Chapter 19

My mother and I eventually went to lunch alone, driving separately since we'd each arrived in our own cars. I wanted to know what they'd decided about the wedding during the meeting, but I was glad to have a few minutes alone.

Worry nagged at me as I drove away from Serenity's office. Something about the way she'd changed her mind so fast and the look on her face when she'd taken that call didn't sit right with me. It also wasn't like her to take a phone call at all when she was still in a meeting, and even less so for her to leave completely while she did it.

When Mom and I walked into the restaurant, I could see that something was bothering her as well, and when we sat down, I realized it was the same thing that had been bugging me. "Do you think Serenity is alright? She was quite pale when that call came in."

"It wasn't just me, then?"

She shook her head, her eyes dark with worry. "I suppose it could be work. Perhaps there's a hiccup with one of their important clients or something."

"Perhaps," I said mildly, but I didn't really believe it was that. After she'd told me that she had far more experience than I'd thought, I knew that no hiccup would cause her to look like she'd seen a ghost.

In our industry, hiccups were par for the course. Regardless of how good you were or how meticulous, shit happened. Weather changed. Vendors didn't come through. Brides got into disagreements with friends or family and grooms broke their legs or noses at the bachelor party the night before the wedding.

There were countless things that could go wrong, and by now, none of it would be news to Serenity. I'd been watching her work for a while now, and contrary to what I'd thought at first, she was professional and efficient.

Anything that could go wrong with an event, she would have a contingency plan for it, which pointed toward the fact that this wasn't about work. This was something else, and after everything she'd told me about her marriage, I was concerned that it had to do with Ethan.

Either way, she would have asked for my help if she'd wanted it and she hadn't, so I settled in for a meal with my mother, worried about my girl but doing my best to get on with my day. After lunch, I texted her to check in, then headed back to my office.

For a little while, I got lost in the work, but when I realized she hadn't texted me back yet, I checked my phone and saw the time. My teeth sank into my cheek as I squinted at the screen, wondering if it would be totally out of line for me to show up at her office again.

Lance walked in before I could decide, and he sat down in the chair opposite my desk. "How did it go?"

"Fine," I said curtly. "They covered everything that needed to be covered."

He chuckled. "Well, of course they did. Serenity is an actual event planner and your mother is a bride like any other. I suppose the real question is why do you look like something went wrong when you just told me they were perfectly fine without you?"

I debated it internally before deciding to give him a quick breakdown of where my head was at. By the time I was done, he frowned at me. "Okay. I agree that it's weird, but she runs her own business, bro. She might've been pulled into an emergency meeting or had a supplier cancel on short notice. Could have been anything."

"I know, but I have a bad feeling about it," I replied thoughtfully. "It could have been work, sure, but when was the last time work made you look like you were about to be sick?"

"Oh, all the time," he joked before he realized I was serious. He sighed. "Why are you so worried about this, Dash? There's got to be something you're not telling me. Getting a call and looking stressed about it isn't exactly concrete evidence that something is wrong. She's not hurt. You just saw her and she's at work."

"Yeah, I know all that," I snapped, then released a deep breath and studied his suddenly puzzled expression. "My relationship with her has shifted. We've been intimate and we intend on doing it again."

Shock registered on his features for a moment. Then he grinned. "You devil! I knew something was going to happen between you too."

I sighed. "Do you understand now why I'm so worried?"

"Nah. Not really. Again, bro. She's at work. She's fine. I know this is all new for you, but you don't have to go all paranoid on me." Checking his watch, he got up and strode to the door, glancing back at me before he left. "Give her some time. I'm sure you'll hear from her later."

After he was gone, I took a minute to process what he'd said before I got back to work. This was new to me and perhaps I was being paranoid. It wasn't like me at all, but neither was becoming romantically involved with a competitor.

The remainder of the afternoon passed in a blur of playing catchup for the hours I'd been out of the office and trying to get ahead of things for tomorrow, but when the day ended and I still hadn't heard from her, real worry set in. No longer simply a nagging voice, it was now a dark cloud hanging over me, sending thunderbolts through my gut with every breath I took.

Something was not right and there was no way I would be able to sleep until I knew she was okay. Deciding that I would stop by her place this evening to check on her if there had still been no word by the time I got there, I started gathering my stuff and checked my phone one last time as I parked in front of her building.

Still nothing.

I glanced up at the penthouse, but it was no surprise when I didn't see any clues about her state of mind from all the way down here. Honestly, I hadn't even known why I'd looked. It wasn't like she'd hang a sign in the window spelling out her woes for the world to see.

I sighed, shaking my head at myself. I reached for the door handle and started climbing out of my car. I was halfway to her door when I paused, watching as Ethan strode through the lobby and exited the building.

My heart thumped against my ribs, but I didn't run or try to hide. What the fuck is he doing here?

Ethan walked out with a weird grin on his lips, and maybe it was just because I knew things about him now that I hadn't before, but it was strangely sinister seeing it there. As he got to the sidewalk, he spotted me. His eyes narrowed for a beat before he fixed a decidedly fake grin on his face and came over.

