I’m unprepared for the deluge.
‘MICHAELA KNIGHT SPOTTED IN LA GETTING READY FOR UPCOMING WEDDING’
‘PHOENIX KÖNIG AND MICHAELA KNIGHT. LONG LIVE THE KING AND THE QUEEN’
‘WHO’S WHO FROM COAST-TO-COAST EXPECTED AT PHOENIX KÖNIG AND MICHAELA KNIGHT’S WEDDING’
‘PHOENIX KÖNIG AND MICHAELA KNIGHT TOPPING THE CHART OF THE MOST GORGEOUS COUPLE EVER’
‘PHOENIX AND MICHAELA. IS THIS FOREVER?’
‘KING KÖNIG TO TAKE A QUEEN’
King König?
Phoenix König?
Who the hell is that?
I read page after page of results, utterly stunned.
As my eyes scan the headlines, my rage boils.
My stepmonster did it again.“What a manipulative bitch,” I say.
Keira tilts her head to the side. “So, you’re not getting married?”
My eyes shoot up to hers.
“No, I’m not. I don’t even know this Phoenix König guy.”
“Well, if you’re going to get hitched to a stranger, he’s a great one to pick. He’s totally fitness-model material. And did you see his eyes? Rhys has?—”
“Keira, I don’t care about his eyes. I’m not getting married to a person I’ve never met before.” I’m too perturbed to pay attention to the hotness level of a stranger I’ll never meet. I have bigger fish to fry. My life is front and center of the gossip rags and someone is responsible for this travesty. “I bet my stepmother decided to use fake news to drum up business,” I say through gritted teeth. “This is a new low.”
“You think she’s behind this?”
“I’m sure of it.” I hand over the iPad. “Who else loves to meddle in my love life and can’t resist the urge of pawning me as bait? Remember how well things turned out with pervy Freddy III?”
Keira grimaces. “Gross.”
“Yup, the man is disgusting.”
Halfway into our first coffee date, Frederick William Pliskin III asked me if I was okay being blindfolded with my arms tied behind my back and gagged with his jizz-filled underwear while he fucked me from behind. He also wanted to watch as his threecousins took turns fucking me—another of his kinks. Let me think… Hell no, fucking pervert.
My stepmother is incapable of picking a decent man. Given her taste in the men she selects for me, I have no clue how she ended up with my father. No matter how many times I ask her to mind her own business, telling her to back off is like waving a T-bone steak in front of a famished dog and expecting it to behave. Pointless.
“At least she’s stepping up her game.” Keira’s words drip with sarcasm. “Unlike her multiple previous laughable attempts, this time your stepmonster picked a winner. Maybe marrying Phoenix König isn’t a bad idea.” She keeps scrolling through the iPad. “He’s a local businessman— Scratch that.”
“What?”
“He’s a tycoon.” Her hazel-green eyes are huge when they meet mine. “According to this article, he owns a shit load of real estate and?—”
“Good for him.” I dismiss her commentary with a shrug.
“No, seriously, Mikki, think about it. You’d get to move to the west coast, and we’d hang out more often. Who knows? Your future husband lives in Manhattan Beach, and we’d end up being neighbors.”
I roll my eyes. “I love New York way too much to ever leave.”
