Society Wives by Renee Flagler Read Free Book Online Page A

She referred to herself by her mother’s pet name for her. “You can control anything—even the direction of your marriage.” She paced more before an idea struck her and settled her angst enough for her to get back to bed.
    Another car pushed through the night air and slowed. This time she knew it was Sage. The garage door groaned, and then shut its mouth. She scooted under the covers, closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.
    Minutes later, she heard his muffled steps as he ascended the stairs and entered their bedroom. She could feel him standing over her for a moment, then, he walked into the bathroom.
    Nadalia lay awake and listened to him shower until his phone rang. The caller tried again. She lifted her head, listening for the shower water; Sage didn’t seem to hear the phone.
    Nadalia looked at the clock – it was almost midnight. Who would be calling at this time? Tipping toward the items he’d just discarded, Nadalia fumbled through the dark and pulled his cell phone from his pants.
    Coffey Davis lit up the screen and Nadalia released the breath that she was holding as her hand went to her heart. Alarm struck her again, assuming that if Coffey was calling at this time, there might be an emergency. Nadalia ran with the phone and burst into the bathroom, startling Sage.
    â€œBabe. Coffey’s calling. He called more than once. It woke me up,” she stammered. “I thought it might be important.”
    Sage sighed with relief. “I thought something had happened.” He waved his hand dismissively. “I can call Coffey back when I get out of the shower.”
    â€œIt’s late. Something could be wrong.”
    â€œI just left him. He’s probably just calling to make sure I got in okay.”
    Nadalia stood stark straight. “I was sitting here waiting on you all night, thinking you were working and you were out gallivanting with Coffey? You could have called or something.” Nadalia stood with one hand on her hip and his phone dangling from the other. She felt like throwing it into the commode.
    â€œI was working, babe.” Sage turned the shower off and stepped out. “Coffey is being courted by some other networks so he’s in town for negotiations.” Toweling off, Sage headed back to the bedroom with Nadalia in tow. “My company is working with his team on his branding to get the best set up for him. We discussed the plans over dinner and had a few drinks. Not to mention, they shut down one of the tubes on the Midtown tunnel for overnight construction so traffic was horrendous. That’s what took me so long to get home.”
    Nadalia narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t sure she believed him.
    â€œI was the only one who had to drive a distance, so I told them I’d call Coffey when I got in. He’s probably wondering what happened.”
    Nadalia continued to eye him as he dried off and then stepped into his boxers. She looked for any signs that would indicate whether he was lying. “Well call him back and let him know you’re fine,” she said, holding out the phone.
    Sage looked at her with creased brows, reached for the phone and dialed Coffey’s number. “What’s up, man?” He kept his eyes on Nadalia, standing with her hands on both hips. “Traffic was crazy…yeah.” Sage laughed. “Yeah man…I know…” Nadalia was still staring in his face. “Well, Nadalia said to tell you hello…I will…cool…later, man.” Sage ended the call, walked into the bedroom, and tossed the phone into the fluffy pile of covers on the bed. “You happy now?” he said to Nadalia.
    Nadalia rolled her eyes and got in bed. Sage snuggled behind her and fell right off to sleep.

Chapter 10
    Nadalia
    As expected, Sage was gone before dawn. Again, Nadalia pretended to be sleeping when he kissed her goodbye. Between Sage’s snoring and her mulling over their lack of