Chapter 5

RHIANNON

The first thing to meet my ears as I walked into the bakery was the barking tone of the man standing in the center of the room.

He was yelling at Jacinth and Tobias, whose depleted expressions simmered into relief when they saw me walk in.

“What’s going on?” I asked, approaching them with gnawing curiosity. The man turned, and I was instantly drenched with disappointment seeing him.

“The lady finally decides to show up!” the man hollered with sarcasm.

Why on earth was he here again?

“Mr. Darcy—”

“Hold it!” He snapped, holding up a hand to silence whatever I had to say. “Unless you want yourself and your crew to be dispatched outta here, you better give me my rent money right now!”

“We agreed at the end of the month, Mr. Darcy,” I told him with a sigh. “And it’s barely the end of the month yet.”

“Listen, Miss Clay,” the man drew closer, pointing a finger down at me in warning. “I’ve got a lot of offers coming in for this space, and if you really want to retain it, you gotta pay up your debt right now, or else take your poor business someplace else so I can make me some damn money!”

For all the freaking peaches in the world, I would bet this man was out to make my life a miserable hell in this place. Demanding rent on a Thursday morning like I was supposed to have it right then, when we had an agreement? Who does that?

“Mr. Darcy, this is so sudden, but if you would just give us some time—”

“I don’t have time to give, young lady!” he snapped. “Pay me money, now!”

I heaved an exasperated sigh, and the exit dinged open behind me.

“How much is the rent, sir?” The voice made me spin almost immediately, and I saw Declan, sporting his usual office wear, dipping a hand into his pocket. Standing in my space.

And I clicked.

“Mr. Darcy,” I turned back to the old man, who I wished the ground would just open and swallow and throw halfway across the Atlantic Ocean, anywhere that wasn’t here. “If you would leave, I promise I’ll make the deposit when I go to the bank—”

“The rent’s two thousand dollars. You paying cash or transfer?” Mr. Darcy told Declan, ignoring me. My blood boiled hot when I saw Declan retrieve his wallet from his pocket.

“You’d better keep that wallet back in your pocket if you don’t want to get your ass kicked out of here, Declan,” I gritted at him. He looked at me with worry in his eyes.

“Ria, allow me—”

“Mr. Darcy, I swear if you don’t leave this place right now and wait for the deposit, I’ll make sure this property is not something worth purchasing even in a million years to come,” I snarled at the old man, and he backed up, stunned.

“A…are you threatening—”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” I cursed under my breath, tucking out the money I’d meant to buy some groceries with from my purse into the man’s hands. “There you go! Keep the freaking change!”

The man gave me an irritated look over before plunging the money straight into his trouser pocket, and like a satisfied big baby, he sauntered out of the place.

God only knew what worse things I wished would happen to that man every time he entered here and stepped right out the door.

“Ria—”

I held a hand to interrupt Declan before he spoke further.

“We’re not open yet,” I told him. “Come back later or go someplace else.”

“I just want to talk to you, for a minute, Ria,” he persisted. Hell, I hated how he made me feel even the slightest bit of anger for him. We were broken up, and it was supposed to be all kumbaya and no emotions since he was now my in-law, but I couldn’t help wanting to excavate the very ground he was on.

How dare he try to make me into some sort of damsel in distress who needed his saving?

“I don’t want to talk to you,” I stated, turning in the direction of the kitchen, where I would rather bake myself out than hear whatever he had to say.

“Look, if it’s about last night —”

My turn was as sharp as could be. “Declan, I don’t know what sort of unimaginable plot you and your wife have going on, but if you’ve come here to continue what she didn’t finish last night, I suggest you take a hike out of here and never come back.”

He sighed. “Ria, I came to apologize —”

“Thank you very much, now leave, Declan. Before I lose my head,” I interrupted him. The last thing I wanted to do was lash out, but if he pushed me to the very edge…

“Please, don’t hate Hailey too much,” he told me, before gently tucking his hands into his pocket and exiting the shop.

Try being told to a whole crowd of people by a person you loved that you were unworthy of love and that your ex-boyfriend had chosen your sister over you, and then decide how to feel towards that person.

Allowing a free hand to run through my hair, I turned to resume in the direction of the kitchen, ignoring the fact that Tobias, who was cleaning tables, had heard everything, and possibly Jacinth, wherever she was.

I didn’t allow myself the misery of feeling the pain a second time. In here, it was business. And nothing good ever came from mixing negative emotions with business.

I just had to find a way to get all the groceries I needed before the opening hour.

***

Tinder date: 5 p.m.

Thanks to my schedule planner, I’d managed not to forget that one important task and save someone’s son the disappointment of being stood up.

I had taken an hour and forty-five minutes thinking if it would be a good idea to cancel or not cancel, another hour to finish in the bakery and leave the closing to Tobias and Jacinth, and an extra hour figuring out which of Ashley’s dresses would make me look more like an attractive date than a try-hard spinster.

And, fingers crossed, maybe this date would go much better than the others.

And by much better, I meant, no fleeing before the food got to our table, or making some sort of toilet excuse and leaving me to pay for the entire date myself.

5:15 p.m., and there was still no date.

Charles was his name. Charles T.L., according to his Tinder profile. And his profile photo showed a man who looked to be in his thirties. Clean beard. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. A humorous way of texting.

I hadn’t expected him to be turning up late.

Another fifteen minutes in, and I was already questioning the authenticity of this so-called ‘date’. Maybe I’d let my hopes up too early.

I decided to wait a few more minutes before leaving, busying myself with my phone when a message from Ashley suddenly popped up.

Ashley: YOU HAVE TO GUESS WHAT I FOUND!!!!!

I frowned and then typed a reply.

Me: What?

Ashley: Guess, dammit!

Me: I’m on a date, Ashley. (—_—)

Ashley: Okay. Okay. That hotshot you slept with? CHECK THIS OUT!!!

And following her text was a screenshot of a news headline. And the picture on it was all that had my attention.

There was a name.

Alessandro Leon.

Ashley: I was right!!! YOUR MAN’S A MULTI-BILLIONAIRE!! Owner of freaking ElectroCorp!

Multibillionaire was probably what Ashley saw, but I definitely saw the next words that followed after it.

MULTI-BILLIONAIRE SCANDAL: RUMORED MAFIA TIES

“Rhiannon Clay,” the voice grasped my attention to the man standing in front of my table, and I froze.

Dark hair, corporate getup, a face that looked nothing like a thirty-year-old…

“Charles T.L.?” I asked, just to be sure. A small smile appeared on his lips. One that looked way too familiar to overlook.

“Pleasure to finally meet you, Ria,” he said. “Although I must say, you look even prettier in real life than in your profile photo.”

And I could say the same for him. Only, he looked nothing like the man I had expected to be on a date with.