Chapter Thirty-Eight
“Lyft is nine minutes away,” Kennedi said to Tabitha and Evie on their way out of ToroToro’s.
“Ugh, I think I ate too much.” Standing at the curb, Evie sagged playfully against Tabitha’s shoulders. “I’m gonna burst.”
“It’s only ten after eight. We could hit the gym, get some cardio in and burn off those two bottles of wine,” Tabitha suggested.
“Yeah, right.” Kennedi snorted a laugh and glanced up from typing out her grocery list on her phone. Her friend lived and breathed her workout regimen. “I don’t think so.”
“That’s our ride,” Evie joked, referring to the black limo that pulled up curbside.
Kennedi took note of the man she knew to be Alan Lange’s personal assistant climbing out of the driver’s seat. He rounded to the rear passenger door, and Alan, along with his female companion, exited the vehicle. Blue eyes locked on her in an instant.
That reminded her—she hadn’t thanked him for the flowers…that had ended up at the bottom of a trash receptacle in the back of her office building. Trenton had seen to that. “Alan, good evening.”
“Kennedi Chase, isn’t this a nice surprise. You’re not working or running off to an appointment. That’s a bigger surprise.”
A small dig, but the truth nonetheless. “My friends and I thought we’d celebrate the future opening of our store.” She quickly introduced them, and he did the same with his date.
“Congratulations. I’d heard your location would be demolished after Shaw won the appeal to tear the strip down. No doubt that puts a strain on your business partnership. So, where’s your new location?”
Kennedi looked at her friends, then back at him. “Actually, it’ll be part of Shaw Hotel and Casino. Well, we’ll have a separate entrance, so not really part of Shaw’s,” she supplemented, suddenly feeling uncomfortable at the sight of his rigid stare.
He told the woman on his arm to head inside. Once she’d made it through the revolving glass doors, he turned back.
“I meant to thank you for the flowers. I’ve been so busy. A lot going on right now.”
“You’re welcome. I figure Shaw has you bogged down with his dictates,” he sneered.
“Kennedi, I think that’s our ride.” Tabitha directed their attention to the tan Honda Accord pulling up behind Lange’s limo.
Kennedi glanced at her phone, confirming the pickup before her friends got into the back seat and left the door open for her.
Letting Alan’s poke at Trenton slide, she said, “I should go. It was good seeing you.”
“I wonder how his wife puts up with that God complex of his.” Alan shrugged. “But as they say, there’s someone for everyone. Even for Shaw, apparently. And add to it a kid on the way.”
She regarded him for a moment, confused by the harsh accusations. “Pardon me?”
His head tilted to the side and he studied her closely. “You look surprised. I would’ve thought you knew, considering your business involvement with him.”
Wife? Kid? Kennedi tried but failed to keep her features from betraying the double-barrel-load of shock and the fact that he’d said business with respect to Trenton as if it was a dirty word. “Trenton’s personal life is his concern, not mine. That said, I’m aware he was once married.”
“Once married?” A light chuckle. “If that’s what Shaw has you believing, I’m pretty sure his wife would take issue with that. I myself only recently discovered he has a pregnant wife. The man’s good at concealing things.” He touched her forearm, a gentle, caring caress, his gaze soft. “Watch yourself, Kennedi. I wouldn’t want to see you get screwed over or hurt by him in any form. That dinner invitation is always open. I hope you’ll someday take me up on it.”
Kennedi swallowed hard, but it did little to relieve the pressure in her chest. “I believe your date is getting impatient.” She nodded toward the entrance where the woman stood at the window, her attention narrowly focused on them. “Have a good evening, Alan.”
She got in the car and it drove off as her head spun like an out of control Ferris wheel close to snapping off its iron hinges. She couldn’t breathe, literally couldn’t get the air to move in her lungs.
“Kennedi, what’s wrong?” Concern blanketed Evie’s features.
“You look like you’re about to throw up,” Tabitha said quietly, but the driver must have heard her.
His head swung back, eyes darting between them. “Please don’t,” he said and accelerated.
She couldn’t get in adequate air and concentrated on taking slow, smooth breaths. “He has a pregnant wife.”
“Who?” Both Tabitha and Evie asked in unison.
“Alan told me Trenton has a wife who’s pregnant.”
“Are you sure? Maybe he wasn’t telling the truth,” Evie said.
“We can easily find out.” Seated between them, Tabitha whipped out her phone and did an internet search. “I’m not finding anything. Wait.” She held the phone out to show them. “Is this her?”
“How would I know?” Kennedi stared at the attractive, dark-haired woman seen in modeling shots for several overseas magazines she’d never heard of. Of course she’d be a model. “Trenton told me he had an ex-wife. I took it to mean he was divorced.”
“That’s reasonable,” Tabitha said.
“He said nothing about having a child on the way.”
“It says they married about four years ago.” Evie took the phone and scrolled the screen. “But here it says they’ve been married a bit longer than that. See, you can’t trust the internet. Wait. This article says he’s one of America’s most eligible CEO bachelors. It’s dated a little over a year ago. But it doesn’t say anything about a kid. The woman’s name is Claudia. Twenty-eight.” Evie looked at Kennedi. “Same as you. Italian and French. Born in Subiaco, Italy, her fam—”
“Evie, I don’t need the woman’s 23andMe ancestry chart. Jeez,” Kennedi ground out as sweat trickled like icicles down her spine. Trenton was married, with a child on the way. That was all she needed to know.
Claudia. Though he’d told her about the woman, the name slammed in her head like a ton of jagged stones. Trenton had mentioned Claudia cheating on him. Maybe the treachery had come from him.
Evie reached across Tabitha and her warm hand clasped Kennedi’s. “Sorry, girlfriend.”
“You never checked to see if he was married?” Tabitha asked.
Kennedi delivered her a deadpan stare. “Now why would I do that? I wasn’t looking to date him, let alone fall in—” She swallowed the familiar bitter taste of anger and betrayal, barely able to speak. “The point is he lied to me.”
“Maybe it’s fictitious.” Evie handed Tabitha back the phone. “You can’t trust social media.”
“Like hell, she can’t,” Tabitha argued and took Kennedi’s hand in hers. “As you said, he’s been lying to you.” Her tone softened. “Sweetie, you have to call him out on this, then send his ass curbside. We’ve signed a year’s lease on the temporary store location and the agreement on our new space has been finalized as well. The ground-breaking ceremony is this Friday. In other words, you can end things without risk on the business end. I know discovering that he deceived you is upsetting. I’ve been where you are, but at least you found out before things got too deep.”
“I still have to work with him. Either of you have any suggestions on how I do that?” Kennedi turned away from their pitying gazes to the window and subtly wiped the tear that escaped while trying to get her pulse to return to normal.
It wouldn’t be the first time she’d confronted a man’s deceit. What felt different was the paralyzing vulnerability, and the helpless and hopeless fact that her heart was breaking into thousands of irreparable pieces.