Free Her Premarital Ex (The Alexanders Book 3) by Tina Martin

out onto the balcony so she didn’t disturb
Lalita. She stared off into the city. Seemed that no one was
sleeping tonight. Chicago was alive. Cars lined the streets. From
her prime balcony location, she could hear music, see partygoers,
couples, tall buildings and billboards.
    “Bri, you
there?”
    “Yes, I’m here...um,
Tyson, I have to tell you something.”
    “Okay.”
    “And don’t freak out about
it.”
    “Okay. What’s
up?”
    “Dilvan showed up and I
had no idea he was going to be here and neither did Padma,” she
said, pacing the balcony.
    “Why do you sound so
panicky, Bri? Is he bothering you?”
A looked of confusion
washed over her face. “No, he’s not bothering me. I just don’t want
you to be upset that he’s here.”
    “I’m not.”
    “You’re not?”
    “No. I knew he was there.
Heshan told me.”
Gabrielle blew a sigh of
relief.
    “I’m glad you told me,
though.”
    “So you’re not
upset?”
    “No, I’m not. I’m not
worried about Dilvan, but, if he bothers you, let me
know.”
    “Okay.” Gabrielle decided
not to mention her swimming pool run-in with Dilvan. There was no
use in alarming Tyson unnecessarily.
    “You miss me,” he
asked.
    “Of course I do. I can’t
wait to be in your arms again.”
    “Likewise,
baby.”
    “Are you all packed up and
ready to go to Atlanta?”
    “Yep.”
    “What time are you
leaving?”
    “Um...probably around six
tomorrow morning.”
    “You’ll be on the road
while I’m going into the seminar, so I’ll call you before it
starts.”
    “Okay, my love. At any
rate, let me get off the phone so you can get some
sleep.”
    “All right. I love
you.”
    “Love you too,
angel.”
    “Goodnight.”
    “Goodnight.”
Gabrielle walked back
into the room, closing the sliding glass balcony door behind her.
She’d quietly eased into bed so as not to disturb Lalita and laid
there staring up at the ceiling.
She thought about Dilvan
briefly, wondering if he had really changed or if it was all lies.
And she felt a wave of confusion cloud her rest as she could still
feel his hand squeezing hers. What was it exactly? She was in love
with Tyson, happy with Tyson, but there was something in Dilvan’s
touch that made her uncomfortable. A married woman in love
shouldn’t feel a spark or anything else from a man who wasn’t her
husband, right?

Chapter 15
     
~ * ~
     
     
    Tyson was halfway to Atlanta when Gabrielle had called. She told
him to drive safely and that she was just about to join the expo.
He promised her that he’d call around lunch.
     
Once Tyson arrived at the
restaurant, he sat there in the parking lot for a minute and
reminisced on all the hard work it took to start this place. He had
no idea his hard work would pay off in such a big way, and now he
was a millionaire with restaurants around the country.
He smiled and got out of
the car, heading for the restaurant. He had a short meeting with
the contractors today to discuss plans for redoing the kitchen.
They were slated to bring in state-of-the-art ovens, grills and
countertop space as well as other equipment. If the upgrade proved
to be effective, he would roll them out to all his restaurant
locations nationwide.
     
* * *
     
At lunch, Tyson met with
the manager of the restaurant, Patrick Goodwin at a restaurant that
Patrick had recommended. Patrick had been running the place for him
since he decided to move to North Carolina. Patrick was good at it,
kept things in order and connected well with the Atlanta
crowd.
    “So I’ve already met with
the contractors this morning,” Tyson told Patrick. “I’ve made it
crystal clear that this reno should take no more than three days to
complete. We need to be reopening for business by
Wednesday.”
Patrick nodded. “That
sounds good.”
    “Yeah, enjoy your break
while you can,” Tyson quipped.
    “I will, bruh. You can
believe that.”
Tyson took a bite of the
tuna melt he’d ordered then washed it down with a drink of water.
“So