“Do you have an open marriage?”
“Does Mr. Van Stern know about your lover?”
“Did you do it for money?”
I sped up my pace and tried to ignore them, but they kept up with me. How was I going to get home with a bunch of people on my tail? The last thing I needed was for them to camp outside my apartment block.
My jaw ached from grinding my teeth to keep from replying to some of the stupid questions.
When I crossed the road, a car screeched to a halt right in front of me. I was about to call the driver some choice names when the window came down and I saw Pierce.
“Get in. Now.”
Beggars couldn’t be choosers, so even though I despised Pierce, he was currently my ticket out of this mess.
When I closed the door, he put his foot down and drove away.
He didn’t say anything until we were clear of the reporters. He drove around the city for a while and then stopped in the parking lot of the city park.
“Thank you for…you know, getting me out of there.”
“Sometimes one does what one must to put things in their rightful place.”
I stared at him. Was he talking about me? Figurative things?
“Once again, thank you. I can walk home from here.” I pulled the door handle to get out. Pierce grabbed my arm, gripping it tight.
“Not so fast.”
The guy put me on edge. I couldn’t wait to get out of his car, and I needed to get home, check my phone, and call Lior. His dark eyes and overly groomed hair gave me the chills.
“I know all about your deal with Lior.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play dumb. It’s beneath you. You’re a smart man. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have bagged the most eligible gay bachelor in the city, so you know where I’m going with this.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Entertain me.”
“I’m sure you’re a good fuck, but there are more important things than sex. Van Stern Enterprises is the most important thing in Lior’s life. He will do anything not to lose the company his grandfather started and his father built into a multi-million-dollar international enterprise.”
“I know exactly how important VSE is to Lior. What’s your point?”
“My point is that Lior’s cute young new husband with the clean rap sheet is now a liability. What do you think the partnerswill do now that those photos are out there? Do you think they’ll let Lior keep the company? They’ll oust him faster than you can spell sham marriage.”
“What do you care?”
He sneered at me. “I care because the wedding ring on your finger should be on mine. Our breakup was a mistake, but I wasn’t going to make him stay with me after he cheated.”
“What the fuck? You’re the one who cheated.”
Pierce deflated a little in his seat. He kept his eyes on the grassy field in front of us. He was the one who’d cheated, right?
“I found out Lior was cheating on me. I confronted the guy he was with, and someone got photos of us. Lior accused me of cheating because I guess it was a way of getting rid of both of us. What he didn’t expect was for his dad to add that clause to his will. He was too proud to come back to me, so he set his eyes on you.”
I laughed. “I was the one who proposed, so your theory doesn’t hold.”
He scoffed. “Yeah, so was I. Think about that.”
