Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
I hadn’t seen Scarlett most of the day, so I texted her. Baby, where are you?
In the kitchen.
I went downstairs to the bottom floor and into the second kitchen in the rear. It’d been a long time since I’d had a party, but whenever I did, people liked to congregate in the kitchen and on the barstools. So, I had a kitchen for entertaining and a kitchen for the actual cooking. I stepped inside and found the kitchen island covered with ingredients and hot pans on the stove. It smelled divine, and my stomach tightened even though I’d already had dinner.
I leaned against the counter and stared at her.
She stirred the contents of one pan before she moved to the other and flipped a piece of chicken.
“I wish I’d known you were cooking. Would have skipped dinner.”
She gave a slight flinch like she didn’t know I was there. “Shit, you scared me.”
“I just asked where you were. You didn’t think I was on my way?”
“Guess I was distracted.” She finished what she was doing before she dragged her dirty hands down the front of her apron.
“What are you making?”
“I got this idea for a recipe and wanted to try it out.” She moved to the sink and washed her hands free of the oil and butter that had caked her fingers. “The more I think about it, the more excited I get about running a restaurant. How cool would it be if I got a Michelin star?”
“That would be cool,” I said. “But you already have the Michelin star in fucking, and no one likes an overachiever.”
She rolled her eyes, but my comment made her smile.
I smiled too.
She dried her hands before she leaned against the counter and looked at me.
There were moments like this when the light hit her in just the perfect way that her eyes shone like emeralds. Her skin had a natural glow that made her look like living gold. The world got quiet, and I knew I could stare at her forever. “I’m going out tonight. Not sure when I’ll be back.”
“Oh…”
Ever since I’d gotten married, I’d rearranged my schedule to be home with her in the evenings. I didn’t like the idea of her sleeping alone in my bed. Abandoning her during the most vulnerable time of the day made me feel like an inadequate husband. But tonight couldn’t be helped.
“Some of my guys are going to be on the property while I’m gone. I ask that you don’t leave.”
“Okay…now you’re making me worry.”
“Nothing to worry about.”
“You’ve never left me with a small army before.”
“After what happened with your father, I’d rather be cautious.”
Her arms crossed over her chest. “That means you’re doing something dangerous tonight.”
“Everything I do is dangerous.”
“No, it’s not,” she snapped. “Most of the time, you attend snobby cocktail parties and make deals in the back room.”
“Baby, it’ll be fine.”
She ignored what I said. “What are you doing?”
“I have a meeting with the Colombians.”
“The ones who just tried to kill me?” she asked incredulously.
“Yes.”
“Jesus… Life goes on, doesn’t it?” Her arms tightened over her chest, and she gave a sigh.
“They’re the only supplier that can meet our standards of quality and our quota. It’s worth trying to mend the relationship.”
“What if you’re walking into a trap?”
“Then they’re walking into a trap too.”
Her eyes were furious now, bright and agitated, but they somehow gave her this irresistible beauty. “I don’t like this.”
“It’ll be alright.”
“These men should be with you, not me.”
“I’ve got my guys, baby.”
She continued to look flustered, her food cooking on the stove without her attention. The smell started to change, like it was burning, but she didn’t seem to notice or care. “Can’t this happen on the phone?”
I gave a slight smile. “No.”
“Axel, I don’t like this—”
“It’ll be fine.”
“My father is going with you?”
I nodded. That rat was always a step behind me.
“And Theo?”
I still didn’t like it when she mentioned my brother, because I knew she was attracted to him, had invited him into the bed where I used to sleep. It was immature and childish, but it still bothered me to this day. “Yes.”
“This could be a plot to get their revenge—”
“They’re our biggest supplier, but we’re their biggest client. We need each other.”
“How do you know they’ll be so reasonable?”
“I don’t. But it’s stupid to attack someone when they’re prepared for it.”
She looked at the stove, seeing her culinary delicacy beginning to burn from being exposed to the heat too long. She turned off the burners and took the pans off the heat so the oil would rest.
“I’m sorry if I ruined your project.”
“I don’t give a shit about the food.” She wiped her hands on the apron before she turned back to me. “Just don’t want to burn down the house.”
I leaned against the counter as I looked at her, seeing all the distress on her beautiful face, the way she struggled to accept what I was about to do.