wine and champagne choices, music, and security details. Checklist complete, I check my phone to see if Patricia has sent me the information for lunch.
You would think I was one of Grant’s employees with how professional and cold the message is.
As it is, I have an hour to grab Grant’s dry cleaning, return it to the house and drive across town to get to the restaurant.
I stand from my seat and leave to manage my other wifely chores, arriving at Gardenia’s on time for the late lunch. A bit surprised by the choice, I pause in the front waiting area to examine the menu they have framed on the wall.
Grant is a meat and potatoes man, yet this restaurant caters to a vegan diet.
Eyebrow crooking at that, I wonder if my husband chose it for me.
A spark of heat blooms in my chest, but I won’t allow it to ignite into a flame of appreciation...or hope that my husband was finally learning to accept who I am rather than demanding I become who he wants.
Still, there is a touch of warmth. Why else would he choose this particular restaurant?
Speaking of the devil, a hand presses against my lower back, a soft set of lips lowering to my ear.
“You know, it’s strange. I stepped inside and was immediately drawn to a woman so beautiful, it was impossible to look away. I should have known it would be my wife.”
I turn and wrap my arms around him, pushing to my toes to peck his cheek. “Thank you.”
Green eyes drop to mine. “For?”
“Choosing a vegan place to eat.”
Brows tugging together, Grant glances up at the menu on the wall, his lips pulling into a scowl. “I didn’t choose it.”
My heart drops into my feet, the spark of hope I’d felt only a second ago doused in water. “Who did?”
Grant runs a hand through his hair and pulls away from me. “I left the choice up to Harrison.”
“Mr. Nash is vegan?” It makes me like this new investor more, also makes me happy to have an excuse for the vegetarian option I’d added to the menu earlier.
“Apparently,” Grant grumbles.
He flashes me his professional smile. “We should find our table. I’d hate to keep Harrison waiting.”
It’s the opposite, in fact, the minutes ticking by with Grant growing more aggravated where he is seated beside me as Harrison Nash keeps us waiting instead.
Still, my husband will smile and brush it off as no problem. When it comes to business, the investors are always right. Nothing they do is openly discouraged.
Instead, Grant brings his frustrations home to me where I’m lucky enough to suffer the bad moods and fallout.
My phone pings, and I pull it from my clutch to read a text from Gloria about additional details for the company formal. To my side, Grant mumbles finally and stands from his seat.
“Harrison,” he says with a voice that gives no hint of dissatisfaction. “Thank you for agreeing to meet me.”
Tucking my phone away, I glance up with a bright smile, ready to charm Grant’s newest investor. Ice water douses my veins when I’m met with light grey eyes set against hair so dark it absorbs light.
Dread sinks deep into my bones, my legs shaking as I push to my feet to shake the hand of a man I can’t believe is standing at the table.
Ari stares back at me, nothing in his expression giving away the fact that he knows me, only a minuscule quirk to his lips that nobody would notice but me. Heat blooms between my legs to see those cruel lips, to remember how punishing they’d been on my body. It only makes this moment worse.
Grant’s hand slides to my lower back.
“Harrison, this is my wife, Adeline. I asked her to join us for lunch today. I hope that’s not a problem.”
When our hands meet across the table, I feel a jolt of so many competing emotions that my stomach rolls on itself, a knot of anxiety growing in my throat.
“Nice to meet you,” he says, his eyes pinning mine for only a few seconds before he slides his gaze back to Grant. “And it’s not a problem at all. The more the merrier, right?”
Merrier, my ass. This is a fucking nightmare come to life.
I jerk my hand away, wiping my palm on my dress as if that will erase everything that occurred in the mausoleum.
It doesn’t help that he stands there looking like every woman’s fantasy. Dressed in black on black, his jacket