On the Edge (The Grange Complex Book 1) novel Chapter 41

Sasha

I hurled my favourite coffee mug on the floor in frustration. Dexter had lied to my face. I thought that he would come clean and tell me about his trip to the strip club. I didn’t want to cry, but when my stomach revolted I ran to the bathroom to throw up again, probably because I was so angry at him. Maybe I should have waited until we had dinner. The minute he came home I started interrogating him. This wasn’t wise, so it was no surprise that he kicked off.

Dexter had seen that stripper for a reason, but he refused to say anything. Maybe he was taking drugs again and feeding me lies, thinking that sex could solve all our problems.

I stripped off, locked the door and had a long and relaxing bath. It was difficult to take my mind off the man that I had fallen for. I waited for him to tell me about the phone calls, the small box, the strip club, but he just stood there trying to pretend that everything was all right. The fridge in this apartment was empty, and I was starving. I left my purse in his apartment and I didn’t want to go back there. We both had said enough. I never thought that this would happen to me again—for the fourth time? Deep down I think I knew that he wasn’t cheating, but his lies had hurt me.

An hour later, while switching channels on the TV, I heard a loud knock and Dexter’s voice behind the door.

“Sasha, I’m sorry, baby.”

I was on my feet, marching towards the entrance. I unlocked the door ready to tell him to get lost.

“Go back to your own apartment. I don’t want to see you,” I said, realising that he was completely drunk. He took a step towards me, but he lost his balance and landed on the floor. He normally drank when he felt guilty or when he had a very stressful day. Maybe he did care after all. It didn’t take him long to finish that champagne that he bought for both of us.

“Barbie, I love you so much. Please don’t be upset,” he mumbled, tangling his fingers through his hair. Dexter had changed his habits with whiskey and weed; now he drank in moderation. I had never seen him out of control over the last three years. This wasn’t how I wanted to tell him about our baby.

“Come on, you can’t stay here. We need to get you to bed,” I said, keeping my serious tone, helping him back on his feet. Our argument was silly. I only wanted to know the truth.

“There isn’t any other pussy, Sash. It’s just you … my special—”

He didn’t finish his thought before barging through the door and burping loudly. I helped him to get down on the sofa. My anger faded. Now it was just the disappointment and sadness of being lied to. Whatever was going on with him, it wasn’t good.

“Dexter, I meant to tell you this before. I’m pregnant with your child,” I said loudly, after about five minutes. When I glanced back at him, he was out, snoring next to me, mumbling words that didn’t make much sense at all. I covered my lower belly with my palms, thinking about the life that was ahead of me. Maybe Dex wasn’t ready to be a father. From what I remembered, Kirk was excited when I told him. I couldn’t compare a scumbag like Kirk to Dex. They were very different and Dexter had changed for me.

I picked myself up and went to bed leaving him on the sofa. All of a sudden I felt exhausted, drained and wanted to push the last twenty-four hours out of my mind.

I was out within minutes and dreams took over. My baby was beautiful and it was a girl. Tears were streaming down my cheeks with joy and happiness. Dexter was with me and he couldn’t wait to see this precious creature, to take her into his arms.

When I woke up there were arms around me, and I felt a little disorientated for a moment. Then everything came back: last night, our argument and storming away to the other apartment. Dexter had gotten drunk, because he felt guilty. This was easy to fix—he should have told me the truth. We could have avoided all these problems.

He was cuddled into me and he was fully erect. I felt his cock pressed over my ass.

“We aren’t okay, so you might as well get up and leave me alone,” I said, aware that he wasn’t asleep anymore.

“I’m sorry, baby. I don’t want us to fight and I have a killer hangover,” he growled, kissing my neck. Why did I have to turn into a pile of mush when he was all nice and back to the usual Dexter? “This afternoon I’ll explain everything, promise. I’ll pick you up from work, all right?”

I turned around abruptly staring at his handsome face, still pretty pissed off. I couldn’t tell him that I played a stalker and followed him to the strip club. That was a low blow. He obviously didn’t remember my confession about the baby, and now it was time to tell him.

Come on, Sasha, do it.

“What for? You won’t tell me the truth,” I whispered back, fighting with myself about what was right and wrong.

“I will. Just trust me, please. Maybe this doesn’t make sense now, but it will.”

He kissed me again and then jumped out of bed, disappearing into the bathroom. I couldn’t talk about the baby right now. I had to know what he was up to first. Ten minutes later, he nagged and nagged until I agreed to whatever he was planning to do. My gut feeling told me that there was never going to be a right time for this kind of talk.

Dexter

My head was absolutely banging. Last night I behaved like a complete asshole. Sasha was smart. I didn’t realise that she would listen in on my conversation. We argued and then she slammed the door, telling me to stay away. I was angry, so I drank our champagne and some beer that I found in the cupboard.

She thought that I was fucking another woman. Shit, I should have known that it would have been difficult to keep this kind of secret from her.

This morning I left with a hard on, thinking about her gorgeous body. I had to bide my time and wait until later. Getting drunk was one thing, but executing my carefully prepared plan after messing things up was another. Sasha needed to be shown that sometimes I had a heart too.

She was still upset when I left for work and it took a bit of convincing for her to agree to go out this afternoon. The most difficult task was ahead of me.

The situation at work was complicated. We had a few large projects going on and I had to be focused. Rob was coordinating the work while I tried to act like I wasn’t nervous about later. Many people wanted to hire me. I had gained a reputation in the market, and with meds my life was better now.

The hours dragged, but everything was ready. Harry was also involved; he suggested bringing her friends and my brothers. I agreed, and now my nerves were slowly eating me away.

I called her up to check if she was willing to give me a special performance tonight, but she didn’t pick up. Maybe Lorraine, the stripper, was right. Women were insecure and I was crossing the line with using another stripper. On the other hand, Sasha had always been very comfortable in her body. She was bloody stunning.

At two o’clock it started raining. This wasn’t a good sign. Instead of waiting around and risking leaving her a voicemail, I told Rob that I had personal matter to take care of. I had to surprise her, not anger her even more. There was no point involving another dancer. How could I be so stupid to think that she would like that sort of thing?

I headed straight to the strip club and managed to rearrange the setting. Lorraine wasn’t too happy when I revealed that she wasn’t needed anymore. The engagement ring was back in my jacket pocket. Harry looked relieved when I mentioned that I’d changed my mind. He suggested calling my brothers and Sasha’s friends. After everything was sorted in the strip club, I headed straight to the hospital. My shirt was sticking to my back, and I was twiddling my thumbs waiting outside.

I knew one thing, Sasha was still pissed off with me, and I had to make this right. When I showed up on the ward, the nurses were glad to assist me. Sasha looked amazing in her white uniform that sparked up my dick’s attention instantly.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, folding her arms over her chest. “You were supposed to call first, not show up while I’m still working.”

“I left you a load of messages, Barbie, and you know that I’m not a very patient person.”

She rolled her eyes at me.

“I have been busy, Dex. I only had ten minutes for lunch and I haven’t even looked at my phone.”