Audrey Tripp owns my future, my dreams, and my heart.I’m hers.Forever.
Chapter 17
Audrey Tripp
I find Brennan across the roomand hesitate as my soul leaps in excitement.Disbelief still nags at me.He should have shunned me the moment he learned the truth.Hell, he carved a huge hole in my heart when he cut ties with the family, then my mom chose my stepfather over me even though he kicked us to the curb.She loved my baby sister more than she loved me.
I couldn’t mourn my own losses when I was so desperate to save my mother.For over a year, we were in and out of different hospitals seeing specialist after specialist.I had no friends.No family.No home.
Now I have Brennan.
He says he’ll never leave me.I want to believe him, but some wounds take time to heal, if they ever do.
He’s too handsome in his new suit.His relaxed stance as he chats with a man I’ve never met before sends need pulsing through me.
The fancy décor and muted discussions are the opposite of how I’d like to spend a Saturday evening, but I already agreed to attend the charity ball with him, so I clear my throat and decline a drink from a passing waitress as I weave through the crowd toward him.
The massive diamond embedded in my engagement ring nearly blinds me.Part of me still insists Brennan proposed solely to get rid of that clingy rich bitch, but his unwavering support after seeing my mother erases my conscious doubts.My subconscious will need more time to catch up, but having him by my side helps.
With a slight shift of his weight, he angles his body to search the crowd while he talks with the stranger.The man doesn’t quite tower over Brennan, but with a few extra inches and the bulk of a bodybuilder, he seems like a giant.
Brennan’s eyes capture mine.His smile melts my bones.I skirt around a larger group of men and lose sight of him.
The frustrating lack of bathroom access to the entire back half of the ballroom means a trek through the horde of women dripping with jewelry and wearing big, frilly skirts and men with nonexistent spatial awareness.
By the time I reach his side of the group of men, he ends his discussion with the stranger by way of a handshake and locks eyes with me.
A few yards away, I stop and cross my arms over my chest as the clingy rich bitch plasters herself to his side.Brennan’s lip curls in disgust as he tries to extract his arm from her grip, but she simpers and rubs her boobs against him.
I was nice before.I won’t be nice today.
Her hair—caked in gel—crunches in my fist as I yank her away from my fiancé.With her balance ruined, I fling her toward what I think is the nearest wall only to cringe in mortification as she hits the tall stranger’s side.He twists and steps away, sending her crashing to the floor in a brilliant display of satin and diamonds.
Her shriek silences the entire party.She fights her way upward despite her voluminous dress and staggers on her heels as she points a finger at me.
“You!How dare you,” she screeches.
I cross one arm over my chest and check my nails with the other, flashing my ring so the whole world can see it.
“Me?I was just swatting a toad away from my fiancé.”
“A toad?!Why, you—”
I step closer to her.She squeaks and stumbles backward.
“I see swatting was too nice of me.Maybe we should settle this the way your beloved Mr.Diamond would with his competition.Care to meet me on the sparring mats?”
She opens and closes her mouth a few times in a decent impersonation of a fish.
I reach out.She flinches.I adjust her necklace and smile.The curve of my lips promises ruthless retribution.
“Touch my man again and nothing will protect you.Not your pretty face.Not your money.Not your family.Nothing.”I fix her dangling earrings and pull her shawl back onto her shoulder before piercing her with my most serious stare.“Understand?”
Her embarrassment takes a back seat to her fear for a delicious moment before jumping back into the driver’s seat.She huffs, stomps her foot, and scurries away.
I turn to the man I tossed her into.
“I am so sorry!I meant to throw her at the wall,” I say.
