Vengeful Matrimony | ✔️

Chapter 29

GISELLE

"What are we doing here?" I asked after the waiters served our orders up.

Nicholas looked up from his phone, cocking a brow at me. "Usually when people come to a restaurant, it's because they want to eat. Correct me if I'm wrong, though."

"Haha. Hilarious, smart-ass," I said dryly, a smile tugging at my lips. "Plus, it's rude to be on your phone when you're out on a date."

"This is not a date," he deadpanned.

"This is not a date?" I mock gasped. "Usually when a man takes a woman to an expensive, five-star restaurant for dinner, the general public would consider it as a date. Especially if said man and woman aren't friends. Correct me if I'm wrong, though."

His lips tipped up in one of his rare half-smiles before it promptly disappeared. I was quick to call him out on his bullshit, and he knew it. "You're wrong. What happened to us being friends in the kitchen? Friends don't go on dates."

And friends don't fuck each other, I almost said.

"Hm," I hummed, letting the issue go. I was too exhausted to argue. "As for what happened in the kitchen weeks ago, I had a plate of food in front of me. I could've said literally anything. I didn't point a gun at your head when you asked me out on a date."

He didn't really ask me. Cara and I were in the living room when he walked in, clad his one of his expensive suits. Surprisingly, he told Cara he was on his way to a restaurant for dinner, and Cara suggested we went together. According to her, I had been a helicopter mom all day, and she needed a break away from me. Nicholas believed her, but he didn't know she had spent the entire day sleeping in her room.

"You were in a foul mood after visiting your parents' house today. I heard from Matteo that dining a woman can help her relax."

I laughed. "And you say we aren't on a date?"

"The restaurant belongs to a friend, and I haven't been here in a while."

"You don't have friends. All you have to do is stare at people, and they automatically shrink from you."

"And yet here you are. A living, breathing being who challenges me like she could take me on."

I shrugged a shoulder noncommittally. "I guess not everyone has the balls to deal with you."

"Or you're just lucky to have never seen that side of me yet because you are a woman."

"True. And that's all because..."

"Nicholas!" A man cut me off as he stopped by our table. He looked around Nicholas's age and was just as good-looking with his sleek brown hair, sharp masculine features, and light brown eyes.

He held a hand out to Nicholas, who took it for a firm handshake.

It might have seemed like that was all they were doing from afar - exchanging handshakes. It was hard for them to be subtle when I was this close to them, so I saw the way he expertly slid a drive into Nicholas's palm like they'd done it a hundred times. Nicholas's hand disappeared under the table, and when he brought it out, the drive was gone.

My eyes almost bulged out of my head. This was why we were here. He came here for business.

Nicholas gave the man a nod. "Jordan. It's been a while."

"Yes, Nicholas. I see you brought a beautiful woman with you this time around." Jordan beamed at me. "It must suck to hang out with a man with such a sparkling personality."

I took his outstretched hand with a smile of my own. "You don't know half of it."

"A woman who has a say of her own and isn't afraid to speak up against Nicholas." Jordan mock gasped. "Where did he find you, angel? Well, it's not like I've ever seen him with a woman, anyway. For a moment there, I thought he was scared of women."