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“Exactly what I said to him. But he said they were plans from months ago, before we had signed the new lease.”
I shrugged. “Doesn’t seem that strange then, Jules.”
“Yeah, but the date was from a week ago. He said it must have been a typo. But he was acting all weird after that. I don’t know. I’m probably overthinking it.”
“Probably. Everything is set in motion now. We’re good. Nothing to worry about.” The knot in my stomach said otherwise, but I brushed it away and went back to being pampered.
When we finished our massages, we stopped at Stan’s for lunch and Juliet watched me like a hawk, making sure I ate every bite of my tacos. I knew she was doing it out of love, but it was unnecessary. I was fine.
We took our time walking back to the office. It was the last time we would ever do it, and we wanted to enjoy the moment. We were just around the corner when the hairs on my arms stood up and I looked around.
We were being watched.
But by whom?
A black sedan was parked on the opposite side of the street, its window cracked. I stopped walking and nudged Juliet. “I’ve seen that car three times this week. It’s got a dent in the back door, so it’s the same car.”
She shrugged and kept on walking. “Don’t be paranoid, Nova.”
Paranoid? I scoffed. Between Ryzen’s security guards following me around and being worried that Cian was going to jump out at any moment like he enjoyed doing, of course I was paranoid.
The sun caught the reflection of something in the cracked window, a gleam giving away a glimpse of who was inside.
Thora.
My mouth fell open as she held a big camera up and snapped a picture. She was spying on us. On me. For Cian. How could she do that? We’d given her a job, opened our arms to her. And for what? So she could lie to us? Deceive us? Well, I wouldn’t take it anymore.
“Thora!” I yelled and walked toward her. Cars sped by, going in both directions. There were too many of them, all too fast. Someone blasted their horn as I tried to cross the street, and that was all the time she needed to speed away down the side alley.
Juliet ran over and dragged me back to the sidewalk. “Are you crazy? You could have gotten hit by a car.” She squeezed my arm. “Was that Thora? Are you OK? Nova? Nova?”
Was I OK?
No, I wasn’t.
And I didn’t know if I ever would be again.
Chapter Twenty
The day had finally come. My wedding day. I imagined a lot of brides were ecstatic on their big day, enjoying the company of their friends and family, giddy with excitement about what was to come. So in love with their future husbands.
Barf.
I popped another Tums, the hairdresser grunting behind me as she poked my head for the hundredth time. There was an uneasiness settling deep inside me, and no matter how hard I tried to shake it, I just couldn’t. I’d never thought I would get married. Not after seeing how broken my parents were, how they treated each other. But here I was, about to walk down the aisle to marry a man I didn’t even love.
How did I get to this point?
I had tried to be happy. Fake it till you make it. But I just couldn’t. A voice in my head yelled,Run!But it was too late for that. I was getting married today. I couldn’t change that.
The morning had been long and tiring. I had been poked and prodded and stuffed into one of the most beautiful wedding dresses I had ever laid eyes on. It was stunning, but it wasn’tme.Ryzen’s assistant had picked it out, and I had to hand it to her, she had excellent taste. But the rows of frills and lace were making my skin itch, and I reached down for the hundredth time to scratch my leg.
Ryzen’s countryside home was breathtaking. The barn was surrounded by an apple orchard, and I contemplated getting lost in the trees until this was all over.
“OK, ladies.” The wedding planner, Fidora, came into the room clapping her hands. “It’s almost go time. The guests are arriving and being seated in the barn as we speak. What? What is going on here?” She snapped her fingers at the hairdresser. “You have two minutes to fix her hair. Now,” she barked, and I curled my shoulders forward.
She was the top-rated wedding planner in the city. I could see why. She was organized, tough, and scary. I’d watched her berate one of the servers this morning until he was in tears. The best thing to do was to do as she said and try to stay out of her way.
Juliet grimaced and rummaged through her bag. We gave each other knowing looks and nodded, making the hairdresser sigh.
