“You know…we never kissed, Angel.” His low, smooth voice was in my ear now. I tried to focus on the lace, the window, anything but my heart rising into my throat. “I’ll give you the happily ever after you deserve.” “I’ll take you out of this place.” West’s touch found my shoulder, featherlight. Months ago I’d already come to terms with what I might be asked to do, because I would do anything for my uncle, even if it meant readying the bride for the love of my life while I was still sticky with his come. Girls forced to bring the bloody evidence back and, in some cases, help the bride after-anything to ensure a baby. Rumors of old, ancient rituals crawled with a shiver up my spine. My fingers froze on the delicate lace, eyes traveling to the spiderweb lingerie just beside it.Ī girl did anything for her mistress, whether it was dress her, clean her, listen to her woes. “Angel, you know that’s not what I mean.” “You know what a girl has to do for the bride.” “So you’re just going to stay here?” he asked. I want nothing to do with you.” I turned from him, fidgeted with the second of Lottie’s dresses. Believing everything belongs to you, even people. Why? After everything we’d been through, why did West think I’d want that? It must be a rich thing, right? Being so arrogant. I should just ignore him, get back to work, stop poking at the wound, but I couldn’t stop this gnawing in my gut. West took a step closer, but I stayed put, refusing to let another man push me back. The boy who had ghosted me and taken my virginity for a bet didn’t actually want me. Though West had promised to pick up the pieces that he said would inevitably fall after Grayson, he couldn’t be serious. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied. West was close enough now that I could smell his rich cologne, see his dark tux straining across his thick biceps. “I told you I would be here,” he said for the second time. Rape, to me, was supposed to be bloody and vicious and cruel, not filled with sweet words. I still wasn’t sure if I believed it myself. I don’t know how a man like West would respond to that…how any man would. A few weeks earlier I had finally said what had been weighing on my soul: Westley du Lac raped me. My eyes darted from it to him as fear crept up my spine. Something about forgetting her garter.”Īs Lottie’s girl, I was supposed to bring it to her, but West picked up the lacy garment, twirling it around his finger. “Lottie is Grayson’s wife now.” I clenched my teeth at the pain those words brought as West walked closer, sliding one hazelnut finger along the vanity. He smirked, quirking his plump lips just enough to flash his bright-white teeth. “Grayson’s guards will be here any minute,” I said to West. The one and only…the one who should have always been. And in the end…Lottie’s wedding dresses hung up behind me. The thousands of knots we’d tied together. As I stood across from Westley only hours after Grayson’s wedding, I pictured our thread. My mom loved to whisper that whenever things didn’t go her way, which was…often. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the above copyright owner of this book.įor the girls whose broken hearts never stopped beating.įate is a thread you can tie it in a thousand knots but you’ll always come to the same end. Proof Reading by Rumi and My Brother’s Editor Line editing by James Gallagher of Evident Ink The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2020 by Mary Catherine Gebhard
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