I open my mouth to shout a warning. Thankfully, I don’t manage to get any sound out before Ethan pours the shot of bourbon into his mouth and pretends to accidentally drop the glass on the floor, preventing Sandro from touching it.
I clutch my chest with relief at the sound of Ethan’s sexy laughter as he kneels to clean up the mess.
“Alice?”
“Yeah,” I mutter dreamily as I turn my attention back to Ollie.
She narrows her eyes as her gaze flits back and forth between Ethan and me. “Are you and Ethan…?”
I hope I appear as shocked as I would feel if this were a lie. “What? Are you crazy?”
Ollie flashes me a knowing smile and my stomach drops.
“We’re not. I swear we’re not.”
“Sure,” Ollie says, winking conspiratorially.
The relief I felt a moment ago is washed away by a flood of panic. “Please don’t say anything to Mario.”
She looks at me like I’m crazy. “Do you really think I’d discuss someone else’s sex life with Mario? Please don’t offend me like that.”
I let out an enormous sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
But Ollie doesn’t look quite as relieved as I am. “I’m not the one you have to worry about,” she says, nodding toward the bar.
Warner has joined the other three men. I’m not certain, but it appears as if he’s holding a cell phone in the air as he looks directly at me.
“What is he doing?” I ask almost to myself.
“Is this yours?” Warner calls out to me.
I blink a few times and squint my eyes to get a better look at the object in his hand, and my heart stops when I recognize the light-coral phone case.
He races toward me, the sunlight glinting off his braces as he grins broadly. “I found it in Ethan’s office,” he says loud enough for the entire dining room to hear.
I flash him a tight smile, not bothering to look in Mario or Ethan’s direction as I take the phone from Warner’s hand. “Thanks.”
Chapter 14
ALICE
“Grab the bottle of champagne from the fridge,” my mom says as she stirs the pot of pozole, a Mexican soup made with tender chunks of pork shoulder, hominy, and a spicy broth.
“Damn, Mom. Champagne and Dad’s favorite soup? What’s the occasion?”
Grabbing the bottle of champagne, I reach for the cupboard above the dishwasher to retrieve some glasses.
My mom tastes the broth, then reaches for the salt shaker. “I thought you knew.”
I get a strange uneasiness as my imagination runs away with me, and my head fills with visions of my father asking my mom to help him celebrate his last days as a free man before he murders Ethan.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say, placing the champagne and the glasses on the dinner table.
She stirs the soup and tastes the broth again. “Your restaurant did well last week. They’re moving into the final phase of funding.”
I sidle up next to my mom so she can feed me a spoon of the soup. “A little more salt,” I say, heading for the cupboard above the toaster to retrieve the bowls. “Why are we celebrating something so boring?”
“The tortillas are in the warmer behind you,” she says as I hand her the bowls. “Because your dad’s boss offered him a bonus last week if it moves into the final funding phase.”
I place a head of cabbage on a cutting board and slide a large santoku out of the knife block. “Why is he offering him a bonus now?”
My mom shrugs her delicate shoulders. “As an incentive to close the deal, would be my best guess.”
I silently consider the timing of the offer as I thinly slice the cabbage. “And all of this has to do with opening night going well?”
“How do you know it went well?”
My dad’s voice startles me as he walks into the kitchen and goes straight for the cupboard above the dishwasher.
My heart pounds against my chest as I almost slice into my finger. “Ollie told me,” I lie.
My dad loosens his tie with one hand as he uses his other hand to grab a bottle of Modelo Negra beer out of the fridge. I reach into the drawer and toss him the bottle opener. He pours the beer into his glass and rinses the bottle before he throws it into the recycling bin under the sink.
“So, you’re getting a bonus?” I ask casually.
“Why are you talking to her about work?” my dad says, addressing my mom as if I wasn’t the one who asked the question.
She smiles as he plants a kiss on her cheek. “She’s paying rent now. She deserves to be part of money discussions.”
“Thank you,” I say, placing my knife in the sink.
My dad rolls his eyes and holds out his glass of beer to me. “Fine. You want in on this?”
I smile as I take the glass. “Thanks.”
He pours himself another beer and begins helping me set the table. “Your boss submitted the figures for opening day last week and…”
I set a spoon down on the dinner table. “And…what?”
“And this morning, the trustee approved the amendment to their funding contract. They submitted an amendment adding a bonus for me when we reach the final phase of funding.”
My father is practically glowing. He hasn’t looked this alive since before he lost the restaurant.
“What kind of bonus are we talking about?” I ask, almost afraid to hear the number.
He smiles as he takes a bowl of hot soup from my mom and places it on the table. “Six figures.”
My eyes nearly pop out of my skull. “Are you kidding me?”
He looks smug as hell as he takes a seat and begins piling toppings on his soup.
“So, does that mean I don’t have to pay you rent?”
My mom laughs as she sets her bowl down on the table and sits next to me.
My dad looks up from his soup long enough to shoot me a look that says, “Fat chance.”
I shrug as I grab a wedge of lime
