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I felt confident he wouldn’t rat me out on my wedding day about our first encounter at Gale’s, but the risk was always present. Hence the appeal. My primal instincts were always humming on idle, foot hovering above the gas, just underneath the surface. I couldn’t accelerate, at least not aggressively. Maybe just a brisk pleasure cruise. What was the harm? Everyone was a little loose at weddings, why not the bride, too? The only minor annoyance leading up to my illicit reunion with Dave was Collin. He would not leave my side as per usual. I was his brand-new beautiful wife and he rightfully wanted to show me off to every bastard in the room. I acquiesced since I excelled atbeing paraded around like a prize. I didn’t mind a build in the anticipation either.
Hand in hand with Collin, smiling so much my cheeks were in pain, we mixed and mingled our way through the reception. Table by table, I was introduced to cousins and coworkers and Calliope’s ex-boyfriends, until we finally approached a well-dressed collection of bachelors at the singles table. A prime position for one Dave Bradford, still grinning mischievously in a way I found positively panty-dropping. And I don’t saypantyoften because it’s vile.
Gale was also assigned to the same table, but she was nowhere to be found, which couldn’t have been good for me. I should have excused myself to home in on her location for my own sake, but I was completely hypnotized at the sight of Dave. He was delicious.
“Collin!” Dave exclaimed at my husband, not yet looking at me, driving me wild, doing it on purpose. “Congrats, man!” Dave rose from the table, his tie undone, running a hand through his curls, and the two of them did that boorish man hug where they instinctually smack each other a few times on the back with gusto, like a couple of apes.
“Dave, so stoked you made it!” Collin said. I stopped myself from openly cringing.Stoked? I’d never heard Collin utter such bro terminology in my life. I wanted to comment that Dave must have brought out the frat boy in Collin, but of course they would correct me and tell me that they were in a “final club” at Harvard, not a frat, so I kept my mouth shut. Ideally, I wanted to stay at least somewhat attracted to both of them. “This is mywife.” Collin emphasized that word all night in a way that I actually found very charming. “Bea.”
I smiled at Dave and he held out his hand for me to shake. He made no mention of our prior meeting. I received his hand. It was charged. And who can really say that about something as dull as ahandshake, especially when we were giving off the energy that all we really wanted to do was hump each other? I pulled my hand away and fast. He called so loudly to my hedonistic side. A side that I had all but muffled due to Mother’s influence. I didn’t trust anything that beckoned on that primal level of lust, and I completely lusted for Dave Bradford. “Great to meet you, Bea.” He grinned.
“This is Dave Bradford,” Collin continued, not picking up any of the signals we were throwing down. “He’s one of my oldest friends, but he’s been back and forth to London these days, so we don’t get to see him as often as we’d like. Glad you could make the wedding, bud. Means a lot.” Well, that was a creative way to disguise the real reason Dave wasn’t around much. Dave merely had business in London, not repeated torrid affairs with married women.
“Wouldn’t miss it.” He smiled, answering Collin, looking at me. “I won’t be in London for too much longer actually. I’m moving some investments around. Planning to be back in New York the majority of my time with this new company I’m adding to the portfolio, save for some essential travel to Seattle, where the founders are based.” How was this man making a conversation that would be so mind-numbingly boring with anyone else so completely riveting? “Congratulations on bagging such a fine fellow, Bea.” Dave finally turned his full attention to me. “Collin Case is a true gem of a man.”
I couldn’t tell if he was being sincere or snide. “Oh, he’s all right,” I teased lovingly, squeezing Collin’s hand tight for effect. As if that would make it any better about feeling outrageously horny for another man right in front of him.
“Well, go on and keep that newlywed party train moving. You have a lot of schmoozing to do.” Dave shooed Collin and me away, his hands on the smalls of our backs, as we returned to the crowd. “Insane guest list. Good luck.” Dave’s touch actually made me sigh aloud.Drat. My arousal was becoming too palpable and it was not for public consumption. I needed to reel it in. “Bea, it was a pleasure. Coll, we’ll catch up soon.”
“For sure, man,” Collin replied, leading me away to the next table. Thank God. I needed to get away from Dave and not a moment too soon. I spied Gale at the other end of the room, speaking with Syl, of all people. Syl looked miserable, the poor dear. Her neanderthal fiancé lingered nearby with a Heineken in hand, not even considering coming to her aid. No one wanted to be cornered into conversation with Gale Wallace-Leicester.
What the hell were the two of them even talking about? I didn’t like it, but Syl would spill later. We were friends. Besides, Collin and I were married.
Gale had lost.
