The Billionaire’s Wife (The Billionaire’s Wife #1)(5)
Author: Ava Claire

I cracked the smallest of smiles. “You’re not going to let up, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Well, in that case…” I swiped the bottle of Merlot and topped off my glass. “Obviously, it has to do with Jacob. And me.”

Her eyebrow arched, the silent ‘Duh’ hanging in the silence after my both obvious and vague admission.

I held the bottle upside down, trying to get every last drop of liquid courage. The easiest thing would be starting at the beginning, but I was not going to share what went down on the balcony. So I fast forwarded to the heated conversation I overheard.

“I think-” I paused, replacing the uncertainty with fact. “I know Jacob is keeping something from me.”

Megan sipped her italian soda, digesting the words as she stared at me strangely. No words. No assurances that I was acting mental and reading into nothing. Just dead silence.

I picked up the mantle, glaring her down. “After all the crap you gave me about opening up, I open up and now you’re speechless?”

She shook her head. “Not speechless, just unsure of how to put this without making you go off on me. Under normal circumstances, bring it on.” She playfully flexed her muscles. “But I don’t think either one of us wants those kinds of headlines with our stalkers across the street, waiting for something picture worthy.”

I waved off the paparazzi, focusing on other parts of her response. “How to put what?”

She ran her fingers through her hair, tugging the red strands into a low bun. Pulling her hair back? This was serious. Her jade colored eyes locked onto me and she pulled no punches.

“I’m getting an overwhelming sense of déjà vu, Leila. You overhear something or he does something seemingly normal. Then you concoct this elaborate story where your husband, or boyfriend if we’re looking back, is doing things to destroy your relationship.”

“I don’t have to concoct anything,” I said indignantly. “Real life is dramatic enough.” As insulted as I was by her dismissing my statement, I couldn’t blame her. With Rachel Laraby in the wings, I had questioned and doubted Jacob’s love. Instead of trusting that he wanted me, and me alone, I let Rachel get in my head—and it almost cost me the love of my life. “I get that this probably seems similar-”

“Very similar,” she clarified.

“But it’s different,” I finished adamantly. “I know Jacob loves me, I really do. But I also know that he’s hiding something.”

She spun her fork in a slow, thoughtful circle. “Have you asked him about it?”

“What a great idea!” I said sarcastically, gulping down half my glass of wine. I focused on the numbing warmth of the alcohol instead of the fact that she was right. Asking him about it was a surefire way to get some answers, but it wasn’t quite that simple. “If I ask him, I’ll have to explain how I know.”

I didn’t have to say more than that before Megan started shaking her head. Again. “Oh, Leila.”

“What?” I said defensively, nursing my glass of wine. “I wasn’t snooping. Not technically.”

“Right.” She held the ’i’ for several seconds longer than necessary, illustrating just how well she knew me.

“I was going to see him, and I overheard him on the phone arguing with Alicia,” I explained. “He even said, ‘This changes everything’!”

“And then you asked him what ‘this’ was?”

I dropped my eyes to the remains of my sandwich. It was completely eviscerated, like my flimsy excuse. “Natasha was on the prowl. She saw me in the hall and I was too embarrassed to go in. But I’m going to ask him about it tonight,” I added quickly.

“You haven’t even asked him about it and you’re already freaking out?” She let out a whistle. “You’re setting him up to disappoint you. You know that, right?”

“No, I…” I had no defense, unable to come up with a comeback or concrete evidence to disprove what she said. Sure, the signs were there: long hours at the office, the ‘wham, bam, thank you ma’am’ that went down a few mornings ago, and the conversation I overheard all pointed towards Jacob going through something. Something he hadn’t shared with me.

Yet.

Maybe it was a recent development. Maybe he was planning on telling me sooner, but he knew I was stressed about the new client.

My heart twitched guiltily as I hung my head. “You’re right,” I said, surrendering. Owning up to it.

“Well, cheers to that,” Megan jokingly held up her glass. “Pretty sure that’s the first time you’ve ever willingly admitted I was right about anything.”

“Keep it up and we’re going to give the photogs a first row seat to me taking you out,” I said, tossing my napkin at her. "Well that’s my latest drama," I groaned, in dire need of a subject change before I embarrassed myself further. "How are things going your way?"

She jerked her fork over her shoulder at the paparazzi. "Impromptu photo shoots aside, things are pretty good. My kids are still kicking ass and taking names-"

"Same as your boyfriend, apparently," I winked.

A year ago Cade Wallace, an action movie star that looked every bit capable of ripping someone to shreds on and off the screen, was battling a series of box office flops.

Cade defied the critics who called him box office poison. His last movie was The Last Job, where he played a hit man with a heart of gold—and it was the highest grossing action movie of the year. And if the spy thriller that premiered last week kept selling out theaters and getting praise from the same folks who mocked him, he was in for another record breaker.

I was happy things had turned around for him, and not just because he was dating my best friend. He’d gone from my idol, a celebrity crush that made me sweat and act like I was twelve instead of twenty-four, to a charmingly vulnerable man that was more than muscles and a ferocious screen presence. And then there was the flirting; something innocent that ballooned until he kissed me, flagrantly disregarding my relationship with Jacob. With time, he respected the boundaries of our friendship, and he and Megan started dating. The past was so far in the rearview that I could barely make it out on the horizon. Even Jacob had let go of any bad blood. The name ‘Cade Wallace’ used to turn his usually calm facade into that of a boxer, but now he was cordial when he was mentioned. I could tell from the way Megan fidgeted that she still felt a little weird talking about him with me.