Chapter 475

Olivia

The cold air nipped at my skin as I stepped out onto the porch. I pulled my cardigan tighter around my shoulders, leaning forward to get a better look at the road leading up to our driveway.

Nothing.

I sighed and checked my watch for the millionth time; it was almost two o’clock, and Nathan should have been home an hour ago. Where was he?

Another gust of wind blew across the lawn, causing me to shiver. With a soft sigh, I headed back inside and wandered over to the kitchen, where my phone still sat on the counter. No calls, no texts. Maybe his meeting ran late, as they seemed to do often.

Or maybe…

No. I frowned and shook my head again to dislodge the thoughts of Nathan sitting in a cigar-filled room with a beautiful woman on his lap. I knew it was silly; he would never do anything like that. He was my husband, and he had made a vow. Besides, I had no reason to ever think that he would cheat on me. He just wasn’t that type of guy.

Suddenly, as if on cue, my phone started to buzz. I felt my heart begin to race a bit as I saw Nathan’s name flash on the screen, and I picked up on the first ring.

“Hello? Nathan?”

“Hey…” His voice sounded tired and a little raspy. I couldn’t help but wonder how much he had slept these past few days. “How are you, love?”

I frowned a bit despite being relieved by his call. “Where are you?” I blurted out. “I thought you were coming home today.”

There was a pause, and then a muffled sigh through the phone.

“I was.”

My frown deepened. “Was?” I emphasized. “What does that mean?”

“Liv, I’m so sorry,” Nathan began. I felt my heart sink on instinct. “But… They’re making me stay another day.”

As he spoke, I felt my stomach do a flip. “Another day?” I breathed. “But Nathan, the twins need you. I need you. And the gala is tomorrow…”

“I know, love, I know,” he muttered. I could picture him running his hand through his hair, the way he always did when he was stressed. “I just… you know how it is. I can’t say no.”

I swallowed. “Yeah. I know.”

“But I promise I’ll be home as soon as I can tomorrow,” he said. “I’m making it to that gala. And I’ve got… plans to make up for this.”

“Plans?”

Nathan chuckled slightly, a gravelly sound from what was starting to be a rather obvious lack of sleep. “Valentine’s day is coming up,” he said. “I fully plan on treating you like a princess. I’ve got reservations for a fancy restaurant and everything.”

No matter how annoyed I was, the idea of a nice, romantic Valentine’s Day date made my heart flutter. I swallowed, gripping the phone a little tighter. “Hey, that reminds me… Did you get my picture the other night?”

There was a long pause on the other side of the phone, and I felt my heart begin to pound. God, I knew it was stupid to send that. I shouldn’t have—

“I loved it, Liv.” I could hear his smile through the phone.

“Y-You did?”

Nathan laughed. “Yeah! Of course I did,” he said, his tone dropping to a husky octave. But then the pause grew, and when he spoke again, he sounded almost embarrassed. “Shit, I forgot to respond, didn’t I?”

“Sort of. Unless you count a smiley face emoji as a response.”

He chuckled. “Look, I got caught up in other stuff,” he said. “But I saw it, and I loved it, Liv. I just wish I could have the real thing.”

I felt my heart soar at his words; so he had liked it after all. Of course I was being silly by thinking he hadn’t, or that he had been too preoccupied with one of the ‘concubines’ to notice. “You could have the real thing, you know,” I teased as I absentmindedly twirled a piece of hair around my finger. “If you’d just come home—”

“Shit. Liv? I’ve gotta call you back.” Nathan’s interruption took me off guard. “I’m sorry, it’s just—Dan’s calling me, and—”

I sighed heavily. Of course.

“Talk to you later,” I said quietly.

“Sorry, Liv. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

…

Angela and I stepped out of the hair salon with our hair freshly trimmed and blown out, smelling like lilacs and perfume.

“Liv, I can’t stress enough how much I love the new style you went for,” Angela said, reaching out to touch my hair as we walked out onto the sidewalk. “The curtain bangs really suit you.”

“You think so?” I asked. I peered in a nearby shop window and tousled my hair; I had decided to try a new style, something fresh for the gala.

As opposed to my usual wavy locks, which were usually cut to the same length on my mid-back, I trimmed off a few inches so that my hair now fell to a little bit below my shoulders. I had the stylist add some soft layers, too, and some curtain bangs to frame my face.

“Oh, it looks perfect on you,” Angela said. “Nathan’s gonna love it, too.”

I couldn’t help but blush a bit at the mention of my husband. He should be on his way home now, actually.

“Thanks, Angie.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulders as we strolled toward the nail salon next. “I love the color you picked, by the way.”

Angela giggled and twirled a strand of hair around her finger; she had dyed it an almost cherry red color for Valentine’s Day. Levi didn’t know, and it was sure to be a surprise. But it really suited her.

“I figured it was time to try something fun,” she said. “I was thinking of doing red nails to match.”

“I was thinking of doing red, too. With pink hearts.”

Angela grinned and took my hand. “I guess we’re gonna match, then. By the way, do you have plans for Valentine’s day?”

“Nathan said he’s taking me out to a fancy restaurant,” I said softly, recalling our phone conversation from yesterday. “To ‘make up for’ everything lately.”

“As he should.” Angela nodded affirmatively. “He’s been a bit absent lately, hasn’t he?”

“It’s just the Alpha association. That Alpha Dan is…”

“An asshole?” Angela finished for me.

My eyes widened, and I smacked her in the arm. “Angie!”

“What?” she laughed. “It’s true. He’s a real Grade A jerk. I mean, who shows up randomly to someone’s gender reveal party? And then proceeds to make sexist demands of the expecting mother? That was your day, not his.”

I swallowed, realizing that Angela was completely right. Dan was a real creep, honestly. And it wasn’t just the way he treated me and Nathan; the way he treated his wife, Clarissa, was a red flag in and of itself.

“I still keep thinking about how he clearly pinched Clarissa and said those awful things about her body,” I murmured. “It just… rubs me the wrong way.”

Angela sighed. “Yeah. Me too. But it’s not like there’s anything we could do about it.”

I let out a sigh of my own as we walked up the front steps to the nail salon. “No, there isn’t.”