Lover (Betrothed 3)

She stood in jeans and a tight t-shirt, her slight belly stretching the fabric right in the front. Her eyelashes were thick with makeup, and her lips were plump from the shade of lipstick she chose. She was so beautiful, it was sometimes easy to forget she was angry.

“Looks like I did something bad.” I walked up to her, unintimidated by the ferocity in her eyes. Instead of being deterred by that look, I was intrigued. Nothing she did could scare me off. Every action she made only made me want her more.

Her arms were across her chest, and she loosened them and placed her hands on her hips. “I’m only going to say this one more time. I hope you listen to me because you’re running out of time.”

I already knew what she was going to say.

“Make things right with Damien. This isn’t worth losing him over.”

Maybe she didn’t understand how much I had suffered. Maybe she didn’t understand I’d cried myself to sleep every night she was gone. I was still haunted by what happened to her, and twenty years could pass and I’d feel the exact same way. Damien could have stolen from me, and I wouldn’t have cared. In this line of business, nothing could be personal. Everything was business.

But my wife was different.

My soul mate was different.

She studied my gaze, disappointment flooding her features when she read my stubborn look.

I didn’t need to give a verbal response. The look on my face was more than enough.

She dropped her gaze and gave a slight shake of her head. “Fine.”

I truly hoped that was the end of this conversation.

“You’re going to regret this, but I obviously can’t change your mind.”

I was sitting at the bank when one of my guys called me. There was a production issue in the lab, so all processes were put on indefinite hold. The cause of the delay was unclear, and since I was so involved in every aspect of my business, I wanted to participate in finding the solution.

In my black suit, I walked down the hallway and entered Damien’s office. We both had become experts at silent hatred. We retained a sense of professionalism, but we constantly showed our distaste for each other through our gazes. I still looked at him like his betrayal had just happened yesterday. “Production has been shut down at the lab.”

“Yeah, I just got the call.”

“I’ll go down and take care of it.” We hadn’t decided how we’d split this business when this was over. It belonged to us equally, but it would be impossible to divide a business in two. It would also be impossible to run it without seeing each other on a weekly basis. I could barely stand to look at his face now. He looked like he wanted to punch me every second of the day. We couldn’t do this much longer.

“I’m going too. Sounds like a shitshow down there.”

I didn’t argue because he could do whatever he wanted. I turned away because I wasn’t waiting for him. We were going to the same place, but we would take separate rides. We were business partners on paper but adversaries in real life. It was sad that our lives had ended up this way, but there was nothing we could do to change it. He stood by his decisions, and I would stand by mine.

When I stepped off the elevator and entered the lab, I immediately knew something wasn’t right. Damien was already there, standing with sagging shoulders with his head tilted to the ground.

All the lab equipment was turned off, and the usual steam that rose to the ceiling was nonexistent. It ordinarily smelled like chemicals, but that potent smell was absent because production had been halted for hours.

My men were on the opposite side of the room, huddled together like livestock on a farm. A couple men circled them, keeping them quiet without drawing their guns. There were a lot of foreign faces in the space, people who had no business being there.

One of those faces belonged to Maddox.

It quickly dawned on me that this was all a setup. My men lured both of us here so there would be no witnesses, not a single sound anyone could hear. It was a perfect place to provoke me…on my turf, where I would least expect it.

My heart rate quickened and there was a shot of adrenaline in my blood, but I didn’t cave to the fear. I kept a blank stare like I didn’t give a damn that Maddox was there at all. It was obvious Damien had been blindsided too.

I stepped farther into the room and discreetly counted the number of men I was up against. There had to be several dozen, all armed and all loyal. All I had was a knife inside my suit jacket. Damien usually had a pistol on him, but that was pretty much useless at the moment.