“Please,” Mara said, her voice grating a little. “Just stop.”
It was the catch in her voice that got to me. How broken and desperate it was. He’d gone too far. Everyone had. That little mouse of a girl didn’t deserve the kind of treatment she’d been getting, and I was sick of watching it play out like a TV rerun every fucking day.
As I stood, all eyes turned to me—including Mara’s. There was apprehension in her gaze, and why wouldn’t there be? I was the de facto king of the school. Whatever I said was law.
I walked over to her table.
“Right on, Malone,” Blake said. “You ready to double team this bitch under the bleachers later?”
“I’m ready for you to leave her alone,” I said coldly.
A murmur went through the room. Ford Malone standing up for Mara Zoric? It would be the gossip of the week.
“You serious?” Blake challenged, his grin starting to falter.
“Let it be,” I told him, folding my arms over my broad chest. “I’m over this shit.”
For a second, I thought he’d argue, but then he looked around. Everyone was watching.
“Whatever,” he said, and walked back to our table. It was possible he’d be pissed and we’d fight about it later, but I was half a foot taller and on the rowing team. I could handle him.
“You okay?” I asked Mara, even though I knew she wasn’t. Not that I really cared.
But then she looked up at me, her eyes full of absolute adoration—and whatever guff I might take from my friends suddenly seemed totally worth it. Because as far as Mara Zoric was concerned, I had just become her hero.
Emzee
Chapter 1
My wedding day had dawned like a dream, the New England skies a gorgeous blue and crystal clear, save for a few picturesque clouds. The sun was shining and the temperature was going to be mild. I couldn’t have asked for better weather. Though I was pretty sure that if it hadn’t cooperated, my sisters-in-law, through some sort of wedding magic, would have figured out a way to literally control the elements.
They had done absolutely everything in their power to make this the most perfect day a bride could hope for. Ford’s family property on Martha’s Vineyard was an exquisite venue for an outdoor ceremony. The rolling green lawn, impeccably manicured and shaded by mature trees, was the setting for almost six hundred cushioned chairs. They faced a dais that held a wedding arch draped in ivory chiffon, eucalyptus branches, and an actual crystal chandelier. Behind that was the sound, where deep blue water rocked rhythmically as sunlight glittered across its surface.
The end of each aisle was festooned with gigantic clusters of more eucalyptus branches, sprays of ferns, anemone blossoms in bright, bold shades, blue thistle, and classic ivory roses to match my luxurious bouquet. I’d asked for a mix of both rustic and traditional florals, and Brooklyn had knocked it out of the park. The red anemones matched her dress, and the blue ones matched Tori’s. I was sure the color coordination wasn’t an accident.
My dress, of course, was as perfect as the day I’d tried it on.Everydetail was perfect. My sisters-in-law had truly outdone themselves, from the custom hand-done calligraphy on the invitations to the gourmet catering menu that I’d been thrilled to approve. Brooklyn had even taken Munchkin to the groomer’s before bringing him on the flight out to the vineyard with her, so he’d be freshly spiffed up for the ceremony. I couldn’t have dreamed up a better wedding.
But it was all pretend, and I was heartbroken.
The worst part was that I’d started to believe that it might nothaveto be pretend, and the way Ford had snuck into my dressing room to ask about my feelings had me wondering all over again if this sham could have been real after all.
What would have happened if I had just told him the truth? That Ididlove him?
No. It wasn’t even worth considering. The wedding—the marriage—had to be a lie. All of it. Ford could never know how I really felt.
If I told him the truth, there would be no rescue for my family, nor for our business. The Malones had only promised to bail out Danica Rose Management from its entanglement with the Russian mob as long as I agreed to walk out on this marriage in a year’s time. I couldn’t sacrifice the entire Zoric family—my brothers, their wives, their children, their livelihoods and legacies—for my own selfish ends. My own feelings.
After the agency’s debt was paid off and my divorce was finalized, I had no idea what would happen between me and Ford. Maybe our friendship of seven-plus years could be salvaged. Maybe not. But right now, I couldn’t let myself think about that. I needed all my focus, all my strength, to get me through this farce of a wedding. The worst best day of my life.
“Are you ready?” Stefan asked me.
Startled out of my thoughts, I forced a smile as I heard the bridal waltz begin. I was waiting in a tent that had been set up specifically for the purpose of hiding me from the guests—and the groom—but once I walked out onto the grass, there would be no turning back.
“I am,” I said, lifting my chin resolutely. “Thank you for doing this.”
Since my father was a monster and very much behind bars, I had asked my oldest brother to give me away. Stefan stood there in his suit, elbow crooked for me to take, smiling down at me with a softness in his eyes that I rarely ever saw.
“Hey,” I said. “Remember when you took me to your senior prom because I was a total loser freshman with no friends, and after that, the entire school knew my name?”
