Page 40 of After the Fall
We were back on the same page. I felt exactly the same way.
“Wyatt?”
“Yeah?” Even though it was early and we still hadn’t eaten dinner, I was starting to doze off.
“Have you ever slept with Valentina?”
TWENTY
HARPER
I could hearmy own heart beating in my chest. A loud, steady thump that pulsated against the silence of the room. Had I crossed the line in asking Wyatt about being physical with…her?
It was difficult to think her name, much less say it out loud. How the hell was I going to handle living under the same roof as Valentina?
He shook his head. “It isn’t like that between Valentina and me,” he said after what felt like an eternity. “We have a…” He looked up at the ceiling and sighed, “complicated relationship, but it’s strictly business. As difficult as Valentina may be, she’s a brilliant VP and an important ally.”
It was hard to hear Wyatt call the woman who had poisoned me brilliant, and my cringe didn’t go unnoticed. He ran his fingers through my hair, twirling the ends. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“So that’s a no?”
“I promise you, I’ve never made love to that woman.”
I searched his eyes for any hint of a lie, but his gaze remained locked on mine and I exhaled in relief. It was bad enough thatValentina and the South Americans were going to be staying here. I wasn’t sure I could also handle being around someone Wyatt had been intimate with, especially when that someone looked like an exotic supermodel.
Wyatt pulled me tighter against his chest, but continued stroking my hair. “Can we please let this go?” he murmured, his eyes giving into sleep.
“Mm-hmm,” I whispered, closing my eyes to match his. I tried to focus on my breath, but inside, my stomach was churning, and my mind going a million miles a minute as I worried about all the things that could go wrong in coming days.
“Pass the potatoes,”Tank grunted.
It was our first family dinner in the mansion. It felt weird to be sitting at the long dining table, the only human, other than Gloria flitting in and out of the kitchen.
To an outsider, it looked like a fancy dinner party with the who’s who of Seattle feasting on a five-course meal, drinking bottles of Sassicaia. I couldn’t believe I was drinking a two hundred and fifty dollar bottle of red wine on a Thursday night. Then again, not much surprised me anymore.
I shoved the potato casserole across the table toward Tank, who I’d purposely chosen to sit as far away from as possible, sitting next to Fiona. Wyatt sat on my other side, at the head of the table. He seemed quieter than usual, a sullen expression on his face as he twirled the stem of his wine glass. He gazed into the deep burgundy liquid as if it held all the answers.
Across from me, Atticus was sitting beside a tall blond woman I’d never seen before. They nuzzled together, whispering conspiratorially, as if they were the only two in the room. Atthe other end of the table, Tank and the security guards, plus a few men I’d never seen before, hunkered over their plates with their elbows on the table. They chomped loudly on giant legs of meat, and shoved forkfuls of lasagna into their mouths. It was a boisterous, rowdy energy in comparison to our subdued end of the table. It felt like lines were already being drawn, in advance of the South American arrivals.
I missed the intimacy of my old apartment, and laughed at the thought of this many people gathered in our small kitchen, where we would be squished together like sardines. Picturing Wyatt’s crew crammed into our tiny wooden chairs made me grin.
“There’s a smile,” Fiona whispered, nudging me with her elbow.
“Sorry. I’m a little lost in thought tonight.”
“I don’t blame you. This isn’t my idea of fun either,” she sighed.
Her honesty surprised me. “Where would you be right now if you could choose?”
She grinned, the smile stretching ear to ear. “Probably in my garden, picking some fresh vegetables for dinner.”
My brow raised. “Vegetables?”
She laughed. “We’re not all the same, you know.” She gestured to her plate, which I noticed contained a mishmash of broccoli and potatoes. “I’m vegetarian,” she whispered. “And they can’t stand it.” Her eyes shot across the table to Atticus and the blond woman. “That’s Phoebe, Atticus’s partner. We were born a few months apart, but we couldn’t be more different. She’s tried so many times to get me to eat meat. They all have, but it’s just not for me,” she sighed. “I guess what I’m saying is, I understand what it’s like to feel different.”
“Thank you. It’s nice to have someone to talk to.”
She nodded and turned back to her plate, shoving a forkful of broccoli into her mouth.