Page 22 of An Inconvenient Marriage
That look in her blue eyes, the one that didn’t quite live up to her reputation.
Minimizing the image, I typed her name into the search engine again and scrolled down to another recent photo. In this one, she was hanging on to some guy’s arm like her life depended on it. Her smile was wide, and she was staring at him as if he were the only man in the world.
A foul taste filled my mouth along with the inexplicable need to rearrange pretty boy’s face.
“Shit.”
Leaning back in my chair, I crossed my hands behind my head and stared at the ceiling as if it held the answer to my burning questions.
Who was this woman really?
Why the hell was she affecting me in such a profound way?
I’d expected to spend the next six months with a spoiled brat who couldn’t wait to add another name to her endless list of lovers.
What I got wasn’t that.
Not that we’d spent enough time together for me to make such an assessment, not really. But from the little I’ve seen, Natalie was the exact opposite of the woman in the second photo. She hadn’t touched alcohol even once. And as far as I knew, she hadn’t snorted anything.
Maybe she popped pills? Then I would have noticed her mood change.
I drummed my fingers on my desk and my mind—much to my dismay—continued down the rabbit hole.
There hadn’t been any strange phone calls… Oh, wait. I sat up straighter. Stilling my fingers, I recalled the expression on her face when I’d walked in on her talking on the phone.
She’d told whoever she’d spoken to that she loved them. She’d whispered it, like a secret that needed to stay hidden.
Well, too bad for her, secrets didn’t stay hidden from me.
With a burning desire I had no control over, I pushed to my feet and headed for my bedroom. It surprised me when I found it empty until I remembered Natalie wanted to go for a walk.
Which was actually perfect for what I’d intended.
With no time to waste, I scanned the room until I spotted what I was searching for. She hadn’t taken it with her, which to be honest, didn’t fit with the scenario I’d made up inside my head.
But then again, she could have been honest when she’d said she wanted to explore. With a sigh, I dragged my hand over the back of my neck, and stared at Natalie’s cellphone sitting on the desk. Finding out who she’d spoken to would be as easy as taking a few steps and examining it. Could I do that? Could I invade her privacy without giving it a second thought?
My question was answered when I held her phone in my hand a few seconds later.
Yeah, so maybe I was a bastard. And maybe this was about more than my reputation. But I wasn’t about to go down that road. I had better things to do. Like snooping around on my wife’s phone.
For the second time in the space of a few minutes, I was stunned. Her phone didn’t need a lock key or biometrics of any kind to unlock. I just swiped up, and the screen came to life. What the hell was up with that?
Frowning, I stared at the device nestled in my palm. There was still time to turn back, I hadn’t done anything invasive yet. But on the other hand, it was unlocked, lying on the desk unattended.
Shrugging, I threw a quick glance over my shoulder to make sure I was alone, then I opened her messages. There was a tiny voice in the back of my mind yelling at me this was wrong. I told it to screw off and tapped the first message.
Dad:Don’t disappoint me like you always do.
There was nothing else in that thread, just the one ominous message that could mean anything, really. He could’ve very well been referring to her promiscuous behavior the press so loved to report on.
But something told me that wasn’t it. There was more going on here. I just didn’t know what exactly. But I’d figure it out. I always did.
Closing the messaging app, I checked her call history. The phone call from earlier was from her friend, Everlee. Unless she stored her lovers’ names under her friend’s name. I popped over to her contact list and just stared.
The woman had two numbers stored on her phone. Two! Dad and Everlee. What the hell?
This wasn’t right. None of it was.
