Truth Untold (Eligible Bachelors #1)

Chapter Six

"I'm telling you! It's weird and he's freaking me out."

"Maybe he really is sorry," Lyn concluded, stepping forward in the queue, up to the cashier and handing over her debit card to pay for her purchase. Vanessa hummed, still unsure of what to make of Alexander's one-eighty turnaround.

After Lyn paid for her purchase, Royce followed behind them, and once he too had paid, they moved off to a table near the window. The tables on either side had been occupied by the five men on Vanessa's security detail.

They had stopped at a café for lunch, deciding to invite Royce since it had been a few days since Vanessa saw her best friend and the café wasn't far from his place of work.

Vanessa broke off a piece of her muffin and chewed slowly, flitting her attention to her best friend who had been silent since Alexander became the topic of conversation. "Royce, what do you think? You usually have a lot to say where he's concerned."

Royce shrugged, setting aside the muffin holder of his own dessert, and breaking off a piece. His uncharacteristic behaviour tipped Vanessa off, and she rolled her eyes.

"Did you say something to him?"

Royce pretended he hadn't heard but let slip a brief smirk. Lyn narrowed her gaze on him, exchanging looks with Vanessa.

"Royce?"

"Alright, fine. Yes, I said something to Ribbit only because I got fed up with him treating you like crap. You scared me that night, Van, and I was afraid you might've done something drastic when I wasn't there." Royce turned to look at Vanessa. "I'm not going to apologize over overstepping boundaries."

Lyn scoffed and shook her head, scrunching her face as though Royce had said the most ridiculous thing. "Absolutely not! I think that was exactly what he needed. To hear about Daphne and Ness from someone who not only knew them both longer, but someone who was not Daphne, Patrick, or Eloisa."

"Yeah, well, now he wants clarity, and he wants to be friends," Vanessa muttered, setting aside the muffin holder from her dessert, and moving onto the panini she was having for lunch.

"And that's a bad thing?" Lyn queried. "All I'm saying is that it might not be a bad thing having an easy last six months of your marriage. He backs off and in no time at all, you're a free woman."

"I don't know. I'm kind of weak, you know. If someone is nice to me and their intent is genuinely friendly, I might start caring and get attached. That's the last thing I need."

"But you also want your name cleared," Royce reasoned. "You want people to know that you didn't bully Daphne, in fact, never did. You want people to know that this sham of a marriage was never your intention and for people to see the truth about you so that they'll stop threatening you and trying to cancel your career."

"That's true," Vanessa replied.

"Not to mention, you're married to one of the most powerful men in the city," Lyn tacked on. "You two being friends might actually be good for your career if he sees you're nothing like those lies say."

"Also, very true," Vanessa said, and then made a sound of protest. "Life is hard," she cried.

"Well, it doesn't come with a manual," Royce commented just as Vanessa's phone pinged with a message notification.

She checked it, and saw that it was from Scott, informing her that he and his friend had completed a proper and thorough investigation on the Twitter post that started all the controversy. He wanted to meet for dinner later to give her everything.

However, before she could reply, her phone rang, and the familiar Kill Bill suspense theme echoed throughout the café.

"Ooh, put it on speaker," Royce suggested, earning a giggle from Lyn. Vanessa rolled her eyes.