Page 21 of The Wife Deception
Thalia sighed. "He takes his work too seriously."
"A lot more seriously if he thinks he has to marry Aelin, of all people, to gain a company. Did you know that she tried to kill her boyfriend?"
"I wouldn't believe tabloid gossip. That boyfriend of hers was sketchy. They talk about hell hath no fury than a woman scorned, but men? They will kill you or kill your reputation just for leaving them."
"True," Darcy said. "But this is Aelin Burgess we're talking about. I wouldn't put anything past her."
The toilet seat I was balancing on was slippery and unfortunately my heel slipped, and the shoe cluttered to the floor, making enough of a noise that I was sure both women heard me. The silence that followed seemed to show that.
I was caught. Might as well own up. And besides, wasn't I the first one here? It's not like I was doing anything wrong. I got up, brushed down my dress, put on my shoe, flushed the toilet and got out.
My appearance shocked Thalia, but not Darcy. It was as though it was me she expected to come out of the stall.
"Hi," Darcy said.
"Hi," I replied as I casually went to a sink and washed my hands. The two women were openly glaring at me.
"Is it true?"
I glanced at Darcy. "What is?"
"What we were talking about."
I had to admire her bluntness. People who didn't hide behind a veil of politeness were betterthan the ones who did. "About my boyfriend? No. I didn't try to kill him. Like Thalia said, some men will literally kill a woman, or at least kill her reputation for simply leaving him."
"We're sorry," Thalia said, looking contrite. "We didn't mean to gossip."
"I did," Darcy cut in. "There's something odd about you, Aelin. What changed?"
"I'm not who you think I am, Darcy. Yes, I did have a spoiled brat era, but that's the old me. I am a different person."
"Bullshit."
"Believe what you want, but that's the truth."
Darcy scoffed. "Why did you marry him?"
"My grandfather refused to give me my inheritance unless I did." It was close enough to the truth that it didn't feel like a lie.
Thalia's face fell in sympathy. "Nolan is not a terrible guy to have as a husband."
Darcy's eyes narrowed. "Yeah. He's a nice guy and a good friend of mine." She crossed her arms. "Which is why I am worriedforhim."
I shrugged and went out of the bathroom, leaving the two women. Darcy had my number. She just didn't know it yet. Better stay as far away from her as possible.
13
Nolan
Isighed as I dragged myself out of bed. I have to spend the entire day with her. You don't have to. A small voice said. You could just go alone. But that would be worse. I didn't trust Aelin,but I trusted that little man less. Now that the deal was close to getting closed, Kenneth has been refusing to sign certain documents, taking too long to respond to requests and generally pussyfooting around. Kelly thought it was because Kenneth Burgess was having second thoughts. Which would be odd because he was the one who proposed the deal in the first place. When I finally confronted Kenneth about it, that'swhen he asked, or I should say, commanded, that Aelin and I visit him.
I wanted to say no. It would have been better to give Kenneth the proverbial middle finger and tell him to talk to the lawyers, but with the deal so close to the finish line, that would be a regrettable risk. And besides, I had avoided her all this time. Given her a meaningless task, so she could occupy herself. Made her redecorate a townhouse that didn't need redecorating and she had taken it to task. And it worked. She wasn't as restless as I thought she would be and she's not the nuisance that I was afraid of. She had only made one request, which was if she could turn one of the spare bedrooms into a workspace. I had no idea what she did, and neither did I care, as long as she wasn't starting a rock band.
That's not the only reason you're avoiding her, the small voice said. I tried not to think of the other reason but my body has a will of its own and I immediately got hard as an image of Aelin in tight daisy dukes, bending over the counter as she sampled some of Magnus's canapes yesterday came to mind. Her butt looked juicy enough to grab that I had to ball my fists so I wouldn't touch it. The white tank top she wore made her breasts look even larger than they were.
She was smiling at him,smiling, as she told him how much she liked his food. Even her voice sounded like a siren seducing a sailor. AndMagnus, the oaf, had happily played along, offering her to try some of his desserts. Dessert my foot. She wanted more than just dessert. I had seen her staring at his biceps whenever he put food on the table.Poor Magnus did not know he was in the company of a consummate seducer, but that didn't stop my irrational mind from wanting to break his legs.
I cast the memory out of my mind. I didn't expect to feel anything for my wife. As far as she was concerned, she was surplus stock in a business deal. But now I wasn't so sure. She constantly confronted my thoughts at odd times. I would go about my day, when out of the blue, her beautiful wide smile would enter my mind. Or the way her dress had displayed her delicious looking cleavage at the gala. The way Hunter had ogled at her made me claim her and put my hand around her waist like I was a wild animal scaring my competition from my mate.
