Page 144 of Dream Chaser

He glanced at me, smiling. “All of this is for me?”

I shrugged. “I like a nice table too. So, for us.”

He sat, watching me with a barely there smile as I filled our bowls with soup. Alejandro shoved a spoonful in his mouth and closed his eyes. “God, this is excellent. The best I’ve tried.”

“Thank you.”

“No, thank you, Nova.”

In no time, I served him a second helping, then the salad. When we were done eating, his phone buzzed in the pocket of his suit jacket.

“Mierda,” Alejandro muttered, reaching for it. “What now?”

As he glanced at the screen, he frowned. “It’s Cris.”

It was after midnight in Madrid. Whatever she wanted must’ve been urgent.

I picked up our empty dishes. “I’ll take these to the kitchen.”

“No.” He curled his fingers around my wrist. “Please, stay.”

He accepted the video call and pulled me into his lap. My pulse picked up speed as he curled an arm around my stomach, pressing me to him.

“Hola Cris,” he said. “¿Qué pasa? Estoy con Nova.” What’s up? I’m with Nova.

Cris smiled. “Hola, Ale. And Nova. About time. I knew something was going on when I saw you two in Madrid. You should’ve told me.”

I was grateful she’d switched to English. “It’s recent,” I said. “We weren’t together then.”

“What matters is that you are now. Ale…” She hesitated. “I wanted to talk to you about something, but if now isn’t a good time—”

“Nova knows about Ignacio,” Alejandro said. “Let me guess, he did something again.”

Cris tucked her hair behind her ears, nodding. “We found out today that he tried to steal two more clients. I wouldn’t have said anything, but…” She sighed. “How do you want me to deal with it?”

Alejandro tensed. “Ignore it. Ignore him. They aren’t switching agencies, are they?”

“No,” Cris said. “But—”

“He’s desperate, Cris. We’re growing faster. If we get certified here, it’ll allow us to expand and take on more athletes. I’m not afraid, and you shouldn’t be, either.”

“It’s not fear.” Her mouth collapsed into a frown. “I just don’t want him to ruin what you worked so hard for.”

“He won’t ruin shit. Go to bed.”

“Vale.” A pause, then she added, “I’m happy for you and Nova.”

“Gracias,” Alejandro said. “Hablamos luego.” Thank you. Talk to you later.

He cut the call. In a heartbeat, his mouth moved over my neck, tasting my skin, then he rubbed my nipple through the lace of my bra. “I’m going to tidy up. Wait for me in bed?”

“Okay,” I whispered.

I got ready for bed and slid under the duvet, unease pressing down on my chest. Alejandro had acted too calm. Too unaffected when I knew Ignacio’s betrayal had left a mark. It was hard to believe Alejandro could just shrug off what Ignacio had done and move on.

Twenty minutes later, he crawled into bed with me.

I nestled against his side, running my fingertips over his bare chest. Silence swallowed the room as I caressed him.