"Dash! This is a surprise. What are you doing here, brother?" He stuck out his hand and I shook with him but decided not to be completely honest.

He and I had been friendly once upon a time and we'd worked together on occasion, but after what she'd told me, I knew he was more cunning and dangerous than I had been able to guess and I wasn't about to give him a reason to come at her for anything.

"I came by to pick up some things for my mom," I said conversationally. "Can you believe she decided to get engaged last month and she wants to get married on Mother's Day? It's been a bit of a push trying to get everything done on time."

He chuckled, nodding his agreement as he released my hand and gave me an almost steely, disbelieving look. He was trying to hide it, but I saw him assessing me. Saw his gaze studying my face as though searching for a trace of a lie, but he wouldn't find anything.

"Yeah, I heard your mother was with my company," he said, ignoring the fact that it wasn't his company anymore. "It must've stung when she chose us over you, huh?"

"Nah, not really," I lied. "You wouldn't want the company of the person you were married to before organizing your next wedding either, would you?"

"Well, I wouldn't know," he said with a smug smile on his lips as he pointed back at the building. "I don't have any plans to marry anyone other than my wife."

"Don't you mean your ex-wife?"

He shrugged. "We're working things out. We've been talking about it and it's looking good."

My blood went cold. I didn't believe what I was hearing, but here he was, at her apartment. At night. Looking all smug, relaxed, and happy. Nodding stupidly, I tried to hide how numb I'd gone inside as I made a show of lifting my wrist to check the time.

"That's great, man. I'm happy for you. I actually just remembered that I've got somewhere to be, though. I guess I'll just have to get that stuff from Serenity tomorrow. Running into you threw me off-schedule a little."

He laughed. "I wouldn't want to keep you. I know how you are about your schedule."

I let out a bark of dry laughter, then said goodbye and headed back to my car, head spinning. Just last night, she and I had talked about trying a relationship and now she was apparently trying again with Ethan.

I might not have a lot of experience with the whole relationship thing, but I was pretty sure you weren't supposed to be trying it with a couple different people at the same time. Especially not if one of those people was your ex-husband who seemed to think that you were patching things up.

Refusing to be the second choice, the consolation prize if shit didn't work out with her husband, I climbed back into my car and raced home. Then I grabbed a shower before I started getting ready. This was why I didn't get involved with people.

People had a way of disappointing me. I didn't think it would've been too much to ask for her to have sent me a fucking text saying she was getting back together with her husband. Getting involved got people like me hurt. People with old school values who believed in one great love like the one my parents had and who didn't fuck around with other people once you thought you'd found your person.

Scoffing as I shook my head at myself, I wondered why I'd even bothered. I should've known better than to trust a reality TV star with a taste for drama and who thrived on publicity.

Anger coursed through me as I headed back out and got a cab to an upscale nightclub where I intended on consuming copious amounts of alcohol to drown my sorrows. Tonight, I was going out and having some fun. Then tomorrow, I'd let Serenity know that I knew what she was doing.

I briefly considered calling Lance to join me, but in the end, I decided against it. If I called him, I'd inevitably have to deal with his opinions about what I was about to do and I didn't really feel like it.

While I didn't really care to be with anyone tonight, I did make sure the paparazzi saw me with other people and that the angles were just right to make it look scandalous. I knew it was petty and childish, but with all the rage simmering inside after being duped and betrayed, I didn't give a shit.

Whiskey after whiskey, I rolled out the more charming version of my personality, making new friends to drink with and taking them for a spin on the dance floor when the mood struck. Eventually, once I was satisfied that I'd spent at least enough time out that people would know I wasn't moping about her and her husband after those photographs and rumors of us had surfaced, I headed home.

Nicely tipsy, I went straight to bed, closing my eyes and welcoming the abyss of dreamless, slightly drunken sleep. When I woke up the next morning, my mouth was cottony and my head ached a little, but it wasn't so bad.

Getting out of bed, I chugged some water and took a couple aspirin, then sagged down on my couch and kicked up my feet with my phone in hand. The first article I saw was about Serenity and Ethan, and sickness rolled through me.

According to the reporter, the photos had been taken last night and the title read "King and Queen of LA back together?"

I squinted at the pictures, but I couldn't make out much detail other than that they were locked in an embrace. Her head was turned away from the camera and it was clearly late at night. The building in the background was her apartment.

Ethan had his arms around her and hers appeared to be around him too, but I couldn't be sure. The image quality was too grainy.

Tossing my phone down beside me, I groaned and scrubbed my palms over my face. I didn't know how to feel, but anger was the most prominent emotion spiraling through me, so I went with that. Needing to get this whole situation over with, I grabbed my phone once more, my fingers flying across the keyboard as I fired off a quick text.

Me: We need to talk.

I didn't wait for her reply, though. I needed to settle this and I needed to do it now.