Married 24 Times

Charles shrugged. "Ask anyone, then. I'm sure it's not just me who thinks it. Your wife is a beautiful woman."

He nodded his head in the direction of another circled group. I glanced towards the people Charles indicated and caught a few men peeking at us. When I looked back at Julian, I could see a dark cloud passing over his eyes.

I wasn't sure what motive Charles had, but his comments were doing more than I could have ever accomplished on my own. I wanted to seduce Julian, but to be honest, I wasn't sure how to do that on my own. I needed these witnesses here, so if I couldn't seduce him of my own merit, they would at least incite him to act, if only to protect his masculine pride. Charles was doing that perfectly.

And if seducing Julian didn't work, I wanted to come and be seen in this public space, to be acknowledged as Julian's wife, so when Mia showed up, at least I had ground I could stand on. No one would stop Julian from flirting with another woman, but I wanted people to know I wasn't pitiful. I would not be a victim of my husband sneaking around behind my back. If he wanted to flirt, he would have to do it in front of my face!

A man across from Charles let out a laugh, saluting towards us with his drink. "That she is. Alice was your name? I'm Michael."

I gave Michael a blinding smile. "You're Julian's CFO, right?"

He nodded, his own smile growing to match mine. "You've been paying attention to your husband's company."

"No, I just make a point to know the executives," I said, shaking my head.

"Well, lemme know if you'd like to know us better." Michael gave me a wink. "You already know Charles, though he's just the 'president'. And that's Andrew, over there." Michael gestured with his drink towards a man talking with a woman over by the bar. "Any of us would be happy to keep you company while our CEO is busy."

I knew these men already, though I'd never been friendly with any of them but Charles in my past lives. But the closer I got to these men, the more I rooted myself into Julian's life. I would be a weed that wouldn't go away. Mia wouldn't be able to remove me.

I gave a laugh, pointedly not looking at Julian. "I'll invite you all over for a meal sometime. Then maybe Julian would come home for dinner."

Julian set his drink on the table with more force than necessary. I turned to look at him with the sweet smile still on my face. He abruptly stood and crossed the distance between us, pulling me up from the couch.

"Come with me for a moment."

He dragged me from the room, though he didn't walk very quickly in order to keep up his appearance. I waved over my shoulder at the men we had left behind, both Charles and Michael waving after me. Julian shot a glare towards Joe, who quickly got the message to follow us.

Once outside the room, Julian walked down the hall towards another room, yanking open the door and leading me inside. He left the door open until Joe joined us, before closing the door firmly behind him.

"Joe..."

"I didn't tell her, sir." Joe quickly held his hands into the air in a show of innocence. He shook his head. "She told me to come here."

Julian furrowed his brows and turned to me.

"Why did you come here?"

"I'm not allowed to come visit my husband?" I didn't let the smile slip from my face. I would play innocent until the end!

"You're not supposed to interfere with my work."

"I wasn't under the impression you were working."

Julian's eyes flashed in annoyance. "How did you know I would be here?"

"Mia told me," I supplied without missing a beat.

I watched Julian's face to see his reaction. I waited for anger at my lie or surprise at the revelation of his mistress confessing about their planned meeting, but instead I was met with confusion.

"Mia?" Julian opened his mouth to say something else before shutting it. He looked as though he were trying to puzzle something out, before his face cleared and the anger returned to his eyes.

"She said you two were meeting up." I continued to watch Julian's reactions.

He looked almost disgusted. "No."

Julian turned to Joe and gave him a look. Joe nodded. I silently watched the exchange. This... didn't make any sense. What in the world was going on?Julian could be lying, but he seemed genuinely confused at the mention of Mia when I first brought her up. And now he and Joe were sharing a look as though something vital had just been revealed. I felt out of the loop.

"Then... why did she know you'd be here?"

Julian met my eyes. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Alice, go home."

"What?"

"Go home," he repeated, this time as a command.

"That's not an answer to my question."

Julian shook his head. "You shouldn't be here."

I stared up at him and had an epiphany. This man had been trying to control me through all my lives, but I didn't have to let him. There was nothing he could do to me that hadn't already been done. He couldn't threaten me with anything. The worst had already happened twenty-three times. What did I have to fear?

"Julian," I narrowed my eyes at him. "It is not up to you to dictate where I can and can not go."