GIANNA

~•~

Brandon and I barely had time to spend together, but now, it was ruined by his bratty little sister and their supposed family friend, aka, Brandon's best friend, who was always a little too touchy with him.

I had hoped we could leave the house, but now, I was forced to stay in and have a pool day.

I looked flattering in the one piece I was wearing, but Bailey's two piece totally stole my shine. I knew I sounded bitter and jealous, but I had every reason to when I was sitting alone on the sun bed and Bailey was speaking with Brandon across from me.

Bernice was having fun by herself in the pool. It was obvious she hadn't come to hang out with her brother. She just wanted to bring Bailey near him.

I didn't know what kind of expression was on my face, but Brandon locked gazes with me and his eyes went wide. Eventually, he dismissed Bailey and walked toward me, but the pest trailed behind him.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Bailey said when they were within earshot. "The only reason I came today was because you forgot your wallet at my place two nights ago."

I blinked and Brandon halted, turning around immediately to face her.

She didn't let him speak though. "It's in my purse. I'll go get it."

As she disappeared from our sight, Brandon turned around slowly, assessing my face. I was seething, but I kept my emotions in check. Two nights ago was the night of my birthday party. He had gotten a call, and he'd left and didn't come back that night. I didn't think much of it, but I didn't think he would be with Bailey.

Then again, maybe there was a good reason for it. Maybe he merely visited and didn't spend the night at her place. Maybe I was still insecure about their friendship.

"You're not going to ask me what she means by that?" He asked carefully.

"You're going to tell me anyway. I trust you." It was true. I trusted him. I just didn't trust his best friend. As a woman, I could tell she had feelings for him. I didn't know if he couldn't tell, but he wasn't dumb.

He closed his eyes briefly, looking pained. He opened his mouth to speak, but Allison arrived with a tray containing a jar of orange juice. Brandon usually preferred wine on our pool days, but he quickly switched to orange juice when he realized I had a fear of drowning after getting drunk.

"Thanks." I took the tray from her and placed it on the side table. "You may leave."

She looked between the two of us, knowing damn well that something was wrong, but kept her mouth shut and left as told.

I sat up and poured the juice into a glass, taking a sip, still as calm as ever.

"Gianna..." he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let's talk later, okay? When they're gone, I'll tell you what happens, I promise."

A gasp was heard behind us and I realized the bitch was back. "Are you two fighting? I'm sorry. I thought he had already told you about the night we spent together."

"Bailey!" Brandon scolded and she widened her eyes, trying to act innocent.

I knew that she did it on purpose, but it still did the job of hurting me. "Spent the night together?" I asked. I had tried to lie to myself that it was a mere visit. They were friends after all, but apparently not. "As in slept together?"

"You didn't tell her?"

"Bailey," He gritted out. "Shut the fuck up. One more word and I'll throw you out."

One more word? He couldn't even throw her out now? After all she had said, he was still tolerating her? Did he even feel bad about it? The thought of them having sex together left a bitter taste in my mouth and I felt like throwing up.

I closed my eyes briefly, took a deep breath, and stood up. "Excuse me."

"Gianna." Brandon held my arm, stopping me from walking away. "Let's talk about this later, please."

"We'll talk about it later. Excuse me for now."

Bailey rolled her eyes as though I was being dramatic and I had the strongest urge to pluck them out. She was acting as though she didn't just tell me she slept with my husband; as though it wasn't a big deal for my husband to cheat on me with her.

"Please, G, calm down."

"I'm calm. Let go of me while I still am."

He released my arm slowly and I started to walk away, but his sister's voice stopped me. "What's going on? Did she find out about you and Brandon?" Great. So everyone but me knew my husband had cheated on me.

"You told Bernice?" Brandon sounded incredulous.

"What? Am I not supposed to know?"

"Stay out of this, Bernice. I'm not joking."

Bernice scoffed, disregarding the words of the brother she idolized. "You guys are so dramatic. Why are you acting like it's the first time?"

I whipped around immediately. "It has happened before?"

"I can explain, G. It's not what you think, please."

I shook my head. I couldn't stay in that place any longer. I would actually throw up then. I heard Brandon calling my name as I walked away, but I pretended not to hear. I couldn't even look at him.

He said he could explain. How the hell could he salvage this?

GIANNA

~•~

His day off finally made sense. When he came back yesterday, all did was wash up and go straight to work without even having breakfast. He couldn't even look me in the eye.

He felt guilty and was trying to make it up to me by spending the day with me, as if that would solve anything.

