Total pages in book: 190
Estimated words: 181992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
“There was bitterness in his wording. The emotion was out of place. Why be bitter that I’d issued warnings to his woman and stepson?”
Why indeed. Cleaning my sticky fingers, I tilted my head. “What did you do?”
“I sent him the CCTV footage showing Blaise clearly vandalizing the parking sign. That spoke for itself. I wasn’t going to be baited into engaging in an argument just so Grayden had an excuse to vent.”
If my ex had aimed to wrench a real reaction out of Dax, he’d taken the wrong route. You couldn’t hope to play a master manipulator unless you had some serious game of your own. Grayden did not. “What was his response to the footage?”
“There wasn’t one. I didn’t hear from him again until this morning. He apologized for how he’d acted.” Dax paused. “He also suggested that you and I go to dinner with him and Felicity sometime soon.”
“What?” I blurted on a humorless chuckle of pure disbelief. “Why? I mean, I know you two were once friends, but that was in high school, right?”
“Yes. We lost touch once he went to law school. I think he wanted to distance himself from me due to my reputation for fear that no law firm would otherwise employ him.” He shrugged, unbothered. “Proposing we have dinner is more or less a peace offering. He probably hopes he can smooth things over.”
“Probably. I wouldn’t want my family to be in your bad books.” I dropped the used lemon-scented wipe on my plate. “If you want us to go make peace with them, I’ll do it. As I’ve said before, I don’t want you to be at odds with your family.”
Truthfully, though, I wasn’t confident that it would help much. Felicity would be seething that I’d married her cousin. Seeing Dax and I together wouldn’t be something she’d enjoy, let alone take with grace.
“And as I’ve explained to you before, Felicity and Blaise might be my relatives by blood, but we have no relationship.” Dax set down his cup. “You, on the other hand, are my wife. I’m not going to place you in an uncomfortable situation of any kind. Nor would I expect you to make peace with someone who quite frankly doesn’t deserve it.”
Oh. Well. All right, then. “Have you replied to his email?”
“No. Nor do I intend to. He’ll get the message. But if he chooses to ignore it and contacts you about this—whether by phone or email—tell me.”
“He won’t be able to contact me by phone. I blocked his number recently. I should have done it months ago rather than put up with him calling and texting at his leisure, but I didn’t want to give him that satisfaction.”
Dax’s brows dipped. “Calling and texting about what?”
“Nothing. Random, unimportant stuff. Which was shitty, since he promised me no contact.” But Grayden had a habit of breaking promises where I was concerned. “He’s likely scared enough of you to leave me alone from here on out.”
“If he doesn’t stop, I want to know about it,” Dax told me, a warning in his gaze.
“Okay,” I acceded, more than willing to hand the problem over to him if it meant finally getting some damn peace from my ex.
Dax pushed out of his chair. “I’ll ask for someone to come collect the dishware and leftovers. After they’re done, we can leave. Unless you need more time?”
“No, I’m ready whenever.”
A short time later, I was walking toward my front door—well, it was now more or less Alicia’s front door, since I would be moving out today and she would soon own the house. I blew out a breath, not fond of the sun’s heavy heat pressing down on my skin. Pulling my keys out of my pocket, I glanced back at Dax. He was still in his car, his lips moving rapidly, so he obviously hadn’t finished his business call yet.
There was no van or unfamiliar vehicles parked nearby, so my helpers clearly hadn’t yet arrived. Unless they were running late, they should be here in the next fifteen minutes or so.
Striding into the house, I called out Alicia’s name. Rather than close the front door behind me, I left it ever so slightly ajar so that Dax could enter when ready.
She padded out of the living room, a huge grin on her face. “Well, hello, Mrs. Mercier. How’s holy matrimony?”
“So far, so good.” I gave her a quick hug. “People will be arriving soon to help me move my stuff.”
“Yes, I remember you saying that Dax, his bros, and two of his buds would be here. I’ll keep everyone plied with drinks. Why shift boxes when I can instead watch their muscles ripple and bunch? That’s not a show I care to miss.”
I snickered. “Did I miss anything interesting after I left the venue last night?”