Page 100 of Revenge Is a Dish Best Served… Wearing Heels?

"No. I absolutely did not." He closed his eyes. "What I mean to say is...ifI did,ifI happened to be in the same room, or—or sitting at the same lunch table or something, I didn'tactuallyhear it. I was too much in my own head then, too obsessed with how rotten my home life was and thinking up ways to get the hell out of there. That particular time in my life was worse than any other time before it."

Oh. Huh. Okay.

My eyes darting around the room, looking at anything other than the anguish on his face, I didn't know what to think, didn't know how to feel, every thought in my head swirling around in complete chaos, the events of the day exhausting enough, and now this added to it?

Once again, my phone made noises. A bunch of noises, jolting me out of my stupor.

"I—I need to go," I said, glancing somewhere in the vicinity of his chin, not daring to meet his eyes, afraid of what I'd see there.

He bowed. He fucking bowed his head in my direction. "Of course. Can—can I help you get there? Or at the least offer my driver?"

"No. No, thank you," I revised, because I was fucking polite to a fault. "I have my own ride."

And with that, I walked past him to the exit.

But just before I walked out the door, he called my name. My real name, the sound of it on his lips something I'd never in my life forget.

"Astrid. I just want you to know one thing..."

I paused, curious despite myself, but I didn't turn back.

His deep, sexy voice rang out again in the dim room. "I think you're the most beautiful woman in the world with the most beautiful soul I've ever seen."

Damn him.

Tears sprung to my eyes as I left, walking into the cool night air again.

Why did he have to say that? Of all things, why that?

Twenty-Six

Tristan

One week. One week ago tonight, I'd made the second biggest mistake of my life. I'd gone to Astrid's show in the hopes of talking to her and sweeping her away while she was hopefully on a high.

But instead, it'd all gone horribly wrong, with her not believing me, not really having time to talk it all out, and then rushing off to be with her family, friends, and loved ones, which most certainly did not include me.

I'd fucked it all up. My timing had absolutely sucked. I couldn't have picked a worse night.

Despite calling her, texting her, apologizing, sending her bouquets of flowers, her favorite sweets, I hadn't heard a single word from her. Nothing. Nada.

My phone rang, and I picked it up from my desk, hopeful, despite the unknown number. What an idiot.

"Hello. Tristan?" a woman's voice said.

"This is Tristan."

"Oh, good. Well, this is Madison from Aphrodite Voyages, and I'm reaching out with an exclusive invitation to our ultra-private, adults-only escape at sea for open-minded, adventurous couples who like to swing."

At that point, I hung up. Usually, I at least said a polite yet firm no thanks. But I wasn't in the mood right now, everything getting on my very last nerve, and this Madison lady apparently had worse timing than even me.

These phone calls... it suddenly dawned on me... no, she couldn't have anything to do with them, right? Not Astrid. She would never do that.

And even if she did, well, kudos to her. They'd been annoying as hell, and I probably deserved them.

The ED ads? The teeny peenie bullshit? Was that her?

Nah. It couldn't be. Astrid didn't seem like the type to do that. Or did I really not know her at all? Had the mask hidden the real her more than I realized?