The Other Side of Greed (The Seven Sins #5) - Lily Zante Page 0,103
bit early for us to come here?” Simona asks. “You said the dinner reservation was for eight.”
Fredrich and I exchange sly glances.
“We’re not going to dinner just yet,” I announce.
Simona’s stare indicates wariness. “Where are you taking me?” she asks, her face wearing a mask of dread.
“You’re going to like this.” Fredrich hooks his arm in hers. They look a sight, him the great big giant, and she the slim and slight elderly woman.
We happen to be passing a beautifully made-up shop front just then, and I tell them to stand while I snap a picture. “For memories,” I tell her.
They stand, with the shop window on side one, and I catch traffic lights in the distance in my photo. It will be a timeless image.
The two of them pose and just as I finish taking a few shots, behind them in the distance, I see a man climb out of a car. He looks so much like Brad, that I do a double-take.
“Let’s get one of the three of us,” Simona says.
“Kyra?” Fredrich touches my arm as I stare into the distance. “A pic of the three of us.”
I stand alongside them, and we all huddle together so that we can get into the shot. Fredrich takes the picture because he has the longest arms and can hold it at a distance so that we all get in the shot.
“Nice,” he murmurs, taking a good look at the picture he’s just taken, but I’m slow to react, and my attention is more on the guy behind them in the distance.
Simona laughs. “That is a nice picture.” But my eyes are riveted on the man who has his back turned and is on the phone. It can’t be him. He told me he was away on business. We continue walking towards him, and though he is still some distance away, the similarity is there.
Shock jolts my heart out of my chest. He’s dressed in a sharp suit. It looks expensive.
It is him.
Given what I know about him, I’m not shocked at what he’s wearing, I’m just shocked to see him at all.
Simona hooks her other arm in mine. “Where did we lose you?”
“Huh?” I force myself to glance at her as we get nearer.
“You’re miles away,” she replies.
“Is that Brad?” Fredrich asks, looking straight ahead at the man who is now walking into one of the buildings.
“Brad? What? Where?” Simona sounds excited.
“Holy shit!” Fredrich circles the car like a hungry wolf, his eyes twinkling with admiration. “A Tesla. Freakin’ awesome.”
I try to school my breathing. I’m so crazy about him. So swept up in the heat and sweat of our lovemaking that I can’t think straight. I see him everywhere because he is imprinted on every inch of my skin, in every part of my mind.
Shock slams into me like a fifty-ton truck. Nausea makes me falter and sway, as if I’ve had three cocktails too many. I stare at the Tesla, but I can’t be sure I saw him walk away from this. Brad drives an old Toyota Corolla but lives in the Water Tower Building. A Tesla is more like the type of car I’d expect him to drive. Why did he turn up on my doorstep driving a banged up old car, and why did he want to work at Redhill?
He told me he was out of state on business. He told me he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to meet us for dinner at eight.
These new lies are more than I can handle. I stop to take a breath.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?” Simona asks as I lean against a wall because my legs are so shaky I feel as if they’re going to buckle.
“What’s up?” Fredrich is still ogling the Tesla and looks over at us.
I force myself to pull it together. Determined not to ruin this evening for Simona, I push off the wall. “I’m feeling a bit queasy. It must be something I ate. It’s fine. I’ll be fine.” I hook my arm in Simona’s and walk on with determination. Fredrich rushes to catch up with us.
“This is it,” I say, stopping outside the art gallery.
Dark windows display a couple of abstract paintings and the gold engraved lettering says:
Jessica Montrose Art Gallery
“Jessica Montrose?” Simona wrinkles her nose as if she remembers. Fredrich enlightens her. “It’s that woman from Eli’s city hall event, the one who clung to Kyra like a barnacle to a boat.”