Just Before My Wedding: Trapped By My Ruthless Boss novel Chapter 92

Chapter 92

KISAREL..

“I think I have another option.” Elgin said, buttoning his cuffs with his tie looped around his left shoulder. “Oceans won’t see this one coming.

I sighed and rolled my eyes as I pulled my oversized polo shirt over my head. “He sees everything. No matter how smart you think you’re being about it, he always finds a way to be five steps ahead.”

Elgin paused like that offended him personally.

Then his eyes brightened. “How about you leave the country?” He paused, tilting his head like he was tasting the idea.

I stared at him through the mirror.

He lifted one finger quickly. “Wait. Even better. Ask Jace to give you a job at his company.” His eyes lit up. “Yes. Yes, chérie. That’s it. Oceans can’t influence that, can he? Jace is your fiancé. He owns his own company. You work there, and Mr. Stark can sit in his glass office and choke on his control issues.”

I looked away and adjusted the hem of the polo around my hips.

Elgin sounded like he had just discovered the solution to both my heartbreak and world hunger. And maybe he had, because the next best thing to doing nothing was working for Jace.

I’d told myself right from the beginning that I didn’t want that. So, it wasn’t even an option.

“I’ll talk to Mr. Stark’s friend tomorrow,” I said. “Hanold. Maybe he can help me somehow.”

Elgin’s brows lifted. “You trust him?”

“No.” I picked up my lip gloss from the table. “But I trust that he would rather see me leave than sleep with his friend. He has never failed to make me understand that with his unfiltered glares.”

Elgin Isked, “Now, I hate him.”

“I know.”

“Fine.” He turned back to the mirror and started knotting his tie. “If that gives you something to hold on to, then hold on to it. But please, Arel, do not let Moonie send you on errands again. Wedding errands are not part of your job description.”

I let out a dry laugh. “You sound more offended than I was.” I shook my head. “Speaking of…” I eyed him up and down. “Don’t you think you look a bit too serious for just an evening at a park?”

Elgin looked at himself in the mirror like he was considering a national matter. His shirt was crisp, his trousers tailored, and the tie made him look like he was attending a diplomatic dinner instead of accompanying me to Luna Park.

“No, chérie.” He smoothed his palm over the tie. “First impressions matter

“With Nessa?”

“With suspiciously beautiful women who appear in your life after near–death experiences, yes.” He adjusted the knot again. “Besides, she needs to know you have someone serious beside you. Someone who does not take bullshit. Someone with cheekbones and legal vocabulary.”

Flaughed.

We both laughed, but the sound died when his phone started ringing on the dresser.

22

O

口

SALE

16:42 Fri, May 22 M

Chapter 92

His eyes moved to the screen, but he ignored it with a small sadness etched on his face.

“You’re not answering?” I asked.

His shoulders slacked, “He’s the guy from the club the night Grand–père died. He reminds me of the fact that I could have been home with Grand–père, if I hadn’t gone off to fuck with a stranger I just met at the club.”

My chest tightened.

“Elgin…”

He laughed once, but there was nothing light in it. “Ridiculous, isn’t it? A man can study philosophy, speak three languages, own too many scarves, and still let one stupid night become a punishment he keeps replaying.”

I crossed the room slowly and stood beside him.

There was a moment of silence before I squeezed his arm gently

“I understand, Elgin. Take your time. You deserve it.”

The taxi pulled up to Luna Park just as the sun was beginning to set, and the entire street looked like it had been dipped in gold and strung with fairy lights.

The place was alive.

Music floated from somewhere deeper inside the park, something upbeat with drums and a woman’s voice singing over it. Strings of warm lights hung from poles and trees, glowing above the crowd like tiny stars someone had lowered for the evening. Vendors stood behind colorful stalls, calling out to people passing by. There were handmade bracelets, painted masks, silk scarves, grilled meat on sticks, paper cups of spiced drinks, sugar–dusted pastries, and flowers arranged in old glass bottles.

It felt too bright for the heaviness I had carried into the evening.

But not in a bad way.

For the first time since Friday night, I did not feel like the whole world was waiting for me to break.

Elgin stepped down beside me and adjusted his sleeves like he was evaluating a crime scene.

“It’s very… loud,” he said.

“It’s a night market, Elgin. It’s supposed to be loud.”

“Loud is fine. Chaotic is fine. But this many people in one place is historically how terrible things begin.”

“Jesus. You’re so impossible.”

“I know. Where is this Nessa?” he asked, scanning the crowd with narrowed eyes. “I would like to begin my assessment before she charms the common sense out of you.”

“Elgin, please. You look like you came to investigate tax fraud.”

“Perfect. Let her know I keep records.”

I shook my head and reached into my bag for my phone. “I’ll call her.”

Before I could unlock the screen, a bright, soft, familiar laugh rang out behind us. It made my shoulders loosen before I

22

O

16:42 Fri, May 22 M.

Chapter 92

even turned.

“You made it!”

I turned around, and there she was.

Nessa.

She smelled like flowers and honey, warm and sweet and entirely disarming.

She looked like she belonged inside the lights somehow. Her blonde curls loose and bouncing around her shoulders, and she wore a soft green dress with tiny buttons down the front and a denim jacket thrown over it. Simple, pretty, and effortless in a way that would have annoyed me if she didn’t look so genuinely happy to see me.

She reached me quickly and took both my hands in hers. “I was starting to think you would change your mind.”

“I almost did.” I admitted.

“I know.” Her smile gentled. “That’s why I’m glad you didn’t.”

Something about the way she said it made my chest warm a little.

Then her eyes moved to Elgin.

“Oh.” Nessa said, her smile widening. “You brought backup.”

“Elgin, this is Nessa,” I said. “Nessa, this is Elgin. My best friend.

Elgin inclined his head like he was greeting a foreign ambassador, extending his hand stiffly. “Enchanté.”

Nessa took his hand and held it longer than necessary, her eyes scanning his face with open curiosity. “The famous Elgin,” she said. “Kisarel talks about you all the time. She said you studied in France? I can tell. You have that energy.”

“What energy is that?”

“The energy of someone who has strong opinions about cheese and knows how to use them.”

Elgin’s mouth twitched.

“I mean that as a compliment,” Nessa added, still holding his hand, “I’ve never met anyone who studied in France and came back without opinions about cheese. It’s like a law or something.”

Elgin’s composure cracked. A smile broke through–small, reluctant, but real.

“Okay,” he said, pulling his hand back. “You are charming. I will give you that.”

Nessa laughed. “That’s all I ask.”

She turned and hooked her arm through mine, pulling me toward the crowd.

“Come on,” she said. “There’s a vendor in the back corner who sells these little caramelized nut pastries that will change your life. I found them last week, and I haven’t stopped thinking about them. They’re flaky and sweet, and they put something on top that I can’t pronounce, but I would like to marry.”

She was already walking, dragging me with her, her energy so bright and contagious that I couldn’t help but smile.

I looked back at Elgin and mouthed, “See? Loosen up. She’s nice.”

22

O

口

16:42 Fri, May 22 d M

Chapter 93