Page 38 of Red King (The Dragon Tributes #7)

38

P aisley

The minister rubs his hands together, beaming at the congregation, who are standing and starting to walk to the exit.

“You may make your way into the church gardens for tea. Bathrooms are located just outside to the right,” the minister says, pointing.

My knees are shaking. My hands, too. My mouth is dry.

“Why is he here?” I whisper to Becs as we stand.

“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “He must be here to see you.”

“Who is here to see you?” Dave asks, putting a hand on Bec’s shoulder. “What are you two whispering about? Are you talking about the guy who arrived late? The suit with muscles?”

“Yes,” Becs says. “He’s the CEO.” She talks like she is letting him in on a big secret.

“Which CEO?”

“ The CEO,” Becs says with her eyes wide. “The one.”

“The CEO… Oooohhhh.” His eyes go big, and he drags out the “O,” making the shape with his mouth. “He’s the one you…you…um…”

“Had sex with,” Becs whispers and giggles. “The one who got her knocked up,” she adds, and very much below her breath.

“Shhhhhhhhh,” I say, anyway.

“Who is he?” Becs frowns. “He can’t be just a regular businessman. I have to say, you made him sound a little boring.”

“No, I didn’t. You assumed he was boring,” I say.

“Okay, fine…maybe. He’s not boring at all. Why does he have so many guys following him?” Becs scratches her chin.

“They’re bodyguards. He’s a very wealthy businessman. There was an attempt on his life a few years ago.” Again, I try to stick to the truth as best I can. “He’s important.” I shrug.

“He’s not mafia, is he? He looks like he might be Russian.” Dave looks afraid.

“No, nothing like that. He’s legit,” I reassure him.

“I don’t know.” Dave scratches his chin and looks to the area in the back of the church where Arctic and his guards were sitting not so long ago.

“You should go outside and see him,” Becs whispers. “I’m sure he’s waiting for you out there. He didn’t come all this way for a christening.”

Butterflies hit my stomach. “I don’t want to go outside.” I shake my head.

She laughs. “You have to. He came all this way to see you, Paisley. He gatecrashed a christening.”

“I know. I feel sick. I don’t understand how he found me or why he’s even here.”

“I’m telling you, he’s Russian mafia. They’re well connected,” Dave whispers.

“He is not!” I give him an affectionate smack on the arm.

Those butterflies have babies, so I clutch my stomach.

“Do you need a barf bag?” Becs starts toward her purse.

“No, I’m fine. Just nervous.” I suck in a deep breath. “I suppose I’d better do this.” I sigh dramatically.

“Good luck. You have the keys to our place in case you need somewhere private to talk or to…” She bobs her brows.

“Stop that.” I giggle.

“Go already,” she says. “We will see you later. We’ll take our time.” She winks at me.

I giggle again and step out into the aisle. By now, the church is almost empty. I stand there for a few seconds, trying to calm my nerves and my racing heart.

Crap! I can’t put this off any longer.

I start walking. I’m almost at the exit of the church when Jim steps in front of me. I was so focused on outside, so busy trying to find Arctic among the crowd, that I didn’t even see him there.

“Oh.” I clutch my chest. “Jim.” I smile. “Hi. You gave me a fright. Congratulations on the birth of your son and on his christening. You’re a lucky man to have such a wonderful family.” I go through the motions, hoping this is over quickly.

“Thank you, Pais. I appreciate it.” He smiles broadly.

Has he always had such deep crow’s feet at the sides of his eyes? Maybe he’s just tired. Yeah, that’s probably it. He just had a baby.

“I’m glad you could come today. You look…” He looks me up and down, taking his time about it. I’m pretty sure he lingers on my breasts. I hope not. It starts to give me the ick when he finally stops. “Really great, Pais. Really, really great.” His voice drops a few octaves, and it makes me cringe.

“Thanks. Where’s Lexi?” My voice is clipped.

“She’s just changing Solly.” His hair looks like it’s thinning. “She’ll be out soon. She’s glad you came. I’m glad you came. I’ve been wanting to talk to you. I feel so bad about what happened between us and how things ended.” He doesn’t look nearly as built as I thought he was. “Will you meet me for a coffee sometime?” He touches the side of my arm, sliding his hand up and down.

I pull away. Is he flirting with me?

It feels like he is.

No! I hope not. Eeewww! He’s giving off creep vibes.

“Don’t feel bad. I’m fine. There isn’t much to talk about. Besides, I don’t think that coffee is a good idea since you’re a busy man nowadays. I mean, with a wife and a newborn son.”

He’s such a prick. Was he cheating on me back then? I think about all those late nights he spent at the office. All the extra hours he had to put in, late nights that became more frequent when we were having major fertility issues. When I was having to inject myself every day. When I put on twenty pounds from all the hormones. When I was sad and depressed. Come to think of it, Lexi was working as a nursing assistant on his floor back then. Were they…?

Oh. My. God.

“And they mean the world to me.” He chuckles. I used to love his laugh. It irritates me now. “If you change your mind,” he pauses way too long, “you have my number, Pais. We had a good thing.” He winks.

