Page 63 of Red

“I don’t think he’s as scary as he appears.”

“And how do you know?” Melinda asked, glancing over at Erik who was finishing a conversation with Peter. His brows were down, and he had the same severe expression as usual. How did anyone ever get the nerve to talk to him if they didn’t absolutely have to?

“Because I know that look.” Azalea took Melinda’s coat from the man who brought it up from the coat check. “Peter can glare a man to peeing himself, but when he turns it on me, all it does is…well, I’ve never wet myself yet.” She winked.

“That’s because he obviously loves you.” Melinda shook her head and pulled her coat free from Azalea’s grip. The girl had it bad for her husband. Melinda could envy her if she took enough time to examine it, but she’d accepted she wouldn’t have anything like that in her life.

“I don’t know Erik personally, but I hear things. He’s not the sort of man to fake pleasantries.”

“What does that mean?”

“Peter isn’t the one who suggested they meet here at Tower or that we be included. That was all Erik.” Azalea folded her arms. “Now, why would a man who didn’t care at all for his wife insist she accompany him to a business dinner?”

Melinda didn’t get a chance to answer the question. Erik came up behind her and took her coat, spreading it open for her. Even if he hadn’t, she didn’t have a good answer. She had assumed when he told her about the meeting, Peter had requested it.

“Ready?” Erik asked.

“Yeah.” Melinda extended her hand to Peter. “Thank you so much for a wonderful evening.”

Peter glanced at Erik before grasping her hand. “You did me a favor keeping my wife out of trouble for one night.” He grinned and released her, sticking his hands in his pockets.

“Ignore him.” Azalea stepped in front of her husband. “You have to let me know when your book is being released. I’m going to come up with some ideas to help market it.”

“It’s just the beginning stages. It could be a year or more.”

Azalea was full of energy and high expectations. But she was living a fairytale; she had no reason not to.

“That’s fine. Gives us plenty of time to build you a brand.” Azalea nodded. “The more people who know your name before the book launches, the better. If you don’t mind my nose sticking in your business, I’d love to help.”

Erik wrapped his hand around Melinda, letting her know it was time to go.

“I think that would be great. As soon as I hear from my editor, I’ll call you,” Melinda said. For a while, Melinda had worried Erik’s attorneys were going to scare off the publisher, but, in the end, they won, and her book was put under contract. She only had to finalize the contracts with a few signatures, and it would be done.

“I’ll be accepting the offer you made on the property. My attorneys will get together with yours to sort out the other details.” Peter shook Erik’s hand, ending the night.

“Great. I’ll let them know, and I’ll get the contractors ready to start breaking ground.”

Melinda watched Erik, noticing his jaw relax. He’d been worried. Such a strong man doubtful of his own power? She wondered how long he was going to let whatever his uncle had done color his future?

Though, he had his own sins to contend with; she should never forget that.

Erik walked to the elevator with Melinda’s hand firmly grasped.

“Azalea does all the marketing for Peter. Maybe she could help with your casino?” Melinda said, breaking the silence in the elevator.

“She’s going to be busy with your book, I think,” Erik said as the elevator doors opened on the first floor, flooding them with hard beats from the music.

Melinda followed close behind Erik. He walked with his arm out, warding off the crowd while holding tight to her hand. He seemed to be protecting her, though she doubted there was really any danger.

Once outside, he opened the passenger door and waited for her to be safely seated before shutting it. Everything seemed to happen with precision where he was involved. He didn’t need to call for his car; it was just there.

She fiddled with the zipper on her purse while he pulled into traffic.

“Erik. What happened to the other girls?” She poked the elephant sleeping in the back seat of the car.

His knuckles whitened around the steering wheel.

“I know there were more than just me. How many?” she pressed. The last few days had been peaceful, giving her hope of a future that didn’t involve constant bickering and anger, but the lingering fear of what happened before still plagued her.

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