Beneath His Cold Vows novel Chapter 4

Edward's POV

The city bled neon through the rain, streaks of red and gold bending across the windshield. My wipers fought to keep up, the unfaltering thud-thud-thud matching the hum of the engine beneath me.

Alicia hadn't answered when I called.

I didn't call again.

She was emotional. That was her way. She'd calm down. She always did.

The road gleamed black ahead of me, slick under the tires. The storm had swallowed the skyline, rain running down the glass like the city itself was melting.

Lucy's voice replayed in my head, smooth and certain.

"We didn't get to talk at the gala," she'd said. "Meet me tonight."

Not a request. An expectation.

That was Lucy.

She'd been gone for years when I came back from the UK, where I'd studied before stepping into my father's company. She glided between continents like it cost her nothing, her name splashed across glossy magazines next to men with too much money and too much time. Now she was back, walking into the gala like she owned the place. Like nothing had changed.

Maybe nothing had.

I shifted gears. The hotel address glowed on my screen, private and discreet. The kind of place where the staff knew faces but not names.

Alicia's name lit up my phone.

I turned the volume down until the car was silent but for the rain.

Not now.

The surgeons had things under control. Papers were signed. Her parents were there. My staying would have changed nothing except to watch her fall apart.

Besides, Alicia married me knowing what this was.

A contract. A life built on polished appearance, not messy feelings. She didn't have to like it, but she understood it.

She would.

Eventually.

I pressed the accelerator, letting the city smear by in streams of light and shadow.

The hotel rose out of the storm like something carved from old money. Gold trim along the roof. Doormen in dark coats. Valet under the awning, unshaken in the weather. I pulled in, cut the engine, and handed off the keys.

Inside, the lobby glowed warm against the tempest. Jazz curled through the air, soft and hushed. Crystal chandeliers caught the light like drops of fire.

Lucy sat at the bar, legs crossed, a glass of red wine in front of her. Heads turned when she shifted, the faintest smile tugging at her mouth. She looked like the kind of woman chaos couldn't touch.

"Edward," she said as I approached.

"Lucy."

The bartender slid a drink in front of me without asking. I took the seat beside her, the warmth of the room sinking into my shoulders.

"You're late," she said, eyes drifting over the open collar of my black silk shirt, the sleeves pushed up once at the wrists. "Busy?"

"Hospital," I said. "My wife's sister. Surgery complications."

One brow lifted a fraction. "Serious?"

"They operated again. The doctor just texted me now. Said she's stable."

"And you left her there?"

"She had her parents," I said. "Her family."

A small smile curved her mouth, impossible to read. "Of course."

She swirled the wine. "I suppose wives don't always understand the demands on men like you."

It sounded soft. Almost kind.

There was something under it.

I didn't name it. I let it go.

"She knows what our marriage is," I said.

"Does she?"

The line of her mouth sharpened, then smoothed again.

Lucy has always been like this. Elegant. Controlled. Back when we were kids at school events and summer our families shared, she ran the game in every room. She never raised her voice. She didn't need to. If people scrambled to keep up, I hadn't minded. Maybe I still didn't.

"I was surprised to hear you'd married," she said.

"Why?"

"You never struck me as the type to settle."

"Marriage doesn't mean settling."

"Doesn't it?"

The question lingered in the air, while thunder rumbled far off, heavy as stone.

"Married," she said at last, watching the wine slide against the glass. "I kept hearing it tonight. I had to see for myself."

"I didn't realize my life required your approval."

"Approval?" Her smile deepened, amused. "No. Curiosity. Like I said before, you never struck me as a man who chose... stillness."

"People change."

"If you say so."

The waiter topped off her wine. She didn't look away from me when she thanked him.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify