I might have shivered. I expected to find Dane in the kitchen or dining room, but he was nowhere to be seen. The coffee machine had been recently used, though, so he was obviously awake. He’d probably already had breakfast.
While eating my toast and chugging down my morning intake of caffeine, I sifted through some of the emails that he and I had received overnight, just as I always did each morning—it helped me get a head-start on my workday.
Coming across a particular email, I froze. No. Freaking. Way. This had to be a fucking joke.
I’d known Heather would do something stupid out of sheer vindictiveness. I just hadn’t thought she’d send Dane an email in which she tried convincing him that he’d made a mistake in marrying me. Basically, she’d pulled a Travis. She’d given a friendly warning to Dane that I wasn’t someone he should be with, claiming “my conscience just wouldn’t let me stay quiet.” Like the woman even had a conscience.
Damn Heather. Another person might have thought, “Oh, Dane and Vienna are married now; it’s too late to split them up.” But Heather didn’t believe in the sanctity of marriage. She separated couples all the time. And she was good at it.
Either she had no idea that I screened Dane’s emails, or she wanted me to be the one to first read it. Whatever the case, I was pissed.
My fingers itched to type a rude response, but I didn’t for the same reason that I didn’t call her and demand to know what the hell she’d been thinking. I’d deal with her face-to-face. But not until I’d let her sweat for a while—she’d hate that her antics hadn’t garnered her an immediate response, so I was all for that plan.
I blew out a breath. I’d have to delete the email. If Dane read it, if he knew she’d made yet another shitty move, he’d retaliate for sure. I couldn’t have that. It would lead to a clusterfuck.
Wanting to keep Heather’s email as evidence in case I needed it, I forwarded it to my own inbox and archived it. Only then did I delete it from Dane’s account.
He would not be a happy bunny if he later found out I’d kept this from him, but he also wouldn’t be surprised. If he had a huge problem with it, well, he’d just have to deal with it. If we were true partners, I’d have told him. But we weren’t, and so I was entitled to my secrets just as he was to his.
By the time I’d scoffed down my breakfast, he was striding into the kitchen. He looked the epitome of well-groomed with his clean-shaven jaw, white shirt, charcoal tailored suit, black tie, and gleaming back shoes.
That easily, heat coursed through my blood. For the billionth time, I found myself wishing I could feel him moving inside me just once. Because I was that stupid.
His dark eyes locked with mine, and he frowned. “You look tired again.”
I wasn’t so much tired as weary. Weary of Heather’s antics, to be precise. “Good morning to you, too. Is Sam outside?”
“Not yet. We’re not going to work until this afternoon.”
“What? Why?”
“My personal shopper is coming to see you.”
I gave my head a little shake, struggling to keep up. “Um, personal shopper? Why?”
He looked at me like I was dim. “Because most of your clothes were robbed yesterday—especially the suits you wear for work.”
“I can just head to the mall at some point.”
“You’re wearing the only suit you currently own. With everything else that’s going on, do you have time for a shopping trip?”
I shifted a little on my seat. “Well, not really.”
“Then personal shopper it is.” He planted his hands on the island. “After work, we’ll visit Simon and your foster parents—all of whom have texted me, asking me to keep an eye on you; they’re worried and need to see you. Then we’ll pick up your car. And if there’s anything you desperately need from your apartment, you can grab it tonight, since the police are done searching it for evidence. The moving crew will pack and transport everything else.”
“How do you know the police are done?”
“I called the officer who took your statement last night.”
I bristled. “I was going to do that myself.”
“Now you don’t have to. Griffin said the security cameras show a hooded figure slip into the main door just as a woman exited; that same figure later left with your suitcase. But Griffin couldn’t tell whether