Any Other Name

Chapter 8

Eliza was in bed when Marshall came home. He had a box his assistant picked up from a boutique earlier in the week and a bag of treats for River. She had been giving him the cold shoulder ever since he locked her in the closet the week before and seemed pretty close to Eliza since she took her out every day. He barely admitted it to himself and decided to give her the treats when Eliza wasn't near.

He also had an email sitting in his inbox. He opened it as he shut the door behind him with his foot and scrolled through the pictures. He breathed through his nose and went to grab a pitcher.

Eliza woke with water in her face again. She jumped up, straining the last of her bruises, and sputtered, pressing her fingers into the corners of her eyes to wipe away the water. She had been dreaming about sitting on the roof again with nothing beneath her feet, not even the ground—just a great and expansive white that would swallow her and this rude awakening made her think that she had actually jumped and hit something.

"Wakey, wakey," Marshall singsonged from the end of the bed. He had already put the pitcher on the ground and started pulling at his tie. "I've got a work thing tonight and you're coming."

She wondered if he had told her sooner in the week and she had forgotten and that was why he sounded so pissed off right then. She imagined that she would have been peeved if she found him sleeping before they were supposed to go out—but then again, she had no place to go and he had generally been kind to her and her excess sleep the last week.

"You getting up?" He was staring at her from the foot of the bed. She thought she saw something flash in his eyes but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. "Do I need to get more water?"

She shook her head and got out of bed. River was laying in the doorway, watching Marshall with an increasingly darker look. Eliza worried that something had happened between the two of them.

"I got you a present." His voice had lightened but the darkness didn't leave his expression. Eliza came around to his side of the bed and spotted the red box loosely wrapped with a decorative ribbon. She gasped and smiled wide, kissed him on the cheek. Finally, his anger broke and he snaked his arms around her waist. "Open it," he whispered.

She spun around in his arms and slid the ribbon off the box. Inside was a champagne-colored dress with black highlights. She pulled it out and held it up to the light and bit her bottom lip to keep from squealing. It looked to be about floor length with long sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. The sleeves were partly see-through but the black lace accent around the bust and waist made everything pop.

Eliza layed it back down gently on the bed and turned back to face Marshall. He had a shit-eating grin on his face but Eliza couldn't care less. "It's beautiful," she breathed and stood on her tiptoes to give him a proper hug. "I love it, I absolutely love it."

He hugged her back and spoke in her ear. "You'll look great in it. Get dressed." He patted her on her ass before he let go.

She scoffed but couldn't hide the smile. "Let me shower."

"Hurry. We've got two hours before we need to leave."

That really wasn't going to be enough time, but she was lucky he reminded her this soon, and even more so that the dress was going to cover most of her skin. She had no idea what this business thing was, but if Marshall picked out something that beautiful then it must be pretty high-society.

Marshall parked his coupe between two dark SUVs. Most of the cars in the parking lot looked like designer brands, with a few people trailing towards the hotel in their tuxedos and flowing dress. The Autumn night air was chilly and Eliza shivered as she walked around the car. She had met a few of Marshall's work friends in their first year of dating but not since, and she didn't think that accounting would have meant that their business parties were this extravagant.