Page 46 of Deception
“We’re having company.”
Her eyes narrow, and he knows this probably isn’t a good idea. In fact, he’s certain this was a bad idea. “Who’s coming over?”
There was no way he could get Autumn to agree to what he wanted to do, and the doorbell rings out before he has to explain it. “It’s time to make amends.”
Her hand reaches for his wrist to stop him from opening the door, but she fails, and he opens the door.
“Hey, guys. Come in.”
“Thanks for the invite,” Colt says and gives a respectful nod to Autumn. “How’s it going?”
Lex holds a bottle of wine out to Autumn. “This is still your favorite, right?”
“Yeah,” Autumn says, snatching it from her hands. “Thanks.”
There’s no attempt to hide her hostility, and Lex just lifts her eyebrows when Autumn storms into the kitchen. “Well… this should be fun.”
“What’s for dinner?” Colt asks. “We’re starved.”
“Yeah, we’ve been looking forward to this all day,” Lex agrees. “Cooking or ordering?”
Whipping around, Rocco holds his breath when Autumn glares at the blonde. “Are you trying to say that if I don’t cook for guests that I’m somehow a lesser host than you are?”
“No, I was asking because if you were cooking, I’d offer to help. It’s kind of hard to help with the cooking if it’s ordered.”
One of the few things Rocco admires about Lex is her ability to handle hostility without reciprocating right away. Her brother definitely conditioned her to hone in on that skill. If Rocco was in her shoes right now, he would have bitten back. Hell, he’s tempted to, anyway.
“Well, I didn’t know we were having company, so I’m in charge of the menu,” Autumn says and glares at him. “For all I knew, the two extra plates could have been for club bunnies since he likes to fuck them behind my back. Which isn’t all that different from inviting my ex-friends over as a fun little surprise.”
Closing his eyes, Rocco sighs. “Autumn…”
“I’m not really hungry, so I’m going to get out of your hair. You three have a great night.”
She storms out, and when Rocco opens his eyes, Lex stares at him with arms crossed. “Don’t even start, Alexis.”
“But there are so many things to say right night now,” she says and forces a smile. “First, you didn’t think it would be a good idea to give her a heads-up we’d be here? No wonder she got hostile. You blindsided her.”
“Because she doesn’t want to be your friend,” he snaps back. “If I’d told her what was happening, she would’ve been gone before you even arrived.”
“Then why invite us?”
Breathing deeply, he tries to calm himself. “Because I think Colt was right when he said Autumn was outside the circle, and I want her back in.”
“Well, top tip: Fucking club bunnies probably doesn’t help,” she says. “I still can’t believe she’s stuck around after catching you more than once.”
“Because she loves me,” he bites.
Her hands lift in the air as she takes a seat at the table. Colt glares at him, but he doesn’t say a word. He knows better than most that his wife can more than handle herself.
The doorbell rings again, and Rocco goes to get the pizza he ordered. It seemed like a safe option, and he still has to feed his guests. Even if he wishes the curly blonde would go fuck off.
“Pizza sounds good,” Lex says. “Autumn will be upset she missed this.”
“Why?”
“She loves pizza. Probably her favorite food.”
Frowning, he shakes his head and sets the boxes down. “No, she loves Chinese food.”
