Page 51 of Best Served Hot
Alex understood what she was doing. Sending a warning to his next victim.
‘I thought we agreed to keep that quiet,’ Ethan snapped. And then, for Lena’s benefit, he added, ‘As it’s over now, anyway. Don’t want to confuse anyone.’
Lena looked between the two of them, hurt in her eyes. She quickly wiped the look away. Alex didn’t know if she would truly care about him being married. But at least she knew.
Nicole turned to Alex. ‘We better get to work.’
Alex nodded, and they walked past Ethan. He wasn’t looking at Nicole, though. He was looking at Alex with absolute hatred.
That wasn’t a surprise to Alex. She’d just stolen his wife. At least, that was how he probably saw it. He’d married her and, apparently, intended to stay married to her while he quietly fucked around. That was his definition of love.
But now? His wife had been poached. By the former mistress he’d gotten rid of out ofrespectfor his marriage. And to top it off, she’d spat in his face. As they walked away from him, Alex could only guess at the spin doctor at work in his head now, making her the problem.
That worried Alex. Even though Nicole was free, and that was great, and they had each other, which was amazing, Alex had just placed a target on her back. Ethan was coming for her.
Twenty-Nine
‘I don’t know what to do,’ Nicole said, sitting on Alex’s sofa, fighting a desire to bite her nails.
There was a half-empty wine bottle on the table, two glasses. Alex’s was almost empty, but Nicole’s was untouched.
‘You don’t have to do anything,’ Alex replied from the other end of the sofa. They were maintaining a courteous gap.
Nicole didn’t know if she should close it. Though not right now. They had things to talk about. ‘But he was…Jesus. I cannot believe how angry he got. The nerve of him.’
‘I think today was the first time I ever thought that shame gets a bad rep,’ Alex added, half smiling. ‘A little might go a long way with that man.’
Nicole wanted to laugh, but she was too anxious. ‘Did you see the look he gave you? He thinks this is all your fault.’
‘Yes, he does,’ Alex agreed.
‘You don’t look worried. Why don’t you look worried? That’s worrying me.’
Alex shrugged. ‘I’m not unworried. But I don’t see what I can do.’
‘You went for his throat,’ Nicole observed.
‘Hedeservedit,’ Alex said firmly.
‘I’m not saying he didn’t. I’m not saying you were wrong, either. I know you were having my back, and I was… I was touched by that,’ Nicole said.
Alex nodded. ‘I do. I will. Whatever happens.’
Nicole felt a bit gooey about that, but she tried to focus on her original point. ‘I just worry that he’s gonna do something bad to you.’
‘Worse than sack me, revoke a job offer, and torpedo me with everyone he knows?’ Alex asked.
‘No, that’s probably about it. But the last one doesn’t have to happen.’
‘You might as well stop worrying because he’s done it already,’ Alex told her, refilling her glass of wine from the bottle on the table. She took a sip as though she didn’t have a care in the world.
‘He might not have done it,’ Nicole posited. ‘It might just have been an idle threat. He doesn’t hold all the cards.’
‘No, I think he was probably on that pretty quick. I reckon while we were shooting Kendall smashing that MRI machine up because she couldn’t save that cancer patient, Ethan was on the phone, killing my career a hell of a lot faster than a brain tumour. And if it’s done, it’s done. You don’t have to worry about things that can’t be undone,’ Alex told her philosophically, swilling her glass absentmindedly.
‘But I told him I’d let him go if he letyougo,’ Nicole pointed out.
‘Well, that was before I ripped him to shreds. And the week he’s had, he might have reached a place to say fuck it,’ Alex countered. ‘He might decide to simply kiss his cash goodbye if it was the price of blowing my career up.’
