Calla's POV
I took a breath and looked him in the eye and lied to him, and it was the hardest thing I had done since I walked down that aisle.
"I've been reading about Alderton Industries," I said, keeping my voice even, curious even, like a woman doing homework. "I want to understand your world."
Rhys stood in the doorway long enough for the silence to develop its own texture. Then he walked in, set one of the mugs on the edge of the desk beside me, and pulled the chair around and sat on it backwards with his arms folded across the top of it. The backwards chair was his thing — I'd noticed it during late phone calls, during long evenings in the kitchen. It meant he was staying. It meant he was paying attention.
"Alderton Industries," he said.
"You spend twelve hours a day on it." I r
