Trusting You (Second Chances #2)(25)
He shifted in his seat but didn’t miss a beat. Avoiding all eye contact with me, it was a sure sign he was lying through his teeth when he turned to Brett and answered, “I inherited it from my grandparents. Since my mother recently just passed it was said that once she was gone I would be the sole owner of the vineyards. I have a real serious investor that is very interested in partnering up with me for some valuable real estate out there.”
Standing from my seat, Brett furrowed his brows and stood with me. “Are you okay?” he questioned, taking my elbow.
I smiled and waved him off. “Oh yeah, I’m fine. I just need to be excused for a moment.” More like make a phone call. And once I found out the truth I was going to tell Brett everything.
Narrowing his eyes, he let me go, but not before kissing me firmly on the lips. I noticed Daniel fuming out of the corner of my eye, but I was too anxious and upset to rub it in Daniel’s face. Instead, I paid him no mind and gave Brett a heart rendering smile before sauntering off to the ladies room. I passed the hostess at the front and stopped when I got to the restrooms. Once I found my phone in my purse, I pulled it out and scrolled through my contacts. Surely, I didn’t delete his sister’s number when I switched phones.
“Shit,” I hissed quietly when I couldn’t find it.
I wanted to call her and ask her how Daniel was able to get the inheritance from her or if she willingly gave it to him. If I couldn’t find her number I knew of someone who could. My cousin, Mason, was a police detective and I was sure he’d do everything possible to help me since he despised Daniel.
When I was about to put my phone back in my purse, a set of arms wrapped around my waist and hauled me into the ladies bathroom. “What the …” I snapped, and then when I turned around I had the pleasure of seeing my ex-husband, red-faced and furious.
After he locked us in the bathroom, he stalked toward me angrily, but I stood my ground. “What the f*ck are you doing out there? And why haven’t you answered any of my calls. I’ve been trying to tell you about my mother for days.”
“I know, and I’m sorry about your mother,” I replied sadly.
He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. “Yeah, well it’s over and done with now. I was also trying to see if you would be my date for the evening tonight, but I guess you would’ve said no considering you’re with someone else.”
“Yes, I am,” I snapped. “Which is why you need to stop calling me all the damn time.”
Exasperated, he huffed, “When are you going to get over what I did to you and move on? I said I was sorry and that I would do anything to get you back. Why won’t you let me try?”
I scoffed, “Because you cheated on me, Daniel. And you’re also here with another woman. That doesn’t exactly make me want you back.”
“I don’t care about that whore out there, Melissa. I care about you and I want you to give me another chance. I wanted you to come with me tonight but you didn’t answer your f*cking phone. Just think about all we could do together with my family’s land. You had some really good ideas floating around in that head of yours when we were married. You could make them all real now, especially with you by my side and with my sister’s help.”
Scowling, I crossed my arms over my chest and snapped, “I don’t love you anymore, Daniel. I’m happy with Brett and it’s going to stay that way. You need to respect that and give me my space. As far as helping you with your project, are you insane? I don’t know how you inherited that land, but I do know it was supposed to go to your sister. I can see it in your eyes that you’re up to something. How did you do it?”
Daniel’s whole mood flipped and he hissed, “You know what? That’s not any of your concern anymore. Since you refuse to let me back in your life, you don’t get the pleasure of knowing anything about mine.”
He stepped closer and pinned me to the wall with his arms on either side of me, caging me in. With a wolfish smile gleaming on his face, he remarked, “Why didn’t you tell Brett that I was your husband? You’re a stubborn woman that always did what she wanted and never once did you ever listen to me when we were married. What made you listen to me now?”
I held up my hand and pushed against his chest. “First off, you’re my ex-husband,” I spat at him. “And Brett’s been looking forward to this account with you and I didn’t want to come between that. If I tell him that you’re my ex it’ll make this really awkward for him, especially if I tell him that something scandalous is going on. I know you don’t have rights to that land, Daniel. There’s no way your sister would give it up that easily. You forget that I spent most of my time with her when we went out there. Her dreams of that land are something she wouldn’t just let go to a brother that couldn’t give a shit about it.”
Shaking his head, Daniel smirked and pressed his body to mine. “Oh, my sweet Melissa, what am I ever going to do with you?” When I tried to speak, he placed a finger over my lips. “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. First, that land is mine and I can prove it. It’s written as plain as day in my mother’s will.” Yeah, I’d like to see proof of that, I thought to myself. I rolled my eyes while he continued to rant.
“Second, you’re not going to tell Brett anything about me and you while this project is in the works. My investor was adamant on getting Brett to do the designing, and I’m not going to let you or anyone else come between that. I have a lot riding on this deal, and if you screw it up there’s going to be some dire consequences. I’ll make sure you go down with me.”