Page 68 of The Devious Husband

Who, Tim? I think he’s sweet.

His jokes are painful to listen to. Fucking kill me now.

Wdym? I think he’s super funny.

He’s not even a little funny. Fuck him and his dumb jokes.

Should I?

Idk, let me ask your brother.

Don’t!! I’m just kidding.

I’m not. Don’t let me catch you anywhere near him.

God, I hate you.

Don’t really like you right now either, Kitten.

You look uncomfortable. I love that look on you. Wear it more often.

The woman next to me keeps touching my leg.

I bite down on my lip as I recall the last one. I didn’t realize it until much later, but I must’ve lost my mind when I blatantly reached over and looked her in the eye as grabbed her hand, squeezed with more force than necessary, and threw it off Xavier’s leg. He’d chuckled and grabbed my hand, placed my palm flat on his strong thigh, his hand covering mine throughout the rest of the presentation we were sitting throug. That was the first time I’d reluctantly admitted to myself that Xavier is far too handsome for his own good, and not even I was immune.

“Why would he have kept these things?”

“Because for a really long time, he thought this was all he’d ever have of you, all he deserved to have.” Valeria takes a deep breath and reaches for my hands. “I know I don’t have the right to ask this of you, but please, Sierra. Please don’t give up on my brother.”

I sigh as I squeeze her hand. “I wasn’t planning on it.”

Fifty-Nine

Sierra

My entire body tenses when I pull up in front of my grandmother’s house and find Xavier leaning against the hood of his car, his arms crossed. He’s wearing one of the suits I bought for him, and it’s unfair how good it looks on him. My heart races wildly as I step out of my car, and he straightens when I walk up to him, his arms falling to his side.

“You’re here.”

He nods. “You asked me to come.”

“I also asked you to come home.”

Xavier looks away and sighs. “I think this might not be the time or place to discuss that.”

I nod, my heart wrenching. “Right. When is it ever?” I smile humorlessly and take a step away from him, but he grabs my waist and pulls me flush against him.

“What are you doing?” I ask, trying not to notice how good he smells, how amazing he feels against me.

Xavier wraps his hand into my hair, and I instinctively place my palm against his chest, noting how fast it’s beating. “Your grandmother is standing by the window,” he says, dropping his forehead to mine.

Disappointment washes over me, and I let my eyes flutter closed in an attempt to hide the pain. “Thank you for putting up an act for her,” I tell him, my breathing uneven. It’s been so long since we’ve been close enough to kiss each other, and I’ve missed it even more than I realized. “She’s been worried about you. I told her that you broke a few bones on a skiing trip, but when you didn’t join me for a few weeks straight, she grew suspicious. I didn’t realize you’d still been going to see her every other week, without me, and I ended up misspeaking. I apologize for the inconvenience.”

It hurts to know that he kept seeing Grandma without me. He couldn’t have made it clearer that it’s just me he doesn’t want anymore. “No inconvenience at all,” he says, cupping my face. I lean into his touch without thinking and tense when I realize what I just did, but he tightens his grip on my hair before I have a chance to pull away. “Pretend for me, Kitten. There’s no need to worry your grandmother. Our issues are ours, and they shouldn’t affect her, especially not given her health.”

I sigh and wrap my arms around his neck, laying my head on his chest the way I used to. He hugs me tightly, and for a few moments, it’s easy to pretend nothing has changed between us.

I’ve barely seen him since that day in his office, and every phone conversation or meeting we’ve had since felt cold and impersonal. Every time I even remotely gave him any indication that I was treating him as my husband at work, and not just a business partner, his expression would fall, and eventually, I stopped trying, unable to bear feeling like I was pushing unwanted affections on him.

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