As he finished his words, he stopped outside Adrienne’s house. She lived in an exclusive neighbourhood where sleek sports cars nestled against elegant, ivy-covered facades.
Felix hung up and stepped out into the low hum of the central London traffic. The city never slept. In Clavenham the only noise he heard at night was the occasional hoot of an owl or the call of a fox.
Before he could knock at the door, Adrienne opened it, thelight of her hallway spilling out into the gloom of the street. After enveloping him in a hug, she stepped back, and his gaze fell straight to Lucas. He lay curled up on a cream couch, clutching his Incredible Hulk backpack, cheeks pink and plump. Felix’s lips bowed. They’d only been apart for seventeen hours, but he’d missed his son like part of his own body.
“He’s okay, then?” Felix walked towards the couch and tucked an errant blond curl behind Lucas’s ear.
“It was all a storm in a teacup, really. Something about hating tennis and not wanting to go to bed early.”
Felix turned to Adrienne. “It didn’t seem like a storm in a teacup. I’ve driven an hour and a half to get here. I assume you wouldn’t ask me to do that over something trivial?”
Adrienne worried at her bottom lip and raised a stiff eyebrow. “If you’d been here in the first place, instead of running around the countryside, he wouldn’t have been upset. You realise you’re doing work you can pay staff to do for you. I’m not sure the Rusty Plough is worth all the fuss.”
A weight settled on Felix’s shoulders. “Do we have to do this tonight? I’m tired and not in the mood for a late-night session of dragging me over the coals.” She didn’t know he’d used the new restaurant to escape from her.
Adrienne stepped forward and touched his arm. Her long red nails shone in the chandelier's light. “Then tell me what youarein the mood for, Felix. I feel I barely know you these days.”
Felix swallowed hard and looked into his ex-wife’s steely grey eyes, and the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Were they really going to do this tonight? Have the same old conversation? He could almost predict her exact words.
She’d accuse him of not thinking about Lucas. How bringing him up without a proper family was cruel. She knew the guilt that’d consumed him since they’d called it quits. When they’d first met, they’d talked for hours about having abig family. One that didn’t involve arguments, bitterness and regret like his own. But over time, she’d shown her true colours with her demands and infidelities. For his own sanity and Lucas’s, they’d had to end things.
Felix filled his cheeks with air before slowly hissing it out. Even though they weren’t together, she’d always be involved in his life, even his business, and he couldn’t just “disappear her” like an inconvenience. Hadn’t he loved her once?
And now he’d met Thea. He didn’t want Adrienne to know. He knew the damage she was capable of. Felix gritted his teeth at the thought of her polluting the first vulnerable sprouts of their budding relationship. And he fully intended to make him and Thea a relationship.
He sunk to the couch, head bowed. “We need to talk.”
“Do we?” Adrienne’s nasal voice cut through the thick atmosphere that’d settled between them.
“We need to stop going around in circles with this crazy idea we could ever be together. Stop having this same conversation. Andyouneed to stop using my past against me and let Lucas and I move on.Youneed to move on.”
Adrienne’s eyes tightened. “I didn’t realise I was such an inconvenience. Such a pain. I’m merely thinking about our son’s well-being.”
Like he wasn’t? Felix hadn’t wanted to give up on his marriage. But the chaos their toxic relationship had rained on Lucas was all he’d thought about when signing the divorce papers.
Nausea roiled through Felix’s stomach at the cloying scent of the vanilla candles burning on the side. He could almost hear the cogs turning in Adrienne’s mind. She was a master tactician in manipulation. Twisting him in knots had been her pass-time for years.
“Is there anyone I should know about?”
Adrienne’s hushed words sent a chill through Felix. The airpractically crackled around them. He stood, sucking in a breath. “What do you mean?”
“I told you before. I want to know if anyone else has spent time with my son. Lucas told me you’ve recently been getting up close and personal with a few farm animals. Geese and such.” Her eyes sparked, narrowing into a blatant glare.
Felix picked his words carefully, not wanting to ignite Adrienne’s interest. With any hint of Thea, she could descend on the two of them like a demolition derby. She’d done it before when he’d taken a friend to a party. Just a friend. The evening had been perfectly innocent, but after Adrienne’s vitriolic accusations, his friend didn’t talk to him anymore.
“It’s true, I’ve been submerging myself into the country lifestyle, but if there’s anything you need to know that directly affects Lucas, I’ll tell you.”
He and Thea weren’t a thing yet. Hell, they’d only just learned to be civil to each other. And apart from her obvious enjoyment, he had very little idea how she felt about their kitchen activities. That’s what he hoped to learn if she came to London. To his hotel. Only then could he be certain there was something to tell Adrienne.
“Well, make sure you do.” She sucked her lips together into a tight pout. “You better go. It’ll be dawn before you get back.”
Felix nodded, extracting Lucas’s backpack from his arms and handing it to Adrienne. He leaned over and picked up his sleeping son, laying him over his shoulder. Felix held out an arm to take the bag. Adrienne shook her head and nodded towards the door. “I’ll carry it.”
She followed him into the street, and after he’d settled Lucas safely in the backseat, he turned to his ex-wife. She tipped her head to one side, her eyes raking over his face. “You look good, Felix. Something agrees with you. Must be all that fresh air.”
He was about to make a glib comment about his new gymhabit, but Adrienne leaned in, kissing him on the cheek. She lingered there for a second or two longer than necessary before pulling away, resting her hands on his shoulders. “You even smell of the countryside. Miss Dior and sex, if I’m not mistaken.”
Felix’s mouth dropped open, but before he could respond, Adrienne curled an eyebrow and walked back into her house.
