The beads on his daughter’s dress left several thin white scratches on the paint.
Fuck.It’s not my car; I borrowed it from the company.I’ve hauled the CEO around in it for almost a year without incident.Why now?
“Let me exchange information with this young lady, then I’ll be right with you,” my ex-stepfather says.
The hair on my nape rises.
No.
I never want to speak to him again, not even in the parking lot with the sun streaming down and people strolling between the cars.
I stuff tissue between my thumb and the sewing kit and swipe the trail of blood off the side of my hand before reaching for my bag, swinging it onto my shoulder, and grabbing the lid of the trunk.
A smooth, masculine hand covers mine on the metal.My vision swims.
Everything I’ve learned in self-defense class flees from my mind as panic floods my veins.
“Don’t touch me,” I hiss.
“I warned you what would happen if I ever saw you again, didn’t I, Audrey?”
Desperation clears my mind.I yank my hand out from under his and knock his arm away before slamming the trunk closed and backing up.
“Leave my mom alone,” I demand.
He smiles and reaches into his suit pocket.My entire body vibrates with tension, and I prepare to bolt even as he pulls out a business card.
“If you really cared about her, you would’ve used all the money I gave you to disappear like I told you to,” he says.
Rage colors my vision.The hush money he threw at us during their divorce was barely enough to save my mom’s life after he beat her.She needed so many surgeries, infusions, and treatments, we ran out within a year.I’ve been supporting us ever since.
It doesn’t matter.I’ll pay for her care.I want nothing from him.
Despite the evil shining from his gaze, I roll my shoulders back and lift my chin.
“Ihavedisappeared.We’re nothing to each other.Today was just an unfortunate accident between strangers.Keep that.”I gesture to his business card.“I don’t want it.”
I spin on my heels and nearly trip on my long skirt as it tangles around my legs, but I fill my fist with the buttery soft fabric and speedwalk around the back of the church.I don’t slow until I turn into the hall with the suites for the wedding party.
When my heart threatens to pound out of my chest, I stop beside a decorative table and lean my back against the wall.Dark crimson grows on the tissue.I drop my head back, take several calming breaths, and focus on the cheerful sounds drifting out from both the bridesmaids’ and groomsmen’s rooms.Shoving my emotions deep down into the abyss of my soul, I stop myself from destroying the makeup artist’s hard work and instead roll my shoulders before pushing off the wall.
After cleaning the sewing kit, wrapping a bandage on my thumb, and fixing the buttons on two of the bridesmaids’ dresses, I pass the sewing kit to the best man and ensure the entire party has drinks and snacks before joining the bride in her chambers.
I met Brook Simons—soon to be Brook Ricco—eight years ago.Without her, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
She smiles and waves as I return but resumes pacing back and forth in her elaborate white gown.
“You’re going to wear a hole in that fancy rug if you don’t sit down,” I joke.
Her eyes light with mirth.She takes a deep breath and relaxes her shoulders.
“What, this old thing?”She scoffs with a gesture toward the ornate rug.“No one will even notice if I do.”
“More like your loaded husband will just throw money at it and expect it to mend itself.”
After the unexpected run-in with my ex-stepfather, I can’t stop the words from escaping the well of hatred festering in my soul.I regret saying them before they pass my lips, but when Brook freezes, fear grips me.
She’s my best friend.Alienating her on her wedding day when she trusted me to be her maid of honor would gut me.The blood drains from my face.
