Page 67 of Angels Are Falling

“And a fruit basket.”

Stefan laughed softly. “Done.” He lifted the lid off the nearest dish and sniffed to check on the bone marrow. “Man. Remember when our date nights used to be cheap takeout? Now our private chef serves us amuse-bouche.”

“We can still get cheap takeout.”

He didn’t hear me, or pretended not to. He kissed my cheek instead, and I might as well be putty in his hands. I closed my eyes and breathed in the familiar sandalwood scent that was so uniquely Stefan. “Do you forgive me for tonight?” he asked.

“Yes,” I yielded. Mostly because I didn’t want to let a perfectly good evening go to waste, one we could still salvage. He was leaving the country tomorrow night. I didn’t want to fight during what little time we had together. I playfully elbowed him. “Don’t stand me up again.”

“I won’t.” A kiss landed on my temple. His gaze drifted to the jackets the kids had haphazardly thrown by the door leading to Kai’s side of the house. “Kai picked up the kids?”

“Yup.”

The kids were homesick after only four days of boarding school. They called Stefan, begging him to let them come home early. Stefan said no. Naturally, they called Kai, who was more sympathetic to their plight. He rearranged his schedule to pick them up.

“Kai helped them with their homework and then put them to bed. They’re sleeping over at his side,” I told him.

“I’m glad they’re getting along with Kai.”

Because they are trying to fill the hole you left them with, I wanted to tell him but pursed my lips. I wasn’t the only one Stefan had been neglecting. Since the kids moved into this house, he had spent all of five minutes with them, while Kai had been entertaining them nonstop.

Instead of making him feel bad about it, I focused on salvaging our evening. Tonight was our only date night for a long while. Tomorrow was our family outing, and Stefan was leaving right after. “Can we please eat now? I’m starving.”

I felt him tense behind me. He slowly unwrapped his arms and shuffled away.

Unease coiled inside me. “What’s wrong?”

He ran a hand through his wavy hair. “Um. Kai had Nobu cater for the entire office tonight to celebrate the collaboration with Ruby.” He tried to salvage the tension with a lame joke. “I’ll pop like a balloon if I eat another bite.”

I let the words sink into the pores of my face, not showing my reaction. “Oh.” He ate dinner with Ruby while he forgot his plans with me altogether. “Ruby was there tonight.”

A scene played out in my mind against my will. Ruby in one of her iconic outfits, and the two of them laughing over a sushi boat, bodies angled too close for strictly professional conversation. I closed my eyes to ward off the visual.

We hadn’t shared a meal since I married Kai, yet he had shared numerous meals with Ruby. It felt intentional. Whenever we had plans, Stefan was flooded with responsibilities that trickled down from Kai’s expectations.

I shook my head. I was being paranoid. I doubt Kai had Nobu cater for an entire office just to ensure Stefan was too stuffed to eat with me.

Stefan took a sip of his wine. “Yeah. Ruby wanted to review the itinerary before we flew out.”

My stomach was in knots. I could barely stand the idea of them working late nights and weekends. How was I going to endure the weeks they’d spend abroad together?

His phone vibrated, and he muttered, “Work,” before unlocking it.

“Something important?” I asked tentatively. There was a time when he would’ve told me who was texting him without prompting.

“Um—” he started, but didn’t finish the thought as his phone chimed with more incoming messages.

“Well?” I pressed impatiently.

He shook his head. “Just confirming our car service to LAX. I’d rather have someone else drive so I can do some work during the ride.”

“LAX?” I frowned. The Los Angeles International Airport was four to five hours from Darster, depending on traffic, whereas the nearest airport was only twenty minutes away.

Stefan didn’t glance up from his phone. “Yeah. Kai’s plane is stored at a nearby hangar. Made more sense to drive to LAX and fly out of there.”

Of course, he was taking Kai’s jet to Dubai. Stefan had adjusted to his new life so fast that I couldn’t remember who he used to be in our previous one. Private jets. Personal assistants. Chauffeurs. Parties. Celebrities.

And many, many forgotten plans with his family. Because if he was flying out of LA, he wasn’t planning to spend the day with us tomorrow.