Imperfectly Delicious (Imperfect Series #6) - Mary Frame Page 0,32
you bang, okay?”
“Got it, but it’s not happening.”
“Anyway, I was talking to our real estate developer and I guess your Guy has been pretty desperate to get the little lot where you’re parking.”
“I’m aware.”
“Fortunately for you, I already told him not to sell no matter what he offers, but it might get to the point where I can’t stop it. He has a backer, Oliver Nichols.”
I almost choke on my pizza. “Oliver Nichols the billionaire?”
“Yep.”
The delicious pizza turns into a stone ball in my stomach.
“Are they going to have to sell?”
She shrugs. “We’re far away from that kind of talk, I wouldn’t worry about it. I’ll let you know if they keep upping the ante and we reach a point of no return. I’ll help you find another place. Or maybe you can buy a brick and mortar; it might be worth it since your catering hustle has been taking off.”
“Yeah.” I force myself to take a giant bite of pizza even though it’s not as delicious as it was a minute ago.
“Did you know he was married?” she asks.
“No. And I don’t want to know because it has no relevance.” I take a big drink of wine and wait ten full seconds before curiosity gets the best of me. “Okay fine, tell me what you know.”
Bethany leans forward, eyes gleaming. “They had a total whirlwind romance, met at a promotional event when he was on that reality TV show. They got married after only a few months, and after less than a month of wedded bliss, it busted up.”
“What happened?”
“No one really knows. She disappeared suddenly. This was like a year ago. Now she’s all over Instagram, traveling through Europe and stuff. Marie something or other. She’s some heiress type but she has a ton of followers because she’s like, a lifestyle blogger or some garbage.” Bethany shrugs and takes a sip of her wine. “Some people think there was another woman.”
“He cheated?”
She waves it off. “I don’t think it’s true. I also heard he’s married to his work, so maybe that’s what they meant. Like his work is his mistress. He doesn’t have time for a wife, let alone an affair. Plus, his parents are dead and he’s raising his sisters.”
He mentioned his mom had passed the other night. I wonder what happened. I don’t want to feel any sympathy for the brute, but the emotion flickers inside me anyway. “Sisters?”
“Two of them. And one of them has special needs, I guess, so all his time not at the restaurant is with them. So maybe Marie couldn’t hang without his undivided attention, she seems like the type. But then again, he was spotted on a date with Maya Roberts only a few weeks after the wife bailed out, so who knows.”
“Who’s Maya Roberts?”
“Olympic soccer player.”
I stew on that and eat more pizza. It doesn’t bother me. At all.
“Oh, I know,” Bethany snaps and I meet her bright-eyed gaze. “What if he murdered his wife and all the pics on insta are fakes. That would be, like, the perfect crime. Maybe he buried her in the backyard, hacked into her insta account and now everyone thinks she’s all traipsing the world and poor him but really, he’s a total psycho killer.”
I can’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm. “You think everyone is a murderer.”
She sits up straighter. “I do not. I don’t think you’re capable of cold-blooded killing.”
I wait, watching her with raised brows.
She relents. “Well, there is the whole thing where you don’t immediately have to yawn when someone else does, and you are totally a scream-sneezer so you might be a sociopath.” She eyes me speculatively. “And you’re very charming and likeable. Okay, I totally think everyone is a potential murderer.”
“It’s one of your more irredeemable qualities.”
“Fine, no more talk about murder and no more talk about the opposite sex. Tell me what’s new in cupcakelandia. How’s Fred?”
We chat about work; I tell her about my big wedding order and all the details involved.
“I don’t know how you do it, friend. How are you gonna cater that big of an event with just you and Fred?”
“I have the Vulcan which can cook 125 mini cupcakes in an hour. Then it’s a matter of waiting for the cooling and cutting the fondant into the shapes required—that will be the more time-consuming part, but it won’t be too hard. I have a plan. I’ve done large orders before. We’ll get it done. I’m not worried.”