Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 170: Meet the Fish

I sighed in relief when I saw Alec leaning against his car, which was parked in front of the hospital. The breeze fluttered his red shirt and long, dark hair.

I needed a hug. Sure, Wyla could have hugged me, but it wouldn’t have been the same.

As soon as he saw me approaching, he opened his arms. I rushed into his embrace, relaxing by degrees the instant his body heat warmed me.

"I was expecting Wyla."

"I told her I would drive you. I hope that’s okay."

"More than okay. Thank you. Have you waited long?"

"Not that long. Are you hungry? We could have dinner."

I shook my head. "I’ve eaten, but we can stop somewhere so you can eat. I’ll keep you company. Besides, I need a favor."

I winced as I said it. I wasn’t acting friendly because I wanted something. I truly wanted to spend time with Alec. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, I was over Alec’s show of distrust. He was human. He was being inundated with reasons to doubt me. While it had taken him a hot minute, he’d done what we had agreed to do for each other. Something bothered him, and he had opened a dialogue to work it out.

Sure, it hurt me that he would even think I was capable of cheating on him or that I would leave him for someone else, but realistically, it was better to clear the air. It was better to know how over-the-top King’s actions had become, and in actuality, it had led to discovering just how much trouble King was facing before it was too late.

Either way, I hoped Alec didn’t see my affection as bribery for the favor. That so wasn’t what it was.

"Is King okay?"

"No change yet."

Alec opened the car door for me. "We could eat at home. You could meet the fish."

"I might not stay."

I wanted to stay. I wanted to return to the familiarity of home. I ached to stay close to Alec.

Alec grinned. "I’ll take my chance."

Soothing music streamed through the car as Alec drove to the apartment. I leaned back in the seat and relaxed one muscle at a time. This was a long but productive day. Hopefully, tomorrow would follow suit.

"Tired?" Alec asked.

"Mm."

"Want to talk about what you need? We can get it out of the way before we arrive home, then you can fully relax."

"Josh may be dating Dot. We can’t trust him to be in charge of King’s recovery. We were hoping you could recommend private care and a bed in your facility, which is available until King can go home."

"Who is we?"

"Ben is authorized to approve King’s medical care until King can do it for himself."

"Ah. Josh always struck me as a straight shooter."

"Yeah, me too, sort of."

"It makes sense to find someone else to treat him if Josh is involved with Dot, but how did one of the city’s elites get involved with a jailbird?"

I filled him in.

"Wow, that’s a lot."

Alec turned into the building parking garage. "We can have King transferred to my facility in the morning. I have an executive suite available. It should be adequate for a member of the Heavenly family. As far as a caregiver, I have a couple of people in mind. I’ll make some calls in the morning."

"Thanks, Alec. I appreciate it. I know King can be a pain, but no one deserves this."

"Agreed. Besides, King will owe me one. He’ll hate that."

"I see how you are."

"How’s that?"

"You’re playing the good Samaritan to get one up on King."

Alec chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like me."

He parked the car and escorted me upstairs. The anticipation built with every step.

Alec didn’t make me wait. As soon as the apartment door closed behind us, Alec had me pressed against it with his hand snaking beneath my top while his lips claimed mine.

I moaned into his mouth as Alec’s thumb brushed over my nipple through my bra. I melted into him as if we hadn’t touched in months instead of hours.

When Alec’s lips traveled from my mouth to my neck, I said, "I thought you wanted dinner. We should stop and cook."

Alec nipped at my ear. "I’m heating my dinner right now. In time, I intend to eat my fill."

His free hand moved to my waistband, where he succinctly unbuttoned my jeans.

My eyes fluttered open long enough to spot the fish. I swear he was watching us.

"Should we be doing this in front of the fish?"

Alec stripped my top off and tossed it over the fishbowl.

"Better?" Alec asked.

"Rude."

Alec picked me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist.

"I’ll show you rude," Alec growled as I nibbled along the column of his neck.

And for the next two hours, I forgot all about the fish and King.

Afterwards, Alec and I snuggled when my stomach gurgled and rolled.

I groaned. "I swear I ate earlier."

"Um, one of us should cook."

"I’ll do it," I said, but willpower failed to pull me out of my warm nest in Alec’s arms.

"When?"

"Soon."

Alec kissed the top of my head. "Stay, I’ll do it."

"Order take out and stay with me."

"I’ve got to check on the fish."

"Oh, really. You’d leave me for a fish?"

"Hey, you left me for King. It’s only fair."

"I did not."

"But you would if he needed you. That inane sense of responsibility would kick in."

"Right now, while King is in this condition? Yes, you’re probably right. Sorry."

"Don’t be. You’re a good person. You’d do it for any of your friends, and I suspect some strangers."

I thought of some of Stiff and my love list projects, especially during the early years. Alec was right. If someone ended up on my live list, I tended to become personally invested.

"I won’t deny who I am."

"I wouldn’t want you to."

"Would you want to order your exhausted girlfriend two—no—three tacos?"

"Three tacos? That’s a lot for you."

"We had a lot of vigorous sex."

"How many tacos would earn me another round of vigorous sex?"

"I’m voting for zero tacos. I’d want milk tea."

"With boba?"

"Of course."

"I could do that, but first, I’m checking on the fish. He doesn’t have a pump on his bowl, and I covered it. I’m afraid he’ll suffocate."

"A fish can suffocate?"

"I don’t know for sure. I’d rather not take a chance."

I giggled. "Go check your fish baby. I’ll nap. Wake me when the food is here."

"Hey, Teela."

"Mm?"

"After tacos, let’s go to the chapel. I swear, I have no doubts this time. No one is clouding my thoughts. I hated being separated from you. I don’t want to go through it again."

Well, there went all thoughts of sleep. I assumed we would still marry, but I hadn’t prepared for it to be so soon. My first inclination was to tell him to wait until I was done with King, but I always seemed to be putting him off for one more project, one more emergency, one more doubt of my own. Only my doubts weren’t about Alec being the right person. My doubts were about my capabilities and worthiness of happiness.

I’d gone so much of my life just existing that the concept of happiness was like a fairy tale. It was unreal. And people left me all the time. My mom and dad, Bea, and in his own way, King. King had changed from when we dated to when he became my husband. He had stopped trying to be likeable. Instead, he became a stranger that I slept next to.

Would Alec change too? If I agree, would the mind-blowing sex end? Would he stop trying, stop coming home, stop cooking for me, and taking me to The Red Dragon for private sessions?

Or would I be the one to change this time? That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I was a doormat the first time around. This time, I’d like to think I would stand up for myself.

"Teela, you’re thinking way too hard. Talk it out with me. Maybe I can help. Don’t leave me in the dark."

"I’m afraid marriage will change us."

"Mm, I’m sure it will. Every experience we have changes us in some way. Change isn’t necessarily a bad thing."

"But what if it is this time? What we already have is so good, I don’t want to lose it."

"If the life we have now is important to us, then it is up to us to preserve it. We are strong, Tee, together and separate. If it is important to us, we can keep what we have, but I hope it changes. I hope it becomes even better. I want us to continue to learn about each other and discover the best ways to support each other.

"It is my dream to have the marriage my parents couldn’t achieve—that ninety percent of all couples cannot achieve. I want our happily ever after to start today and play forward so well that our kids our able to immolate our success.

"That is my dream."