Page 225 of My Husband’s New Fiancée

“Oh, sorry,” I say.

Slowly, he turns toward me, one eyebrow raised.

“Really?”

“It was completely accidental. Totally.”

His eyes narrow.

He doesn’t believe me.

He reaches toward me. I try to dodge out of reach. He bumps my elbow, and the rest of the powdered sugar flies straight onto me.

“Oh! You did not just do that.”

“Oops.”

But judging by his expression, he isn’t sorry at all.

The corner of his mouth curls upward.

The asshole is actually laughing.

“You should see your face,” he says.

And then he fully bursts out laughing.

He’s so beautiful it’s honestly unfair.

And my ability to stay rational around him is officially dead.

A laugh escapes me too.

A real one.

No mille-feuille has ever tasted this good.

“Anyway,” I tell him, “your pastry cream is certainly… original. Definitely something worth remembering.”

61. The Speech

Valeria

Thursday, February 9

Dante gathered all of Aurenza’s employees in the auditorium without giving me any explanation as to what he was planning.

I’m seated in the front row with the other executives.

Three hundred people sit behind us, perhaps more. A subdued murmur drifts through the room.

All eyes are fixed on the stage. The giant screen displays nothing but the Aurenza logo.

No title.

No agenda.

Nothing to explain why the entire company has been called together.