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“My café got destroyed. I want every customer to know they need to respect my rules.” Summer folded her arms, looking entirely pleased with herself. “I’m not rich enough to deal with another disaster.”
“It was a one-time thing!” Allison huffed. “I don’t get kidnapped every day!”
She marched over to Silas and leaned against his chair. He immediately reached for her hand and laced his fingers through hers, but she barely acknowledged him, keeping her attention fixed on Summer.
“I don’t take chances,” Summer replied stubbornly.
With a satisfied smile, she stepped away from the blackboard and turned toward the rest of them. “All right, enough talking. I’m bringing out dinner. I’m starving!”
She turned toward one of the waiters just as several customers entered the diner. The newcomers began looking for tables, but a group of three young women suddenly hurried past them.
“Oh my God, table ten is empty!” one of them exclaimed.
The three girls rushed to the table across from Silas and the others, practically throwing themselves into their seats.
Summer frowned, wondering what had gotten into them. Her confusion lasted only a few seconds before she noticed all three girls shamelessly ogling the men at the nearby table.
One of them giggled, leaning toward her friends.
“Oh my God, we hit the jackpot tonight! There isn’t just one handsome man here. There are three!”
Summer’s expression changed as realization dawned on her.
“So that’s why they were racing to get a table,” she muttered under her breath. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
Shaking her head, she disappeared into the back.
A while later, dinner was over, and the group had settled in with drinks as the evening wore on. The restaurant had grown livelier, but their table remained occupied by easy conversation and the occasional burst of laughter.
Just then, a well-dressed man walked into the restaurant. His polished appearance and composed manner suggested he was accustomed to moving in important circles. He glanced around the room, quickly located their table, and made his way toward them.
Gabriel noticed him approaching, and his expression immediately turned serious.
“Avery?”
His secretary stopped beside his chair and offered him a polite smile.
“Mr. Cunningham, I have some good news. Ms. Adams has signed the agreement to dissolve your engagement. The paperwork is waiting for you at your office.”
Gabriel had just lifted his champagne glass to his mouth when Avery’s words made him pause. A brief frown crossed his face, and he stared at the man as though he hadn’t quite understood what he’d just heard.
Avery stepped closer and handed him another champagne glass, urging him to take it. Gabriel accepted it, and the man gestured toward him with a pleased smile.
“Congratulations, sir. You’ve been asking her to sign those papers for two years, and now it’s finally done. Ms. Adams really has signed them. I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this.”
Everyone at the table fell silent, turning their attention to Gabriel. Allison leaned closer to Silas in her chair and lowered her voice.
“I didn’t know Gabriel was engaged to someone.”
Silas’s fingers tightened around her shoulder as he answered quietly, keeping his voice low enough that only she could hear him. “It was a family arrangement. His father wanted him to go through with it.”
Allison glanced at Gabriel. He wasn’t nearly as happy as she would have expected a man to be after finally ending an engagement he’d wanted out of for two years. Instead, something about his expression seemed almost humiliating to him. His face twisted, and he abruptly shot to his feet.
Allison looked at him, then turned back to Silas. “He doesn’t exactly look happy.”
“He’s been asking for this for a long time,” Silas replied at once, his voice firm with conviction. “He should be happy. There’s no way he isn’t.”
He straightened in his seat and raised his champagne glass toward Gabriel.