Winks!

I’m going to tear him a new one.

“There you are, Paisley.” Arctic puts his arm around me and then leans in for a kiss. He puts his tongue in my mouth and deepens the kiss. My arms go around him, too, and I moan. I melt. I die and am reborn. I forget everything, including my own name.

I think I might stagger when he lets me go because, holy fucking shit.

“Who is this?” Jim sounds pissed off.

My eyes are a little hazy. It takes me a few seconds to focus them again.

“Hi, there. Arctic.” He puts out his hand. “I’m lucky enough to call this beautiful lady my girlfriend.”

Say what now?

Act normal.

Be cool!

“Jim,” my ex says in a high-pitched, nasal voice.

They shake hands, and Jim’s eyes bulge. He starts to sink down to his knees…down, his eyes on his hand, which is clutched tightly in Arctic’s fist. Just as Jim’s about to scream, Arctic lets him go.

“You’re Paisley’s ex.” Arctic snorts. “Thank you very much.”

“For what?” Jim has sweat on his brow. He is nursing his hand.

“For leaving Paisley.” Arctic’s voice drops a few levels. “If you hadn’t been such a complete fucking idiot, I wouldn’t have been the lucky one who snagged her.”

I hold back a laugh.

Jim opens and closes his mouth a few times. He looks completely bewildered.

“Heeeey.” It’s Lexi. She has the baby in one arm.

“Hi, Lexi,” I say, sounding a little too bright and breezy now that I know she isn’t as nice as I thought she was. Not nearly as perfect.

She looks like she wants to hug me, but I step in closer to Arctic to avoid it. “It was a beautiful ceremony. Congratulations.” My voice is cold.

The more I think about it, the more I am certain they were seeing each other before my marriage officially ended. It was all just too quick. Them meeting, moving in together and getting married. It happened in the blink of an eye.

“Thank you.” She looks unsure for a few seconds before smiling. “This must be your boyfriend.” She looks up at Arctic. “He’s handsome for an accountant,” she whispers behind her hand, loud enough so we can all hear.

Arctic frowns but quickly schools his expression. His arm tightens around me.

“You must be Reese?” she asks him.

I cringe.

Crap, this is where all of my lies catch up with me.

Why did it have to be this moment? Why?

“I’m Lexi.” She holds out her hand.

They shake. “It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you,” Arctic says. He gives me a quizzical look that lasts all of a second but doesn’t say anything more.

I keep smiling like everything is just great.

“You guys simply must come for supper,” Lexi says.

“I’m sure they have better things to do, Lex-sweety,” Jim says, smiling broadly. It doesn’t reach his eyes.

I forgot about that. It’s what he used to call me, too. Pais-sweety.

Asshole.

I hate him. I don’t know what I ever saw in him. Jim is a prick. I feel sorry for Lexi, even though I’m sure she was his mistress before she became his wife. I’m pretty sure he’ll start cheating on her soon if he isn’t already. From the way she’s eyeballing Arctic, I would say that she’ll probably cheat, too. I mean, if she’s okay with sleeping with someone’s husband, then she has no scruples. As far as I’m concerned, they deserve one another.

Arctic pulls me in a little closer and looks down at me. “What do you say we get out of here?” He looks at me like I’m the only person on this planet, and for a second, I forget everyone and everything. “I was away on a business trip,” he tells Jim and Lexi. “I’ve missed this woman so much. I need to whisk her away and show her just how much.” He looks into Jim’s eyes as he says the last.

“So, you guys are serious, then?” Lexi asks, seemingly oblivious to the tension.

“Very,” Arctic says, his eyes still on Jim. He looks at Lexi and smiles. “I’ve asked Paisley to marry me, but she turned me down. I’m going to have to keep trying…every day until she says yes.”

“You do know that she’s infertile,” Jim blurts. “She’ll never give you children.”

Lexi gasps. “Jim. What’s gotten into you?”

“Paisley is perfect in every way. Every. Single. Fucking. Way. Good luck living with regrets.”

“What is he talking about?” Lexi asks Jim, frowning.

“I’ll see you, Lexi.” I smile at her as we walk away.

Lexi is frowning. “What did he mean by that, Jim?”

“Pais,” Jim calls out as I turn away.

“It’s Paisley,” I tell him, looking him in the eye. “Pais-ley,” I articulate, and then I turn and walk away. Arctic has his arm around me.

“Jim…” I hear Lexi; she sounds upset. I can’t find it in me to feel sorry for her.

I glance up, but Arctic has his eyes trained ahead. His entourage starts to surround us.

“Is it okay if we leave?” Arctic’s tone is completely neutral. I can’t read him.

I look over at the buffet table. Becs smiles and waves as soon as she catches me looking that way.

I wave back before locking eyes with Arctic. “Yes, we probably need to talk.”

“We definitely need to talk.” His voice is a deep rasp.

I know he was putting on a show back there. I know that none of this is real. I have no idea what the hell is going on.

He has a lot of explaining to do. Then again, so do I.