by Violet Paige
I could tell he was proud of the penthouse. Everything was expensive and lavish, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was also cold and dreary. It made me want to unpack a sweater and curl up.
I tiptoed into the bedroom. The sheets were black and the comforter gray. There were built-in stainless steel lamps on either side of the bed. I noticed each side also had its own control panel. I wondered what all the buttons did. The chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling was constructed from thick pipes and bolts. He had embraced an industrial motif. Everything looked rugged and warehouse-like, but he had spent money. Each piece was flawless. They looked like one-of-a-kind designs.
I worked hard not to frown.
“Did you have a decorator?” I asked.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Sasha helped. She chose most of the pieces from a local artist. Everything was designed for me. You won’t find another collection like it in the entire city.” He seemed proud.
I clenched my jaw. I still didn’t think he was telling me everything about the woman he worked with. It was evident she was part of his inner circle, and that included the keys to his master suite.
“Why don’t you rest while I head to the office?” he suggested. “It was an early morning after a long night.”
“You’re leaving?” I eked, spinning on my heels. “Already? We just arrived.”
“I have an investor meeting that was postponed until I returned. I’ve already pushed it back as far as I can. The driver is waiting for me downstairs.”
“Oh. The important investors you mentioned?”
He laughed. “All my investors are important. But I know you’re exhausted.” He began to back out of the bedroom. “Make yourself at home. Unpack. I’m sure there’s something in the fridge. Sleep. I think you’ll like the bed.”
“But—”
He closed the bedroom door and I heard his footsteps fade as he walked through the apartment.
I sat on the bed, surprised it was so easy for him to leave me here.
It wasn’t the Magnolia Inn. I didn’t feel the romantic embrace of the elopement suite. I stood and strolled to the windows. They were tinted for privacy, but I could see for miles. I wondered how often Jeremy took the time to admire the view. That had to be why he bought this apartment. I could see the entire city from his bedroom.
I already knew the answer to my question. He didn’t stop to enjoy the small things. He didn’t savor what he had. His eye was fixed on what he wanted.
I exhaled, turning for the bedroom door.
I wasn’t going to hang out here alone when there was an entire city to explore. I’d never been to New York. I wasn’t going to nap or rest while he took on the world.
I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the apartment. I’d never been the kind of girl to sit around and wait for something to happen, and I wasn’t going to start now.
17
Jeremy
Sasha waited for me outside of the conference room. She smiled politely at the investors as they filed out. I saw the men eyeing her fitted suit skirt. She had the kind of legs that went on for miles. Thin and toned. They were hard to ignore with a pair of stilettos. I didn’t know how she walked around the office on those things. Her full breasts caught the attention of more than one of our stockholders. I saw one shake his head as he walked past. These men had gauged her wrong if they thought they had a chance with her. Sasha didn’t acknowledge them as anything other than a walking bank account.
“That went well.” I nodded at the last of the Lennox group. The elevator closed and they were gone. The meeting had lasted nearly four hours.
She pressed her lips together. “You’re lucky. They could have refused to reschedule. I can’t believe you played with the investment like that. It was risky, Jeremy.”
“It worked out.”
“I still don’t know why it was necessary.”
I eyed her. “Does it matter? The meeting is over. They’re gone. And if I’m not mistaken, we had unanimous consent from the entire group.”
“You’re asking me if a twenty-million-dollar investment share matters?”
Fuck. I had awakened the Russian dragon. Once she took hold of something she didn’t let loose. That tenacity was what made her so good in the boardroom.
“You knew I flew home to take care of family business. It was more complicated than I had expected.”
She had pale blue eyes. Almost pale enough to be translucent. It was an alluring combination with her creamy skin and blond hair. Right now it was as if those eyes were staring through me.
“You didn’t get the inheritance.” Her statement cut to my ribs. “That’s what happened, isn’t it? You didn’t get it and you’re trying to figure out a new investment strategy.”
“I don’t want to discuss my father’s will.”
“You can’t cut me out of that kind of information.”
“It’s personal, Sasha. Family business.”
“Bull shit.” She glared at me.
“Excuse me?”
“The Hartwell Global inheritance has always been a part of our financing plan. Since when did it become too personal for you to discuss with me? What happened? Why are you being secretive? What are you hiding from me? If there’s a new strategy, you have to tell me what it is. I need the details.”
“The money is still going to fund our project. You don’t need to worry. The time table has changed. It’s going to take a little longer, that’s all.”
“How much longer?”
I exhaled. I wasn’t about to explain that if we were lucky, nine months from now I’d have everything we needed to buy the team. I wasn’t ready to tell her I married Evie and spent the past twelve hours trying to knock her up, but Sasha was backing me in a corner. I never liked being pressured.
“Sasha.” I gritted my teeth.
“You can’t cut me out. Not like this.”
“I’m not cutting you out.”
“Aren’t you?”
“No.”
“Then talk to me. Why do we have to wait for the funding? Why were you late to the biggest investment meeting we’ve had all year? Something is different. I can see it all over your face.”
