Wedding Party Collection: Don't Tell The Bride: What the Bride Didn't Know / Black Widow Bride / His Valentine Bride

‘Clear,’ she said faintly. She just wanted to get out of the hospital.

She hated hospitals.

And then they were out of the hospital and the street was unfamiliar and the smell of the city invaded her nostrils and she immediately wanted away from there too.

A taxi stood waiting for them. Her husband must have arranged it because the driver seemed to know him. ‘Your lady wife must stay close to you,’ he kept telling her stony-faced husband. ‘It’s not always safe here. Where did you and your lady wife go?’

‘Just take us back to the hotel.’ He could sound menacing when he wanted to, this husband she couldn’t quite recall. He could make talkative taxi drivers shut the hell up and drive.

The hotel was a pleasant, mid-range affair, with a buffet restaurant that her husband glanced at as they headed across the foyer towards the lifts.

‘Are you hungry?’ she asked him.

‘I could eat.’

He’d been at her side all day. In waiting rooms and examination rooms. He’d been her voice when she couldn’t remember what she’d done to her leg. There’d been no time for him to slip out and grab some food.

‘We could eat at the buffet,’ she said, and made it sound like a question.

‘I was thinking room service.’

Which could take some time to arrive. ‘Or we could eat now.’

‘You’re hungry?’

‘No, but you are. You fill up. I’ll pick and choose. Everyone’s a winner.’

‘I’d rather get you back to the room.’

‘The head is woolly but I’m feeling no pain,’ she assured him. ‘The painkillers are good and the food is right there. How about I let you know the minute I’ve had enough?’

He didn’t look convinced.

‘Okay, how about you watch me intently all through dinner and you let me know when I’ve had enough?’

‘You look like you’ve had enough already.’ Blunt, this husband of hers.

‘I think I can stretch it another twenty minutes. Or we could stand here arguing.’

He smiled at that, really smiled, and Lena watched, mesmerised, for it was a wicked, charming smile full of warmth and wide approval.

‘It is you,’ he murmured, and steered her towards the restaurant entrance. He gave the maître d’ their room number and saw her seated, but he didn’t sit.

‘I’m going to go change our booking. Get us another couple of days here. You be okay here while I do that?’

‘I’ll be fine.’

She watched him go. Broad shoulders, slim hips, long legs and all gorgeous.

And then he disappeared from sight and it took all her effort to quell the panic that arrived with his disappearance. Breathe, Lena. Everything was fine. She was fine.

They were staying here, they had a room here, and if she needed to get to it all she had to do was ask the front desk for a number and a key. Her memory would be back soon and her husband wasn’t going anywhere. He’d be back soon too.

A waiter asked if she wanted anything to drink with dinner and she ordered fizzy water for them both. She had a feeling her husband drank beer, but she didn’t know if he would want one with their meal. The waiter assured her that he would return once her husband did.

Five minutes later her husband returned.

‘Done?’ she queried.

‘Done.’

‘Where were we supposed to go after this?’

‘You don’t remember?’

‘No.’ No need to alarm him with how much she didn’t remember. Yet. ‘I’m a little fuzzy on the details.’

‘We were going to Bodrum to find Jared.’

‘Oh.’ Was now a good time to tell him that she had no idea who Jared was? ‘Right.’

Her husband, Adrian, was looking at her funny. And that name...her husband’s name...didn’t sit altogether right with her either. ‘Do I call you something other than Adrian?’

‘Trig,’ he said gruffly. ‘You call me Trig.’

‘Okay.’ She started to nod and then thought the better of it. ‘Okay. Oh, and the waiter came by and I ordered you a soda water. I wasn’t sure whether you’d want anything alcoholic.’

‘Not tonight.’ He followed her to the buffet. Stayed behind her while she browsed and added little spoonfuls of this and that to her plate. She waited for Trig to load up his plate, which he did—with generous helpings of pretty much everything.

Trig frowned at her half-filled plate.

‘I’m probably going to have seconds,’ she lied.

‘You know I can tell when you’re lying, right?’

She hadn’t known that. She added a spoonful of what looked like sweet potato to her plate.

They returned to the table and sat. Trig ate, and Lena mostly watched. He took her close scrutiny in his stride.

‘Why aren’t we wearing our wedding rings?’ she asked finally, and watched as her husband choked on his food.

He coughed, eyes watering, and reached for his water. ‘What?’ he croaked.

‘At first I thought the thieves must have taken them too, but then I noticed that you’re not wearing one either, and I’m pretty sure I gave you one.’

He blinked at that and took another great gulp of his water.

‘Lena, exactly how much do you remember about your past?’ Her husband’s words came out measured and even but his gaze could probably have penetrated steel.