I Married the Man Above My Ex

ChapterThree

The man seated beside Kathy wore a charcoal suit tailored to perfection. He had broad shoulders, dark hair swept carelessly back, and a watch that probably cost more than her entire apartment building.

He wasn't looking at her drink. He was looking at her with a quiet assessment. "You've had enough."

Kathy slowly turned toward him. For a second, something about his face tugged at her memory. She frowned. She had seen him somewhere. A conference?

A magazine? A keynote speech?

The thought slipped away before she could catch it. She let out a tired laugh. "Did I ask for your opinion?"

"No."

"Then why are you answering questions I never asked?"

"Because alcohol is the last thing you need right now.".

Without taking his eyes off her, he nodded once at the bartender. "Water.”

The bartender immediately replaced the whiskey with a fresh glass of water.

Kathy stared at it. Then at the stranger.

"Oh." She rolled her eyes."Another man who thinks he gets a vote."

"I don't."

"You just cancelled my drink."

"I prevented tomorrow's regret."

She kissed her teeth. "That's annoyingly philosophical."

"It's common sense." His tone remained calm. Controlled. As though nothing in the world could provoke him. For reasons she couldn't explain, that irritated her.

She picked up the water anyway and took a reluctant sip. Her face twisted immediately. "It tastes awful."

He nodded slowly. Silence settled between them. He studied her for another moment before speaking again. "Bad night?"

She looked into the glass. "That's one way to describe it."

She looked at him again. Longer this time.

Her brows slowly knitted together. "...Wait."

He said nothing.

"I know you." She leaned a little closer. "I've seen you before." Another beat. Her eyes widened. "Oh my God..."

She sat upright so quickly the room spun. She grabbed the edge of the counter. "You're..." She trailed off. "Andre Reid."

He gave a small nod. "You finally figured it out."

Andre rarely drank. Not because he disliked alcohol. Because he disliked surrendering control.

Tonight was one of the few exceptions.

Every year, on this date, he visited his younger brother's grave.

After leaving the cemetery, Andre followed the same ritual. One glass of whiskey. Thirty quiet minutes alone. Then back to work. Nothing more.

Tonight should have been no different.

Until he noticed a woman ordering her fourth drink.

Kathy Caldwell.

He recognized her immediately.

Kathy's mouth fell open. For nearly five seconds, she simply stared. Then buried her face in both hands. "Oh..."

She groaned. "This is perfect."

Andre remained silent. "I've just been arguing with Andre Reid."

"You've been talking."

"I practically insulted you."

"You disagreed with me."

She peeked at him through her fingers. "Why didn't you tell me who you were?"

"You didn't ask."

She let out another helpless laugh. "Fair enough."

He slid the glass of water toward her again. "Drink."

This time, she obeyed without another complaint. After a long silence, she spoke again. "My fiancé cheated on me. With his best friend."

Andre didn't interrupt. Nothing changed on his face. His eyes only sharpened imperceptibly.

"They've been together for three years." She laughed softly. "We've been together for four."

She stared at the melting ice in her glass. "I spent four years helping him build his company. I turned down better offers. I developed software. I solved problems. I worked late into the night."

"I believed every late hour meant we were building our future." Her smile disappeared. "Turns out I was being used."

Andre said nothing still. And Kathy kept talking. She told him about the promotions she'd refused. The investors' meetings she'd prepared.

The weekends she'd sacrificed. The clients she'd helped secure.

Andre listened carefully. Then his assistant, Ethan, appeared beside him, quietly enough that Kathy barely noticed.

"The board is waiting, sir."

Andre nodded slightly. "I'll be there shortly."

Ethan disappeared as silently as he'd arrived. Andre turned back to Kathy. "Where do you live?"

She frowned. "Home."

"What address?" She opened her mouth.

No word came out. Then she burst into laughter. "I..." She blinked twice. "I actually can't remember."

"Your phone." She handed it to him obediently.

He pressed the power button. "The battery's dead." He slipped it back into her handbag and stood. "Come on."

She tried climbing off the stool herself. She missed a step and stumbled. Andre caught her before she hit the marble floor.

"You okay?"

She looked up at him. Really looked.

He was even more handsome this close.

Unfairly so.

He picked up her handbag and slung it over his shoulder before steadying her again.

Outside, Andre guided her toward the waiting car. Then she stopped walking. "What is it?"

She searched his face for a long moment. Then asked quietly, "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did." She smiled. "I mean... a real question."

He waited. Her voice became almost painfully small. "I don't want to remember him tonight. I don't want to think. I don't want to cry anymore."

She took one slow step closer. "So..." She looked straight into his eyes.

"Would you sleep with me tonight, Andre Reid?"

Silence settled between them. Kathy's cheeks burned. For one horrifying second, she considered pretending she hadn't spoken.

Andre looked at her without surprise. "You've had a lot to drink."

He held her gaze for another second before opening the rear passenger door of the waiting black sedan. "I'm taking you somewhere you'll be safe."

She smiled to herself, completely misunderstanding him. "I knew you'd say yes."

The drive passed in comfortable silence.

Or at least, it was comfortable for Andre. Kathy filled the quiet with sleepy observations.

"So..." she murmured, studying him. "Do CEOs always rescue drunk women?"

"No."

"Just me?"

"Apparently."

She smiled and continued watching him.

"I always imagined Andre Reid would be terrifying."

"And?"

"You're... less terrifying."

He looked out the window. "You've only known me for fifteen minutes."

"Still counts."

By the time the car rolled beneath the illuminated entrance of Andre's hotel, Kathy could barely keep her eyes open.