I smirked. “I doubt that.”
“Are you selling? Is that it? You found a buyer.”
“Selling?” I shook my head. “Why in the hell would I do that? We’re growing. I wouldn’t sell off what we’ve built. We’re creating a dynasty here.”
She shrugged. “Something is off. You don’t seem focused.”
“Not focused?” I was tired of the questions and the accusations. She interrogated me as if I was an intern who had screwed up an email instead of the owner of this company.
“You used to tell me everything.” Her voice was crisp.
“We also used to fuck. And we don’t do that anymore, do we?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Bastard.”
I sighed with resignation. I didn’t want to fight with her. I needed her to run the company. No one could bring people to the table like Sasha. I was on edge. I was exhausted. Alienating Sasha wasn’t smart.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“We agreed we wouldn’t let that interfere with our partnership.”
“We did. Sorry. I’m being a dick. I’m going to head out. Forget I said it.”
“I have no idea what’s going on with you. You never leave the office this early and you’ve been gone two days. I need to brief you.”
It was already dark. I had left Evie alone for far too long. I should take her to dinner. Do something nice for her first night in the city. That’s what friends did. I wasn’t sure about husbands and wives.
“Email me. I have dinner plans. I’ll see you in the morning. Early,” I added.
I could stay and argue with her the rest of the night. In most cases, I would. But not tonight.
My wife was waiting.
The apartment was dark when I walked through the door.
>
“Evie?”
I was going to be impressed if she had slept the entire time I was gone. I walked to the bedroom, expecting to find her curled up under the covers. I pushed the door open, fighting an ache in my cock. Just thinking about her in my bed did something to me.
I didn’t know why I kept the secret from Sasha. She would know soon that I had married Evie. She was going to be angry I hadn’t confided in her. She would take the information as a professional. It didn’t affect anything at the office. But I knew there would be a sliver of betrayal. She didn’t like it when I kept things from her. She never had.
I wanted to make the announcement to the press tomorrow. We needed to make the marriage public. My mother didn’t deserve the courtesy of a phone call, but the news would put her on notice. I was coming for my inheritance.
However, for one more night I could keep Evie to myself. One night before we were bombarded with interview requests and paparazzi scum on our heels.
I walked to the bed slowly, loosening my tie. Shit. I wanted her. I wanted to bury myself inside her. Fuck her for the rest of the night. Fill her until we were both exhausted and too numb to speak.
I patted the covers, but they were flat.
“Evie?” I whispered.
She wasn’t there. I turned on the light. The covers were smooth.
Where in the hell was my wife?
18
Evie
My shoulders ached and my thumb had started twitching involuntarily. It wouldn’t be long before my hands cramped up. I stared at the screen on my laptop. I was five cups of coffee in, and I had found my groove—finally. The coffee shop I discovered on my walk was adorable. The walls were covered in lending books. I didn’t think I could find something so cozy in the city. It was perfect. Exactly what I was looking for. I needed a place like this where I could write. Somewhere I could unwind and disappear in another world.
The exposed brick reminded me of Bella’s wine cellar. And the red lamp shades carried the same soft glow as the tables in the restaurant. I could probably write here the rest of the night if I gave my hands a mini-break and stretched my legs. I definitely didn’t need any more coffee.
Then I realized what time it was.
Shit.
It was close to nine o’clock. I reached for my phone, but remembered Jeremy and I hadn’t exchanged phone numbers. This was absurd. I didn’t have any way to text or call my husband. I quickly began to pack my laptop.
My phone startled me.
I looked down. Double shit. It was my mom.
Why hadn’t I called before now?
“Mama, hi,” I answered, cringing. I had to get this over with. One quick call and it would be done.
“How was your day off?” she asked.
“Good. It was really good.”
“I didn’t see the register report on my desk this morning. I didn’t want to call earlier. I thought you might want to sleep in and enjoy the day. Did you leave them somewhere? I can’t find them.”
I had been too preoccupied to run the register tallies last night. There were no reports. It was a miracle I had locked up Bella’s on the way out.
“Actually, I didn’t run through the close out.”
“Were the computers down?”
“No, no. Nothing like that.” I shook my head. I turned toward the wall of books behind me. Somehow this would be easier if I pretended no one could see me.
“Are you feeling ok? I can run some wedding soup over in a few minutes. Dad fell asleep on the couch watching the game. As soon as he starts snoring I’ll get some out of the freezer and I can drive it over.” Taking care of people was part of her DNA.
“No!” I quieted my voice. “I mean, no thank you. I don’t need wedding soup. I’m not sick, Mama. Forget about the freezer and the soup.”
“All right. I won’t bring any soup.”
She always got quiet like that when I hurt her feelings.
“Mama, I need to tell you something. And it’s not an easy thing for me to do. I’m struggling with how I’m going to say this. I didn’t mean to snap at you, but maybe it’s better Dad is asleep.”
I exhaled. If I told her now, she could deliver the news to my father for me.
“Are you ok?”
