Page 3 of Without a Hitch
“And he’ll find you were hiding in plain sight,” she continues. “I know you prefer to be on the sidelines, behind the scenes. Blend into the crowd. But you’re a bright light waiting to shine. You know that, right?”
“God, Del. How drunk are you?”
She sighs as she bumps my shoulder. “Not enough. I saw your face on the dance floor. I’m sorry you felt left out.”
“I didn’t…” She raises her brow, and I let all pretenses go. “It’s not that I felt left out. I just didn’t feel like I fit in. There’s a difference.”
“I know,” she says, hooking her arm through mine. “Ready to go home? Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey are waiting for us!”
I give her arm a squeeze as we exit the foul-smelling room. Remembering my drunken friend, I seek her out in the crowd and find her just in time to see her jam a phone screen in her friend’s face.
My heart splinters for the girl I don’t know. Betrayal of that magnitude rocks me to my core, and I’ve never been so thankful for the built-in friendship and loyalty that came with having three sisters and no parents to count on. I hit the jackpot with Hadley and Delaney. I’ve kept my circle small my entire life. And watching the drama unfurl in front of me, I’m thankful.
“Jesus,” Delaney whispers. “That’s going to hurt tomorrow.”
No punches are thrown. Just verbal sparring, but Delaney knows better than most that words can cut deeper than a knife.
“Come on,” I say, dragging her behind me. “Let’s make sure she has a place to go.”
I don’t make it a habit of opening my home to strangers, but if ever there were a time, this is it. If her friend is sleeping with her fiancé, there’s no way her other friend didn’t know about it.
Hadley and Eli join ranks a second later. “We heard it go down. By the look on your face, you made another friend?” Eli guesses.
I’m not in the mood for a lecture, so I ignore her. “Just help me make sure she’s okay and has a safe place to stay, all right?”
Eli, who is always on the go with a plan and a purpose, hugs me close. “This kind heart of yours is why we love you, sis. Let’s go save our damsel.”
Two hours later, I crawl into bed with Kate Hudson’s voice in the background. Turns out, my new friend was staying at her parents’ house tonight anyway, but I haven’t been able to shake the hurt I saw in her eyes. Before we left the bar, Sybil and I exchanged numbers, and I know I’ll be checking in with her often. I won’t allow the betrayal she experienced to turn her off from love.
I only fall asleep after convincing myself that everything happens for a reason, and her Prince Charming is still out there searching for her.
CHAPTER2
LOCHLAN BRYER-BLAINE
Four Months Ago
Bitter cold assaults my eyeballs the second I peel myself away from the plush leather seat of the hunter-green Range Rover I’ve rented. It’s colder than a witch’s tit, and the wind is pure evil. Point Judith, Rhode Island, holds a fondness for me, but there’s a reason I don’t visit this part of the country in winter.
It’s fucking bloody cold.
Fortunately, I’m propelled forward by revenge.
In the summer months, nearby Wickford holds an annual art festival that my stepsister, Nova, has loved for as long as I can remember, so I make the trip north each season. There isn’t much I wouldn’t do for my annoyingly perfect little sister. But summer is when everything is green. Lovely. Alive. Today, I realize they call it the dead of winter for a reason. Everywhere you look is gray. Cold. Dead.
Fitting, I suppose, since it’s rage that has me here in the first place. It’s been months of preparation. Years, really, but I won’t dwell on that. I’m here to meet my old friend, the one person who will understand my need for vengeance.
Blake Kingston is the only man I know who understands loss in quite the same way. His grief has turned him into a recluse, but he won’t turn me away. Not when I’m coming to him for help. That’s the thing about true friends—even in our darkest times, we’re there for each other.
I’d like to say I’m an asshole—dead inside without feelings or remorse. And most people in my life would say that’s the God’s honest truth. Now. They didn’t always see me this way though. At one point I believed in happily ever after. I believed in the love my parents still had for one another after their divorce, even if I didn’t understand it. Those beliefs were shattered with one wedding that nearly ruined me. I used to allow people to see the vulnerable man behind an empire. I used to allow them to see me. But now I keep the world at bay with my carefully curated dickhead persona.
I need revenge, but the tiny piece of my heart that wasn’t broken by betrayal won’t allow me to proceed with my plan if innocent people are harmed. Even financially. So, I need Blake to come through for me. I’ll even appeal to his grief to get him on board if I have to. He can protect the thousands while I destroy the two.
Pulling my wool pea coat tighter, I join the queue for the ferry that will take me the short distance to Block Island. Blake doesn’t make it easy to see him these days, but that’s fine by me.
Icy rain pelts my head, and I curse myself for not being better prepared. Each time the frozen rain licks my face, silent rage fills my lungs.
“Ticket?” an older woman asks with a thick New England accent.
