Page 15 of The Wife Deception
"You work with him?"
"Seb and I joined forces and started an architectural firm."
"Fascinating." Sounds like all the Hawthornes are high achievers."
He chuckled. "Of course you'd say that."
I gave myself an invisible pat on the back for saying something Aelinesque. I was at ease now and considered asking the one thing that had been bothering me. "Oh, by the way. You and I. Tucci's yacht. We didn't. Did we?"
He scoffed. "Don't worry Aelin. We definitely did not. You were preoccupied with some Italian hunk."
I let out a deep breath. "Good. Not the Italian hunk part, but you know."
Tyler stared at me as though he were seeing me in a different light. His eyes narrowed. "There is something different about you. I can't tell what, but it's fascinating."
I had hung out with Tyler for too long. I gave him a slight shrug. "Nothing's changed. It's just me."
10
Nolan
"You have to divorce her." She was slightly leaning against my desk, dressed impeccably as always in a black Chanel suit that made her look thinner than she already was.
I sighed and closed the door. "Hi mom." I should have told my assistant not to let her in, but this is Jacqueline Hawthorne we are talking about. She probably marched into the office without bothering speaking to my assistants.
"She is one of the worst people I know, and she will destroy your reputation." Mom shook her head vigorously. "No. You can't do it. You obviously made a mistake."
"So no niceties?"
She cooed, floated over to me, and blew two air kisses on both sides of my neck. "How are you, darling?"
"Fine. How was Greece?"
"Well, I had to cut my trip short because of the news!" Her Greek accent thickened at the last word. It was normally barely detectable, especially after spending so much time in the US. It was now a mix between a transatlantic and Yankee accent, however, now and then, especially when she was angry, the Greek in her would jump out.
"At first I thought it was a lie, something the tabloids cooked up. Then I heard you and Burgess had reached a deal and I knew I had to talk to you. That wrinkly old man forced you to marry his scandalous slut of a daughter, didn't he?"
"It was a mutually beneficial decision, mother," I said. "I went into this with eyes wide open, but thank you for the concern."
She scrunched her face. "This is not good, Nolan. I don't think you understand what is happening here. That man has a trick up his sleeve and he's using you."
My mother loved her conspiracy theories. Not the insane aliens kidnapping people and probing them in the middle of the night type of theories. More the ones that were along the lines of what was happening to the Hawthornes and the familycompany. I don't know how many times now she has sent me a news article that suggested Damien was trying to steal the company from under us.
"That wrinkly old man is so close to his grave I don't think he has the energy to concoct some three-D chess move."
She scoffed, looked me over like I was dumb, and began pacing around the office. "Did you know that she's tried to kill her boyfriend? She might try the same."
Ah yes, the infamous drug overdose scandal. It was interesting how that incident was the one that stuck to Aelin and not the myriad of her other scandals. "She didn't poison him. He overdosed."
"On drugs she gave him."
"That's what he claims. I wouldn't trust a disgruntled ex."
She stopped mid step and turned to face me. "But have any of your exes been accused of such? That is the point, Nolan. She's a destructive force and I will not have the likes of her near you."
"Funny. That's what you said about Poppy Gardner."
"That's because she wanted your money. I can spot a gold digger a mile away. Their family estate is a money pit and her family was going to bleed you dry. But even Poppy would have been a better choice than Aelin Burgess. At least she's the daughter of a lord."
