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“I heard her on the phone in the garden last night.”
Ez mumbled his annoyance, brushing a hand over his head. “She’s getting sloppy.”
“She wasn’t expecting me to be out there,” I added. “But I thought you said she wanted things to work and you didn’t. Openly cheating doesn’t feel like wanting to fix your marriage.”
“Because it’s not. She doesn’t give a damn about wanting to fix our marriage. Nor does she give a damn about me. The terms of our contract are very specific. Our father was very good at manipulation and negotiation when it came to things he wanted. Her father wanted his daughter married to a man who would honor and respect her. Our father wanted controlling interest of her father’s business…”
“Which he had andyounow have. Our money fixed their financial issues. Win-win on both sides.”
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that he knew she and I wouldn’t work. I told him from the very beginning there was nothing between us. That wouldn’t change. He didn’t care. There was always a plan behind the plan with him. She’s cheating with the man she was hoping to marry before her father sold her to ours. The man she’s been in love with since she was a kid. I didn’t know…”
“But he did.”
“A plan behind the plan.”
“He knew the marriage wouldn’t last. In the event we separate or divorce, if there are any indiscretions on her side then it’s no longer controlling interest. Our family completely owns everything. Her family is left with nothing. A thirty-million dollar empire,gone.”
“They didn’t know?”
“Too fucking greedy and eager to sign over everything. They didn’t care about the terms as long as I married their daughter and we wrote the check. I told her I wanted a divorce. Drew up the papers which enforced the terms of the original agreement but I’m not our father. I’m not fucking heartless but business is business. I can’t completely let things go. There’s too much invested and a lot of money and opportunity on the table. I was going to still have majority shares and a seat on the board. Her family now understands what they have to lose if I walk away from them. They’ll be comfortable, but everything they’ve worked for will belong to our family. They demanded she work things out.”
“But that’s not what you want.”
“No, I’m fucking miserable. I take my vows seriously. I refuse to cheat.”
“You’re a better man than me.”
“You’re right, I am.” He shrugged then smiled.
“How long you gonna let her drag this out?”
“Not much longer. My patience is running very thin.”
“And while you’re waiting, you don’t think they’re making plans?”
“Oh I’m sure they are but executing any of those plans is impossible without my say so. I have controlling interest in everything they own. They can’t make a move without me.”
“Wouldn’t want to be you.”
“Idon’t want to be me,” he scoffed. “So, the wedding’s still happening?”
“Yeah, it is. I’ll get with you later though. I have some things that need to get done.”
* * *
I parked my bike right outside of Perfect Pick and pushed through the doors. Flowers wouldn’t fix my fuck up last night but it was a start.
“Back so soon?”
“Yeah, I guess I am.”
I frowned at the woman accepting a card from the guy facing her at the counter. There was a bouquet of some type of orange flowers wrapped in black tissue and bound with gold cording. It was protected by cellophane. I checked them out but decided that orange wasn’t what I was looking for. They didn’t fit Cress. The woman finished with him, handed over his flowers, and he tossed a chin to me on his way out. She sidled up beside me once he was gone.
“You remember me?”
