Chapter 10: The Card Declined

Willem's POV

I had told myself the trip was for the Fund.

Tarrant Holdings had a charitable giving office, and I had asked its president for a lunch about a donation.

That was true, and it was also not why I'd flown to Nashville.

The restaurant was on a corner downtown, with white tablecloths and a view of the street.

I got there ten minutes early and took a booth against the wall.

Rupert Ingleby arrived ten minutes late.

He was taller than the photo on the company website and thinner in the face.

He shook my hand and sat down, and the first thing he did was look at his phone.

"Mr. Kitson. Thank you for coming all this way."

"It's Willem."

"Rupert. Will you excuse me one moment?"

He typed something with his thumb and put the phone face down beside his bread plate.

His eyes went to a table across the room, and came back.

I didn't turn around.

"Your assistant says you handle giving for the company," I said.

"That's, ah, my sister-in-law's department."

"I thought you were the president."

"I am. On paper."

It was a strange thing to say, and he seemed to know it as it left his mouth.

We ordered.

He ordered quickly, without opening the menu.

I let him get through half his salad before I put down my fork.

"I should be honest, Rupert. I'm not here about a donation."

Keep reading free with an account. Start My Fiancé's Prenup Erased Me, So I Rewrote My Life from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.