Low, mournful jazz drifted from the speakers in the corner of the cafe. The lighting in their booth was dim, casting long shadows across the table.
Aisling ordered a pot of hot chamomile tea. She poured a cup and pushed it toward Christen, her eyes never leaving the red mark on her friend's face.
"Okay," Aisling said softly. "Tell me. What exactly happened at the gala tonight that made you finally snap?"
Christen wrapped both hands around the ceramic cup. The heat seeped into her freezing palms, but it didn't reach the coldness in her chest. She stared at the ripples in the amber liquid.
She took a breath that shuddered in her lungs. "I went looking for him. I heard noises in one of the VIP lounges. I looked through the crack in the door." She swallowed hard. "It was Kaelynn. And Brendon. On the couch."
Aisling froze. Her eyes went wide, absolute horror washing over her features.
"Kaelynn?" Aisling breathed. Then her face twisted in fury. She slammed her hand on the table. "That backstabbing, cheap little bitch!"
Christen let out a dry, hollow laugh. "That's not even the worst part." She looked up, meeting Aisling's eyes. "Brendon and I haven't slept together in three years. Not since the honeymoon."
Aisling's jaw physically dropped. She stared at Christen, her brain struggling to process the level of deception.
"Three years?" Aisling whispered, her voice breaking. She reached across the table and grabbed Christen's hands, squeezing them tight. "Christen... why? Why did you stay?"
Christen looked down at their joined hands. "Because I'm an orphan. I wanted a real family so badly I was willing to pretend I had one. I lied to myself."
Aisling's eyes filled with tears. She squeezed harder. "I am going to skin them both alive. I swear to God, I will ruin them."
Aisling wiped her eyes, her lawyer instincts kicking in. She needed to distract Christen, to shift the energy from grief to strategy.
"We need to be smart," Aisling said, her tone shifting to business. "I was just dealing with a case at the firm before you called. A hostile takeover. It's a bloodbath. The guy running it is a monster. If we want to destroy Brendon, we need to think like him."
"Who?" Christen asked, her voice numb.
"Kile Barrett," Aisling said in a hushed tone.
The name hit Christen like a physical punch to the gut.
Her breath hitched. Her hand jerked, rattling the teacup against the saucer with a sharp clatter.
Aisling didn't notice. She kept talking, her voice filled with professional awe and dread. "The Barrett family is old money, but Kile is a different breed. He's a shark. He destroys companies for sport. He's unpredictable, vindictive, and completely untouchable. You do not cross a man like that."
Christen's stomach violently cramped. The memory of the bar flooded her brain. The smell of cedar. The grip on her jaw. You clearly don't know how to respect a woman.
Cold sweat broke out across her forehead. She had practically thrown herself at the most dangerous man in New York, trying to use him as a pawn in her petty revenge.
She reached down and pressed her hand against her clutch. She could feel the hard outline of his black card through the leather. It felt like a live grenade.
"Christen? Are you okay? Does your face hurt?" Aisling asked, finally noticing her pale, sweaty skin.
Christen forced her mouth into a rigid smile. She shook her head quickly. "No. I'm fine." She took a large gulp of the hot tea, burning her tongue, praying Kile Barrett would just forget she existed.
The brass bell above the cafe door let out a sharp, cheerful ring.
A gust of cold wind, smelling of wet asphalt and rain, swept into the room.
Christen looked up out of pure reflex.
Her lungs stopped working.
A tall man stepped through the doorway. He handed a dripping black trench coat to the hostess. As he turned his head, he casually slipped his phone into his pocket, the screen briefly illuminating a blinking red dot perfectly locked onto this exact location. His dark, predatory eyes scanned the room, bypassing the other patrons with chilling precision. His gaze locked onto the corner booth. Onto Christen.
Kile Barrett's lips curved into a slow, terrifying smirk. He bypassed the hostess, his long legs eating up the distance as he walked straight toward their table.