I should have expected this. Brandon and Bailey had always been close and he was pressured into marrying me. Why did I think he would be loyal to me? I tried to be the best wife anyone could have, but... fuck.

I didn't want to cry. I knew he was going to come in soon and I didn't want him to see me crying. He was an asshole. He always told me not to worry about Bailey but he didn't just fuck her once.

As expected, the door to our room opened and he walked towards me. "They're gone."

I laughed bitterly. "Is their absence supposed to change the fact that you left my party, making me cover up for you, only to go and spend the night at your supposed best friend's house? And your sister, who absolutely hates my guts, knows about it, but I don't?"

"I didn't tell my sister. I didn't even think she knew."

"How does that make anything better, Brandon?" Tears gathered in my eyes. "Even if you don't love me, I expect you to have the littlest bit of respect for me as your wife! Do you know how fucking embarrassing it is for you to sleep with her and have her rub it in my face?"

In my matrimonial home at that. Bailey knew exactly what she was doing when she blurted it out. She did it to hurt me and it worked. Brandon allowed that. He couldn't even have his affair in private.

"I was going to tell you about it, but she beat me to it. I'm sorry. I had no intention of embarrassing you." I despised how calm he was about the whole thing. It made me feel like he didn't think it was a big deal for him to cheat on me. He was apologizing for everything but that. It made my chest hurt.

"Oh, but you are not sorry for sleeping with her?"

His eyes went wide at my words. "Of course, I am. I didn't do it on purpose, G."

"How do you have sex with someone unintentionally?" Men came up with a different excuse every day.

"Gianna..." he reached forward to hold my hands but I slapped it away. "I promised you honesty and loyalty during our vows. I wouldn't go against that on purpose. Just hear me out, please."

I stared at him warily. I was weak for him and he knew that. I didn't want him to use that to manipulate me into thinking he didn't do anything wrong. However, it would be wrong to conclude without hearing what he had to say. I looked away from him. His eyes were shining with sincerity and I didn't want that to draw me in. "Go on."

"When I got a call from Bailey that night, she sounded sad and broken. She made a comment about how tired she was of living and that alarmed me." I held back a scoff. We all knew how dramatic Bailey was. I didn't know why he still took her words seriously. "When I got there, she was drinking. I took a few glasses and blacked out. When I woke up, we were both naked on the bed. I didn't plan to sleep with her, G. It just happened and I hate myself for it."

I folded my arms across my chest. It was quite embarrassing but if what he was saying was true, I was glad he didn't have sex with her while he was sober, but then again, "Bernice said it's not the first time."

He inhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That was before we got married when we were still in college. It's the same situation. We blacked out and found ourselves naked."

My mouth fell open. That was even worse. I shook my head and stood up from the bed, walking away from him and pacing around the room. I was so stupid. The attraction was clearly there if they had slept with each other twice. "Why didn't you just marry her? Why did you marry me when you're so clearly attracted to each other? Was it to make a fool of me?"

"What? No, of course not. I don't like her."

"But you like fucking her? Make it make sense." I wiped away angry tears that were threatening to fall. This was so messed up. Was this explanation supposed to salvage our marriage? Despite how much I liked him, I still had a pride to protect. I couldn't be in a marriage where my husband was secretly in love with his best friend.

He shook his head. "I don't like fucking her. It just happened. I have no memories of them either. I promise, Gianna. I'm not trying to toy with you. Agreeing to our wedding meant agreeing to make you my wife and I'll always treat my wife with respect." As though it was a manipulation tactic, he tried to hold me again.

"Don't fucking touch me, Brandon." I spat out. "I promise this. I promise that. You keep making promises you can't keep. You promised she wasn't a threat to our marriage yet here we are."

"Gianna–"

I didn't let him explain. "What I'm hearing right now is that you two can't be trusted around alcohol. Whenever you're both drunk, your clothes come off? Is that what is going to happen every time you drink together?"

"I don't know how I can get you to forgive me, but I'm sorry. I'm never going to touch alcohol around her anymore if that's what it takes. It's never going to happen again, I swear on my life."

I glared at him.

"You're my wife, Gianna." He added. "You're the only one I want. Not Bailey. Not anyone else."

Hesitantly, he reached out to hold my hand again. When I allowed him, he pulled me forward and wrapped his hands around me.

"I'm sorry, babe. I'll prove myself to you and spend the rest of my life making it up to you." He pulled back slightly and leaned in to kiss me, reassuring me that he would never cheat on me again.

