Page 101 of Reckless Vow

I turn and smile. “Chloe, I thought you’d be in Porto by now.”

The woman beside Chloe rolls her eyes. She has short hair, and her height barely reaches Chloe’s shoulders.

“Yeah, that got canceled pretty quickly. Is Baldo upstairs?” Chloe quips.

“He’s gone. I thought you’d know.” What kind of business would he need to handle without his second in command being aware?

“I thought when he made me stay here because he had anurgentpersonal matter, that the said matter was you.” Her tone is bitter.

I frown. “Oh.”

She shakes her head. “Never mind, perhaps I misunderstood and assumed you left with him.”

“I had to finish some work.” I’m not sure why I lie. He doesn’t deserve me covering for him.

Where did he go? So suddenly. And clearly lying about it to both of us. For all I know, he might have another wife somewhere. God, does he?

I’ll poison him if that’s the case. Stabbing or shooting would be too messy.

“Oh, this is Mary, my wife,” Chloe says, snapping me out of that imagery.

“Very nice to meet you. I’m sorry your weekend plans got canceled.”

“Well, we still get a weekend together.” She smiles. “If I can get this one to stay away from work.” She casts her eyes sideways at Chloe.

“I guess our spouses are workaholics, perhaps we should start a support group.” I attempt to sound upbeat.

Mary snorts and Chloe jumps in. “I’m not the one constantly away.”

God, the last thing I want is to be in the middle of their domestic dispute. “I’m sorry. I want to catch a plane to Madrid, if possible today, so I better go.”

“Oh, why don’t you get Baldo’s concierge to take care of it?”

Because, of course, if I was his wife for real, I’d have access to that service. “Oh, great idea. Thank you.”

If I was his actual wife, I’d also know where he is right now.

* * *

It’s almost two in the morning when Saar comes to her hotel room in Madrid. I startle when the door clicks closed.

“Sorry, darling, didn’t mean to wake you.”

I stretch on the small sofa where I was writing—or trying to—before I apparently fell asleep. “That’s okay. An hour more on this and I’d need a chiropractor.”

“Why aren’t you in bed?”

“My flight didn’t get in till ten, so I wanted to wait for you.”

She looks exhausted and stifles a yawn before she comes over and hugs me. “It’s amazing when you’re in Europe and we can just hang out like this.”

“Are you okay?”

“It was a taxing day, but nothing unusual. I’m starving. Let’s order room service.”

“Comfort food after midnight? My favorite way to wrap up the day.”

She giggles and orders way too much food and a bottle of wine. After she changes into sweats and a hoodie, she sits across from me with cotton pads and a bottle of makeup remover.

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