What did she mean? She was talking to Elliot when she said it. It hits me like a bucket of ice water over my head. I tug my hand from Elliot’s and stepped away.
“You knew.”
“Knew what?” he asks, frowning.
“You knew he would be here.”
“I did not know he would be here,” he says firmly, and I want to believe him. Really, I do. There hasn’t been a moment I didn’t trust what he said, but now… it’s different. Something about all of this is different.
“But what Angela said. She asked if there was a different way for you to handle that. You knew he was coming and you set this up.”
“No, Seraphine, I did not.”
“Then what did she mean?” I demand.
“Sir, your car.” The valet hands Elliot the keys and he takes them.
“Come on. We can talk about this in the car.” He puts his hand on my arm, but I jerk out of his grip.
“No. Tell me what she meant, Elliot.”
He holds my gaze before sighing heavily. He runs his hand through his hair, looking off before bringing his gaze back to me.
“I didn’t know they were coming here, but I saw him walk in.”
I suck in a breath, taking another step back.
“And you saw the perfect opportunity to out us even though I told you I wasn’t ready.”
“I told you that he will not be a problem, Seraphine. I made sure of it. He’s well aware he’ll lose everything if he so much as calls you.”
“So, you’re bribing him too?”
“Well, this is more blackmail.”
“Same thing!” I shout.
The last thing I want to do is make a scene outside of this restaurant after making one inside. I do not want all this attention on me.
“Just… let’s get in the car and go home, okay?”
“No,” I scoff, the words barely coming out as a lump forms in my throat. “No, I’m not going anywhere with you.”
I storm away, my heels clicking on the pavement. Elliot follows.
“Seraphine, please don’t do this. Let’s just talk about this.”
“No, Elliot. There’s no point in talking to you. You do what you want despite anyone else’s feelings.”
“That’s not fair,” he says, picking up his pace to keep up with me.
“What’s not fair is what you did to me tonight!” I stop, turning toward him. “I want to go home, and I want to go homewithoutyou. So please, just leave me alone.”
I fight off tears, refusing to break down in front of him. I pull out my phone and open the Uber app.
“Let me give you a ride then.”
“Absolutely not,” I say with a humorless laugh. “I don’t even want to be next to you right now.” When the Uber is ordered, I hold up my phone to show him. “I have a ride.”
