Page 13

“Shorty, don’t ask questions you⁠—”

Dream squeezed his arm, interrupting him. “Leave her alone.”

“I ain’t bothering her.”

“Yes, you are, baby,” she said softly. And just like that, he went quiet.

The waiter arrived with our appetizers, rescuing Demon from the full force of my irritation. I turned my attention to the spinach ravioli and decided not to let him spoil my evening. Kiana kept us laughing with stories about working with little ones, and Dream shared a story about Demon, who seemed to be immune to everything, getting seasick on their last vacation. About the time our entrées should’ve been arriving, I excused myself to use the restroom.

I took the long way around the dining room because I saw two servers carrying large trays through the center aisle. I was passing a partially enclosed section when I noticed a man sitting with his profile to me. My steps slowed down. For a moment, my brain refused to connect the familiar line of his nose, the close-cut beard, and the charcoal suit with the man who had told me he would be working late. Then he turned slightly.

Adam.

He sat at a table for four with a couple who appeared to be in their fifties and a woman around our age, maybe younger. The older man was speaking, but Adam wasn’t looking at him. He was looking at her. His hand rested on the back of her chair. Her body was angled toward his. As I watched, she leaned close and whispered something in his ear. Adam smiled, then pressed his lips to her temple, a move full of affection.

My entire body went cold.

For one stupid second, I wondered whether I had misunderstood. Like maybe she was a client. Maybe they were cousins. Maybe there was some logical explanation for why my boyfriend’s fingers were tracing circles on another woman’s shoulder. Then she turned her face and kissed him, and it was not on his cheek. Nah, this was right on his mouth. I mean, it wasn’t long, but it was definitely familiar and involved a little tongue. And the way he smiled at her afterward…

Something inside me just crumbled.

I could have walked away. I probably should have. I could have returned to my table, finished dinner, and dealt with Adam privately after I had time to think. Instead, my three-inch heels carried me forward. I didn’t scream. I didn’t throw a drink or snatch the woman across the table, bad as I wanted to, seeing how comfortable she looked beside my man. I didn’t storm over and smack his traitorous face. Big, public spectacles had never been my style. My mama had raised me with too much class to act a fool in front of a room full of strangers.

Adam looked up. It was almost funny how his skin that I thought of as bittersweet chocolate seemed to fade to an ashy ass gray.

“Topaz.”

The woman next to him turned toward me when he spoke. The older couple did the same.

“Hello, Adam,” I said coolly.

His eyes darted around the room, like he was looking for an exit or maybe divine intervention. Maybe he wanted time to come up with a believable lie, but he found none of that. It was almost funny, except it wasn’t.

The older woman smiled politely. “Adam, who is your friend?”

He stared at me, begging with his eyes. I knew that look. This man had the nerve, the fucking audacity, to be asking me to go along with whatever lie he’d told these people and postpone my reaction until it was convenient for him. Fifteen months together, and when I caught his ass cheating, his first concern was avoiding getting in trouble with the other woman? I almost laughed.

“This is Topaz Waters. We’re colleagues,” he said, his voice weak.

Colleagues. I wasn’t sure which hurt more—the woman’s hand resting on his thigh or the way his scary ass erased me. Still, I smiled. It was the same smile I used with difficult clients or condescending executives who thought they were gon’ talk to me crazy, the smile that let me insult people while keeping my cool.

“Yes. Adam and I have worked very closely together,” I said.

He swallowed hard. The younger woman looked at him, then me. Her smile was not as together as mine. Hers was a little bit uncertain, and I could tell that she was asking me to help them save face, too. She didn’t really know who I was… but she was afraid she knew.

“At Montgomery, Knowles, and Patterson?” she quizzed.

My smile widened a little. “Oh, no. I work in asset management. Our association is much more… personal.”

My eyes stayed on Adam. Her eyes stayed on me. Slowly, her hand left his thigh.

“Topaz,” Adam said my name quietly, begging again.

Ignoring him, I looked at her. Poor thing. Whatever Adam had told her, the confusion on her face seemed real. I could have exposed him right there. One sentence would have turned their elegant little dinner into the kind of scene he was scared I was about to make. But suddenly, sympathy flooded me. For myself… and for her.

“Please excuse the interruption,” I said to the table. “Enjoy your evening.”

I turned before anyone could stop me and walked away unhurriedly. Feeling eyes on me, I let my eyes stray from the path in front of me. I saw Saadiq, watching me. He’d seen, I knew that, somehow. And if his eyes had held the slightest bit of pity, I probably would’ve folded. But the dark brown gaze was just… speculative. And a little bit pissed off.