Maybe I was stupid. Maybe I was weak, but I thought it was better to end it there than to escalate it and separate. At least, I thought that was where it was going to end.

GIANNA

~•~

The last three weeks have been awkward. Brandon was much more affectionate than he had ever been since we got married. I knew it was out of guilt, but it made me think I made the right choice by choosing to ignore the affair.

It was like the setback made our relationship much stronger. I hated that I had to live with the fact that my husband knew how it felt to be inside his best friend, but I couldn't say that I hated the outcome of their affair.

He complimented me regularly, ate breakfast with me every day, came back from work early, and ate dinner with me as well. Sometimes, he even bought presents on his way back from work.

A pair of hands settled on my shoulders and before I could turn around, Brandon placed a kiss on my neck. "Are you coming to bed anytime soon?"

Heat rose to my cheeks, knowing exactly why he wanted me in bed. It was just nine o'clock in the evening and Brandon usually slept late because he was always busy with work.

"There'll be articles about the news later." He kissed my cheek, then turned my face so he could kiss my lips. "You can read them tomorrow."

"I have a conference tomorrow. I won't have time."

Brandon sighed and leaned back, but instead of giving up, he rounded the couch and stood in front of me. I didn't have the time to react before he placed his hands under my legs and back and lifted me from the couch.

I let out a squeal, wrapping my arms around his neck for balance. "Brandon!"

Brandon ignored me, but before he could take a step forward, the doorbell rang. My eyebrows furrowed. Even if it wasn't very late, it was still night and we weren't expecting any visitors.

I made a move to escape his hold and check who was at the door but Allison, who had been in the kitchen, beat me to it. Brandon kept me in his arms as we waited.

"It's Ms. Johnson," Allison announced and Bailey appeared from behind her.

I glanced at Brandon and he shrugged, letting me know that he also had no idea why she was here. Brandon had promised me that he would take a step back from their friendship. He also said she wasn't allowed in the house anymore and that they would only come in contact if they met at events. I appreciated that, but it made me wonder why she was here and at night as well.

I tapped on Brandon's arm and he gently let go of me.

"What are you doing here?" Brandon asked, sounding curious. "I thought I told you we should limit our visits?"

I hadn't seen Bailey since the day she announced that she slept with Brandon and the three weeks apart hadn't changed my feelings for her.

"I'm sorry for showing up unannounced." Her voice was smaller than usual and it made me suspicious. However, I didn't say anything. I just watched the exchange with keen interest.

"Well, why are you here?"

"I have something to tell you." She told him, sparing a glance at me.

Brandon followed her gaze. "She's my wife. I'm sure she's allowed to hear whatever you have to tell me."

"Fair enough." She sucked in a deep breath. "I only just found out this morning, but I'm pregnant."

My heart stopped.

Brandon, the oblivious fool, was confused. "Congratulations?"

"The child is yours, Brand. We'll be having a baby together."

My tongue poked the inside of my cheek. This was it. My marriage was officially ruined and there was nothing that could save it.

Brandon's eyebrows were still scrunched together. "What? What do you mean?"

"It means on the day we fucked, you got me pregnant. I just thought to tell you because it won't be right to keep it from you. You don't have to take responsibility for the child, but I knew it wouldn't be fair if you didn't know about it."

I was ready to throw hands, but it would be considered an assault. Besides, she was now a pregnant woman. I'd be harming both the mother and the child. I couldn't listen any longer. If I did, my intrusive thoughts would win.

"I'll leave you two to your conversation," I told both of them before I trudged up the stairs.

Brandon knew better than to stop me. I wasn't feeling sleepy earlier, but as soon as I lay on the bed, I wanted to sleep and wake up to find out that this part of my life was a nightmare.

I made a phone call before I eventually drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I realized that my husband impregnating another woman was truly my reality.

Brandon was still sleeping when I went downstairs to get the document I'd told my lawyer to prepare the night prior. He was fast and efficient. When I went back into the room, Brandon had woken up.

He looked at me warily as though he was afraid I'd snap. "You slept pretty early last night."

The elephant in the room was huge as fuck, but I didn't want to talk about it. There was nothing to talk about. Brandon was a responsible man and he wasn't going to abandon his child no matter what.

It was best I removed myself from the equation. I was protecting my peace. I was in love with Brandon, but he was going to be a father and not to my kid.

Staying silent, I handed him the document.

"What is this?" He stared at me but my expression was blank. Curiosity got the better of him and he opened the file. His eyebrows shot up. "Divorce papers?"