The CEO's Entanglement

9 Didn't Think

Morris POV

As soon as we pull into the driveway of Derrick and Briar's house, Elise is out of the car and rushing toward the door. I'm right behind her. Derrick opens the door after two knocks. He's holding my beautiful daughter in his arms and her eyes are closed. "I gave her some tylenol and her fever broke. She conked out about fifteen minutes ago. Right before she got the fever, she said her tummy hurt and threw up. I'm sorry I had to interrupt your night, Elise, but I knew you would want to know" he says.

Derrick is a good man, and I'm glad that my sister has him. After everything went down with Calob, and she found out she was pregnant, I worried he would run for the hills. After I saw him with Briar, I knew he would never leave her side. He looks at her like I look at Elise. "You were absolutely right, and I can't thank you enough for taking such good care of her. I'll text you and Briar to let you know how she is in the morning. I just hope your kids don't get whatever she has," Elise says.

"That's what family does right, share" he says with a chuckle. I thank him and turn to follow Elise. When she heads toward her car, I want to stop her in her tracks, but instead I follow her to hers. She starts to put Emmy in her seat as I slide into her passenger seat. Once she slides in, I can see she wants to tell me to get the f**k out, but instead she starts the car. "You really should take your car home. You'll need it for work tomorrow" she whispers, trying not to disturb our daughter.

"I'm not going to work tomorrow. Emmy is sick and, besides, we need to talk about tonight, which I'm sure won't be happening while we care for our sick daughter." Without another word, she pulls out of the driveway. We drive the twenty minutes back to our apartment. Elise is out the moment she parks the car and starts to unbuckle Emmy.

I place my hand on her back, leading her to our door. Unlocking the door, she heads inside and straight to Emmy's room. I take off my suit jacket and hear my phone ding. Taking it from my pocket, I see a text from Loreli. Why the f**k is she texting me? "Thank you again for all your help today Mr. McNair. I don't know what I would have done if I had to go back to my apartment. I would like to bring you breakfast tomorrow to say thank you. Do you prefer waffles or pancakes?"

"As much as I appreciate your offer, I won't be in tomorrow. I will need you to reschedule my meetings and email me anything that needs immediate attention. Otherwise, I don't expect to hear from you." I hate to be harsh, but I need to show my wife where my loyalties lie, and it's certainly not with Loreli. I know that Elise didn't insist on me having her reassigned, but I think that it would be best for my marriage. Not because I'm tempted in the least, but I've already shown my wife I make stupid decisions trying to be a nice guy.

I know that Elise thinks Loreli has her sights set on me, but I thought she knew how much I loved her and only her. I guess I haven't been doing a very good job lately. I'm hoping our trip to the Maldives will show her I'll do better. When my phone dings it's a simple response of two words, "of course."

I make my way down the hallway and Elise is dressing Emmy in a pair of purple pajamas. They both look exhausted. Before Elise can lift her into bed, I step into the room. I lift Emmy, settling her on the bed and pressing a soft kiss on her forehead. I'm glad her fever hasn't come back. "Good night, princess" I say. My wife kisses her and turns the monitor on. We make our way out of her room and once we're in the hallway, Elise turns on me.

"I don't want to talk tonight, so I'm only going to ask one question, and then I'm taking a shower before falling into bed. Did you f**k her?" My heart aches in my chest hearing my beautiful wife think I could do something so awful. I may not be the perfect husband, but I would never betray her. "Of course not, I love" she cuts me off. "I'm going to bed" she says, turning toward the guest room.

"Elise, where you sleep, I sleep. If you go to the guest room, I'll follow you. I won't let you put distance between us." "Fine, I'll sleep next to me, but you will not touch me. If you touch me, I will go sleep on the floor in Emmy's room. I told you I'm not talking any more tonight. If you try to talk to me, I'm going to sleep in Emmy's room."

She turns heading toward our room. I follow her inside, heading to my dresser to grab sleep pants. Elise goes into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her. In all the time we have been married she has never locked me out. The first time I walked in on her peeing, I immediately closed the door. When she walked out of the bathroom, she laughed at me. "You know every inch of my body, but you can't watch me pee."

The bathroom door opening brings me out of my thoughts. Elise is wearing shorts and one of my college t-shirts. God, even in something so simple, she is gorgeous. She slides into bed without a word and shuts off her bedside lamp. She shoves a pillow behind her, essential putting a barrier between us. I take the quickest shower I ever have, before I join her in bed. Everything in me wants to reach out and pull her close to me, but I know she will make good on her promise.

I have the most restless night of sleep in my life. When I wake up, Elise's side of the bed is cold. I reach for my phone but notice it's not on the nightstand. I know I put it there. I slide out of bed realizing it's still dark. I stop by Emmy's room, and she is still sound asleep. When I make it to the kitchen, my wife is sitting at our table in the dark. I notice my phone is sitting on the table in front of her. "Elise, love, what are you doing sitting in the dark?"

"I couldn't sleep. As much as I didn't want to talk, my brain keeps making up all these reasons why she was in your car or why you took her to a hotel. I even checked your phone. In all the years we have been married, I have not once thought about checking your phone. I trusted you and your love for me." Her words gut me. She doesn't trust my love for her because I did things without thinking about how it would make her feel.

"I'm sorry I made you doubt me, Elise. I wasn't thinking," I start to say, but she cuts me off. "Sit down, Morris, we have some things we need to discuss." A pit forms in my stomach. "I believe that you haven't physically cheated on me." "I haven't cheated on you at all" I say. "Was the meal I walked in on the first time you two ate together?" "No, but I always sat at my desk and her at the table. Sometimes others were there with us. We were always working."

"Was she the one texting and calling you all the time, interrupting the time you were supposed to be present with me and Emmy?" "It wasn't her every time, but sometimes yes, but it was always about work." "Did Kyle ever text you after hours?" "Elise, I have made it clear she is not to text or call me at home. Hell, I've decided to reassign her like I should have done. I don't want you doubting me or worrying that I'm going to cheat on you."

Something flashes in her eyes and bile rises in my throat. "Too late for that. I told you I was uncomfortable with this woman and instead of thinking about my feelings you decided driving her in your car and taking her to a hotel wouldn't hurt me." "Elise, she was in danger." "Well, she isn't the only thing that's in danger." "What the f**k are you saying?" "I'm saying you got to be a white knight for your new girlfriend at the cost of putting our marriage in danger."

"She is not my f**king girlfriend. You are not leaving me, Elise. I love you." "When Emmy wakes up, I'm going to take her to my parents for the week. I need time to think apart from you. I suggest you take this time to figure out if you want to be married if I decide to stay." "Elise, you're taking this too far. I admit I f**ked up, but I did not cheat on you. I would never cheat on you. There is nothing to think about. You are my wife, the only woman I love."

"You put another woman's needs before your wife. Even if that b**ch was in danger, which I find highly suspicious, anyone could have driven her to some place safe. You chose to put that woman in your car regardless of how I would feel about it, and don't you dare tell me you didn't think, because you are one of the smartest men I know." She stands ready to walk away from me but I can't lose my wife.