Page 23 of Thanking Her Brother's Best Friends

As I looked at Selene, I saw her cheeks bloom with subtle warmth, like the first blush of a sunrise gracing a summer sky after a prolonged winter.

I realized that was how I wanted her. And it made me feel a different kind of emotion—something steadier, almost protective.

Amid the silence punctuated by calls from the expediter and the clattering of stainless steel and cast iron, an intrusive trill from Selene's phone made her blink. She checked the time, answered the call, and hung up with an apologetic look in her eyes.

"Trust me when I say this—I've had the best time of my life this afternoon. But I gotta go home to my kid because I miss him. Anytime I'm away from him for too long, I feel like I'm near-combusting. But this has been a real pleasure."

"Did it slap?" Aiden asked, releasing a playful, subdued snicker.

She rolled her eyes. "Damned lingo. I swear, one day, Oliver will be all grown up and he'll talk in a language that I will not understand. That's how I feel around the Zoomers today."

We accompanied her to the exit, and as I had predicted, the entire restaurant came alive as she walked from the kitchen to the door.

People weren't clapping, but I heard all kinds of excited murmurs, and some even came up for autographs and spoke of their love for her writing and relatability.

Outside, she was surrounded by reporters before we could say our goodbyes.

"Selene, can you give us any details on your divorce with Dave?"

I wanted to punch the paparazzo, but Selene handled it like a fucking champ. With a sly grin and a hint of sarcasm, she tossed her hair and an appropriate reply back at them.

"You're really digging for the scoop, aren't you? My ex and I were like a faulty recipe. Let's just say you can't make a trifle pudding with beef mince like Rachel did inF.R.I.E.N.D.S. Besides, life is too short to dwell on half-baked relationships."

Her words hung in the air for a moment before a chorus of laughter erupted from the reporters. "Selene, you always know how to put a spicy spin on things! Can we expect any new flames in your life soon?"

Selene, flashing a mischievous smile, retorted with a playful tone.

"Well, let's just say I'm more focused on finding my perfect recipe for happiness right now. And who knows? Maybe I'll stumble upon a secret ingredient that'll spice things up in the romance department."

And that was when it happened. Someone said, "Did you know Dave was spotted just outside your home a few days ago, Selene? Are you guys hoping for a reconciliation?"

And Selene's face just changed. It was suddenly white and pale, and her usually happy eyes became dark. Before we could step in and do anything, she pushed her way out of the crowd and got into her car.

I saw the look she had seconds before the car's door shut in our faces.

She was afraid.

6

SELENE

An impending sense of cold dread followed me all the way back home.

Usually, I chatted with Louie, my driver, en route to my penthouse from the kitchens. But what the paparazzi had said left me completely shaken. But I would not lose focus.

If Dave was skulking around my penthouse, that meant he was being driven by some ulterior motive.

I needed to get to the bottom of it before the selfish demons in his heart gave him enough leeway to destroy my life.

On arrival, the first thing I did was concentrate on my son.

I found him in his bedroom, busy with his latest obsession. I entirely blamed my friend and business contact, Renzo Caruso, for this mess.

Caruso was one of my oldest friends from our heyday at Cordon Bleu. He was a steady rock in the perennial shitstorm of drama I kept landing in. Which was funny, considering how I, as a person, honestly loved being drama-free.

Anyway, Caruso and his wife loved Ollie, and on their virgin trip to the States and to Boston, they spent a whole week being charmed by his antics. This included leaving him with a curious penchant for poker.

Ollie tried to teach me, but I just never caught on. I sat down beside him and attempted to be a serious competitor, but he won the next two rounds easily—and not even because I wanted him to.

---