“They accepted your offer, April,” she repeats excitedly.
“That’s amazing,” I breathe.
“It is. I know you’re busy; I just wanted to tell you the good news.” She hangs up before I can even respond.
I pull the phone away from my ear and Sarah snatches it out of my hands, pocketing it.
“You okay?” Jasmine asks, her green eyes full of concern.
I nod. “Yeah, I am.”
GRAVE
I sit atthe long bridal party table at the head of the ballroom, watching Titan dance with his wife in front of two hundred and twenty people. I scan their faces, recognizing most of them. Some I couldn’t even guess who the fuck they are.
Titan has always been a showoff. And that’s exactly what he’s doing with the reporters and guests here. He’s showing the world that he is one of the luckiest Kings on earth, marrying Emilee. Because they’re not here for Emilee. She couldn’t care less.
My brother sits next to me, a glass of bourbon in his hand. He’s speaking to a guy by the name of Avery and his brother, Tristan. The Decker brothers are his friends.
Being sober shows you how alone you truly are. I never got close to anyone. They’d see who I really was.
I take a sip of my water as a woman I know well walks up to our table. Marsha Wells. A reporter who slept her way to the top in Vegas. She’s always the first to break a juicy story. Her pussy has gotten her all the best connections.
“Bones?” Her eyes stare at him hungrily. I’m pretty sure he’s fucked her before, but I could be wrong.
“Marsha.” He nods to her, throwing back his drink.
The Kings have always been in the media spotlight. Our fathers started Kingdom—The Three Wisemen weren’t any better than we are. I can’t even count the stories that have been written about us. Some true, some not. I ignore them. They mean nothing to me.
“I was wondering if you had anything to share with me?” she asks him.
He tilts his head to the side and his eyes drift from her pink heels up her cream-colored dress before meeting hers. “I might have something.”
She smiles, and he gets to his feet, buttons his suit jacket, and walks around the table. “Excuse me, gentlemen,” he tells the Decker brothers. Taking her hand, he leads her to the dance floor.
I take another sip of my water as my eyes latch onto the most beautiful woman here. April stands across the ballroom, herdark purple hair styled in an updo, with soft strands falling down to frame her face. She’s wearing a strapless black silk dress that hugs her figure.
I swallow nervously and stand, wanting to talk to her. I make my way around the dance floor and over to her. She has her back to me, talking to Jasmine.
Jasmine spots me coming. She brings a glass of champagne to her lips and tilts it back, winking at me. “I have to go,” she tells April the moment I get close.
“What? Where do you have to go suddenly?” she calls out to Jasmine’s back.
“She’s my wingman,” I tell her. Jasmine has always had my back. She understands that we’re not all the same. That some of us feel too much while others don’t feel at all.
April spins around and peers up at me.
I reach out my right hand. “Dance with me?” I hold my breath, still unsure how she feels about me and the horrible situation I’ve put us in. Sitting alone in a room with nothing but your thoughts for weeks on end hasn’t been good for me.
She takes my hand, and I pull her into me. God, I missed holding her. Everything about her was addictive.
But what little hope I had dies when she speaks. “I can’t.”
I release her and run a hand through my hair. “Okay,” I say, hating that I’ve hurt her. I understand that just because I’m trying doesn’t mean I deserve the chance to make it right.
She sighs. “I need to talk to you, Grave.”
Her words don’t help the bad feeling in my gut that I’ve gone too far. I did too much. She isn’t Lucy. April demanded all of me and what I gave her was a watered down, drug-induced version. “Yeah, sure. There is a lot we need to discuss.”
