“You seem a little distracted today,” Halima says, her brow raised in concern. She’s wearing a deep purple hijab today, once again perfectly matching it with her dress. That woman really knows how to dress — she always looks fashionable, yet modest. Without a doubt, she’s one of the classiest women on this campus, and one of the most observant, too.
For days now, I’ve wondered about the photo I saw at Sierra’s house. While Lex and I are relatively close, it hasn’t escaped my notice that he doesn’t really let me in. We can talk for hours, but he rarely tells me anything about his past. Sometimes he’ll mention his grandfather, but that’s kind of it. When I ask him for stories about his time at Astor College, he just waves it off and changes the subject. I don’t want to be intrusive, but I can’t help wanting to know more about my husband.
“I’ve just had a lot going on lately,” I say as I lean over our drone, finishing up some of the soldering. We had to redesign almost all the wiring versus my initial plans after Lex gave us some tips, and I’m confident it’s robust and safe now, but it took weeks to perfect.
“If not for all the hours you spent on this outside of class, we never would’ve finished it,” she murmurs, a grateful look in her eyes.
I smile tightly, guilt settling in my stomach. While I did do all the work on it myself, I did most of it at home, with Lex’s robots easily accessible to me to help with any complications I ran into. He kept reminding me that every other student has the same access, since he moved one of his Lola-lookalikes into the school lab after realizing how I was using Lola at home, but no one else has figured out yet what they can do. It feels like an unfair advantage, though it technically isn’t.
“Good work,” I hear my husband say to a group of students a few rows over, and I look up, our eyes locking for a moment. He smiles, and my heart skips a beat. My face heats as I lean over our drone again, trying my best not to notice him, when I’m hyperaware of him every second that we’re in the same room.
I sigh when a strand of my hair escapes my bun and falls across my face, disrupting my work. John laughs and leans in, pushing it behind my ear for me. “Your hair is so unruly,” he murmurs, his gaze roaming over my face.
I smile at him in gratitude, and moments later, Simon begins to chuckle from beside me. I raise a brow, but he merely shakes his head and continues to refine the drone’s propellors for perfect airflow.
“I can’t wait for this project to be over,” John complains as he runs through our code line by line. “I don’t think I’ve ever worked harder in my life.”
“Professor Windsor is lucky he’s hot because that man’s personality is rotten,” Simon grumbles. “He’s so damn ruthless with his feedback.” He shakes his head and sighs. “Won’t stop me from wanting to work for him, though,” he adds, a dreamy look in his eyes.
Halima and I both roll our eyes at the same time, and John leans in, his eyes darting around us before he grins. “Did you guys all see the article The Herald posted yesterday?”
My heart begins to race, and I resist the urge to grab my phone and check what kind of rubbish they’ve made up now. “What article?” I ask, keeping my tone light.
John chuckles. “Only a few months after buying that yellow diamond, he started wearing what appears to be a wedding ring. I didn’t notice it at first, but it’s true. He must’ve gotten married to the fiancée he mentioned. But get this: despite his supposed marriage, he’s been spotted going on dates with all kinds of different women, blatantly cheating on his wife.”
I subtly brush my hand over the necklace holding my wedding ring, making sure it’s still hidden under my blouse. Unlike me, Lex refuses to take his off, and I’d wondered how long it would take the media to notice it. His ring is slim and simple, but it’s clearly a wedding ring. I thought they’d have caught it months ago.
“I wonder who he married,” Simon says. “Do you think he actually married a supermodel like his brother? I know the girl he was initially linked to denied the rumors, but it makes sense that Raven Windsor introduced him to one of her model friends.”
I grimace, shame and inadequacy taking hold of my thoughts. Considering how accomplished all the Windsor wives are, it’s no wonder everyone would hold Lex’s wife to the same standards that I could never meet. Besides… that girl in the photo… she looked like she could’ve been a supermodel. Someone like her is far more suitable for Lex than I ever could be.
“How about we all mind our own business?” Halima snaps. “It’s ridiculous how you’re talking about Professor Windsor like he isn’t right in this room, offering us all an opportunity most would kill for. Have some decency.”
I glance up at her in surprise, and her eyes lock with mine for a moment, before she continues to focus on our drone’s remote control and navigation system.
John’s shoulder bumps against mine, and he wraps his hand around my waist. “What’s up with her?” he whispers. “Normally, she just ignores our random chatter.”
I turn my head toward him to reply when he suddenly groans, his face contorting in pain. “John Bailey, is it?” Lex says, and my entire body tenses when he rips John’s hand off me. I glance over my shoulder to find Lex staring John down, anger flickering through his eyes.
“Y-yes sir,” John replies, his eyes wide with wonder, despite the way he clutches his hand. “I didn’t realize you knew my name.”
Halima sighs and shakes her head, barely sparing Lex a second glance as she continues to work, seemingly entirely unaffected by the situation at hand. I, however, am as wide-eyed as Simon is.
Lex moves closer to me, his body brushing against my hip. “Let’s see your work, Mr. Bailey,” he barks out, leaning over me and slyly wiping over the part of my blouse John touched. I bite back a smile when I realize what he’s doing — is he wiping off John’s touch? I chuckle, unable to help myself, and my husband relaxes slightly. Sometimes he does little things that make me believe he truly could fall in love with me someday, that this thing between us could become more than it is.
“Sloppy coding,” he snaps. “Why are you using over thirteen thousand lines of code? How could you possibly need that much code? Where do you intend to send this drone, John? Space? I should fail you just for the sheer inefficiency you’ve forced me to witness.”
I move my body just a touch, until my hand brushes against his. My pinky loops around his, my actions unnoticeable from this angle, and Lex’s anger seems to drain away at once. He sighs as he grabs my hand fully, his thumb drawing circles across my wrist.
“You,” he says, turning to look at me, not a hint of anger in his eyes despite his firm tone. “I’ll hold you responsible as Team Leader.” His gaze roams over my face, settling on my lips for a moment. “See me after class, Raya.”
