Page 128 of An Inconvenient Marriage
Lies.
All of it.
Every touch, every kiss… nothing but lies.
And I was stupid enough to fall for it.
31
Zach
Mylegbouncedintime with my beating heart furiously slamming against my ribs. Ticking away like a bomb just waiting to explode. With jerky movements, I flicked my wrist.
It’s been four hours. Her interview couldn’t possibly last this long. So why haven’t I heard from her?
I drew in a subtle deep breath, and my gaze drifted around the room. The Vegas people had flown in this morning because they’d finally found a solution to our problem. In fact, Nigel currently stood in front of the room presenting said solution.
I wasn’t listening.
I couldn’t.
Not when my mind was trying to figure out why Natalie hadn’t checked in yet. Grinding my molars, I pulled my phone closer and tapped the screen.
No missed calls.
No new messages.
This was bullshit.
Jumping to my feet, I headed for the boardroom door. “Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me.”
I’d barely stepped out when Sophie rushed after me.
“Zach!” she whisper-shouted. “Where are you going?”
I didn’t have time for this. Without stopping, I simply said, “I’m going to find my wife.”
“You’re leaving an important meeting to run afterher?”
Blood-red anger surged through my veins. I spun around and glared at Sophie. “Watch your tone, that’s my wife you’re talking about.”
“Your wife? She’s not even—”
I cut her off with an impatient slice of my hand through the air. “Enough. I don’t need to explain my comings and goings to you.”
Pivoting, I made my way to the elevator, Sophie’s clicking heels not far behind.
“If you leave now, you can forget about setting up in Vegas. Nigel and his team won’t do business with you again. Is she really worth giving all that up?”
She was. But I wasn’t about to waste my breath trying to explain it to Sophie. She wouldn’t understand and she didn’t need to. Hell, I barely did. Until a few days ago, I had every intention of letting Natalie go. But faced with the possibility of never seeing her again, I knew without a shadow of a doubt I couldn’t live without her.
And yes, she deserved far better than the likes of me, but that just meant I would work twice as hard to earn her affection every damn day for the rest of my life.
That realization only made me more anxious to find her.
My hand shook when I pressed my thumb against the print scanner. The screen turned red, and the words “incorrect print”flashed like a warning sign. Sophie was still yapping beside me. I tried to tune her out as I wiped my hand on my pants and attempted to re-scan my print.
Again, it didn’t work.
