16. William

Jane had been acting weird since Ryan's visit. I tried to find out what happened but she wasn't forthcoming and neither was Josie. The woman informed me that my mother had stopped by a few days after Ryan. Information that no one else saw fit to tell me.

Why was my mom at my house and why didn't she tell me she'd stopped by?

I didn't want to read too much into it but I could tell something was wrong. They were keeping something from me and I needed to find out what.

Jane knocked on the door and walked into my office. She placed a cup of coffee on my table before walking back out. She'd been strangely distant since her brother's visit. She barely spoke to me and she avoided being alone with me unless she absolutely had to.

It was infuriating. What angered me even more was how angry I was at the whole thing. I should be happy she was keeping her distance. Distance was good for both of us. It reminded us that all of this was fake. We were in a contract marriage and in a year we would be divorced. We should keep our distance.

So why did her avoidance bother me so much?

I glared at the coffee that sat on the edge of my desk. Jane had been so determined not to get close to me that she dropped the cup out of reach. What happened that made her change so much?

Did her brother say something?

Did my mother say something?

Did Josie say something?

What happened?

I tried to focus on work but my mind drifted to Jane no matter how hard I tried. She was deeply embedded in my thoughts. Knowing she was right outside my door contributed to my inability to focus.

As if things couldn't get any worse, Jane walked back inside. She paused in front of my desk and placed a folder on it.

"The summary of today"s meeting," she said.

Even her tone was cold and empty. It wasn't the usual coldness. The one she adopted when she was annoyed with me. This was distant. It held little to no emotion. Not even hate.

Was it weird that I'd rather have her hate me than feel nothing at all?

This was foreign territory to me. Jane turned to leave and I rounded my desk before I could change my mind. I stood in front of her and stared into her eyes. She looked down.

I took her chin in my hand and brought her eyes back to mine, searching for anything that would help me understand her. Jane tried to pull away but I tightened my hold.

"Did I… do something?"

I sounded horrifically desperate. It was painful to hear myself speak like that but I had to know what was wrong.

Jane tried to shake her head but my hand made it a bit difficult. I took my hand off her chin and placed it on her waist. Gripping her waist with both hands, I lifted her and placed her on my table. Jane gasped loudly.

"William."

"Is there something I should know?"

"No, nothing," she said as she bit her lip.

I ran a hand over her bottom lip, freeing it from her teeth. "Jane."

"Yes…" Her voice came out breathless and her eyelids lowered.

For a moment I forgot the questions I needed to ask. The only thing I could focus on was the feel of her soft lips. I remembered how they tasted even though it had been a while since I kissed her. Last time, I'd done more than kiss her. I tasted the skin of her chest. And I would have done a lot more if my mother hadn't walked in.

That reminded me of what I wanted to ask her.

"Why was my mother at the penthouse?" I asked.

Jane's eyes shot open. "I… She…"

"Why is it so difficult for you to tell me the truth?"

I backed away and Jane hopped off my table. "I'm not lying to you, William."

"Lying by omission is still lying, Jane." She remained silent and I sighed. "You can leave."

Jane walked out and I returned to work. It would take a while before I uncovered whatever secret she was hiding.

But I was patient enough to wait.

I pushed the door open and allowed my mother to walk into the restaurant before me. She sent me a grateful smile before walking inside. If only she knew about the mini-interrogation I was planning, she wouldn't be so grateful.

I'd given up on trying to crack Jane and moved on to what I hoped would be an easier target. My mother had always been free with information. She never saw the need to keep things to herself. The only thing she was mostly silent about was my father but even that had changed gradually. Ever since I got married, she'd become more willing to talk about him. Maybe she thought hearing about my father would make me a better husband.

"Kiara!" Louis said, surprised. He wasn't in the restaurant when we first walked in. He was likely in the kitchen where he loved to be. I assumed one of the waiters told him I was around. "It is an honor to have you here, Mrs. Aldaine. You look stunning. As usual."

My mother blushed. "Thank you, dear. How's your mother? I haven't spoken to her in a while but I'd love for us to catch up. Will you let her know I asked of her?"

"Gladly. William."

Louis acknowledged me with a small nod before walking away. He was always on his best behavior around my mother. Our mothers were close friends. They moved within the same social circles and we'd ended up being friends because we were born into those circles.

"So why did you bring me here today?" my mom asked, suspiciously.

"Can't a man treat his mother to a nice meal?"

She cocked one elegant brow. "William Christopher Aldaine. Why am I here?"

I almost laughed at my mom's use of my full name. I'd never been called Christopher by anyone else but her. "I'm starving. Let's eat something first before we get into the serious stuff," I said. I signaled one of the waiters and he walked over. "We'll have a bottle of Armand de Brignac."

