The Billionaire's Secret Wife (The Pryce Family Book 3) (Volume 3) (18 page)

“Where are your folks?” Justin asked.

“They’re both running late,” Mark said. “Just called a few minutes ago. Separately, of course. We better talk before they show.”

Justin quirked an eyebrow. Surely Salazar and Ceinlys could be civilized for something like this, even if it came during their divorce. After all, they’d been civilized while they were married, and their relationship had been nothing more than a wedded farce.

Iain turned to Vanessa. “Tell me how this came about.”

“How it came about? We eloped. What’s there to say?”

Mark snorted. “You’re not the eloping type.” He opened the menu and perused it. A superfluous gesture. Mark probably knew every item by heart. “Don’t get the special,” he said.

“Why not?” Justin asked, eyeing the tuna.

“Specials generally mean ‘old but not yet bad’ stuff we’re trying to unload. The lobsters are good today,” Mark said.

And most likely the most expensive item. The menu didn’t have prices on it, but Justin could play this. “Then we’ll have lobsters.”

“An excellent choice!” Jane said. “André is a genius with lobsters.”

“Didn’t you say that about him and lamb last time?” Iain asked.

She looked up at him adoringly. “He’s a genius with anything related to food.”

Justin watched the lovebirds in front of him chatting and smiling. There was something about them that made his chest ache. Maybe it was the total intimacy and easy way the couples interacted. Justin didn’t know how long they’d been together, but it couldn’t have been more than a few months.

He wished he and Vanessa had the same kind of easy rapport, but things had been tense between them for the past few months. Right now she was staring at the menu without really reading anything. “What’s wrong?” he whispered. “Don’t you see anything you like?”

“No. I’m sure everything’s great.”

A sheen of sweat glistened along her hairline. “Too warm in here?” Justin asked, but she shook her head.

“So, tell us how he proposed,” Hilary said. “I think it’s awesome that you couldn’t wait to get married. So romantic.”

“We can elope if you want,” Mark said, and she slapped his arm with a laugh.

“I proposed on my plane. With that ring right there.”

Vanessa tilted her hand so everyone could see it.

“So simple but so elegant,” Hilary breathed.

“Classy,” Jane said. “I love it.” She smiled at Justin. “You have great taste.”

“True,” Justin said. “I—”

Vanessa bolted to her feet, her face paper-white.

“What’s wrong?” Mark asked.

She ran out.

Hilary watched the direction Vanessa was running toward, then said, “Oh.”

“What?” Mark said.

She turned to Justin. “She’s pregnant. Isn’t she?”

No way to hide it now
. Justin nodded.

She got up. “I’ll go see if she needs any help.”

“How far along is she?” Jane asked as Hilary left.

“About eight weeks, I guess.”

“Son of a bitch,” Iain muttered, and she put a hand on his sleeve. He glared at Justin. “I asked you to watch my sister, and you got her pregnant instead?” Then he stopped. “Wait, is that why she married you? Because you guys had a one-night stand and she felt like she had to get married or something?”

“For your information, we’ve never had one-night stand. We’ve been dating since she was in college and law school.”

Iain and Mark stared like he’d just told them Martians had landed in West Hollywood.

“
Ten years?
No way. We would’ve known about it,” Iain said.

“No offense, man, but you need better intel.”

“So what happened after law school?” Iain demanded.

Justin shrugged. How much to tell his irate friend? “We sort of went our separate ways, with her in L.A. and me in various cities for Sterling & Wilson. Sometimes we saw each other when it made sense.”

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this. You had, like, a decade of booty calls with my sister?”

“Uh, I wouldn’t put it quite that way.”

Jane cleared her throat. “Iain, if Vanessa didn’t want to marry him, she wouldn’t have. It’s not like she lacks options.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” Iain said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m okay with it.” He scowled at Justin. “Do you love her?”

Did he? Justin wanted her and wanted to spoil her and spend his life with her, but he wasn’t sure if it was the same thing as the kind of love Iain wanted to hear. Besides, he hadn’t even told Vanessa he loved her, and he wasn’t going to tell Iain anything first. So he merely cocked an eyebrow. “Why else would I have married her? I could’ve always just offered to pay child support instead.”

