“Hey! Oh my Gosh you look hot!” Sofia smiled, looking Grace up and down.
“You do, too. As usual.” Grace tried to match her smile but simply couldn’t. The tightness in her chest was a living thing. “What are you doing here?
“Eric is out of town for a few days, so,” she turned back to the two girls standing nearby, “I decided to take a girls’ night out. Something I so rarely do. They’ve been going on and on about this place since it opened.” She glanced over to Grace’s table. “What about you? New man in your life already?”
The very thought of a new man in her life ever was such a joke. But why let Sal and his family in on how pathetic she was? He’d obviously had no issues delving into new waters the moment he’d had one night away from her. Now that they’d been apart for this long, he was probably meticulously planning his future with Melissa and their child. Grace shrugged. “New friend.”
Thankfully Sofia didn’t ask more about Frank or bring up Sal. Instead she reiterated how good Grace looked then almost brought her to tears when she told her how much she was missed at the restaurant. Sofia must’ve seen the hurt in her eyes because she hugged her again this time holding onto her longer, making the tears that had gathered in Grace’s eyes stream down her cheeks.
“She’s not pregnant, Grace,” Sofia whispered in her ear.
Grace froze, for a moment unable to breathe.
Sofia pulled away. “I don’t know if that changes anything for you but—”
“It doesn’t.”
Grace would never get past the fact that the moment Sal had been away from her, his supposed love for her hadn’t been enough to fight off temptation. And that temptation would always be there, especially for a man like him. Women would always throw themselves at him. Her heart would never survive that kind of betrayal again.
Sofia stared at her, the sadness in her eyes as deep as what Grace felt in her heart. She wiped the tears away and shook her head. “It doesn’t, Sof.” She forced a very weak smile which made no sense at all because the warm tears still slid down her cheeks. “It was good to see you again. I gotta get back.” She motioned to her table. “They’re waiting for me.”
She turned around, taking a very deep breath and wiped her eyes gently, mindful of all the makeup she wore. Joey and Taylor both noticed as soon as she sat down but she waved them away with a smile, taking her compact out of her purse to assess the damage—not as bad as she thought. Once she cleaned it up she did her best to smile at Joey and Taylor who were both looking at her very concerned. “Who wants to dance?”
Frank was immediately on his feet. “Let’s go.”
Even as she stood and felt Frank’s hand slide into hers, the tightness in her chest nearly suffocated her. “C’mon let’s all go.”
Ruben and her mother didn’t budge. She knew this wasn’t their kind of music but Joey sprung out of his chair, looking very relieved that Grace had snapped out of it so quickly. And here he thought he knew her so well.
CHAPTER 32
Romero’s connection still hadn’t had any luck with the surveillance tape from the casino. But after Sal let him in on his conversation with Melissa and told him how convinced he was now that nothing had actually happened that night, Romero had an idea.
Since Romero had so many clients who hired him to get proof their spouses were cheating he’d long ago acquired ways for tracking text messages and emails. If Melissa had texted or emailed even one person to tell them about what she’d done Sal would have his proof. Romero said he’d get on it ASAP, but he still had his guy trying to track down video of that night at the casino.
Sal had been at the restaurant reading through his emails when Alex walked into the back office where he sat. “Any news from Romero yet?”
“Nothing new,” he said, without looking away from the computer screen.
Sal had filled him in on the theories about the possibility that nothing may have happened. Alex was as optimistic about that fixing things as Sofia was.
“Have you heard from Melissa?”
Before he said anything to Alex or Sofia he wanted to have some kind of proof. He knew Alex and Sofia would be all about him going straight to Grace with the news, but he needed more. He didn’t want to open up any more wounds, before he knew he could back up his story with something solid. Still he thought Alex would be a little less gung-ho about it than Sofia so he spun around in his chair to face him as Alex stood there, pulling a restaurant polo over his head.
“She called me yesterday morning.”
“For what?”
“She was drunk but I almost got her to admit nothing happened between me and her in Vegas.”
Alex’s eyes opened wide. “What do you mean almost?”
Sofia walked in and Sal bit his tongue but it was too late. Alex pushed on. “Did she actually say nothing happened?”
Sofia’s eyebrows pinched. “Who?”
“Melissa,” Alex smiled, the excitement in his eyes said it all he was going to be gung-ho. “She called Sal and almost admitted nothing happened in Vegas.”
Sofia’s eyes immediately lit up. “You’re kidding me. What did she say? Have you called Grace?”
Damn it. This was exactly what he’d hoped to avoid. “No. She didn’t say it exactly but her reaction to my questioning pretty much said it all. She went quiet and when I all out accused her of making the whole thing up she hung up on me. She’s never been one to walk away or end a conversation with me. She’s always done just the opposite.”