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CHAPTER1
SYDNEY
“She’s cheating on him.”I rubbed at my temple while my sisters turned in my direction. “She’s cheating on Alec.”
Now, I had their attention.
They had been so focused on our clients’ marketing launches—the doughnut shop down the street and Kallie’s Leggings online—that my sisters had forgotten one very important thing: our brother, the youngest of seven and the only male of the Loverly clan, was getting married in the next couple of weeks … to a cheating, lying wench.
“Sydney, you don’t actually know she’s cheating.”
Brooklyn peered down at her newly manicured red nails, and I burned inside, as though I were experiencing a full-on fever, because this was serious.
“Brandyischeating,” I snapped. “I saw her kiss another guy.” I had. I was sure of it.
It’d been seven in the morning, and I went out of my way to get my morning fix at Espresso Coffee. There they were. Brandy, my soon-to-be sister-in-law, kissing a bearded man who was most definitelynotmy brother.
My eldest sister, Serena, pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled deeply from the head of the long mahogany conference table of our failing ad agency. We’d just finished our weekly board meeting.
She lifted her head. “I know we are not too fond of Brandy. I feel the same way you all do. And we know he’s only twenty-three, and that’s way too young to get married …” Her eyes passed over the rest of us—Brooklyn, Ryanne, Addison, and then me. She was the leader of our pack. “But …”
Internally, I rolled my eyes.And here we go with Serena’s buts.
She gave us her stern face. “We have to learn to get along with her and eventually love her because this is who Alec has picked to be his wife.”
The groans echoed around the room.
Brooklyn pouted.
Ryanne let out an exaggerated sigh.
Addison rested her head on the table. She was Alec’s twin, and I knew the upcoming nuptials were hitting her the hardest.
“She’s cheating on him,” I repeated like a broken record that everyone wanted to turn off. “We can’t let this happen. He’s blinded by love.” My voice broke with emotion, and I ran my hand through my mid-length blondish-brown hair. I felt a pang of desperation in my chest. I needed them to listen. “It’s two weeks before the actual wedding. Wehaveto do something.”
“He’s not blinded by love; he’s blinded by sex. I will never be able to erase the visual of catching them on the couch.” Brooklyn grimaced.
“Shut up, Brooke.” Ryanne threw a paper clip at my sister, and then her gaze slid my way. “I’ll follow her after tomorrow’s fitting,” she said with an understanding look.
“I hate this,” Addison murmured into her sleeve, her head still on the boardroom table.
I rubbed at her back, trying to comfort our little sister.
“Well, what can I do? I can’t watch you guys take her down and do absolutely nothing.” Brooklyn fluffed out her long blonde locks, running her fingers through the curls. Out of all of us, she’d inherited the majority of our mother’s features—hair, eyes, and beauty.
“Absolutely nothing.” Serena planted both hands on the table, leaning in. “No one will be doing a damn thing besides making sure that Alec’s wedding turns out perfectly.”
More groans echoed.
I didn’t get Serena at all. If my theory was incorrect and Brandy was in fact not the girl who’d been playing tonsil hockey with the over-six-foot bearded lumberjack, then why the heck couldn’t we investigate a little? Let our snooping come up with nothing. At least then, we would have done right by our baby brother.
“But—” I began.
Serena shot me down with her icy stare. “Sydney, you saw someone who looked like Brandy, but who wasnotBrandy.” Her gaze landed on each of our faces again. “This is a simple case of us being overprotective of our little brother.”
Wasn’t that the truth? We’d raised this boy who was now a man.Raised him.Yes. Especially me.
When our mother had died, my father had gone off the rails, dealing with his own grief by disconnecting. Serena stepped up as the new CEO of the Loverly Ad Agency, and I, being the second oldest, took the reins as stand-in mother. Alec and Addison had merely been sixteen when our mother passed, and I had taken it upon myself to move back home from school, go to a local college, and make sure they were well taken care of. I wasn’t going to stop now, not when I knew Brandy was cheating.
