Page 81 of Angels Are Falling

“Dr. Maxwell?” I asked, surprised that he was naming my best friend’s husband. Though I met Kai while he was vacationing on a boat owned by Caden Maxwell, I assumed their friendship was surface level. They barely interacted on the cruise. “It didn’t seem like much of a friendship to me.”

He shrugged.

“Old girlfriends then,” I pressed. “You must’ve had a few of those.”

“There hasn’t been anyone serious,” he said. “Unless you count Sarah Whitfield. First grade. We broke up over irreconcilable differences after I informed her that Santa wasn’t real. She called me a liar and ran away. Nap time was very awkward afterward.”

Laughter bubbled at the base of my throat, but I managed to squash it. Frustrated, I asked, “Is there anyone at all in your life who can confirm you aren’t a psychopath?”

The only answer was his lips curving upward.

Just when I thought he wouldn’t elaborate, Kai revealed, “I work. A lot. Most of the hours I’m awake, and several more. Friendship takes time that I do not have the luxury of investing in. Girlfriends take more maintenance than that.”

I almost laughed. We were sitting thousands of miles from the office he claimed owned every hour of his life, on a weekday no less. For a man who cited work as the reason he didn’t hone meaningful relationships, he sure abandoned his business a lot for my sake.

It dawned on me then that Kai’s parents had passed away, he was an only child, and all his relationships were superficial. Legally, Stefan and I had joint custody of the children. For all intents and purposes, I was Kai’s only family. By every measure, I was closer to him than anyone else in the world.

That couldn’t be right, could it? There had to be someone he cared about. What about the woman he had met years ago, the one who had caught his eye? He spoke so fondly of her when we first met.

A heaviness settled over my chest at the thought. Ruby was Stefan’s fantasy woman, and he had come to prefer her company over mine. I wasn’t Kai’s dream girl, either. They both married me, yet Stefan drooled over Ruby, and Kai only wanted me because he couldn’t be with the girl he truly wanted, the one that got away.

I stopped asking questions. My insecurities would ruin the day if I went down this rabbit hole, and I refused to let that happen. I hadn’t returned to Lebanon since Baba passed away, and I planned on soaking up every minute of it.

As promised, Kai took me shopping to supplement the items he had packed for me. The boutique was off a lane in Gemmayzeh, the kind of place you found only if you already knew it was there. The saleslady materialized from behind the counter and took in Kai with the expression of a woman who understood what his credit card looked like before he produced it.

I picked up a plain white blouse. Kai looked at it the way a professor looked at a wrong answer. Not unkind. Just certain.

“What’s wrong with it?” I asked.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Your face said it all,” I muttered sulkily.

He shrugged. “Get it if that’s what you want.”

I looked from him to the shirt and hastily put it back. Infuriatingly, his disapproval gnawed at me, and if I were being honest, white wasn’t my color.

After vetoing two more of my choices—simply by the sheer force of his disapproving glances—Kai decided I was incapable of shopping and moved through the rails himself with unhurried confidence.

“What about this?” he asked, holding up a dress.

The color was burnt orange, deep, warm. The cut was simple. The fabric felt like silk that moved rather than hung. It was understatedly gorgeous. I suddenly realized why he had disapproved of my selections thus far—I had been sticking to the sale section. I took one look at the price tag, and my heart sank.

When I was eight, I interrupted Baba during a call. He promised to buy me an American Girl doll just to make me go away. As the years went by, he threw more expensive gifts at the problem—my presence and existence in general. Stefan had also sent me a steady stream of presents as a consolation for not spending time with me.

I automatically equated lavish gifts with people leaving me. I didn’t want Kai to buy me an expensive dress because that would give him a pass to ditch me. He had already admitted to prioritizing work over his personal life. I had dreamt of returning to my homeland and always assumed I’d visit it with Stefan. Now that Kai had started carving out a space for himself in my heart, I wanted to show him my country.

I quickly pushed the dress back to him. “No, thank you. Not my style.”

He looked at the dress, then at me. “Try it on anyway. Humor me.”

I shook my head, feeling paranoid about him buying me something extravagant so he could pull out his laptop and work. Besides, arguing with Kai was basically my cardio. “It’s giving grandma vibes,” I told him, even though the dress was quite chic.

He frowned. “I think it’s nice.”

“That’s because you’re a million years old.”

“I’m thirty, you brat,” he said, without heat.