Forbidden Serenade

Chapter Twenty-Four

I drove my new car from Elijah into a parking spot at my brother Leo's restaurant and turned it off. Gripping the steering wheel, I sat for a moment wondering how the hell to explain this. He'd dropped me off at the repair shop to pick up my old car and, instead, I was showing up to work with a brand new car.

It was too damn early for this.

Exiting the car, I headed inside. The restaurant wasn't open yet. I always arrived early to help prep for the day. Since there was no customer traffic, Leo saw me arrive and rushed to the door with a barrage of questions.

"Whose car is that? Did they not have yours fixed yet?"

I brushed past him toward the breakroom to put my purse away. "It's mine."

"What?" Leo's footsteps followed behind me. "What do you mean, it's yours? You bought a new car?"

Shoving my purse into a locker, I turned with a sigh. "Yes. I got a new car."

Leo's brows furrowed together. "Why? Could they not fix your old one?"

I shrugged, hoping to drop this topic. I wasn't ready for anyone to know about Elijah. "A new car is more reliable for the kids."

Leo chuckled. "I thought I didn't pay you enough for a new car?"

"You don't. Logan does."

Leo's laughter increased. "That was low, even for you."

I smiled, pretty certain I had diverted disaster. "Give me a raise and I'll sing your praises."

Leo turned, heading out of the breakroom. "Work harder and I would."

I watched him leave and breathed a sigh of relief. I survived this hurdle, but how long could I keep up this charade? It felt like the truth was slowly being choked from me.

***

My week without the kids went slowly. Time always dragged without them. Elijah never called, but I enjoyed the car he'd gifted me. Our conversation kept replaying in my head. I'm sure the words meant nothing, but they held a lot of weight with me. He'd made it clear our relationship wasn't just sexual. And, despite not being responsible or even involved in my children's lives, he'd done more for me to care for them than their own father did. I was pretty certain James wanted me to fail. I was baggage he wished to be rid of to enjoy his new life and wife.

Elijah's action of ensuring my children were taken care of spoke volumes more than any words he could ever tell me. The old saying went the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. For me, it was through my children. Show my children kindness and you'd forever be a staple in my heart.

Logan paid little attention to my new car. He was too stressed with his own financial dilemma of his bar struggling to survive.

Thanks to my laziness of not getting out of bed to clean up after sex with Elijah, I found myself with a yeast infection. I made an appointment with my gynecologist. During my appt, I nervously asked for a prescription for birth control. It was ridiculous. I was a grown ass woman scared to admit who she was having sex with. Though I got the prescription, I couldn't start it until my next period.

Friday finally arrived, which had become one of my favorite days of the week. It wasn't for the weekend, but for my children returning to me. They had an early dismissal from school, and since I was working, Tiffany picked them up and took them to James' house.

Nostalgia swept over me as I pulled into the driveway of my former house. My mind went back to happier times. All the years we'd spent in this home as a family.

It was all gone.

Parking my new car, I was hardly out when Millie and Sam came rushing out.

"You got a new car?" Millie asked, sprinting to me. She gave me a quick hug before pulling open the back door of the sedan and crawling in. "This is so cool! It even smells new!"