“Apparently, I’m in the wedding.”
Aileen huffs. “I’m not sure why it’s such a surprise to you. You’re my brother!”
“Yes, but I’m not Rush’s brother or his friend.”
“We didn’t want you to feel left out,” my brother says, drumming his fingers on the table. “Besides, blood doesn’t define family.”
Levi picks up his steaming mug and takes a large sip while a certain coldness emits from him that’s probably barely noticeable to anyone else. I’m used to studying his microexpressions, though. “Right. We’re all one big, happy family.”
I still don’t get it.
According to Aileen, her brother was the one to encourage her to accept her feelings for Rush and even helped them out when Lachlan almost caught them at their family mansion.
If he considered what my brother did such a crime, why did he never confront him about it?
The answer comes to me instantly when Levi winks at Aileen, who slides her plate to him, removing all the seeds from the bread since he hates them, and he takes a piece.
Aileen loves my brother, so he accepted it, but the need for revenge didn’t go away.
Not the kind of revenge that involves Rush being physically hurt or separated from Aileen. He wants my brother to experience the emotional pain he’d understand how much he hurt their family with his actions.
Am I the collateral damage in all this? Is he screwing me so he can one day hurt my brother with it by telling him about us?
“So what does my being in the wedding mean?”
I grab my fork and dig into my eggs, doing my best to act nonchalant while I’m drinking in every word. I’m usually super quiet during these breakfasts, so it shouldn’t be suspicious to anyone. “We have five bridesmaids and five groomsmen.” I put a bite of the eggs in my mouth, welcoming the delicious taste, while the future bride-to-be explains everything, and I’m still confused about why I need to be here for this. “It’s Pierre and Eve, Caroline and Dante, Emmaline and Rafael, who also happens to be the best man, and Orion with Diana.”
Our second cousin is also part of the wedding with his new wife? Color me surprised.
Orion rules his empire in Boston, and he also has a scar that scares everyone away. No one fucks with him, for his wrath would be devastating. Due to his father’s will—a man who is hopefully suffering in eternal hell, amen—he had to marry before turning thirty-six, and Diana wanted to save her family, so they entered a contract marriage.
At some point, it became a love union, as they looked smitten at Aileen and Rush’s engagement party.
“So that leaves Lavender and you,” Aileen finishes, and the eggs turn bitter in my mouth as I freeze at this and look at him as he listens to his sister. “I know you guys have your differences, but we thought you could put them aside for the wedding and walk together down the aisle.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Absolutely not!”
We both respond at the same time. Everyone’s heads turn in my direction, so I put my fork down and clear my throat. “I mean…wouldn’t it be strange for us to be paired up?”
“Why?” Emmaline asks, scooping some ice cream with her spoon. “What’s weird about that?”
This is a nightmare! I can’t walk down the aisle with this guy after everything! There will be videos, photos, and God knows what else.
This has disaster written all over it. I can’t say the truth, so I come up with something else that’s an issue as well.
“Our age.” Silence meets this statement, so I decide to elaborate, hoping they’d see my side of things. “I’m way older than him.”
“Rafael is fifteen years older than me,” Emmaline replies, munching on her ice cream. “And Dante is older than Caroline by a decade.”
“It’s different.”
“Different how?”
“You’re an actual couple. You need to be paired up together.” More like their possessive men wouldn’t allow anyone else to touch them. “Anyway…maybe you should find someone else? Someone who’d match perfectly with Levi. I don’t mind.”
What a lie.
