Because every creak of the building makes my heart jump like I expect him to walk back in.
And then—
There’s a knock at the door.
Sharp. Deliberate.
Not Jack’s casual tap.
I straighten instantly, notebook sliding to the side, pulse ticking up for reasons I can’t quite name.
“Come in?” I call, my voice steadier than I feel.
The door handle turns. The door opens.
And my stomach drops straight through the floor.
Bekki—with two k’s and an i, because of course—steps into the room like she owns it. Tailored blazer. Perfect blowout. That same sharp, measuring look she’s had since the first day I met her in my father’s office years ago.
She freezes when she sees me sitting on Langston’s couch.
The surprise flickers across her face for half a second before it hardens into something else.
Something hot.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, like I’m the one who wandered into the wrong room.
I blink, caught off guard by the audacity. “Excuse me?” I stand, slow and deliberate. “This is Langston’s office.”
Bekki laughs—a short, humorless sound. “I know exactly whose office this is.”
Something in her tone makes my spine straighten.
I step away from the couch and do something I’ve very intentionally avoided until now.
I walk around the desk.
And I sit.
Right in Langston’s chair.
I cross one ankle over the other and lift my chin. “Then you also know he’s my husband. Which means I can be in his office whenever I want.” I hold her gaze. “So I’ll ask again—what are you doing here?”
Her lips curve, slow and sharp. “Langston asked me to personally drop off the finalized movement plan for his next shipment.”
Personally.
She emphasizes it like she’s pressing a blade between my ribs.
For a split second, doubt curls in my chest—quiet and poisonous. Why didn’t he mention her? Why is she the one handling this?
Bekki must see it flash across my face because she leans forward, palms flat on the desk.
“We’ve been working very closely together,” she says softly. “He told me he wouldn’t be able to manage this without me.”
The words sink deep.
A pit forms in my stomach.
