My eyes bulge before I can control my reaction. Amber’s face contorts into something I have never seen before.
Meron, however, goes rigid. Like a statue. He barely opens his mouth to speak, and when he does, it’s mostly wind. “I…I…yes. I agree.”
Mother smiles like the cat who ate the canary. “That’s why it’s so important to maintain those good,workingrelationships within a family.”
Her threat might not land for everyone else in the room, but for me, Amber, and Meron, it’s crystal clear. Fix our work relationship, or she will expose his sticky fingers.
The room exhales slowly as she lifts her glass. “To Jason and Faith,” she concludes. “May you always keep family close and your enemies closer.”
Applause rises, louder than before. Mr. Clancy leans closer to me. “Your mother,” he mutters, impressed, “plays chess in public.”
“She always has.” Mother has her foibles, but it’s nice to know she also has my back.
The band strikes up once more, the room begins moving again, and I resume the hunt for Perry.
25
PERRY
The bridal suitestill smells like hairspray and peonies.
The mirrors are ringed with soft bulbs that make everything look airbrushed. The curling irons are unplugged but still warm. Lipsticks lie uncapped on the vanity like shells on the ground after a battle.
And I am sitting on the floor where I collapsed.
My back is against the wall beneath the garment rack where Faith’s spare veil hangs, ghostlike. My hands are shaking hard enough that I have to press them between my knees to stop it.
I can’t stop crying.
It’s not loud. It’s not theatrical. It’s the kind of crying that feels like it’s been waiting for months and finally found an exit.
I told him. I finally told him. And he walked away.
I have to get these drinks to the groomsmen.That sentence keeps replaying like a glitch. It reminds me that I wrecked the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
I wipe my face with the back of my hand and stand up too quickly to glare at myself in the mirror. The room tilts. I grip the edge of the vanity and force my breathing to slow.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. You cannot look like this. You are the maid of honor. You do not get to fall apart.
The door swings open without a knock. Amber.
She doesn’t even pretend she didn’t barge in. She steps inside like she owns everything around her, shutting the door behind her with careful precision. “Well,” she says, eyes sweeping over my blotchy face. “This is convenient.”
I straighten automatically. “What do you want?”
“What do I want?” she repeats incredulously. “I have only ever done the right thing by Damian. And this is the thanks I get?”
The tears threaten again, but I shove them down. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She laughs sharply. “Don’t insult me.” Her composure is fraying at the edges. The perfect hair. The controlled posture. It’s all there, but something underneath is cracked. “My son,” she says, voice tightening, “now has a pair of bastard half brothers.”
The word hits. Bastard. I flinch before I can stop myself.
“And Damian’s mother just humiliated my boyfriend in front of the entire county,” she continues.
My brain stumbles over that. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, don’t pretend you didn’t notice,” she snaps. “She practically threatened Meron on a microphone.”
