NovelFast"Am | supposed to know her?" Rupert took a sip of his coffee, trying to ease the discomfort in his body.
"She's... the new girl at work. She senthere to treat you to dinner."
As Fay's ncup, Sylvia shot a glance at the heavy oak door.
Did Fay lock them in here?
Rupert caught her look and said quietly, "You two have shistory, don't you?"
"Can | plead ignorance?" Sylvia still felt completely baffled by the whole thing.
Rupert spun the chunky silver ring on his finger, a frown creasing his brow. "Whoever locked that door definitely
knew we were in here."
Sylvia caught on instantly.
She held out her hand to Rupert. "Your phone."
"Someone spilled a drink on me. It's fried."
"Really? That's a little too convenient," Sylvia said, suspicion clear in her voice.
"Want to frisk me?" Rupert held both hands up, palms open.
The overhead light made the garing on his hand look even more striking, not
to mention the wedding band sitting snugly on his middle finger.
Sylvia tore her eyes away, pretending not to notice, and racked her brain for solutions.
Rupert followed her gaze, glancing at his own rings, then lowered his head and absently rubbed them.
"There's a hidden cabin the back, behind the scotch bottles. Inside, there's a safe. Orson keeps a spare
phone in there."
Sylvia nodded and went searching, but cup empty.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Where exactly?"
"All the way in the back. What do you see?"
Rupert's eyes flicked toward the velvet curtain in the corner.
Sylvia remembered—she'd changed clothes behind that curtain once, at Rupert's last private wine tasting.
Taking a breath, she stepped through the curtain. This was Rupert's secret tasting room, all mahogany shelves
and dim lights. She pushed aside a rack of rare bourbons and found a built-in wall safe, about as tall as she was.
She called out, "It needs a code."
Rupert was silent for a moment before finally saying, "Try something you think I'd never use."
Sylvia scowled. This was no tfor games.
She punched in Orson's birthday. Nope.
Maybe Chris? Wrong again.
She tried Tristan's birthday. Still nothing. One more wrong guess and the alarm would go off, and then the whole
steakhouse would know she and Rupert were hiding out together. s
"What is it, Rupert?" Sylvia snapped.
Suddenly, she felt his presence right behind her, his breath warm on her neck. One hand braced on the shelf he
leaned past her and punched in a code. . s
1125.
Sylvia froze.
It was her birthday.
But she hadn't celebrated her birthday in years.
The safe clicked open. Inside were sauctioned bottles of wine and a handful of expensive vintage glasses.
Sylvia snapped back to reality and, pretending not to notice the code, grabbed the spare phone from the bottom
shelf.
She handed the phone to Rupert. "This is your place. You handle it. I'll wait outside."
Without another word, she slipped past Rupert and out of the tasting room.
Rupert stared down at the phone, his knuckles white.
Had she really cto hate him this much?
Sylvia waited outside for a bit. When Rupert finally emerged, his expression was
calm and composed as if he'd never lost control at all.
That was the real Rupert: always
cool, always detaghed(3bletshil
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Sylvia was about to ask what the plan was when she heard footsteps approaching
from the hallway. She tensed and turned toward the sound.
The wine cellar door swung open.
Sylvia was surprised to see who'd cin.
"Reese? Mr. Sanford?"
"Sylvia? Mr. Rupert? What are you two doing here?"
Reese's face was pale as a sheet.
She staggered straight nial ester's
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suspiciously between teet
Rupert. s
Before Sylvia could explain, someone else squeezed through the doorway.
"Sylvia! | was wondering where you'd
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man's fiancé!" The content is on
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chapter there!
It was Fay, of course.
"Fay, don't start," Lester snapped, voice sharp.
"Oh, please! Am | wrong? She sneaks off alone with someone else's fiancé and
you think that's innocent?"
Fay jabbed a finger at Sylvia, her face flushed with anger.
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