and dressed there for the day. Right before noon, I had five minutes before a working lunch with my Marketing team, so I gave Gem a call. “What?” she snapped out at me. That was unusual.
Gemma was one of the happiest people I’d ever met in my life. “Hey, Gemmi Bear,” I said. She’d teased me when we first met that I was so tightly wound, that I couldn’t come up with a sickeningly sweet nickname for her. I’d won that challenge and Gemmi Bear was born. “Did you want something?” she asked. “Just to say hi to my beautiful wife. I’ve been getting home late and leaving early, so I haven’t had a chance to check in.” “Check in,” she said slowly, drawing out each word. “You need to check in with me? Isn’t that a task you could hand off to Rhiannon?” “I’m sorry I’ve been busier than usual,” I started to apologize, but she cut me off, using that tone of voice I’d never heard from her before. “Well, I’ve been a little busy, too,” she said to me. Rhiannon stood in the doorway of my office and pointed to her watch. “Listen, Gem, I have to go to a meeting –” “Are you kidding me?” she asked, low and deadly. “Why would I kid about a meeting?” “That’s all you have to say to me? You wanted to check in with me and tell me how busy you are?” “Sweetheart, I have a meeting. We can talk tonight.” “And how are you planning on talking to me tonight?” “In our room,” I said slowly.
“When I come up for bed. I’m going to try my hardest to be home before ten so I can see you.” “Well, good luck with that,” she said, and her voice was suddenly sweet…but it wasn’t. “Since I haven’t been home in two days.” “Where are you?” “You didn’t notice I was gone the last two nights?” she demanded and the sweet was definitely gone. “No. I didn’t get in until really late the last two nights. I also left early and showered and got ready at work so I wouldn’t disturb you.” “Well you wouldn’t have disturbed me,” she was hissing like a snake and I had no clue why. “Because I wasn’t home.” “Well, how would I know that?” “Maybe if you’d check your messages, you’d know!” she practically shouted at me. Gem never swore, and if she ever did, it wasn’t hard core. “Babe –” “Don’t you dare call me that!” “What –” “You call Erika that! I’ve heard you! You know, the woman you were married to that you’re still calling pet names?
The woman your family wishes you were still married to and makes no bones about letting me know that? The woman you’re going to get back together with according to the three of them? The woman you spend more time with and have more of a relationship with than you have with me? Ring any bells?” “Gem, calm down. I’m not sure you getting this upset is good for the baby.” “It’s fine for the baby,” she snarled at me. “Because the baby is no longer inside me!” “You…you had the baby?” Rhiannon was jabbing at her watch now, and I held up my index finger to her. “Yes,” she said. “Ainsley came into the world two days ago at six forty-seven pm.” “Why didn’t you tell me?” Apparently, for some reason, that wasn’t the right thing to say. I had to hold the phone away from my ear she yelled so loudly. “I did try to tell you! I tried multiple times. I called you. I texted you. I even called your PA who also hates me and left messages with her. I tried to text you the next day, and you texted back you were in meetings, I was being dramatic and you were turning off your phone until your meetings wrapped up.” My heart started racing. Gem had given birth without me, and I hadn’t checked on her in two days. I’d missed my little girl’s birth. I’d missed the birth of our first baby, I’d missed the birth of our baby, and I hadn’t been there for Gemma.
My forehead started prickling with sweat as I realized what I’d done, and my gut was producing bile that burned my throat as I choked it back. I’d missed my little girl’s birth. I’d missed being there with Gemma to help her through the labor and delivery. I’d missed it all, and I was sure my heart was going to stop as the full realization started to hit me and I began shaking. This was not happening. But apparently it had happened because Gemma kept going. “You know what, though? I never got a call or even a text from you. Despite the SOS, 911 text I sent you, you never called or texted me back. Because you were too busy drinking and flirting with your first wife. Your PR team posted some lovely shots last night of the two of you on the company Facebook page that both your mother and sister were kind enough to screen shot and send to me, just in case I hadn’t been keeping up with the exciting company news.” I’d missed our daughter coming into the world.
I’d missed Gem’s efforts to deliver our child. I hadn’t been there for her, for our daughter. What kind of man doesn’t call his wife several times a day when she’s expecting to make sure she’s OK? “The baby…you…are you both…is she…are you…” I couldn’t even form words. My tongue flopped helplessly in my mouth, tangled and useless at the thought of what I’d missed. I wanted to apologize, but how do you apologize for the unforgiveable? For one of the greatest mistakes you could make in your life? “We’re both fine, thank you for asking,” she said politely, and I never thought I’d miss the shouting version of Gemma, but the voice that was speaking now? Some switch had been hit and her words were cold and flat and monotone. Rhiannon stomped over to my desk and jabbed an angry finger at her watch. “Can you just leave me alone?” I roared at Rhiannon. “No problem,” my wife’s voice in my ear said coldly. And the call ended. I had a feeling unless I acted quickly, a lot more would be ending.