Page 4 of The Pucking Fake Marriage (The Ice Kings #4)

THREE

A DISH SERVED COLD (CHARLIE)

Payback is a bitch.

It’s what Ken and I used to say when we watched movies and the villain got their comeuppance.

I’m living it now.

My world is crumbling around me, and the thoughts that are swirling in my head are moving at a million miles a second. The single most concerning thought is one that causes me to grow weak at the knees.

He knows.

He remembers what we did in Las Vegas. He tracked me down in my restaurant and is going to make me confess what I tricked him into.

It’s impossible to stop myself from trembling from head to foot, so I decide to do something more productive, like take in as much information as I can. Ken’s friends, Blake White and Alex Steinmann, are behind him. They have similar expressions of interest on their face, like he enlisted them to find me, and they just discovered their prey.

This is very, very bad.

“Are you guys staying for dinner?” Finally, Haley’s voice cuts through the silence. She sounds like the men have previously expressed interest in leaving.

Even if we’ve not had a customer all day, knowing they might be staying heightens my panic. Please leave, I pray silently.

“Sure,” Alex says.

My world crumples again.

He tugs on Ken, who’s still staring at me. The three men walk over to the farthest end of the restaurant and sit themselves almost out of my view. Haley bustles forward to take their order.

I pause, not knowing what to think. If Ken really came to bust me for Las Vegas, why isn’t he saying anything? What’s he waiting for?

The thoughts spiraling through my head are torturous. So much so that I almost forget about the awful situation I was dealing with before I saw Ken. But then Troy diverts my attention by letting out a loud huff.

“This is what’s going to happen,” he says in a much lower tone than before. “I’m going to go back to the kitchen and make whatever these gentlemen order. Going to forget all the trashy accusations you laid against me and forgive you for your rudeness. Then we can put this behind us.”

I stare at him, going from the depths of confusion to the heights of fury in just a moment. “Come again?”

“You heard me.” He crosses his arms, glowering at me as if he is the boss, and it’s not the other way around. “I’ll whip up something for these men. You really can’t afford to keep losing customers, can you? And after today, you don’t come into my kitchen and accuse me of stealing supplies ever again.”

All of the frustrations of the past few hours—maybe even the past few days—come surging back. I have to fight the urge to scream. I should be worrying about getting found out, but I’ve got to deal with a thieving cook.

Yeah, my business is in shambles. But it doesn’t make it any less important to maintain order here.

“No.” My voice is trembling, and it’s an effort to maintain a low tone so Ken and his friends don’t hear. “You’ll pay up, or we’re going to the police.”

The police. My stomach is tense with guilt. Troy doesn’t know it, but I wouldn’t dare go to the cops now, after the stunt I pulled with Ken in Las Vegas.

Just then, Haley comes back around, pulling up the partition that divides the counter from the dining room, so she can walk through it. Just having her around gives me a modicum of relief. She’s my best friend since college, and I trust her more than anyone.

“They want pasta with chicken breast. Told them you’ll whip it up ASAP.” She has a disgusted frown on her face when she turns to Troy. “You should leave. Charlie fired you, and you’re not welcome here anymore.”

Troy throws back his head and laughs. The sound echoes around the restaurant. I don’t have to look to know that Ken and his friends are staring at us. “You’re really going to fire one out of two of your remaining employees? Really, amazing business strategy here.” He says those words loudly, clearly for the benefit of the Titans.

My cheeks burn in shame. Not just because my childhood friend is getting a front-row seat to one of the most humiliating moments of my life. It’s more because Troy is right. I’ve been trying to avoid the truth for years, dodging and fighting. But it’s caught up with me now.

I’m a failure.

Two years building a restaurant business after buying it off the former owner, and all I’ve managed to do is run it into the ground. The place has gone from bustling to empty; from having a full staff of fifteen people to only one honest staff member, my best friend and fellow investor.

Still, I’m not backing down. My plan in Las Vegas worked… even if Ken might be here now, trying to intimidate me. I’m going to get this place back to thriving again, after taking out old trash.

I lift my chin. “It’s going to be a better establishment without you around, that’s for sure.” My employees have always been hard to manage, even when I had more than a couple of them. So, I made a rule: never fight in front of patrons. I’m breaking that rule today by standing up for myself, but I have no choice.

And it might be for the best, anyway. The last thing I want is for Ken and his buddies to come back.

Haley lets out a sound between a chuckle and a sniff. Troy’s dark face glows brick red. “You fucking bitch,” he mutters.

The words hit my very core, but I keep my face stern and expressionless. Insubordination from male employees has been a thing I’ve endured for years, and it’s not enough to cause me to back down.

“I’m going to send you an invoice for everything you stole from the restaurant…”

“Not like there were any customers coming around,” he snarls.

