Page 7 of Mr. Kelly

“What?”

Mrs. Kelly pulls at her scrunchy and lets her hair down. She then finger combs it into a low ponytail.

“The bun? She’s a black woman without her hair products, please act like you know what that’s like, Helena. You, like every ballerina known to man, have the same hairstyle. Stop acting like you’ve patented the hairstyle.”

The elevator dings, and I suck in a breath, fighting the urge to run. Andrea Tesio fills the space. He looks bigger and twice as menacing in broad daylight and no massive wooden bar between us.

“Helena,” he greets Mrs. Kelly while giving Mr. Kelly one of those one-arm bro hugs.

His light eyes rake over me so expertly I’m sure he knows I’m not wearing underwear. “River.” My name sounds like a caress, and I can’t stop the shudder.

“Mr… Mr. Tesio,” I greet him. “Do you need a drink?” I ask, falling back into old habits.

His chuckle is low and sexy. “No, sweetheart. Not at ten in the morning.”

“There you go. Sell her to Andrea.”

I shoot her my first unfiltered side-eye. “Sell me?”

I say it in unison with Mr. Kelly’s, “Sell her?” He shakes his head. “Go worry about opening night, Helena, before you completely piss me off. The territorial guard dog act is not sexy to me.”

Andrea must be equally scary to her because she closes her mouth when he tilts his head towards the elevator.

“Good day, Helena.”

She moves towards the exit, her steps quickening with the narrower his eyes grow. Impressive.

He lowers himself on the sofa and crosses one leg over the other, then drops his folded hands onto his knee. Although this isn’t his home, his unreadable expression and all navy aesthetic makes him like all business and dangerous.

“Now, Miss Dupont…” I try not to look shook that Andrea Tesio knows my whole name. “Tell me what happened, from the beginning.”

Chapter Four

THEODORE

I knowwe’re having issues with our marriage, but Helena is being awfully combative. Andrea volunteered to come talk to River. I’m not sure if it’s to help me since I don’t have time to look too deep into this and make Helena behave, or if it’s because he wants to look at River’s ass, like he is now, while she makes him a milkshake.

Laughing to myself, I nudge him and shake my head. He winks at me, then takes the shake I doubt he wants. Either way, I’m glad he’s helping. He’ll find out more than I will, and faster. He has the resources, and stuff like this could affect his business dealings. Sometimes a chihuahua barks too loudly and disturbs the neighborhood.

“Do you know how much he borrowed?” Andrea finally asks, getting back to business.

River shakes her head sadly. “I don’t know how much he borrowed, but I think he owes ten grand. He yelled ‘ten thousand!’ into the phone the night before he disappeared.” She slides her phone over to him. “I’d awakened to a phone call from him telling me he has to go. Then we had these texts. He knew they were coming over in the morning, but left me to fend for myself after giving outmyaddress.”

I pace for a bit before I move to my stainless-steel refrigerator and get myself some ice water. It’s in my best interest to let Andrea do what he does best, but I want to find Mario and bash in his skull. I hate that he’d make his woman vulnerable and leave her to fend for herself. What kind of man does that to a woman he’s supposed to care about? Oh yeah, a selfish one. While I care about my employees, I should not be this mad, nor should I have the overwhelming desire to want to fix it. River isn’t anyone special to me. Hell, I’ve hardly spoken to her before yesterday.

Helena and I need to fix things. That must be it. My turmoil with my wife has me thinking out of sorts. Pushing back from the counter, I grab my keys.

“I’ll let you two finish your information session. I need to go speak to my wife.”

Andrea’s frown says ‘fuck her,’ but he’s never been in the kind of love that I feel for Helena. I frown when I realize that I’m not referring to her asmyHelena, even in my head. He doesn’t stop me because he can tell when I’m antsy.

“Text me your sizes. I’ll pick some stuff up for you while I’m out,” I tell River before the doors close.

Taking her out of my sight gives me clarity on why I felt unsettled. Seeing her in my clothes is sexier than it should be. Plus, I have no fucking idea why my mind is fixating on someone I’ve previously ignored.

It doesn’t take me long to get home. I’d broken some speed limits, and while I’m not usually a ballsy asshole, I used the knowledge that the cops wouldn’t stop me to my advantage. My home comes into view and my blood pressure spikes. I remember buying it thinking it’d be our forever home. We could live here with enough space to raise at least four kids comfortably. We never made it to one. Pushing that aside, I take the stairs two at a time to find her. We cannot bring a baby intothe world if we’re at odds. We must fix what’s broken first. I know why my trust in her is waning; I just don’t know why she feels the need to suspect me.

“Go back to your mistress,” she cries when she sees me. Helena turns back to her dresser and pulls out more clothes to put in a bag.

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