The waiter nodded and walked away. My mother turned to me with incredulous eyes. "Are we celebrating something?"

"Life is enough reason to celebrate, Mother."

The plan was to get her to drink enough champagne for her to let her guard down but my mom seemed strangely defensive today. When the champagne arrived, she sipped slowly like she was actively trying to remain sober.

I sighed. "I just want to know why she's acting weird."

"Who?"

"Jane. My wife."

"She just—

I was finally getting a confession or at least I thought my mother was about to confess. Her sentence was cut off by a loud man shouting her name.

"Kiara!" the old man yelled as he walked to our table. He didn't spare me a glance. His focus was fixed on my mother. "It's great to see you."

My mother smiled tightly. "And you too, Kennedy."

"You should reconsider what I offered you. Deals like mine don't come by so often, especially not for a woman your age."

My hand tightened around my champagne bottle. I wanted to smash it over his head. My mother's gaze collided with mine and she shook her head slowly. Why were the women in my life so against me defending them?

First, it was Jane, and now, my mother. I glared up at the decrepit loser propositioning her. His face looked like it belonged at the bottom of my shoe. I would love to make that a reality.

"I'm good where I am, Kennedy," my mother said.

The man shrugged. "If you say so." He finally turned to me. "You must be William."

"And you are?"

"Kennedy Jones," he said with an outstretched hand. I didn't take it so he pulled it away. "Actually, we've met before."

"When was that?" I asked.

The man rubbed his temples. "My apologies. I meant to say, I met your wife."

"You what?"

"She used to work for my cousin. Mirabel."

"You're related to Mirabel?"

What were the odds that I'd run into the cousin of my wife's former boss?

"Yes, I am. In fact, the other day she told me she offered your wife a job and she turned it down."

I definitely didn't hear him right. There was no way Jane would be offered a job at Bella's Elite and choose to stay with me. Why would she do that?

"She had her reasons," I said, calmly. I didn't want Kennedy to know that this was news to me. What kind of married couple would we be if I didn't know something so important happened to her?

He nodded and finally walked off in the opposite direction. For a moment, I just stared at the half-eaten plate of food before me. Jane turned down the job she wanted. Why would she do that? It didn't make any sense.

"You didn't know about the job offer, did you?" my mother asked. I shook my head but I didn't look up. She placed a hand on mine, prompting me to lift my head. "She did it for you."

My mother provided an answer to the question that had been swimming around in my head. Why would Jane turn down the job offer? Did she really do it for me?

And if she did, then why?

I walked into the penthouse and headed straight for Jane's room. I needed answers and she was the only one who could give them to me. I knocked but there was no response. I could hear something moving around so I knew she was in there. I was tempted to push the door open but I decided to respect her privacy.

"Jane?" I called as I knocked again.

The door opened and her head came into view. "Hi."

"Can we talk?"

"Um… sure. I guess."

Jane opened her door wider and I stepped inside. Her scent wafted over my nose. It was cedar wood and vanilla and… her. I turned to Jane where she stood with her back to the door. She looked like she was ready to run out at the slightest inconvenience. My eyes dropped to her body. She was wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts. It was meant to be simple but on her it was alluring.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

Her question reminded me of why I came here. "I… I spoke to Mirabel's cousin."

"Mr. Jones?"

"So you know him?"

She nodded. "We've met on a few occasions."

"He told me Mirabel offered you a job," I said and she nodded slowly. "And you turned it down?"

"Yes."

"Why?" I asked as I moved closer. Jane backed up against the door but there was no space there. I stood in front of her. "Why did you turn down the job, Jane?"

"I… I didn't want to go back there."

I shook my head and moved closer. "That's not true. Going back to Bella's Elite was all you could talk about for weeks when you first started working with me."

"That was a long time ago," she said. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. It took everything in me not to abandon my line of questioning and focus on something else. I wanted to kiss her slightly parted lips. They begged for my attention but I held myself back. "A lot has changed since then."

"I don't believe that." I grabbed her waist and pulled her to me. Her soft chest collided with my hard one and she gasped audibly. "Why did you turn down the job?"

Her breathing was labored. She tried to look away but I held her face and forced her to look at me. I really wanted to kiss her. I wanted to trail kisses down her neck and taste every part of her body.

"Why did you turn down the job, Jane?" I asked again as I placed a kiss on the spot behind her ear. She whimpered and the sound made me want to kiss her even more. "Answer the question."

"I didn't… I didn't want to leave you."

I pulled away when she said that. I was almost certain I had misheard her. She couldn't possibly mean that. My eyes searched hers and I saw nothing but sincerity. I couldn't hold back anymore.

I kissed her.