Page 37 of Thorns of Deceit
“Sorry.” She smiled sheepishly, then asked with a mischievous gleam in her eyes, “Is he the good kind of bad boy?”
Despite the seriousness of it all, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“So morally gray,” I responded dreamily. Something was definitely wrong with both of us.
A high, theatrical note pierced the room behind Athena and she groaned, rolling her eyes. “It’s my mother. She’s been driving me absolutely nuts.”
“At least she’s singing, not drinking,” I muttered. “That’s okay, go handle your mother and her opera show. I’ll talk to you later.”
We exchanged quick goodbyes and the line went dead, leaving a faint echo of her mother’s warbling in the background.
Restlessness and anxiety clung to me like a second skin, refusing to let go. I forced myself to pause, staring out at the horizon as if the fading light and distant hum of the city could somehow steady the storm inside me.
I didn’t know how long I stood there when the soft click of the door behind me made me jump. I whirled around, finding Aiden casually leaning against the doorframe with an unreadable expression on his face.
“Evening, wife,” he said simply. The man was captivating, an enigma, but also the source of my indecision. Something I’d wanted my entire life was suddenly less important and I worried he was the one to blame for it.
He pushed off the doorframe and closed the distance between us, holding out a small envelope, and all my thoughts evaporated.
“What’s this?” I asked excitedly.
“Open it,” he said, his voice calm.
I ripped the envelope open and read a handwritten note inside.
Dinner and a movie. Just us. Check yes or no.
My mouth curled into a smile as my eyes lifted to his, and I said, “Yes. Yes, of course yes. When?”
He smiled. “No better time than tonight. What do you say?”
It took me exactly twenty minutes to get dressed in a Dior knee-length black dress with a white belt and white shoes. I met Aiden in the foyer. He had changed into a casual suit, no tie, looking very much like a man who’d captivate women’s eyes.
An unreasonable feeling—jealousy—slithered through me, but I firmly shut it down. All these conflicting feelings would bethe death of me. I couldn’t want him one minute and Paris the next. It was the behavior of an immature teenager.
“Black dress, huh?” he teased as we stepped into the elevator. “Preparing for a funeral?”
I grinned. “Not at all. This is a classic. Besides…” I brushed my hands over the belt. “White is present, so you’re safe.”
“You look beautiful.” His voice dropped, stirring something inside me that thrilled and terrified me all at once.
“Thank you,” I breathed, my voice barely above a whisper. “You look… hot too.”
A chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Hot, huh?”
“So hot,” I confirmed, watching the corner of his mouth twitch with amusement.
We made our way down to the garage where he opened the door to his Benz for me. He drove in silence, but it was the comfortable kind.
When we arrived at the restaurant, I stared in shock. “We’re eating here?”
The “Velour & Vine” restaurant was high-end and evoked luxury and sophistication. I’d only glimpsed inside, but everyone in the city knew that getting in required a reservation a year in advance.
“Yes.”
“Aiden, I don’t think we can just walk in.”
“Sure we can.” He jumped out of the car and my door opened when I heard Aiden’s voice instruct, “I’ll help my wife.”