The chauffeur hurried around to open the door.

Andre stepped out first. Kathy attempted to follow. Her heel caught the edge of the pavement. She almost tripped.

Before she could fall, Andre's arms caught her. "I've got you."

She looked up at him. "You really do." She smiled lazily.

"You're very..." She searched for the word.

"...steady." He said nothing.

He simply adjusted his grip on her arm and guided her toward the entrance. The moment they stepped inside, every employee seemed to straighten.

"Good evening, Mr. Reid."

"Welcome back, sir."

Andre acknowledged each greeting with a brief nod. Nothing more.

Kathy looked around in fascination. "They all know you." She nodded thoughtfully. "You're rich."

They reached a private elevator tucked away from the main lobby. Andre pressed his thumb against a small scanner. She stepped inside. Or tried to. Her knees buckled again. Andre caught her before she hit the floor. He sighed. "You can't walk."

"I absolutely can." She took one determined step—and immediately stumbled again. "I stand corrected."

Before she could object, one arm slid beneath her knees while the other supported her back.

“Oh."Her breath hitched as she realized he was carrying her. She instinctively wrapped an arm around his neck. "You really are carrying me."

Andre ignored the comment.

She studied him from impossibly close.

"Hmm."

"What?"

"You smell nice."

His expression remained unchanged. "I'm beginning to regret asking questions."

She laughed softly before resting her head against his shoulder. His heartbeat was slow and steady. Nothing like hers.

She closed her eyes. For reasons she couldn't explain, she felt safe. The elevator opened directly into an enormous penthouse.

Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked thousands of glittering city lights. Modern artwork lined the walls.

Everything was elegant. Expensive. Immaculate. He carried her through the spacious living area before entering the bedroom.

The king-sized bed dominated the room. He lowered her onto it carefully.

She bounced lightly against the mattress.

"Oh..." She stretched both arms dramatically. "This bed is bigger than my apartment."

Andre wasn't entirely convinced she was exaggerating. He turned toward the door. Her fingers caught his sleeve. He stopped. Kathy was looking at him now.

The teasing smile was gone. Only sadness remained. "I don't want to remember him tonight."

She looked up at him. The playful smile she'd worn moments ago had disappeared.Only hurt remained. "I don't want to remember him tonight."

Andre's jaw tightened. "I know."

"I just..." Her voice cracked. "...want one night where it doesn't hurt."

She stood unsteadily until they were only inches apart. Close enough to feel each other's breath. "Sleep with me."

The words came out as little more than a whisper. Andre held her gaze. For one dangerous second… He almost kissed her. She closed her eyes. Waiting.

Instead, his thumb gently brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face.

He laid her back on the bed, pulled the duvet over her, and tucked it around her shoulders. "Get some sleep, Kathy."

She caught his wrist one last time.

"So that's a no?"

The corner of his mouth lifted. "Ask me again when you can remember this conversation.” He paused. "I'll probably still say no."

Her eyelids were already growing heavy.

Within seconds, she drifted asleep. Andre stood there a moment longer, watching to make sure she was truly asleep.

Then he crossed to the small table by the window and picked up his phone. "Send a female attendant," he said quietly.

"And ask room service to prepare breakfast for seven."

He ended the call. He switched off the bedside lamp and walked out, closing the suite door behind him with barely a sound. Andre gave one last glance toward the closed bedroom door before walking away.

The private elevator descended in silence.

Andre stood with one hand in his pocket, watching his reflection in the polished steel doors.

Calm. Controlled. Untouched. Yet his mind refused to return to tomorrow's meetings.

Instead, it lingered on the woman asleep in his suite.

Ethan was already waiting beside the car. "You missed the board meeting."

He cleared his throat and walked past Ethan. "I know."

"I'll reschedule."

Andre nodded once. The car pulled away from the hotel. For several minutes, neither of them spoke.

Then Ethan broke the silence. "I still can't believe she turned Echelon down."

"Three times," Andre replied.

"The recruitment team thought she'd reconsider eventually," Ethan said.

He waited, expecting a response. None came.

After years of working with Andre, Ethan had learned when silence meant the conversation was over.

People rarely rejected Echelon. Especially engineers with Kathy Caldwell's credentials. Top of her graduating class. Award-winning software engineer. An impressive portfolio. A reputation for writing elegant code and solving problems most developers avoided. Exactly the kind of talent Echelon pursued relentlessly. Three offers.

She had politely refused all three.

What interested Andre even more was that he'd known her name long before recruitment team ever placed her file on his desk.

Katherine Caldwell.

He remembered it because it kept appearing beneath Echelon's engineering articles and keynote videos. Not with shallow compliments. Not with the endless You're handsome or Marry me comments he ignored every day.

Hers were different. She asked thoughtful questions about his architectural decisions. She pointed out alternative approaches.

Once, she'd respectfully disagreed with an entire presentation on frontend scalability.

She'd been wrong. But she'd backed every argument with technical reasoning.

He had admired that. That alone had caught Andre's attention. Instead of handing the matter back to Recruitment, he looked into her himself. Then he opened a confidential recruitment initiative. Project Katherine Caldwell.

That's when he discovered she worked for Hayes Technologies.

A company that couldn't compete with Echelon in salary, reputation, or opportunity. It didn't make sense until he discovered why. She wasn't staying for the company. She was staying for her fiancé. For love. Loyalty. Andre had almost forgotten people still made decisions based on it.

Project Katherine Caldwell had introduced him to an exceptional engineer. It didn't warn him she would become impossible to ignore.