Papers for Roses

Chapter Twenty Seven

Chapter Twenty Seven

Wade

Questions. So many questions. It was as if Wade could hear the accusations without her saying. As if he could see the subtle frown of her thick eyebrows, or the tightening of her full lips when her face was a blank mask at the moment.

It lay thick in the air as the elevator ascended, drowning them, testing who would raise the white flag first and broach the 'much needed to be discussed' matter at hand. Instead, they went to their respective places—Wade in his office and Megan in their bedroom.

Wade shut the door as he slumped on his chair.

Earlier, as the crowd went into a complete silence while waiting for Megan's answer, Megan unexpectedly put a sincere smile and said, "Reed is in a better place now." For a moment, Wade thought she knew something. However, he had been living with the woman for almost two weeks and he should already know with the way her face tightened awkwardly and the tense set of her shoulders that she was bluffing.

She didn't voice the million-dollar question, but Wade knew she was racking her brain for guesses about who Reed may be. Wade sensed that it wouldn't take long for Megan to ask so he spent the remaining hours of the night to come up with an answer.

Should he tell her that whoever Reed was didn't matter? Or should he tell her the truth? Would it trigger something? What if she does know who he is?

By the time the clock hit ten o'clock, a knock on the door stole his attention from the sales data on his computer screen. Megan poked her head in the room with a tentative smile on her face before she pushed the door open with her hips.

"Brought you something to eat," she said. She placed the tray of food on his desk. Wade waited. Megan didn't disappoint. He was actually surprised she didn't just barge in and ask away. "I want to talk to you. But you can eat first if you like."

He glanced at the food before he looked at her again. "No. Please go on."

She bit her lower lip nervously, "The interview earlier was greater than I expected. Thank you."

"You don't have to mention it." He pinned her with his gaze. "Of course, I'm going to support you, Megan. I'm not going to stay back and watch your fall. That's not what a team does."

The words were as true as they get. Wade had never been reliant. The world and his parents' marriage taught him to be independent. Brave the world with his chin high, shoulders back, eyes straight ahead. There was no time for him to make friends and asking a favor had almost always never been an option. But as he looked back on the past week, he realized that maybe, just maybe it was not so bad.

There may not have been an emotional aspect included in their relationship but Megan never failed to be there when he needed her and especially when he didn't need her at all. She was always asking, always initiating that sometimes Wade felt like he was taking more than giving. But Megan also sparked the dormant protective instinct in him that the woman often ratted his ears off how she was not fifteen and she could take care of herself. He didn't care. No one fucks with his wife.

They were a unit, a team. Always making sure the other was comfortable when in the contract, it should just be him who should make sure the woman got what she wanted and needed.

Megan blushed. "Is it okay to ask some questions?"

Here it goes.

"Who's... uh... Reed?"

He could lie.

Hell, he could dismiss her.

No questions should be asked because it shouldn't matter.