“… and you’re either going to pay, or I’ll take you to court,” I finish my statement more loudly than I started, refusing to let this oversized bully cut me short. From the corner of my eye, I see the Titans observing the scene avidly. I can’t bring myself to look at Ken’s face more closely, not yet.

“You fucking bitch!” he repeats in a yell now. There’s a scuffle from where the Titans are sitting, but before I can look around and investigate, I see Troy raise his fist. Haley gasps, and I freeze in shock.

The sound of scuffling grows louder, and something moves so fast across my vision that it blurs. Haley gasps again, and I feel her take my arm and yank me away from Troy and the moving object. There’s a loud crunch of bone against bone as Haley and I scramble away. Then some seconds later, I look down at the scene in front of me.

Ken is sitting astride Troy, squeezing his throat and punching him. The two men are the same size, but Ken has managed to trap Troy’s large arms so effectively underneath his own thighs that all Troy is doing is flailing helplessly against him. At about the fifth punch, Troy gives up and stops trying to hit back, and as he does, Ken stands up and shoves Troy’s limp body, marching over to the other side of the counter.

My heart starts to pound again as I watch him. There are several emotions raging inside me, shock and disbelief, and a tiny bit of embarrassment, then other emotions I cannot figure out. I let my gaze wash over his bruised knuckles, the tensing of his shoulders.

I’ve never seen him look this primal before, his face red, murder inscribed in every inch of it. Even his friends seem surprised, like he just transformed into a beast in front of them. I’d considered him breathtaking in Las Vegas, when he had that little smile on his face, but now…looking like this…

His allure tugs at my libido, making the space between my legs throb.

All I can hear is Troy whimpering on the floor and Haley’s ragged breathing.

As I continue to look over at Ken, I realize I’m not displeased about him defending me.

On the contrary. Now I want him even more.

My heart misses a beat as I’m pulled back to our night in Las Vegas. The night everything changed between us. When I begrudgingly admitted to myself that no man is ever going to make me feel as good as Ken did.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. A tumultuous wave of self-hatred floods me. I reproach myself for not having enough control. For being the kind of a foolish girl who swoons over a man because he flexed his fists.

For being the kind of girl who’d pine after the man who ruined her life.

When I open my eyes, I’ve come to a decision. I have enough control over my mind to do the right thing. And that’s how it’s going to go. If Ken asks about what happened in Las Vegas, I’ll deny it. And then I’ll make sure that he never so much as touches me again.

It’s the only way.

Ken is looking at me. His eyes are not filled with desire the way they were in Las Vegas. On the contrary, it’s difficult not to wither under his hard, merciless glare. I stare at him for a moment, confused, a part of me waiting for his accusation.

And then it hits me.

Ken had no idea that this restaurant was mine when he walked in here. He’d merely come to have dinner. It was a complete coincidence. All he’s pissed about is the fact that I’d left him high and dry in Las Vegas.

I’m woozy with relief. He has no idea. That’s good. Great, even.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” I say, looking up at him. My words break the silence, and Ken’s friends shift from foot to foot. Evidently, they think it’s a bad idea to speak when Ken is in such a mood.

I disagree. Now that I’m reassured he knows nothing, I can finally force him into a place he belongs—my past.

Ken doesn’t break from staring at me reproachfully. He doesn’t speak, just stares. And even if I’ve summoned all the self-assurance I’ve got in this world, my knees still buckle.

Somehow, he’s taking my abandonment harder than I expected. Not just hard, even. He’s staring at me like he’s two inches from throttling me.

A full minute must’ve passed before he finally opens his mouth to speak. The restaurant is completely silent. Even Troy has stopped whimpering. And then…

“I will see you around, Charlie.”

It’s not a request. Not even an order.

It’s a threat.

He knows where to find me now, and he’s going to keep coming.

Until I offer him amends for abandoning him in Las Vegas. The kind of amends he’s going to like.

The kind I’m going to like, too.

Damn .

For a moment, I wish he knew about the other thing.

I want to say something and challenge him, but there’s no time for that—not that I can figure out what to say, anyway. He turns and marches out, followed quickly by his bewildered friends.

My knees finally give way. I groan as my legs weaken, slipping from underneath me. Haley catches me before I hit the floor, or rather, Troy’s bleeding body.

“What the hell just happened?” she cries, her eyes wide. “You know Ken? How do you…?” She stares into my white face. “He was so mad. Did you do something to him? ”

Bile claws up my throat. I realize then that I can’t do this alone. If I’m going to get through this, I’m going to need to start relying on someone.

And there’s no better person than Haley.

I clutch her so tightly that she winces. “Haley,” I gasp, my voice coming out in a strangled whisper. “I need to tell you something.”