“And I would’ve kicked your ass,” Iain said.

Vanessa came back with Hilary. Her face was flushed, but otherwise she looked all right. “What are you guys talking about?” she asked, taking her seat next to Justin.

“Whether or not to kill Justin,” Iain said at the same time Mark said, “Dinner.” Mark signaled the waiter, and two baskets of warm bread appeared on the table. “You know it’s been a while since we had a big family dinner. Can we try to have a good one?”

“I second that motion,” Hilary said.

Jane raised a hand. “Third!”

Everyone started ordering, much to Justin’s relief.

Then Salazar showed up, and Ceinlys a few moments later.

* * *

The last time Justin had seen Salazar was at his cousin Kerri’s wedding. There, the older man had been robust and glowing with health and alcohol. He was still dashing in his carefully tailored clothes; silver touched the temples of his black hair just so to hint at worldliness without suggesting advanced age, and his well-cared for skin was a light bronze. But there was a dullness to him now, like a hazy film over glass.

Ceinlys, on the other hand, looked much the same as before—wealthy, elegant, with just a hint of superiority. Ironically enough, the latter reminded Justin of Shirley Pryce, Ceinlys’s great adversary.

They sat at opposite ends of the table without any prompting. Salazar didn’t even glance at the menu. “Just bring me the most expensive item and a shot of whiskey,” he said, then turned to Justin. “So. Married.”

Justin nodded.

Salazar’s mouth smiled. “May you two be happy.”

“I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t,” Ceinlys said, not looking up from the menu. Her tone had the ponderousness of an English lit professor pontificating on the meaning of “nunnery” from Hamlet’s monologue. She finally folded the leather folio closed. “You should have a real ceremony for family and friends.”

“The original one they had was real enough.” Salazar downed the shot of whiskey and gestured for another. “Unless you’re implying it’s fake?”

“No more fake than ours.” Ceinlys gave him a precise smile, but her eyes stayed cold.

Salazar held her gaze, while his children reached for more bread. “If you want a ceremony, you can pay for it.”

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary. Barron undoubtedly wants one as well.”

A waiter brought a glass of champagne for her, breaking the exchange. Justin leaned over. “Is it always like this?” he whispered to Vanessa.

“Actually they’re behaving pretty well.”

His jaw slackened. If this was the good version, he couldn’t imagine how bad the regular one was. He’d assumed the family dinner would be semi-friendly since it was really about Vanessa and his marriage, not Salazar and Ceinlys’s situation. Tension crept into the back of his neck and shoulders as Salazar and Ceinlys kept sniping at each other.

Vanessa put a hand over his wrist. “Relax. Just pretend you’re not here, and you should be all right.”

“Sorry. I should’ve never invited them.”

“They’re the parents, so we would’ve had to eat with them at some point. It’s fine. Really.” She flashed him a quick smile.

He squeezed her hand. “I can’t believe you’re trying to cheer me up.”

She shrugged. “I’m used to this.”

His phone buzzed, and he glanced at it. It was a text from Dane.

Can’t make it
.
You’re an idiot for inviting both my parents
.
If you make Vanessa unhappy
,
I’ll kill you
.
Anything else we can discuss later
.

Mentally shaking his head, Justin typed:
Appreciate the congrats
. He hesitated, then decided the rest of what he wanted to say needed to be said in person.

A few seconds later came a response:
You’re welcome
.

The food smelled amazing, but he couldn’t remember what it was or how it tasted. All he could feel was the hostility under the glittery civilized veneer that Vanessa’s parents projected and the silent tension as the rest of them went through the motions of dining. By the time they reached the fish course, he couldn’t eat anything without feeling like there was a drill in his gut, and Vanessa hadn’t touched much of anything except some bread.

Justin had heard rumors about how awkward Pryce family dinners could be, but this was worse than he’d imagined. No wonder Dane hadn’t bothered to show. Justin felt like an idiot for having arranged the event in the first place.

At the same time he was beginning to see why Vanessa was so skittish about marriage, commitment and family. She had no role model, nothing she could emulate or aspire to.

He ached for her and wished he could replace all her bad memories with good ones.

