I feel pretty, and I’m excited.
I can’t wait to get married.
Happiness is oozing out of my every pore.
Not even my asshole sperm donor can dampen the euphoria I feel.
Bree opens the door to let Rhett in, talking in hushed whispers to whomever else is out in the hallway.
“What is the meaning…Oh, wow. You look stunning, Ashley.” Rhett stares at me with approval, and he looks sincere in his praise. Pity it has no effect on me. Nothing this man could say would ever resonate with me. He’s poison, and I hate that I came from his nefarious loins. Still, I have a part to play.
I smile sweetly at him as I stride toward him, keeping my shoulders back and my head held high. “Thank you.”
“I can’t believe you’re getting married with pink hair.” My mother slips into the room behind my father before Bree closes the door.
“What’s wrong with her hair?” Bree side-eyes my mother. “Ashley looks beautiful.”
“I’m not saying she doesn’t.” Mom glares at Rhett as she bypasses him, making a beeline for me. “But you have gorgeous natural blonde hair most women pay a fortune to achieve. Blonde is much more elegant,” she adds, touching her coiffed golden-blonde hair. Whoever did her makeup has done a good job concealing the bruises on her face and neck.
“If you came here to insult me, you can leave.” I challenge her with a narrowed look. Nothing or no one is going to put a dampener on today for me.
“Don’t be overly sensitive. It’s not an insult. Merely an observation.” She casts a quick glance over my dress, and I can tell it doesn’t meet her exacting standards either. It’s probably far too simple and casual for Pamela Stewart. If it’d been left up to her, she’d have put me in some monstrosity with layers and layers of tulle and a demure neckline. Whatever her thoughts, this time, she keeps them hidden. “You look beautiful. Jason is a lucky man.”
“I’m not impressed by my plans being hijacked at the last minute,” Rhett says, apparently done with the pleasantries.
Clearly, he doesn’t know how to play nice either.
Anger rises to the surface without coaxing. “We’re doing what you want,” I snap. “The least you can do is let us dictate how we say I do.” I glare at him with unconcealed venom.
“There is no need to take that tone with me, young lady.”
“There is every need, and you know it.”
“We should leave,” Bree says, not lifting her head from her cell phone. “The ceremony is due to begin shortly.”
“I’m proud of you,” Rhett says, smiling at me as if a switch has just flipped in his head. He can transform from sour to sweet in a split second, and he gives me mental whiplash. He really is psychotic, and it’s scary. A full-body shiver washes over me at the thought as he offers his arm for me to take. “It’s my honor to give you away.”
Bree gives me a subtle nod as the door opens, and I breathe a sigh of relief when I see my brother.
“I believe that’smyhonor.” Knight steps right up, and I loop my arm in his, leaving Rhett with his arm suspended in the air looking like the fool he is.
“You are the most beautiful bride.” Knight kisses my cheek. “Jase is going to go crazy when he sees you.”
“What are you doing here?” Rhett pins suspicious eyes on his son.
“Giving my sister away,” Knight coolly replies, guiding me past my parents.
Pamela looks as shocked as Rhett. I had considered asking Mom to give me away, but when she refused to even answer my calls, I quickly gave up on that idea. Knight agreed before the words had even left my mouth, and I’m so glad it’s him.
I already love my brother, and I barely know him.
A person can tell when someone is good, and Knight Carter is a good man.
“Don’t look so shocked,” I say as we pass by Rhett. “Knight is my brother, and he’s an heir. I find it insulting you hadn’t confided in him about who I am, so I filled him in at the party on Tuesday.” Rhett hasn’t told Knight anything, and it’s important we protect him so he can spy for us from within. I snuggle into Knight’s side. “I always wanted a brother, and now I have one.” My smile is for Rhett’s benefit, but it’s genuine as are my words. “He is here as my guest.”
I threw out the party reference on purpose to see how Rhett would react. He didn’t come near us about Chad’s disappearance or what went down, and we all find that strange and alarming. He has to know by now that his wife’s dungeon of horrors was attacked and the prisoners all freed, so why hasn’t he accused us? Cleo may not know who was behind it, but Rhett would suspect us first.
Rhett gives nothing away in his expression. “The timing of these things is important.” The double meaning is clear. “I had no intention of keeping you from your siblings. I was merely waiting for the most opportune time to tell my wife and my children about you.”
