Page 87 of The Honest Affair

“She absolutely is not,” Nina said much more calmly than she looked. “And as of last week, she knows it too.”

It took a moment for Gardner to process what she had said. His face grew hot, like a kettle about to boil over. She knew? Which meant…others likely knew too?

“And, Calvin?”

He remained frozen as Nina leaned forward, causing her necklace to dangle down toward the ground.

“What?” he gritted through his teeth.

She was still beautiful, even if she was over the hill at thirty-one. But he had never wanted to mess up that beauty more than now.

“I know about Giuseppe,” she said in a voice that was cold as ice. “I know what you did.”

She knew about… He couldn’t even finish the thought before he took a step back and immediately hated himself for it. Nina was as thin as a mannequin—how could she manage to intimidate him?

“What’s that?” he demanded suddenly, shoving a meaty finger toward the piece of jewelry dangling from her neck. Some ugly medallion and something else that flashed in the light.

Nina captured it before he could identify anything.

“Nothing,” she said quickly. “A good luck charm I borrowed from Jane for the trial.”

Gardner snorted. “That’s cute. Who would want any of that whore’s luck?”

A mistake. Nina’s silver eyes blazed. And then, before he could stop her, she had overturned her entire cup onto his white shirt, covering it

“What the fuck!” Gardner screeched as the iced tea splattered down the front of his shirt and pants. He danced on the sidewalk, and irritably noticed the sound of cameras clicking behind him. “What in the fuck, Nina?”

“You may have won this battle,” Nina told him bitterly, even haughtily despite the fact that he had just been fully acquitted in this damn trial. “But the war is far from over. You would do best to stay out of my way and respect those I hold dear.”

“Is that a challenge, princess?” he sneered even as he was picking the wet fabric off his skin. “What do you think you’re going to do? Snub me to death?”

But she didn’t speak, only crossed her arms and looked him over. The revelations she had just made throbbed in the back of his mind, stunting his speech long enough that she didn’t even deign him with a response. Instead, she turned on her heel and continued down the street.

As she walked, Gardner was filled with fury despite the victory of the day. She was infuriating. A bitch. Self-righteous when she had no fucking right to be. She had always thought she was better than him.

And now she was embarrassing him again, revealing the rest of their secrets to the world, threatening him with charges of what, murder? Of her beloved professor more than ten years ago?

It was laughable. Which had to be the point, he realized. It was all just a game, like she had been doing for years every time she pointed out a stain on his shirt or crumbs on his mouth. That didn’t even touch the early days, when he actually tried to be nice, but she rebuffed his attempts to claim his rights as a husband as if he had suggested she jump into a vat of boiling oil.

All she had ever done was humiliate him. And for that, he wanted to kill her… No, not kill her. No, death would be too easy.

He wanted to make her pay. Make her understand, once and for all, that he wasn’t a man to be trifled with.

And that was just what he would do.

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