Page 37 of Snow

Her annoyance faded slightly as she continued reading, figuring she would send Sophia some sarcastic response about Rick apparently being the second coming of Jesus. But then her eyes caught on the final paragraph near the bottom of the page, and the amusement instantly vanished.

While Mr. Montgomery has remained private about his personal life, recent rumblings in several prominent social circles suggest wedding bells may be in his future. Sources close to the Montgomery and Hart families speculate that Mr. Montgomery and longtime girlfriend, corporate attorney Nova Hart, could be heading toward an engagement announcement in the coming weeks.

For a second, she was convinced she had misread that last paragraph. Her eyes darted back to the bottom of the article, but the words remained the same as when she had read it the first time.

What the actual fuck?

The room seemed to tilt as a wave of nausea rolled through her so suddenly that she had to sit down for a minute. Her grip tightened around the phone as she stared at the words.

The timing alone made her chest hurt. It was only a week ago that she had caught Rick screwing Piper, and now the media was out there hinting at an engagement, as if she and Rick were some perfect political power couple.

The nausea lingered, but now it was fueled by fury. That last paragraph had been strategically planted.

Her mind immediately jumped to her dad and Rick’s dad. They were trying to trap her before she had the chance to completely walk away and destroy the image they had spent years carefully building.

She couldn’t believe it. Rick had cheated on her, humiliated her, and somehow, she was still being positioned as the smiling future wife standing beside him on a campaign stage.

Thinking about her father and how he could do something like this to his own daughter brought tears to her eyes. He had no regard for her feelings. He was nothing but a selfish bastard who only looked out for himself.

He had always been a man in power, and having a son-in-law as governor would ensure he retained it.

Remembering where she was, Nova quickly wiped her eyes before any tears could fall. Now was not the time to fall apart.

She just needed to get through this first, and then she could go home and decide exactly how badly her parents would regret underestimating her.

“You okay over there?” Derek asked.

Nova looked up from her phone, only to realize everyone was looking at her. She immediately felt the blush reach her cheeks.

“Um, yeah,” she answered as she set the phone on the table beside her. “Sorry, I just got some news that caught me off guard for a second.” She offered them a small smile, hoping that it looked more convincing than it felt.

Derek gave her a look that told her that he didn’t buy her answer.

“You’re sure?” he asked.

Nova nodded firmly this time. “Positive,” she assured him.

Thankfully, nobody pressed her any further on the issue.

Bear spoke up. “We’re heading to grab dinner. Would you like to come with us?”

The offer caught Nova completely off guard. She had only known these men for a little over twenty-four hours, and most of her interactions with them had consisted of sarcastic comments, teasing banter, or them watching her like they were still trying to figure her out. An invite to dinner hadn’t exactly been on her bingo card for the evening.

And honestly? A small part of her wanted to say yes. For a few hours, it would be nice to sit somewhere loud and distracting and pretend her personal life wasn’t actively detonating back in Salt Lake City.

But reality came crashing back in almost immediately. She still had files to review for Mr. Silverman before she left tomorrow. Plus, she wanted to call her sister to talk about that article.

Nova offered Bear an appreciative smile as she gathered her items and put them in her bag. “Thank you for the offer, but I should probably stay behind. Mr. Silverman is expecting some paperwork from me before I head out tomorrow.”

Bear nodded easily, not pushing.

“If you change your mind, we’ll be at that sports pub down the street from the hotel,” Duke said.

“Thank you,” she said as she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

As she turned toward the door, she saw Snow was watching her. For once, there wasn’t any irritation or cold detachment in his expression. It caught her off guard enough that she hesitated for half a second before quickly looking away.

She headed for the door, her mind already shifting toward the conversation she was going to have with her sister regarding the disaster waiting for her back home.