“Oh my god, that’s amazing,” I sighed, feeling a weight I didn’t know had been there lift off my shoulders. “Thank you, Kristo.”
“It’s what we agreed,” he replied, nearly neutral, and he stood up and marched toward the door as I hurried to keep up. All that money. Craziness. I knew the job I would be starting soon would have just covered her fees here, but it would have been tight as hell. Besides, a whole year in advance couldn’t be bad. That was a relief. If something happened, I could stockpile some cash to make sure the blow wasn’t too rough on me.
“So, your family now, huh?” I remarked as I slid into the car next to him, feeling lighter than before. He nodded, and I thought I saw the hint of a grimace on his face as he pulled away.
“Yep,” he replied at last. “My family.”
“So where do they stay?” I asked, and he shook his head.
“A little out of town, but we need to make a stop-off first,” he replied. I wrinkled up my nose.
“Why?”
“You’ll see,” he responded, suddenly shutting down, so far removed from the charming, talkative guy who had just been shooting the shit with my sister.
We drove back into town in silence, and I wondered what was bugging him. And then, he drew the car to a stop outside a small shop, some boutique place with a couple of dresses that probably cost more than my rent in the window.
“What are we doing here?” I wondered as he climbed out, and he offered me a hand and pulled me to my feet.
“You need a new dress,” he replied simply, and my heart flipped.
“You don’t think this one is okay?” I asked, my voice tiny. He turned to me and shook his head.
“It’s not that,” he sighed deeply, and I could tell his frustration was aimed at something far removed from me. It was just that I was the one there in front of him, the one who had to deal with it.
“So?”
“So, I know what my nonna needs from my women, and this isn’t it,” he replied, gesturing to me. “Come on, let’s go inside. I know the owner.”
I hung back for a moment before I followed. I tried to tell myself that this could be fun, dress shopping with my billionaire husband, but something ugly was nagging at the back of my mind, and the rush of joy I’d been feeling was already starting to sour in my stomach.