Page 46 of I am Dressed in Sin (Death by Daybreak MC 2)
She doesn’t seem to get the memo.
“Oh, thank you, Gidget. We’re thrilled.” She studies the ring carefully, features brimming with love. She loves Crown? I wonder, feeling my stomach bottom out as nausea overtakes me. That’s an expression that can’t be faked. “Your wedding takes precedence, of course, but I’d love to use the old church—”
“I don’t really have time to discuss wedding plans at the moment,” I tell her through gritted teeth. If she notices my hostility, she doesn’t comment on it. “I’m supposed to meet Cat in his office.”
That does it. A shudder passes through Amber, and she reaches out to yank me into a horrible hug, slathering me with the smell of her perfume.
“We’ll be in the wives club together,” she says with a small laugh, pulling back to stare at me with sparkling eyes. She’s so nice, like the literal exact opposite of me. I have dark hair; she has light. My eyes are the color of blood; hers sparkle like emeralds. She smells good, and she smiles a lot, and she giggles. I certainly don’t wear perfume, I frown too much, and when I laugh, angels cry.
Amber Clearwater is an angel, and I am the devil’s spawn.
Crown is … he’s really better off with someone like her.
I hate him; I’m going to kill him; I’m going to tear his balls off and shove them down his throat.
I force my aching lips into a smile, but it only serves to make Amber shudder again—just the way she did when I mentioned Cat. Crap. With considerable effort, I soften my expression.
“The wives club. Can’t wait.” Again, if Amber senses my sarcasm, she doesn’t let on.
“We should get together for lunch sometime and talk wedding plans.”
I would struggle to find, in recent memory, an invitation that sounds any less appealing. Shit, I’d be happier exchanging gunfire with the mafia.
“Sounds peachy,” I grit out, finally managing to slip past her. I head straight for the stairs, taking them two at a time while I seethe and burn and ache on the inside. “Give her to me.” Did that bastard really suggest marrying me while he had a girl on the side that was just waiting around for him? As angry as I am, part of me hurts so bad that it’s hard to breathe.
I actually have to pause just outside the door to my father’s office to regain my composure. I’m hurt. I don’t want to be hurt, but I am. He … he lied for me and then he asked Amber to marry him?
“I never said I wanted you as my old lady. And besides, you know I’ve been dating Amber.”
Crown was telling me the truth that day on the driveway; I was just too stubborn to listen.
Walking into that office with pain on my face, etching itself into my very core, won’t go unnoticed. Cat will spot it straight-off, and he’ll wonder. He’ll stare at me, and he’ll ponder all the reasons that I might be upset: that I really am in cahoots with the mafia, that I really do care about Grey, that I’m lying.
So even if this and that are entirely different things, I shove them all down, right into the same box, the one that hides beneath the shadows of my heart, the one filled with monsters of memories.
“Chin up, best foot forward, other stupid ingratiating idioms,” I grumble, and then, without bothering to knock, I shove the door in to find my dad and Crown bent over the desk. They both turn to look at me when I step inside, but I’ve only got eyes for one of them.
Crown’s entire demeanor is crafted of rage and frustration; I can feel it from here. Considering he just got engaged, you’d think the bastard would have one of those annoying Cheshire grins of his on. He can be smiley and goofy when he wants to be. Just … he only ever seems to behave that way when he’s pissing me off. Picking me up from bonfires that I’m not supposed to be at. Swimming in my family’s pool with my friends.
“Gidge,” Cat begins, gesturing me over. I’m too annoyed to bother correcting him. Screw you, Crown, I think, hissing the words in my mind as I stare at the Vice President. He goes still, his muscles tensing as he looks me over. Maybe he can sense my ire from here?
Can he tell that I wanted him to be mine? That he’s ruined the possibility for both of us. Maintaining a subtle four-way relationship with the officers is a bit of a pipe dream, but it was at least that, a possibility. Gossip travels quick on the compound; everyone will know about Crown and Amber before too long.
Once they do, it’s over. He will belong to her. And I’ll … I don’t know what I’ll do.
