THE BILLIONAIRE'S BETRAYED BRIDE

CHAPTER TWELVE

Valeria

Alexander said my name like he wasn't completely sure I was actually standing there.

His tie was loose around his neck, and his car door was still open behind him. He looked like he'd just gotten home and had walked straight into something he hadn't prepared for.

Which, was obviously me.

For a second, neither of us said anything.

The housekeeper looked between us.

Once.

Then again.

I caught it.

She definitely caught something.

"I was just leaving," I said.

Brilliant.

As if that explained why I was standing in the doorway of his mother's house like I'd been caught doing something.

"You were here?"

"Yes."

"With my mother?"

I nodded. "She invited me for tea."

I gestured behind me.

"I hope that's okay."

"Of course it's okay."

He said it quickly, almost too quickly.

Then his expression changed slightly.

"I just didn't expect to see you again so soon."

"I didn't exactly plan it either."

Before he could say anything else, thunder rolled somewhere in the distance.

We both looked up.

The sky had changed.

I hadn't even noticed.

The bright afternoon we'd arrived in was gone. Thick, dark clouds covered almost everything above the estate, and the wind had picked up enough to whip my dress around my legs.

"That doesn't look good."

"No."

Another rumble of thunder sounded.

"It's been building all afternoon. The forecast said there'd be a storm tonight."

A fat drop of rain landed on my shoulder.

I looked down at it.

Then another hit my arm.

Alexander looked at me.

"You should get inside."

"I think that's probably a good idea."

We barely made it through the doors before the rain came down properly.

It was sudden.

One second, there were a few drops.

The next, it sounded like someone had thrown an entire bucket of water at the house.

Rain slammed against the windows.

Thunder cracked overhead, loud enough that I jumped.

Alexander noticed.

I pretended he didn't.

Outside, the driver who had brought me was still standing beside the car.

He looked toward the sky.

Then toward the road.

Then back toward the sky.

Honestly, I understood him.

Alexander noticed too.

He lifted a hand and motioned for him to come inside.

The driver didn't need telling twice.

"Alexander?"

Madam Hayes appeared in the hallway, leaning carefully on her crutches.

"What on earth is happening?"

"The storm came in fast," Alexander said. "Valeria was just leaving."

Madam Hayes looked toward me.

Then toward the windows.

Then back at me.

"In this weather?"

"I'm fine."

"No."

She said it so firmly that I almost laughed.

"It's just rain."

"Valeria, that is not just rain."

Another flash of lightning lit up the windows.

A second later, thunder followed.

Madam Hayes pointed toward the window.

"Look at that."

I looked.

Okay.

Maybe it wasn't just rain.

"I'll be fine once I get in the car"

"No, you won't."

Madam Hayes

"You are staying here."

I blinked.

"Tonight?"

"Yes."

"I couldn't possibly"

"You could."

She smiled.

It was a very pleasant smile.

The kind of smile that somehow still felt like an order.

"I have more guest rooms than I know what to do with. You're not going anywhere in this."

She glanced outside again.

"I would never forgive myself if something happened to you on the road."

I didn't know what to say.

"Please, Valeria Let me do this."

There was something about her voice that made arguing feel impossible.

Still, I looked at Alexander.

I wasn't sure why.

Maybe I expected him to object.

Maybe I expected him to tell his mother that I needed to go home.

Instead, he simply nodded.

"She's right."

His eyes moved briefly toward the windows.

"The roads will be terrible tonight."

I sighed.

"I don't want to be a bother."

"You're not a bother."

Madam Hayes said it immediately.

Then she looked at me with a little smile.

"Besides, you're the one who helped me when everyone else walked past."

She paused.

"Now let me return the favor."

That shut me up.

"Come on," she said. "I'll have Mrs. Song prepare the blue room. It has the best view of the garden."

She glanced toward the windows.

"Although, judging by that storm, you probably won't be seeing much of the garden tonight."

I laughed softly.

Before I knew it, I was following her down the hallway.

The housekeeper appeared with towels. Someone else hurried toward the kitchen because apparently having an unexpected guest meant an entire operation had to begin.

I stood there for a moment, watching everyone move around me.

This was getting ridiculous.

I'd come here for tea.

Tea.

And now I was apparently spending the night in a mansion because the sky had decided to ruin my plans.

I looked back toward the entrance.

Rain continued to pour outside.

Alexander was still standing near the front doors.

For a moment, he watched the storm.

Then he looked at me.

I couldn't read his expression.

Neither of us said anything.

Finally, he turned and followed us down the hallway.

I looked ahead.

I hadn't planned any of this.

Not the tea.

Not meeting Madam Hayes again.

Definitely not getting trapped in Alexander's house because of a thunderstorm.

And yet...

I wasn't completely unhappy about it.

Which was probably the part I should have been worried about.