Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 65355 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65355 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
“You need us to move that too?”
“No. We made space for it in the utility room. I’ll just roll it in there in a few minutes.”
“Great. We’ll be upstairs if you need us.”
“Thanks, girls.”
It wasn’t the first time they had kept the triplets. These little get-togethers were pretty common. Blane had them about once a month for new investors. He could easily afford to take them to a more formal setting or hire a caterer, but he had insisted that she do it here at home ever since they had married less than a year ago. At first, she hadn’t minded. She felt she was part of a team, but it had quickly become apparent that they were no team.
Blane was the boss, and she was his minion. His job was to run his business and hers was to make him look good. She had known he was demanding, power driven even before they married, but she had no idea that the passion they shared as lovers would completely disappear after she got pregnant. He showed no passion or love while she was pregnant, and afterwards it seemed that all the passion he once had was lost. His dismay over them all being girls caused him to ridicule her, and he made it clear when they were having sex that she must produce boys only. He made her feel like there was something wrong with her body.
She glanced at herself in the hallway mirror as the girls retrieved babies and headed upstairs with them. There was nothing wrong with her other than a few baby pounds she had not yet shed. She hadn’t been a thin girl to begin with. It had been her ample curves that had drawn Blane to her - or so he said. The extra weight she carried hadn’t even changed how her pre-pregnancy clothes fit her, but he acted as if she were completely unfit. Pushing back a lock of pale straw-colored hair, she looked into her own golden-brown eyes, noting how tired she looked and then dismissing it.
Returning to the kitchen, she finished up the potatoes and gravy before setting out the plates. Blane was nowhere to be seen until the doorbell rang again and he emerged from his study to appear in the doorway of the kitchen again.
“That’ll be the guests. Are you ready?”
“I’m plating the food now. Wine and water are already on the table.”
“I guess I’m the door greeter then,” he sneered.
“I can’t do both, Blane. If you’d hire some help for the house, it would be easier.”
“I don’t need help. I need a wife that can do her fucking job and provide me with the support I need to run this business. You know, this business is our life blood.”
The doorbell rang again, and he sighed, smoothing down the front of his shirt.
“Get the food finished,” he barked at her before going to answer it.
The doorbell rang several more times after that. She could hear Blane greeting people and then heard their footsteps down the hallway to the dining room. The kitchen door was shut so that the guests couldn’t see her doing all the work herself. He didn’t want to hire any help for her
but he didn’t want anyone to know that he was making his wife, who had new triplets, doing all the work alone. The last time, he hadn’t done this and someone had commented on how she shouldn’t be doing so much when the girls were only a couple weeks old. It hadn’t changed how he treated her, only that he made sure no one else was aware of it.
Dinner was uneventful, or so she thought. Everyone seemed pleased, and conversation was lighthearted. Afterward, the men all filed into the large den that was off limits to anyone but Blane and who he chose to let in. She was allowed in to clean it, but nothing else. It was more man cave than conference room, but he held court there with those he befriended or did business with. Everything he did was to give his business associates the impression that he was very hands-on and down to earth, a family man.
Nothing could be farther from the truth, as Constance had quickly learned after they were married. He had wined and dined her, creating an atmosphere designed to draw her in and make her believe he was head over heels in love with her. Six months later, they were married in a large ceremony that was planned more by him than by herself. At the time, she had thought it was sweet that he wanted to be such a huge part of their nuptials. It was only after they were married that the true Alpha in him had shown his fangs and she had realized it was more about control than thoughtfulness.