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Stephanie
“I hope I find my Prince Charming,” Sarah had mused as she stared out the window like she usually did.
“You will, but you’re far too young,” I’d told her, remembering how many times she’d talked about finding a knight on a huge ebony horse, the rugged man coming to rescue her.
Sighing, I stared into the mirror, the thoughts of my younger sister crowding my mind. If only she could be here. If only the monster hadn’t taken her away.
“I’m seventeen! And I’ve never been kissed.” As she’d turned to me, she’d batted her long eyelashes, giving me her famous pouting look. Then we’d both burst into laughter.
That had been the last time I’d seen her alive.
The ugliness of the arduous months after her murder had haunted me, guided me. It seemed like yesterday when it had been years before. I could still see her face in my mind, could hear her laughter as she’d been excited about getting accepted at Columbia. While I’d only been a few years older, I’d taken on the role of parent and guardian after our parents’ death.
“Are you okay?” Amelia asked. She was my maid of honor and had done everything in her power to make this day special, even if she’d told me more than once I was an idiot.
“Fine.”
She squeezed my shoulders, her expression one of knowing. She’d been my shoulder to cry on more than once.
“I look like a freaking giant sugar-coated donut,” I growled as I glared into the mirror. Nothing about the dress or anything else about the day pleased me. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew the reason.
You shouldn’t be marrying the pompous asshole in the first place.
Amelia glanced over my shoulder, shaking her head as she’d been doing since the minute that I’d stepped foot inside the room of the church. My darling fiancé had insisted that we be married in the church his parents attended.
“You look beautiful. Doesn’t she, girls?” Amelia asked.
“You look marvelous, darling,” Jessica cooed.
“Perfectly edible,” Suzi added.
“He’s going to swoon the moment he sees you,” Maggie rounded up the words of bullshit, the expression on her face exactly like the others.
They all hated Gregory.
That’s because he’s lied and treated you like shit.
My inner voice was right, which pissed me off even more. While I’d yet to prove it, I could swear the man was cheating on me as well. In addition, he’d been acting cagey lately, as if every single question I asked was an annoyance. We were both professionals, prosecutors in the same office, for God’s sake, yet I’d been reduced to nothing more than an aggravation. Really? That wasn’t like me.
As I glared at my reflection, my instinct told me that not only was something terribly wrong, but that I was a fool to go through with this. No more.
“Cut the crap, ladies. This is ridiculous.” I yanked off my veil, tossing it aside. All of sudden, I wanted to be the runaway bride, flying off to an exotic island and getting lost for a few weeks.
Or months.
“Okay, I’ll ask the question all of us have been trying to gather up the courage to do. Why the fuck are you marrying that son of a bitch in the first place?” Maggie moved toward the cooler she’d smuggled in, yanking out one of three bottles of champagne.
“I’m pretty certain you’re now going to hell since you used profanity inside the church,” I teased.
She snorted. “As if that wasn’t going to happen already.”
“I have to agree that you could do so much better,” Suzi lamented. She’d seen more than her share of his nasty attitude and bad behavior.
Sadly, so had I.
I thought about the question as I walked to the window, peering out on the perfectly manicured grounds. I’d loved him once, but that seemed like a lifetime ago. Hell, I’d worshipped the man when I’d met him, gleaning every scrap of information and style from the most famous prosecutor in all of New York. We’d been a team, both in and out of bed, but lately he’d been aloof. Maybe we both had been.
