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“Wife?” Kristina asked. She pinned Chloe with an accusing stare. “What is he saying? Is he joking?”
Nik lifted Chloe’s hand and showed off the platinum wedding band. “Last night, this beautiful lady made me the luckiest man in all of Vegas.”
Chloe felt sick to her stomach.
Nik gave her foot a little kick under the table, reminding her of their deal. She forced a smile and tried to look the part of the happy bride.
Before the questions started, an employee waved Nik over. The guy obviously had a problem that only the boss could solve. Nik excused himself, suddenly all business. He walked away without a glance in Chloe’s direction.
The second he was gone, Kristina’s mouth tightened. “You just couldn’t stand it, could you?”
Chloe blinked. “Couldn’t stand what?”
“Me getting married first, as if you don’t know. My wedding is a week away. You just had to race to the altar and steal my thunder. Unbelievable.”
Chloe shook her head. “It isn’t like that.”
“I never dreamed you would marry a stranger just to upstage me. Granted, he’s absolutely gorgeous and rich. What woman wouldn’t want to crawl into bed with that stud? But you just married him to stick it to me, and we both know it.”
“No.”
“Admit it! You couldn’t stand it that everyone was paying attention to me for once. That’s why you didn’t want to come to Vegas with us for my bachelorette weekend. I should have just left you in Brookhaven. That would have been the smart thing to do.”
Chloe couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her sister thought she would marry a total stranger just to hurt her. She knew Kristina had issues with her stemming from childhood, but the whole notion was ridiculous.
“For your information,” Chloe said with a stiff upper lip. “He isn’t a stranger. Nik and I were engaged years ago.”
“Oh really? And when exactly was this?”
Their food arrived. Light and airy, the eggs looked like they would melt in her mouth. The blueberry muffin smelled incredible, almost as good as the ones she baked. Neither of them spoke as everything was set before them.
Chloe gave the waitress a polite smile and thanked her for the great service. In return, the woman glared at her. There was no reason for the waitress to hate her... except for the fact she was now Mrs. Nikolas Adropolis. Chloe imagined a lot of women in Vegas were going to hate her once the news went live.
Nik returned to the table in time to thank their waitress. One word from him and the woman’s cheeks glowed. Beaming, she turned away to wait on another table. Chloe remembered feeling like that about him. She remembered almost melting every time he looked her way, and she went up in a fireball every time he touched her.
“You look flushed,” Nik said. “Something wrong?”
Kristina intercepted the question. “Did you know my sister before this weekend?”
“Six years ago. Didn’t she tell you? Your sister is the one that got away.” A smug smile stretched his lips as he gazed down at Chloe. “Well, the one that almost got away.”
“How did I not know about this?” Kristina asked.
“It happened shortly after your mother died,” he said as he retook his seat. “Chloe came here to get away from her grief and start a new life. The first time I saw her, I knew she was the woman I wanted to spend eternity with.”
Kristina scowled at her. “How romantic.”
“It was,” Nik said. He smoothed a hand over Chloe’s cheek in a possessive way. “But not as romantic as last night. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other. She’s an insatiable lover, your sister.”
Chloe choked on her own saliva, and his expression turned concerned. Of course, it was all an act for Kristina. He wouldn’t care if she dropped dead at his feet. Maybe he would prefer it. Then he could tell the world how she’d begged for forgiveness and asked him to marry her.
He reached over and patted her back a few times before handing her a glass of water. “Drink.”
She took a sip, hoping it would cool her burning cheeks. If she didn’t get him away from Kristina soon, it was no telling what her sister would say. Any second Kristina was going to piece it together. She would remember that Chloe had a child with a nameless father, and she would purposely tell him just to get even with Chloe for imagined betrayals.
Chloe jumped to her feet. “We have so much to do today. I’m sorry, Kris, but we need to get going.”
Nik looked up at her with narrowed eyes, obviously trying to figure out what she was up to now. “What is it that we have to do again?”
