“Thank God,” she says, and takes a deep drag of her cigarette. “What took you two so long?”
“It was complicated.”
“Of course it is complicated,” she says. “You married a man you hated for business. Love is complicated in the best of times, and you two? Not best of times. But now, well… I am happy for you. Very happy, in fact.”
“How did you know?” I ask. “Rafe told me you knew from the start that we were pretending.”
“Of course I knew. Neither of you is a trained actor, and I have a very good eye. I say that not to brag. It is the truth.” She holds up her cigarette. “I know him, right? And now I think I know you. But you two had a marvelous time pretending.” Her eyes glitter. “And I’ve had so much fun watching it.”
That makes me laugh. “Sylvie!”
“You enjoyed the massage, did you not? That was when I knew.” Her eyes glitter in the near dark. “You could have refused me, both of you. But you did not. There was hope.”
I draw up my knees and look across from her to where Rafe is talking to Leelyn and Vittoria. His eyes meet mine, and he smiles.
“There is hope,” I agree.
CHAPTER 68
GROUP CHAT
Alex
We’ve all seen the news. What’s the situation, Rafe?
James
If we need to fight her uncle, we will.
Rafe
I handled it. He won’t bother us again, and my legal team is handling her will.
West
Tell us if you need help. I don’t mind punching Ben Wilde again.
Rafe
Me neither. But he’s done.
Alex
And you and Paige? I feel bad for the girl. The email being leaked and all. Couldhappen to anyone.
James
Let us go after Ben Wilde just a little bit. I can blacklist him from most of the aviation companies worldwide, if he ever tries to fly private.
Alex
Great idea. I have about ten more that are various degrees of illegal, so I won’t put them in writing.
Rafe
Maybe one day. Not now. But I appreciate it.
West
