Daniela García

You don’t necessarily go around telling people that while your husband was in jail you were sleeping with his lawyer, that is one of those things that you usually keep to yourself. That morning Daniela woke up and rolled over to nest her head on Ilker’s chest, she knew that it was over. That was it, the end of the road. That day would be the last hearing, finally, and after that Serhat would be released. The first night they’d slept together, Daniela and Ilker had agreed that whatever happened between them would only go on until her husband was out of jail. After that, they would move on and pretend their liaison had always been the professional relationship it was supposed to be.

Levent’s alarm startled her, and as he snoozed it, he turned towards her and planted a long kiss on her lips. He was ready to let go, too, they had talked about it the night before, sitting in the living room, before they started peeling off each other’s clothes with the anticipation of a ravenous animal staring at his prey for the first time. She wanted him inside over and over again, in every corner of that apartment where she and Serhat had once been so happy, but that didn’t feel hers anymore. Instead, every corner had become the right location—the sofas, the floor, the bathrooms, against the bookshelves that they had cleaned of all the books of the questionable cleric at the origin of her disgrace. Now, as they lay down in bed, with condom wrappers spread all over the place, Daniela understood once again that she had made the right decision. No regrets, only gratitude for this man who had become her lifeline and sometimes the only reason she’d wake up in the morning.

“There’s no way they’ll keep him longer, right?” Daniela said, drawing circles on his chest with her finger. It must’ve been close to the hundredth time that she’d asked him that question, and she’d lost count of the times she’d asked it to herself.

“I already told you,” he said, softly caressing her cheek. “There’s nothing to worry about. The case is bulletproof. Actually, with the case we’ve built, you’re looking at a good civil suit. You could make good money after this.”

“You know I don’t care about that. I just want to go back home and see my daughter.”

He smiled faintly and kissed her again, and she could feel the urgency on his lips, the need to have her again was seeping through every breath, and it ignited in her a desire that had become all too familiar, a desire that she had learned to surrender to all too willingly. A desire that she wasn’t entirely sure she wouldn’t miss. Knowing very well it could be the last time, and without letting go of his lips, she took his hand and drove it gently from her cheek to her neck, through her breasts that he cupped, one by one, playing flirtatiously with her nipples, then down between her legs, damp between a mixture of the night before and what he was already responsible for that early in the morning. He drew that same path with his lips, using his tongue to leave a trail between her breasts, and his teeth to nibble at her nipples. She knew where his mouth would land even before it took off, but the warmth of his breath between her legs felt just as foreign now as it did four years ago, the night when, after going over Serhat’s file once again, Daniela had asked Ilker to stay.

“I’m gonna miss you,” he said, holding her tightly against him, allowing her soul to slowly make it back to her body. “But I’m glad to see that everything is going back to normal, you know? I’m happy if you’re happy.”

It still hit her ear wrong, but it was the truth and she knew it. It was part of their deal—neither one of them was going to fall in love and complicate things, this was something temporary with a beginning and an end.

“Thank you for everything,” Daniela said, reaching for his hand. “It was good. You were good for me…and to me.”

“You were good for me, too,” he kissed her and she was elated at her flavor on his lips. “I’m assuming we need to start our day now if we want to make it to the courthouse on time.”

“Ilkoş,” she said reaching for his arm as he was getting up. “I don’t think I can ever thank you enough, for all you did for Serhat. If it weren’t for you he—”

“Hey,” he told her, a smile on his face. “It’s nothing. I was just doing my job. Plus, why don’t we wait to see the result today, and then you thank me?”

She hated whenever he’d say things like that. To her, those comments showed a lack of confidence in what the outcome was going to be—and she couldn’t take it. Of course, it made sense that the professional in him wouldn’t want to overpromise, if only out of principle. And, yes, she knew that there was always a small possibility that things wouldn’t go as planned, there always was, but she didn’t even want to think about it. She was exhausted, running on fumes, and entertaining anything other than the best possible outcome was asking too much from her. Added to that was the fact that she would see her in-laws again for the first time in a year and a half. In that courtroom, she’d have to play the dutiful daughter-in-law, holding Sibel hanım’s hand, sitting next to her, even after all the things she had said about Serhat and her. Daniela would have to pretend to be touched by her mother-in-law’s pain, when in reality she was disgusted by it. She’d never seen faker tears than those of a Turkish mother who cries for her son while supporting the party responsible for his incarceration. But it was all not to hurt Serhat, he’d been through enough to have to stand the heartbreak of his mother and his wife hating each other. It wouldn’t last forever, either. Just whatever time it to them to get back to Houston, where Aylin was waiting for her—the ultimate sacrifice of love, having sent her daughter back home while she stayed behind, waiting.

Daniela looked at Ilker, brushing his teeth with a brush he’d probably have to pack up minutes later. He spat on the sink then turned around and caught her looking. His eyes immediately turned cloudy, almost dark, and a dreading feeling overpowered her.

“You know that I’ll be always here to take care of you, right?”

He said, and just like that Daniela understood everything. Ilker wasn’t as confident about the outcome as he wanted to make her believe. He was only trying to make her feel better.