“Sure, we’re family. We’re in this together.”
I thought we were. But that itch is still niggling away at me.
I watch Caleb and Victoria greeting guests as they enter the ballroom. The whole family got involved when Olivia Dragonetti tried to tear them apart because it’s what we do: we look out for one another. If one of us falls, we all come tumbling down. But I realize now, I never asked Caleb how he felt when Victoria was kidnapped. I watched him lose his shit, but I never wondered what was going on inside his head.
Because I never thought it would happen to me.
I fucked Remy once. I shouldn’t feel as though I’ve lost the best thing that ever happened to me, but I don’t know how else to explain it to myself.
“What happened when I was out of town?” I ask my twin. It didn’t seem important before, but now it does.
“Is this an open-ended question, or can you narrow it down a little?”
This is what Cash does. He blusters and jokes his way through life, charming everyone who knows him with his dazzling smile, and never getting called out on serious stuff. Unless it affects the Murray empire. Even when he got indicted, he shrugged it off and waited for Kyle to wave his magic wand and set him free.
“Sure, I’ll narrow it down for you. Remy Jones was in my apartment.”
“You know about that, huh?”
Is it my imagination, or did he flinch when the question landed?
“She lost a pendant in my guest room.”
With what happened after Remy found the silver teardrop, I didn’t give its hiding place underneath the bed much attention, but now that it’s out there, I realize that was my first big mistake.
My second mistake was believing that my brother is an open book.
“There was an incident. She got accosted by a guest under the guise of ‘being a good Samaritan’.” He makes speech marks in the air. “Her uniform was covered in champagne and rum. I offered her some clean clothes.”
Our connection may be glitching, but I still sense that there’s more to come.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” Cash is staring at the couple who have just walked into the ballroom.
George Quinn and Isabella Leone.
I didn’t check out the guest list. The Wraith is Caleb’s domain, and because the invitations are always vetted by Terry, I gave it a cursory glance and moved on.
Mistake number three.
I head towards them, but Cash grabs my arm. “Not tonight, B. Not like this.”
“He needs to be taught a fucking lesson.”
This is no longer about the guy and his connected fiancée trying to make a name for themselves. This is personal. If Kyle’s sources are correct, and I have no reason to doubt them, he dumped Remy for a power trip, and I need to be sure that he has no further claims on her. I need to know that all ties were severed when he showed his true colors, and that he can’t manipulate her into doing his bidding.
“He will be.” Cash releases my arm. When he speaks, he keeps his voice low. “You seriously think that his fiancée is on his side?”
I follow my brother’s gaze as the grifter tries to take his fiancée’s hand and she discreetly places it out of reach, fake smile in place, eyes seeking a suitable distraction. George recovers quickly, shakes another guest’s hand, engages in a conversation that is too far away for us to hear. But his body language screams humiliation.
It confirms that he’s in it solely for the ride, but it doesn’t soothe my jangled nerves.
Because if he and his fiancée have zero feelings for one another, he might still see Remy as fair game. He could play the ‘I made a mistake’ card, worm his way back into her life, promise her the world without any intention of following through.
And I won’t stand back and watch him hurt her a second time even if she has made it abundantly clear that she doesn’t want me.
7
REMY