“Yes. Yes. I’m fine.”
“Then you can tell me. You scared me for a second. I thought something had happened to you. As long as you’re all right.”
I felt guilt I was so many states away and no one knew. Should I start at the beginning? Did I tell her about the deal I made with Jeremy?
“Do you remember Jeremy Hartwell? I went to high school with him.”
I would start there. I could build a small foundation and create a connection, as if we’d had one for years.
“Of course I know him. He’s Sylvia Hartwell’s son. Everyone knows who he is, even though he seems to have forgotten where he came from. He hasn’t been to Newton Hills in ages.”
I rolled my eyes. There was already one strike against him. We never discussed the Hartwells. I had no idea my mom had an opinion about any of them. Even when the local news covered Eric Hartwell’s death I couldn’t remember a single comment about the oil and gas billionaire.
“I didn’t want to make a big deal about it, but we reconnected online. An old friends kind of thing.” I started with a lie and planned on ending with a version of the truth. It would make it easier for her, but I wasn’t sure it made it easier for me. “And things moved really quickly between us. I never said anything because I was afraid it was too good to be true. We were both surprised by how fast everything snowballed between us.” I sucked in a deep breath. “We eloped last night.”
“No.”
“It is sudden. I realize—”
“Marco! Marco, wake up,” she yelled at my father. He grumbled in the background. I pictured her poking him in the ribs until he was conscious. “Evelyn says she got married last night. Married.”
I covered my eyes with my palm and lowered my head. It didn’t matter that I was thirty. It wouldn’t matter when I was fifty. I was always going to be their child. That didn’t seem to fade with age. If anything, the older I got the harder my mother held on. I saw it with Frannie. I felt it with the daily phone calls. And in this moment, I had shattered something between us. I had stolen a milestone, and I couldn’t give it back. I took away a memory we could never share together. The elopement had taken care of that.
I started to speak faster. “I’m in New York with Jeremy now. It’s amazing here.”
“I’m putting you on speaker,” she announced. “It’s Evelyn, Marco. Wake up.”
I sighed. Shit. “Hey, Dad.”
“Did you get married last night?”
“I did. We took Jeremy’s jet to Asheville. And we’re in New York. He has work here that’s important.”
“More important than talking to your father and asking permission to marry his daughter?”
I flinched. “I’m thirty. I don’t need permission to get married. That sounds really sexist, Dad.”
“It’s courtesy, Evelyn. It’s a sign of respect. You know we value Italian tradition. Don’t call me sexist,” he barked. “Put him on the phone.”
“You want to talk to Jeremy?” I eked.
“Your father said to put him on the phone,” Mama echoed. “He needs to speak to him.”
“We’ll have to call you back. We have dinner plans,” I lied. “Reservations are a big deal in the city. So, I’ll call tomorrow? We can talk then. I really have to go. Love you both.” I hung up and turned my phone off immediately. I knew they would call back within seconds. If it wasn’t them, it would be Frannie. My sister was going to freak out. It wouldn’t take much nudging from them for her to start blowing up my phone.
The abrupt ending to the call made me feel uneasy, but so did lying about my relationship.
I threw my messenger bag over my shoulder and walked outside. I was only two blocks from Jeremy’s building. By the time I rea
ched the penthouse all I wanted to do was crawl in bed and sleep. Crying wasn’t out of the question.
“Where were you?” His voice hit me before I had closed the door.
“Hi to you too.” I glanced up. I didn’t know Jeremy could look so tense. There was darkness in his eyes.
He scowled. “Where did you go?”
My shoulders slumped, letting the bag touch the floor. “I wanted to explore a little. I lost track of time.” I was almost too weary for words.
“There wasn’t a note. No message from you. Not even a trail of damn breadcrumbs, Evie. How was I supposed to know where you were?”
My eyes narrowed. “I didn’t realize you would worry. I also didn’t realize I had to check in with you, roomie.”
He groaned. “You can’t just disappear like that.”
“I didn’t disappear.”
“I came home to an empty apartment. What do you call that?”
I exhaled. “I’m too tired to fight with you. I’m also too tired to explain why I’m not going to stay up here in your icy tower like a prisoner.”
“You aren’t a prisoner.”
“Really?”
He followed me down the hall. I walked into the master bedroom, grabbed my suitcase, and rolled it out of the room into the hall.
“Where are you going with that?” he asked.
I opened the guestroom and tossed the bag on one of the folding valets. “I’m going to bed,” I snapped. “I’m exhausted. And suddenly somehow in a worse mood.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Come on. Let’s go to bed, together. We can solve this in about ten minutes.” He winked.
I spun on my heels. “No.”
“Fuck. Why are you so mad, Evie?”
“You aren’t going to control me. That’s not what I signed up for.”
His massive frame blocked the doorway. “I got home and you weren’t here. I didn’t expect my wife to roam the streets of New York alone. Yeah, it pissed me off. But that’s no reason for you to sleep in here. Stop unpacking your stuff and come to bed with me.”
