Aurora

Chapter 4 | Archer

I remember the way she looked in Vegas. It was a total contrast from the way she looks next to me in this car. I hate the way I'm comparing her to the way she was years ago. It's funny how she was only 21 and I was 23.

I was still a kid resorting to desperate measures to prevent others from preying on my company. My dad's legacy. Not that my dad has been much of a father, but ruining his legacy also means ruining my current reputation and I am never going to let that go.

"What are you expecting of this dinner?" I finally break the silence that's been haunting this car ride. Bobby looks up at me and sucks in a breath.

She might prefer to be called Bobby, but I call her Evangeline just to get under her skin.

"Just-" she pauses but then decides not to answer my question. "I'm not expecting anything."

"Say what you want from me." I demand it this time. I know she has a lot on her mind, and there are a lot of things I can answer. This wasn't a one-way street, I made sure her life was comfortable. Because she had no bumps in the way, she didn't have anything to worry about.

But then this marriage turned into a bump.

"I guess I just expected you to have been just as drunk as I was, and that we both forgot and it was going to be-" she pauses again, trying to find the correct words. "You know- sign a few papers and I'd be home tomorrow night."

"You know a divorce with someone like me doesn't work that way."

"I guess you just answered my only question." She hasn't asked a question yet, but by the tone of her voice, I know that whatever I just said disappointed her. Usually, I have my words ready. I know what I'm going to say and I'm always coming up with clever answers to get out of difficult conversations.

But I don't know where I went wrong with this specific one.

The car stops and my driver announces that we've arrived at Bronze. Bronze is my favorite restaurant for talking, because the music is loud enough for other tables not to overhear and low enough to not have to yell. Also, the food is expensive, but it's worth every single penny.

I get out of the car, then walk around the back, and open the other door. Bobby climbs out and she fixes her dress.

"Here," I say, offering her my arm. She hesitates for a second but then takes it as she follows me inside.

I come here a lot with business partners, so it's no surprise for the hostess to recognize me and immediately take me to my usual table which's just a little more secluded than the others.

Bobby looks around, completely trusting me to guide her through the restaurant. I glance at her and watch as she takes in the dark, but cozy interior of this beautiful restaurant.

"Here you go," the hostess said. I move out of the other seat, allowing Bobby to sit down before I do.

It takes a second for the both of us to get accustomed to the new surroundings. Bobby's obviously uncomfortable in this place. I order the best wine in the house and the waitress writes it down and leaves, giving us space to talk.

"So what did you mean in the car?" I continue the conversation from the car. She turns to look at me and shakes her head.

"Just that you knew what you were doing, and I feel like you took advantage of me because I was drunk." She laughs. "So drunk I don't even remember you."

"Let's just say I had my reasons." It's all I can tell her, and all I want to tell her. I don't feel guilty for doing what I did, because it has protected me from many people. If I were in that position again, I would do it.

"You might have had your reasons but where were mine?" She shakes her head.

The waitress returns with the wine and Bobby falls quiet instantly. I take a deep breath in but still give the waitress a polite smile. Once she leaves, Bobby looks at me again. There's a fire in her eyes, a fire that I haven't seen before.

"What was in this whole thing for me, Archer?" She repeats the question in different words.

"Listen, you might not have known about me, but I knew about you. I took care of you financially from a distance-"

Defeat falls over her face. It's just a second before she pulls herself together and her confident mask is back on her face. That little detail shows me that she's faking the confidence she has right now to try and win this battle with me. The battle being the divorce.

"Who do you think has been paying for your taxes for three years?"

Her face falls.

"Or that surgery you needed a year ago?"

"You've been stalking me?" Her eyes widen. "Oh my god-" She breathes out. This is the first time that something I've done for someone else, went unnoticed. I knew it would go unnoticed, but now that she knows I didn't think she'd be like this.

"And I didn't have to do that because you didn't know, so you wouldn't have noticed." I snap. I don't mean to snap, but I still do. I ball my hand in a fist and put it in my lap. I didn't have to pay thousands to keep her comfortable, but I did it anyway because the benefits she gave me simply by existing deserved something in return.

And then I see her. The red hair tied up in a messy bun with gold hoops. She turns her face a quarter and I instantly know that I'm right.

If the devil was a person, she would be his daughter.

"Excuse me-" I stop Bobby from talking, now just realizing that she was speaking. But the demon that is Faye Alden is right here. I stand up and walk in Faye's direction. Then I gently brush my hand over her shoulder so she knows to follow me. I walk to the male bathroom and go inside.

I stay quiet to figure out if I'm alone here and then finally realize that I am.

"That was flirty. You sure your wife wouldn't get jealous?" Faye's voice is soft and still powerful. Her family is the reason this whole fake marriage even happened.

"That's not my wife." I tell her. I have to sound even more confident than Bobby seemed a few minutes ago.

Faye looks right through me. She always has. That's why she knew exactly how to set me up to marry her. She knew what bet I'd take and she knew when to give me the dare. But I did one thing she didn't know I'd do; I ran off to Vegas and married the drunk girl at the bar. The drunk girl at my table right now. The drunk girl who then stayed safe in San Francisco and who has now flown over to the lion's den.

"Was she done with being hidden by you?" She completely ignores my previous statement. "Kind of bold of her to come out of here and pretend she doesn't know me, isn't it?"

They met. Fuck. They met.

I chew on the inside of my cheek, trying to stop myself from snapping at the girl in front of me.

"You know, when my daddy said nothing's above marriage, he included murder in that." The threat rolls off her lips as if she's been saying this for years. "And if she's not your wife then-"

"You hurt a single hair on her body and your daddy will get your body back in a few boxes." I didn't mean to threaten her, but I couldn't hold back. First Bobby's statements at the table, now what Faye's saying. It's a big mistake for Bobby to come here and I'll never be able to tell her why that is.

"That's all I wanted to hear." Faye turns around and then leaves. I watch as she goes, but don't chase her. If I were to never see that girl again, I'd consider it a blessing.

I walk out and go back to my table. Bobby's face is buried in her hands and she looks up when she hears me approach her. "Am I going to get answers out of you?"

I collect my things, then hold out my hand. "Let's go home."

"But we haven't eaten." She furrows her eyebrows together. "You haven't even opened the wine yet-"

"I'm going home, with or without you." Without her would mean she'd probably get swapped up by the Alden family and I don't know if she'd walk out there alive. But she made the mistake of coming here, and I'm not going to fight for the life of a girl who's not going to listen to me anyway.