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“Hey there, Evan, I heard you joined the rest of us in the shackles of matrimony.”

He slapped Evan on the shoulder. Evan smiled and shook the man’s hand.

“It’s been a while, Nate.”

He turned to introduce me.

“Nate, this is my wife, Amanda. Amanda, this is Nathaniel Richards, CEO of Paradigm Corporation.”

“Paradigm? You’re a really big deal then,” I said, shaking his hand as well. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh, you’re the only big deal in this room, my dear. Everyoneis wondering exactly how you were able to tame the ultimate silverback bachelor, Evan Jones.” His eyes twinkled with amusement. “How did you do it?”

“I didn’t do anything special.”

I turned to Evan and tried to find some way to play my role. It all felt so artificial. I had to tap into our second meeting, when we’d had sex on the plane. The way he’d treated me in that moment, the way he’d looked at me and spoken to me… it all came flooding back.

“He just really seemed like the kind of man who wanted to take care of me. In an emotional and spiritual way, as much as the physical. His touch was so gentle, and I could tell he really wanted to make me happy.”

My voice broke a little bit at the end, and a tear came to my eye. It was because of the pain of loss. I’d lost that Evan along the way and now only had the cold transactional businessman.

But everyone else present seemed to think I was just overcome with happy emotion because I was a newlywed.

“Aww,” said Nate’s as-yet unidentified female companion. Her voice had a strange nasal quality I did not like and found grating. “That’s so adorbs.”

“Really now?” Nate chuckled gently. “I had no idea that Iceman Evan Jones was such a softie underneath it all. Well, I see Elon over there, so I need to say hello. Good chatting with you, Evan.”

We smiled as they left, and then Evan leaned in close.

“I’m giving you a bonus for that performance. The tear was a nice touch. You really sold it.”

“Yeah,” I said, a bit stiffly. “I really sold it, didn’t I?”

He frowned at me but offered no further comment. We were shown to our table, and I was delighted to see that my napkin had been folded into the shape of a swan.

The table settings probably cost more than the rent on my firstapartment—for an entire year. The etching on the silverware alone was super elaborate and probably etched by hand. The glasses were certainly real crystal. I dipped my finger in the champagne glass and then ran the tip around the rim, creating a chiming sound.

“What mischief are you up to?” Evan asked. He was still in his ‘loving husband’ persona, so he asked it really nicely, as an invitation to banter. I decided there was no harm in playing along.

“Hey, it was just the tip of my finger,” I said, stopping the tune. “Which I guess is proof that just the tip can really get you into trouble.”

Evan laughed, and it was a wonderful sound. So rich and velvety and yet boisterous at the same time. I decided it had to be put-on. No way would the Iceman have a laugh like that in him. That meant he must have been one hell of an actor. I didn’t know whether I should be more worried or not.

Someone bellied up to our table. I turned to see a man in a nice suit with a camera slung around his neck.

“Hey there, Evan. How about a few quick words for the people?”

Evan frowned.

“Press isn’t supposed to be in this area,” he said, his cold persona showing under the surface.

“Oh, it’s alright. We’re always happy to talk to the press, aren’t we, darling?” I put my hand on his arm and squeezed really tight. That was another important lesson drilled into my head. Don’t act angry or put upon if the press approached you. That shit would end up on the evening news and internet viral video cycle in a heartbeat.

We were trying to carefully curate Evan’s public image, and that meant he needed to seem more approachable and fun-loving than he had in the past.

“Good point, my love,” he said, putting his hand on top of my own and squeezing back, though not near as hard as I was squeezing him. “What would you like to know?”

“I was just wondering about this top-secret fabulous honeymoon the two of you had. I mean, you disappeared off the face of the earth for two weeks. Where did you go?”