Finally, it was break time. I headed inside, going to the bar. I didn’t drink on the job, so I ordered a Coke and settled in. It was almost midnight and I hadn’t looked at my phone since the beginning of my shift four hours ago. Pulling it out, I saw that I had missed a text from Blade two hours ago.
Might want to check the news. Saw your girl Sabrina.
Then, another message from him was sent a few minutes later.
Sorry, man.
Frowning, I opened an internet tab on my phone and typedSabrina Barnettinto the search engine. A slew of articles appeared, most of them related to her father. But I didn’t look into any of those. It was the first thing that popped up that caught my eye.
An engagement announcement.
I felt like an iron fist was squeezing my stomach as I opened the article. I stared at the picture that populated at the top of the page. It was Sabrina with a smile on her face as she was tucked into the side of a tall, handsome man. Mr. All-American. Hunter Albrecht II.
La-di-fucking-da.
Scrolling down, I scanned the article, but I didn’t learn much. Two prominent families coming together as one. A political powerhouse. Blah, blah, blah.
I went back to the picture. Maybe I was trying to torture myself.
I knew she was engaged, but seeing this was a kick in the gut. I zoomed in on the picture, staring at her face. Was I seeing things, or was that smile fake? It didn’t quite seem to reach her eyes…
“Watcha lookin’ at?” a voice asked from beside me. I jumped and turned to see Cherry at my side, trying to peek at my phone. I put it facedown on the bar, but I was sure she’d already seen.
“Nothing.”
She gave me a sassy grin. “Now I know why you never took me up on my offer. She’s pretty.”
“She’s not mine,” I said. The words sounded as hollow as they were.
Cherry chuckled. “Yeah, right.”
Fuck it, I’m having a drink.
I ordered a whiskey. Cherry stuck around for a while, engaging in small talk with me while I drank my alcohol too quickly, making it go straight to my head. Eventually, she went back to the stage while I went back to staring at my damn phone.
I was more upset about all this than I’d thought I would be. I cared for Sabrina, despite knowing that she was destined to marry someone else. I had thought of it as an eventual complication, but now reality had struck and I was left with a bitter disappointment.
Sabrina
It was official. I was engaged. Headed for the altar. Planning my nuptials.
A plan had been formed and was on track, but I’d never felt so out of control of my life. I was an idiot for agreeing to this in the first place, I knew that. But it was too late to back out.
Besides, my parents were thrilled. This engagement had already been reported on by all the major news networks, giving both of our families the publicity they wanted. Everything was on track as long as I didn’t throw a wrench in the works.
I considered contacting Butch to let him know that things were moving forward with the engagement, but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to hear the disappointment in his voice. I knew that made me a coward, but I would just have to live with that. I would see him at the end of the week, when it was time for the poker run. Everything was in place now, and we’d been talking through the plans in text messages, but I hadn’t seen him in person since the day we’d met at the bar.
I was sitting at the breakfast table with my mother. My father had already left the house for a meeting, giving my mother a kiss on the cheek as he rose from the table. The small display of affection was commonplace. My parents were in love and always had been, as far as I knew.
“Did you love Dad when you married him?” I asked, drawing my mom’s attention away from the newspaper.
“What kind of a question is that? Of course I did.”
“You know I don’t love Hunter, right?”
I wasn’t even sure why I was asking. Hadn’t I already decided not to back out of this arrangement? My mom turned to me fully and the look in her eyes softened.
“I know that, but I also know that he’s a good man. He’ll take good care of you. This isn’t just about his lineage, believe it or not. I believe that Hunter can make you happy. You’ll grow to love him someday.”
