Page 44 of The Silent Hour

Outside of one was apparently another matter entirely.

She reminded me of a venomous spider: beautiful in the way she spun her web, clever enough to know exactly where to build it. Ordinarily, I believed that if a spider wasn’t threatening you, you left it the hell alone. This particular one seemed determined to make me grab a shoe.

The moment the men were out of sight, Serena sat taller and peeled off her sunglasses, setting them on the table with a soft click. Her eyes, now uncovered, were sharp and assessing.

"Okay." Her tone remained playful, but there was an edge beneath it. "Now that the cavemen are gone, someone tell me what the hell made you two show up without warning. I’m your favorite person at that office, and neither of you even gave me a heads-up. I need to know if I should be offended."

Toya lifted one shoulder casually. "No special reason. I wanted to surprise Knox. We would’ve found you before we left."

"Mm."

Serena set her virgin cocktail down with deliberate care, condensation beading on the glass. "Except you just did that thing you do when you lie—the little twitch right here." She tapped the corner of her own eye. "So how about the truth this time?"

"Damn." Toya laughed, shaking her head. "How do you always know?"

Serena tapped her temple. "I studied these things, remember? And I know you." She turned toward me, expectant. "Juju, you tell me. Our friend here just epically failed."

I sighed, tracing the rim of my glass with my fingertip. "She said it was about surprising our husbands," I admitted, "but now I know she really wanted me to see Lila." I looked at Toya. "Right, T?"

Serena's perfectly threaded brows pulled together. "Marino?"

Toya blew out a breath. "I knew it wouldn't take you long to catch on. Knox was acting weird about her, and he's never weird. No one was even talking about her ass, but he brought her up randomly during dinner the other day. When he pressed me, we argued, and he finally told me why he’d been thinking of her in the first place."

"What did he say?" Serena demanded.

Toya looked at her. "You work with her. You haven't noticed her trying to get close to Ethan?"

"Um, fuck no." Serena's voice sharpened instantly. "Do you honestly think I'd notice something like that and let it slide? Nobody whispered a damn thing to me either, and you know that firm gossips worse than any country club brunch."

Her eyes narrowed.

"But Knox knows, you say? Which means Rafa knows too. That fucker. Wait until we get home."

"Lila isn’t stupid. I might not be her biggest fan at the moment, but the woman earned her way to where she’s at in the firm. Why put that at risk over a man—my husband?"

“Juju, men risk it all for some new pussy every day. It rarely makes sense how someone can implode their life to get their dicks or pussy touched.” Toya lifted her water glass toward me. "And none of them were forthcoming about any of this, but apparently they all knew something was a lil off. Which means they wanted to keep it in-house and handle it themselves. Swing their big dicks around, then pat themselves on the back afterward for a job well done."

Serena wrinkled her nose.

"Gross visual, but... yeah. Men are such simple, interesting creatures, aren't they? You'd think with how smart those idiots are, they'd understand we're better equipped to handle this kind of situation. At least get our input."

A question that had been circling my mind finally escaped. "Why Ethan?"

They both looked at me.

"There are dozens of successful men at that firm alone. Men with corner offices and seven-figure bonuses. Men who inherited trust funds and others who clawed their way out of nothing and will spend the rest of their lives making damn sure they never go back." I frowned. "So why my husband? Not that it would be any better if she were after Knox or Rafa."

Serena's expression shifted. "Because those men don't have their name etched into the side of the building. They aren't woven into the blood of the Marcelli dynasty. Why go low or mid-level when you can aim for the top?"

I opened my mouth, closed it, and then stared at her. "Oh."

Toya let out a short, sharp laugh that was more air than sound. "Yeah. Oh."

"All of that makes sense when you lay it out like that, but..." I trailed off as the realization clicked into place with an almost audible finality. "Wow. You literally just said it. I feel like an idiot for not putting that together sooner. I practically used it against her upstairs."

"You aren't, and never will be, an idiot, Julia," Serena immediately countered, her voice firm but not unkind. "And you absolutely should've used it against her." She settled back into her chair, the wicker creaking softly under her weight. "But you're right. I think she wants our name."

"Mostly?" I hedged, my fingers tracing the cool condensation on my glass.