Chapter Seventeen

Dinner hadn’t gone as badly as Vanessa had feared, all things considered. She’d already expected her parents to be unhappy, so that hadn’t been surprising. But Justin, normally relaxed in situations where others would freeze up, had been so tense the whole time she felt awful for him.

As they waited for the valet to bring out their cars, Iain pulled her aside. “So you’re really happy?” he asked.

She nodded.

“You know you can come to me any time there’s a problem, right? I’m always here, always got your back. Don’t let Justin intimidate you.”

“Do I look like the ‘easy to intimidate’ type?”

“You don’t know him the way I do. He looks all nice and cool, but if you’re in the way of what he wants, he has no problem crushing you. He learned from the best.”

True. Barron Sterling had a terrible reputation in that regard. “I can handle Justin. And if I need help, I have your number.”

“Good.” He gave her an extra-tight hug. “There’s my car. Talk to you soon?”

She nodded and watched her brother leave with Jane. Then her mother came out—sans Salazar—and strode toward her rapidly.

“Oh, good you’re still here.” She gave Justin a quick smile. “Do you mind? I need to steal Vanessa for a moment.”

Ceinlys led Vanessa off a small distance and lowered her voice. “We already spoke about your marriage, so I won’t repeat what I said. Something occurred to me just now, and I thought you should be aware.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve been getting some odd calls. You probably will too.”

“What do you mean?”

“You just married one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the world. People will try to use you to get to him.”

Vanessa gaped at Ceinlys. “Seriously? Do we know anybody that crass?”

Ceinlys sighed. “It is simply impossible to underestimate some people’s behavior. Anyway, I need to say good-bye to Mark and Hilary. I just rushed out to catch you.” She gave Vanessa two air kisses, waved at Justin and slipped back into the restaurant.

Vanessa walked slowly back to Justin, who put an arm around her. “Your family has a lot of secrets.”

“They’re just worried.”

“I will make you happy.”

A small pang in her heart. Not because she didn’t think he was lying, but she didn’t think he realized how empty such promises were at the end of the day. Would he believe her if she told him her father had vowed the same to her mother? And just look at how the dinner had just turned out. “I don’t think that’s what they’re worried about.”

Finally the valet brought out Justin’s car. Just as she was about to walk inside, she stopped.

“What is it?” Justin said. “Do you feel sick again?”

“No.” She leaned forward, staring at a couple walking up the street toward them. The man’s hand rested against the small of his companion’s back, and the woman looked extremely familiar. As they passed under the light, her face was illuminated, and Vanessa gasped.

Justin looked at the couple. “Do you know them?”

“Yes. That’s Ginger Maxwell!”

“Ah…who?”

“Shane’s fiancée!”

Ginger was laughing at something the man said, her head tilted toward him in a comfortable, intimate way. Vanessa couldn’t believe this. How dare she!

Without even thinking, Vanessa ran down the street after them. She felt Justin follow.

“Hey!” Vanessa said. “You cheating scum!”

The man turned and stared. “Do I know you?”

“Not you. Her!” She pointed at Ginger.

The small blonde gaped. “Vanessa?”

“I would’ve never believed this if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. What the hell?”

The shock vanished from Ginger’s face. She put a hand on her hip. “Do you
mind?
I’m trying to have a nice evening out with my date here.”

“Oh my god, are you serious? You’re engaged to my brother!”

“I’m completely
not
engaged to your dickhead of a brother. He dumped me five months ago.” She turned to her date. “Really, I’m not engaged to anyone. I swear.”

Vanessa’s jaw slackened. “What? How… He contacted you?”

“No, like an idiot I went to see him. After I didn’t hear from him for weeks, I might add.” Something dark and painful flickered in her eyes, then died as she tightened her fists. “I’d waited since forever, and he acted like he didn’t even
know
me! So I’m moving on, because you know what? Shane’s not the only man out there.” Ginger linked fingers with her date. “Now if you’re just
all done
jumping to conclusions, we have a movie to catch.” They turned and walked off.

Justin put a hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”

Vanessa stared after the two. “I don’t get it.” Her mind felt blank. “They were so in love.” Was love not enough after all?