Redemption in Love (Billionaires in Love, #3)

by Nadia Lee

Amandine put it in her purse, her hands less than steady. She and Gavin had never discussed having children. But it’d been three years since they’d gotten married, so wasn’t it about time they thought about the next generation?

“He’s always busy. You should’ve told him you want to talk now.” Brooke peered at Amandine. “If you’re calling him, it must be important.”

“How? Gavin hardly ever has time to spend with me anymore. How will he make time for a child?”

Women would forgive almost anything for some luxurious girl time and good shopping. And he was certain Amandine would too…especially when she saw her anniversary present.

Gavin should be all right with all of that. Whenever she asked him for something, his general response was, “Sure. Whatever you want.” Yet something about the answer had always bothered her, like he didn’t care enough to raise an objection.

The past two years had seen her and Gavin growing slowly apart as she’d taken on the bulk of his philanthropy projects and he’d spent more time in the office.

Gavin frowned. Why was she calling him from Jacob’s house phone? “What’s going on?” “I feel worried. Mrs. Catherine acting strange.” Her accent thickened as she grew more agitated. “The other wife came, and Mr. Jacob left with her.” What the hell? “What other wife?”

What to do? Ask Ethan to go? No, he was swamped with work. Besides, Ethan wasn’t the warm and fuzzy type, and he thought poorly of Catherine.

Besides, this wasn’t just Catherine in a snit. If Jacob really had married someone before her—and failed to get a divorce before wedding Catherine—it was a horrific scandal that would rock his entire family.

Take Amandine, too? No. He shook his head. She and Catherine didn’t seem to get along that well. His sister Meredith had said it was because he was Catherine’s ex, though why that could ever be a problem, he might never know unless he grew a uterus.

True, he’d proposed to Catherine first, but she’d turned him down in favo...

“Never mind. I need to go to Houston.” “Now?” “Unfortunately.”

The moment she noticed him, Catherine started sobbing, tears streaming from her large light brown eyes. “Oh my god, what do I do? My life’s ruined!” Even in the middle of a crisis, she had on full makeup that was apparently waterproof.

He yanked his wedding band off and put it on the bar. After shrugging out of his jacket and vest, he said, “Stay here, you crazy woman. I’ll take care of them.”

Amandine checked her appearance once more in the rearview mirror as she drove to La Mer. After giving Brooke the rest of the day off, she’d gone to see her stylist to fix her hair.

Amandine didn’t buy Hilary’s excuse about a misplaced itinerary. Hilary knew Gavin’s schedule better than Gavin did.

This was their anniversary. Her focus should be on all the lovely things in her life rather than a few minor annoyances. Right? She sat back in her seat and waited. And waited. Then waited some more. After about half an hour, she gave up and reached for her phone. Maybe Gavin was—

“Surprised to see you sitting here by yourself.” Mark Pryce took the only empty chair, the one that Gavin was due to sit in when he showed up.

“Jacob ran off from Catherine.” “What?” Amandine immediately closed her mouth and bit her lower lip. Not everyone at the restaurant needed to hear her outburst.

Why hadn’t Gavin told her earlier? This was a family matter, and she was family. Then it dawned on her. Catherine was free.

The only reason he’d noticed Amandine was because Catherine had chosen Jacob.

Of course he does. Why else would he have gone to Houston on your anniversary?

Amandine went home, her mind churning, her eyes burning with unshed tears. How could her day go from such bright optimism to this? She couldn’t seem to process anything. Should she confront Gavin? What would she say? What should she say?

The sight of new flowers on the nightstand punched her in the gut, stealing her breath. They were yellow roses—Catherine’s favorite.

“So he told you that Catherine’s free again…when? Over your appetizers?” “No. He never showed up.” “He stood you up on your anniversary?” Amandine nodded.

Brooke moved next to Amandine. “Gavin is a heartless ass.” “But he’s not. One of the reasons why I fell in love is his generosity.” “A guy as rich as he is can afford to write a few fat checks to charity.”

