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He smiles down at me, holding my hand as we start walking it. “No? Consider it a girls’ night out, then.”
I’m already fuming as we enter, and the heat of the place makes it so much worse. My skin is feeling oversensitive in so many places in my body that I can’t focus on anything.
At least I don’t have to. All I have to do is be a trophy wife, smile when he introduces me, and hold on to his arm while he speaks with people I can’t stand.
Emma stands next to me the whole night, like a fucking bodyguard. It’s only when Nate walks to the bar with some man that I turn to her.
“You don’t have to stand right here all night. I’m not going anywhere.”
She shrugs and looks around. “Yeah, I know. You wouldn’t dare. But it’s not like I have anything else to do anyway. Plus, the bastard pays really good.”
I swallow my insult at her words. I wouldn’t dare? I barely even tried to and ended up with initials carved on my fingers, pierced nipples, and chained in his fucking bedroom. What does she know about daring or not?
When I don’t answer, her eyes dart to my bandaged finger. She juts her chin toward it. “You alright?”
“I don’t know, Emma. My husband has carved his initials on my finger because I took my rings off. You tell me if I’m fucking alright.”
There’s a heavy silence between us before she whistles low. “That man has serious issues.”
“He does.”
“But I guess you have even bigger issues since you fell for him.”
“I do—Wait, what?”
She chuckles, and that’s when I realize I was not even looking at her until now. No, I was looking at Nate and the woman next to him at the bar who keeps laughing like he’s fucking hilarious.
“You might as well take a gun to the girl,” she says. “It’ll be more efficient than the daggers you’re throwing with your stare.”
I shake my head, but my eyes keep going back to her. She’s a real Stoneview girl. Rich, elegant, with long blonde hair and a bright smile that lights up the room. I bet she’s sweet as a fucking peach.
“So you love the man.”
“I don’t love the man.” My nostrils flare with a breath. “And why are you so interested in my love life suddenly?”
She stands right in front of me, blocking my view of my husband and the bitch clinging to him. I’m forced to take a step back, and everything touching my skin heightens. The clamp, the piercings. I feel my face flush, but I guess Emma assumes it’s because of the conversation.
“If you consider your captor/captive relationship with Nathan White your love life, then I can promise you, you have bigger issues than he does.”
I narrow my eyes at her, jutting my chin. “Nate was right. I should have remembered your participation in said relationship before letting you stay at the house.”
The hint of a smile spreads on her lips, and she nods. “I respect you for everything you’ve been through, Kay. I don’t know what sort of brainwashing you went through to come to a point where you consider me your friend, but thank you for letting me stay while I settle my issues with the Lucianos.”
“Friend is pushing it. Let’s say you’re my most convenient ally.”
“Sure,” she snorts. “If that’s what you want to call it.”
I grab two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter and give her one.
“Do you ever think that…we wouldn’t even have hated each other if it weren’t for our families? If my last name hadn’t been King and yours Scott, we could have ended up in either crew.”
She nods slowly. “We’d have met at school and probably just joined whichever crew. We were even in the same math class at North Shore High.”
“That’s because you were stupid, and I was smart. I’m a year younger than you, remember?”
She laughs into her glass of champagne. “Your brain works weirdly when it comes to numbers. No one can fucking keep up with that. I bet you know stupid shit like 2200 times 345.”
I smile at her, take a sip, and say, “759,000.”
