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“I’d appreciate it.” Relief hits me. As does the realization that I’m very, very grateful for my brother and his shady-ass skillset right now. “You’ll report back to me as soon as you know?”
“Aren’t you going on a honeymoon?”
I shake my head. “We didn’t plan anything.”
“Oh. Right.” Winston smothers the smile that’s trying to appear with a swipe of his hand. “Okay. That’s unfortunate.”
Huh. I think he’s hiding something, but I’m not questioning it.
Chapter Five
Charlotte
I’m drunk.
Drunk at my own wedding reception. Basking in the love and attention that’s being thrust upon me. Our guests’ words of congratulations fill me with a fizzy happiness that reminds me of the bubbles in my champagne glass. Their admiring tone when they compliment my dress, my hair, my flowers, makes me smile uncontrollably. I’m happy.
Legitimately happy for what feels like the first time in a while.
Or maybe it’s all the alcohol I’m consuming. Nonstop champagne. I can’t stop drinking it. I tried to eat earlier but my stomach cramped, and I felt too nervous. The vibe my husband is giving off is…
Unsettling.
He’s not happy and I don’t know exactly why. He’s also acting closed off, and I wonder what I did to make him angry. We haven’t been able to talk about my seeing Seamus this morning, and I’m sure that has something to do with his shift in mood.
I try not to let it bother me.
After the speeches were given—one by my mother who started crying in the middle of it and made me cry, and the other from Winston who said wonderful and sometimes vulgar things about his brother—I moved from table to table, trying to speak with everyone I know. I visited with my cousins. Whit was there with his fiancée, Summer, and they’re blissfully in love. He keeps a hand on her at all times, as if he never wants to stop touching her.
I wonder what that’s like, experiencing a love like that. Having a man so enraptured with you, he doesn’t ever want you out of his sight.
I chat with Whit’s sisters Sylvie and Carolina. They’re both beautiful, with similar features and the Lancaster icy blue eyes, the both of them bright blonde like me. We could all pass as sisters, we look so much alike.
But I’m nothing like them. Not really. Sylvie is manic, her pupils large, her mannerisms unusual. She used to be obsessed with death, which scared me when I was younger. Carolina is more reserved and doesn’t say much. I’ve always felt as if we have more in common than any of my other cousins.
“Hey.”
I turn to find my younger brother, Crew, standing in front of me, handsome in his tux and looking so grown up. He just turned eighteen only last month and there’s always this undercurrent of tension running through him, just beneath his skin. As if he’s pissed at the world and wants to take all of his anger out on it.
Which I suppose I can’t blame him. It seems to be a toxic trait among Lancaster men—their anger. They all have it. Every generation. My father and uncles, they’re all mad as hell. Whit used to be a nightmare, until eventually his wife calmed him down some. Grant was terrible, though he seems a tad sweeter now thanks to his girlfriend, Alyssa.
Only a tad though.
“Hi.” I smile and practically throw myself at Crew, closing my eyes and pressing my cheek to the lapel of his jacket when he gives me a lingering squeeze. We are not an affectionate family either, but Crew and I were close when we were younger. I considered him my best friend at one point, though I never knew exactly how he felt about me.
Which is fine. He grew distant as he got older, but I understood why. Our father isn’t one to encourage close relationships among his children. He probably didn’t want Crew to get soft by spending too much time with me.
Ridiculous and awful, but true. And us Lancasters—especially the males—are expected to do what their fathers say, no questions asked.
“You seem happy, Charlotte,” he says once we pull away from each other. “Is that Perry dude treating you okay?”
“That Perry dude is my husband, and yes, he’s treating me just fine.” I smile, swaying toward my brother and he slings his arm around my shoulders, tucking me close to his side. “The ceremony was beautiful, don’t you think?”
“It was nice. And this is quite the party.” He glances down at me, affection filling his gaze. “I’m really happy for you, but just…be careful, okay?”
I frown. “Be careful of what?”
“Your husband. Your new in-laws. All of it. You don’t know them. Not really,” he reminds me. “And while they might seem like they’re going to welcome you into the family, you need to keep your guard up. Don’t trust them.”