“He always gives you things that don’t matter,” Brooke said. “Things that he can buy easily. Even a jet is chump change to somebody like him. It’s like a normal guy buying you flowers, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to give you what you really need.”

“He seems more interested in spending your anniversary in Houston than here with you.” “You think Catherine wants Gavin back, don’t you?”

“Well, if she can’t have Jacob…” Brooke raised her eyebrows. “Let’s face it: she likes her men rich.” “And Gavin was hers first,” Amandine said softly, thinking about the time her cousin had wanted something back.

Marriage wouldn’t stop Catherine—even if she’d really been married in the first place. Amandine and Gavin’s own union had come with a prenup that ensured a divorce would be quick and squabble-free.

He knew he could be inattentive and overly focused on work at times. He’d even missed her last birthday. Though amends had been made—a brand new Mercedes convertible coupe with a custom opalescent pink exterior paint job—it had been a poor substitute for not planning anything. Their vacation to the Maldives—another thing he’d done to make up for the birthday—had seemed somehow anticlimactic as well.

Gavin’s phone buzzed again. It was another text message from Amandine. I’m staying at Brooke’s tonight.

“The engagement ring wasn’t meant for me,” Amandine said, finally unable to be quiet about it. “He asked Catherine to marry him with it first.” “What? How do you know?”

Brooke stared at her. “And then after she turned him down, he used it again to propose to you?” “It came from his grandmother. His grandfather proposed to her with it.” “Oh my god. So it’s an heirloom.”

“It is…and it’s beautiful. But I wish he’d gotten me a new ring, so I wouldn’t think about Catherine every time I look at it.”

“Oh, I don’t mind all that. It’s just…” Amandine hesitated. “He’s never once mentioned the word ‘love’.” “Seriously? Not even when he proposed?” Amandine shook her head, a fresh wave of humiliation washing over her.

“I thought I could make him love me.” Amandine pulled back, sniffing a bit, and tossed her hair over a shoulder. “How do I look?”

Had he been too busy for Catherine as well? Or was it just Amandine?

“What happened to your wedding band?” she asked, unable to stop herself. Her voice was scratchy and hoarse. “Lost it.” He looked up. “What do you think about—” “How?” “Eh?” “How did you lose it?”

A frown scrunched his brow. “I was doing some garden work.” “We have two gardeners.”

“No, in Houston.” “What? Why? Catherine has gardeners too.” “Actually, she fired them.” “So you were doing landscaping work ...

Gavin hadn’t just gone to Houston for “damage control”, as Mark had put it. He’d been doing Catherine’s yard-work on their anniversary, and all the while Amandine had been waiting for him at La Mer.

“I can’t believe you spent our anniversary with Catherine, rooting around in her garden, after telling me you’d spend it with me. You made it sound like whatever was in Houston was extremely urgent, but now I see that wasn’t the case. You just wanted to go there.”

How could she have been in denial all this time? Gavin would never love her. He probably didn’t even want her love.

Gavin ground his teeth. “She’s furious. She even blames me for helping Catherine, but what was I supposed to do when she’d totally flipped out?” “Oh.” Mark’s eyes widened with understanding. “You spent yesterday with Catherine and you told Amandine that?”

“Catherine’s your ex.” “She’s my sister-in-law.” “You almost married her.”

“Really? How would you feel if Amandine had spent your anniversary with an ex she almost married?”

Catherine still hadn’t returned any of his messages, damn her. His wedding ring was still at her place, and he wanted it back. He knew the ring was one of the reasons why Amandine was so mad.

And she…didn’t. She was more at home in a humble kitchen than the places he frequented, where she knew she didn’t quite fit.

“I don’t want to raise my child—” “Our child,” he corrected, his voice without inflection. “—in a cold, loveless household. You’re emotionally unavailable. Ditto for time. You’re too busy for everyone.” Except Catherine.