•••
I STOLE AWAYto the bridal suite for a breather, feigning that I needed a lip gloss touch-up, as if the makeup wasn’t etched into my skin to last for a solid ten hours. The reflection in the mirror felt new somehow, the veil and gown notwithstanding. Who was this woman? Who was Mrs.Beatrice Case going to be? I had built her up for so long, a version of her, and now, here she was in the flesh. She officially existed in the world. Free to be herself, whatever that meant. She would never want for anything. She would always feel safe. Secure. She was a fixture. A full-blown member of the Family Case, a new branch on the ancestral tree, a new bullet point on their Wikipedia page, a blank slate ready to be written upon. Would she be the chair of a philanthropic board? Would she start a line of resort wear? Would she take on a senior role at the Case Company? Would she run for office one day? Jesus. She could do anything.
But I had no earthly idea what my actual interests were now that I was finally here with her, as one. What would we do with all of this free time? An intoxicating question and one that required careful thought. The boring and dull choices were always what I had envisioned. But a lifetime of that? Was it even possible for someone like me? If pre-marriage Bea got excited at the mere whiff of mayhem, what would married Bea do when something juicy presented itself, which it inevitably would? Such is life.
A tighter leash could be required.
•••
IN THE MIDSTof our continued greetings with guests, I idiotically turned around to sneak another peek at Mr.Bradford. He wasbrazen. A sensual lip bite in my direction with zero remorse. You know the kind. That subtle type of facial body language amongst humans that literally translates to “I can’t wait until we fuck later.”
I was in imminent danger if I kept it up.
But I wanted to keep it up.
Dinner was divine. Options of chateaubriand or lobster or both. The various speeches from our line of attendants went off without a hitch. I could not have cared less about what Wren Daly had to say about our pseudo–best friendship, but I smiled during her performance all the same. Soon it was Gale’s turn to speak.
I bunched up my toes in my shoes with excitement. I yearned to hear her praise our union, but I also wondered if she’d try something. Something wild in the name of taking me down in front of everyone they knew. I’d have to think fast, spring into action, fix the problem immediately. It was the first time it occurred to me that this might always be how it was with Gale Wallace-Leicester. On alert, feeling unwieldy, a threat. Married or not. She was here to stay, a fixtureherself, not in the Family Case, but in the larger kingdom itself. We could always be connected if I didn’t actively do something about it.
Gale Wallace-Leicester stood there in the mauve column gown I’d selected for her and raised a champagne glass. She almost looked pretty with soft tendrils coming down the sides of her face. Professional hair and airbrush makeup can make just about anyone look good. “Against all odds, I was chosen as Bea’s maid of honor,” her voice boomed. The room filled with polite chuckles. They all knew she loved him. How pathetic. Why was she leaning into it? “Collin is my best friend. I suspect most of you already know that. In particular, Bea knows that.”
More laughs. Jesus Christ, was she going to try toroastme at my own wedding? I managed to exchange a glance with Syl, whose furrowed brow suggested she was also uncomfortable with the route Gale was taking for her speech. “It’s not easy to have a third wheel in a relationship, but when the third is someone like Bea, it’s a real treat.”
Pardon?Was she implying that I was the third wheel intheirrelationship? To a ballroom full of our wedding guests? “Bea has wisely never tried to get in between Collin and me,” Gale continued. “She understands our history, like our families do, like you all do. And that’s about all I could ask for in a partner for Collin. Someone who gets how important a friendship can be. That alone takes a really special person. I suspect that’s why she asked me to stand up next to her on this occasion and why Collin asked her to be his bride. So I’d like us all to raise a glass to the brand-new Mrs.Collin Case, a woman who knows her worth, but also the worth of her husband, his familyandhis friends. To the happy couple!”
Everyone inexplicably raised their glasses at that sorry excuse for a toast. Collin and I were expected to kiss afterward. We did so. I was then expected to get up out of my seat and embrace her, but under theguise of tears of happiness, overwhelmed with emotion, I was able to stay seated. I didn’t want to touch her. I didn’t even want to look at her.
This was amessage. My prophecy coming to life in real time. She wasn’t going to give up. Ever. It wasn’t just about Collin or her, but all of them. Citing the history, the families, again with the legacy. It was a clear invitation for more combat that I’d have to accept if I was going to stay. And I was going to stay, I had worked too hard to let this one go and start anew. It might not even be possible to find someone as suitable as Collin again. I would not leave. I didn’t want to be like her, like Mother.
But perhaps some of her influence wouldn’t be the worst thing where Gale was concerned. Nothing too dark. No. No. Neverthatdark. Not again. But I needed to start playing dirty, too. Gale’s threat now all but demanded it. Cat and mouse was over. Time to go in for the kill.
Figuratively speaking.
