Page 38 of Shattered Sinner
Van smiled and then said, "It'll make so much more sense when you go through it. I'm sure you'll receive a little bit more information before the evening of the trial. It'll help you prepare. Remember, this isn't a decision to be taken lightly. You have to think hard about what you're willing to risk, or willing to sacrifice for that matter."
I hated that his words hung in the air like a siren blaring into the night. I didn’t know if I had an opportunity to back out even if I wanted to, but as much as I didn’t like him for the way he treated Bianca and Nash, I knew that I had to heed his warning.
“Okay, I understand.”
“That’s great. Do you think you and your parents will be attending the big extravaganza that we’ll be hosting here in a couple of weeks?”
I hadn’t expected him to segue into this topic, but I was somewhat happy he had. What he didn’t know was that I had more information about what he was hinting at. “My parents didn’t tell me anything yet, but I assume they will be coming.”
He smiled as he folded his hands together. “Good. It’s going to be a very special occasion.”
I couldn’t believe he was willing to sell his own daughter into a marriage she didn’t want at all. My disgust for him was growing by the moment and his small speech that he’d given on the Chevaliers felt tainted.
“It’ll take the news away from some of the bad press we’ve been getting.”
“Bad press?” I asked, wondering if he was thinking about Diana Caldwell’s commercial. “From your opponents in the election?”
Van nodded as I watched anger cloud his features briefly. “You saw the Caldwell commercial, huh?" He barely waited for me to confirm before he continued. "I won’t get into details, but things are getting a bit hairy, and we need to keep on our toes. Not that we weren’t before. She isn’t prepared for what we plan on enacting next.”
I didn't have confirmation about whether Caldwell's camp sent the photos of Bianca to Van, but I was getting a small sense that Van suspected she had. I couldn't question him further on it without him getting suspicious, so I changed the topic. "I don't want to take up too much more of your time, but I have one more question."
"What's that?"
"How much information about other Chevalier chapters will I get once I'm initiated?"
Van smiled. "I like that confidence. Once you're a member, a whole new world opens up to you, including more information than you could possibly want or need."
I nodded my head as I tried to decipher what that could mean due to his vagueness. I didn't want to ask him outright about Iris, but it sounded as if I could ask more questions once I was an official member.
I just hoped that it wasn't too late.
21
BIANCA
Being in New York City for any length of time had always been a treat. Living only a few hours away and my parents owning an apartment here made it easier. My patience was wearing thin as I touched the fabric that covered my body. The sequins on this dress were too much and they were doing nothing but irritating my skin. It wasn’t my style, but it didn’t matter because my mother had picked it out. At least she had to cancel coming with me at the last minute because she needed to attend a charity engagement, so I didn’t have to deal with her nagging in addition to this.
I felt a bit guilty as I watched the tailor fussing with the hem on the floor. She was doing all of this for nothing, I thought as I looked up and grimaced at my reflection.
This dress was supposed to be one of the options for my “engagement party” and I wanted to do nothing but scream and shout because I was being poked and prodded for no damn reason. Every tiny adjustment she made forced me to think about the reality of this party and how my new reality was closing in on me.
But this was all wrong. I wasn’t going to become engaged to or marry Tristan.
It had taken me some time to come to the realization that the only one I wanted was Easton. All it took was a moment for me to think about Iris and what she would do in this predicament before something snapped within me.
“Stop,” I finally said as I stared at myself in the mirror. The thought of putting on another dress and pretending to be excited about a party that was supposed to turn into one of the biggest celebrations of my life was absurd. “Just stop.”
The tailor at my feet sat back on her heels and looked up at me with wide eyes. “Are you sure? We’re not done yet and—”
“I can't go through with this, and it will just be a waste of time for you.”
“If this isn’t the dress for you, we have plenty of other options.”
It was then that I realized that she had misconstrued my meaning, but I wasn’t about to correct her.
“I'm sure. I’m exhausted, and we still have time to find another dress,” I lied and made sure that my tone left no room for her to debate me. Trying on dresses for this party made things more real, and I just couldn’t do it.
“Okay, let me help you out of this dress and then we can move on from there.”
