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Adrian grins.
“Ella, this is my wife, Celeste.”
A connection flickers in my head. Celeste… as in, younger sister toMatilde, Noel’s now-deceased ex-wife.
I stiffen, because of all the implications there, and because of whoIam—thenew“Mrs. Ransom.” But she just smiles warmly, opening her arms as she crosses to where I’m sitting. I stand on autopilot, surprised when she hugs me tightly.
“Your parents were so wonderful, you know,” she smiles with a hint of sadness as she pulls back, her eyes tracing my face.
I swallow, chewing on my lip.
“Whatever you’re thinking thatI’mthinking, about you and Noel,” she says gently. “I’m not, believe me. I know Noel never loved my sister.”
She shrugs when I wince.
“Matilde never loved him, either. Not really. They were together because theirs were the only two rafts floating in the sea after a storm.”
She smiles at me.
“And believe me, that look of jealousy in your eyes at me merely mentioning Noel and my sister?”
My face flushes hotly. Celeste just grins.
“That look would haveneverbeen in Matilde’s eyes if the situations were reversed. You have to love to feel jealousy.”
My pulse quickens, my skin tingling.
“And as for him?” She shrugs. “I know he thinks I do, but I don’t harbor an ounce of ill will against him for the past. My sister needed what he brought her. And even if you could barely call what they had a ‘relationship,’ what with the separate bedrooms, him having his own flat—”
“They had separate bedrooms?” I blurt.
I instantly cringe hard at my eagerness. Adrian chuckles, and Celeste smiles at me.
“I’m glad that makes you happy,” she smiles. “Truly. As I’m grateful that Noel was there for Matilde when she needed that sense of stability for her and my nieces.”
She sighs.
“Noel might be a grumpy prick at times, but he feels deeply when he does care about something. Like you, obviously.”
My brows knit.
“You should know, our marriage—”
“Oh, I’m fully aware of Noel and Oliver Prince’s feud,” she sighs deeply. “And I have an idea why you and he married so quickly. But…” she laughs musically. “I mean a man doesn’t beat the shit out of dangerous loan sharks and all of their men just because his wife and he arecontractually—”
“Celeste,” Adrian growls, looking quickly at his wife.
“I’m sorry, what?” I choke, my heart thudding in my chest.
Leo.She’s talking about Leo.
Noel beat the shit out of him.
That’swhy my debt to him suddenly didn’t matter anymore. Why he texted me out of the blue that he was “getting out of the business.”
It’s Noel.
I shiver.
