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“Excuse me?”
Felicia finally whipped her head around and faced me. “Isaid, you really are just adecoy.” She enunciated the words slowly as if I had a hearing impairment.
“I’m Bryce’s wife.” My voice came out small. “I’m not a decoy.”
“Ha! If you say so.” With one final pass of her fingernails through her glossy locks, she sauntered back out. Bitch took her time, too. Felicia Jones was making itveryclear that she had nothing to fear from little old Chloe Windsor.
And I just stood there. I didn’t launch myself at her, I didn’t crumple up into a ball. I did nothing. I considered crying, but everyone would know. Felicia would know. Bryce would know. I straightened my shoulders and looked in the mirror.Decoys don’t cry.
Someday,I vowed,I am going to fuck Felicia’s shit up.
But not today. Not just yet. I needed… I wasn’t sure what I needed. Courage? A backbone? A getaway car?
I left to go and find my husband.
“Where have you been?” Bryce was standing at the edge of the party. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
I eyed his fresh bourbon. “Looks like you’ve been managing just fine.”
“What does that mean?”
I took a deep breath. “I’d like to go home.”
“We’re not finished here yet.”
“I am.” It was about time I located my backbone. “I am very much finished with this party.”
“We haven’t eaten yet, we’re supposed to stay for pictures—”
“You can stay if you want. I’m asking Captain Johnny to bring me home. You don’t care if I speak tohimalone, do you?” I wanted to laugh. Per the terms of our new contract, I wasn’t supposed to talk to men one-on-one without a chaperone. But Bryce was the one who needed a babysitter.
“I’ll go with you.” He sounded pissed, which was fine by me. “Let me just tell Daphne that I’ll send the boat back for her.”
“I don’t need you to come with me—”
“It wouldn’t look good if you left alone.” Bryce’s voice was icy. “Just give me a minute, please. Stay here.”
I did as I was told. Standing in the shadows near the edge of the forest, I prayed that no one noticed me.
But Mimi Jones staggered by. She was visibly drunk, unsteady on her feet. She nearly tripped over a tree root, and I rushed to her side. “Mrs. Jones? Are you okay?”
“Ha! No, I amnotokay.” Her words slurred. “I lost my drink somewhere.”
I sighed. “Maybe that’s for the best. Do you want some water?”
“No.” She straightened herself and smoothed her dress. She smelled like a hint of expensive perfume and a ton of booze. “I’d like a drink that starts with avand ends with ana. If I can still spell it, I can still drink it, that’s what I always say! So back off.”
She jerked herself from my arms and almost fell over.
I didn’t reach for her this time. “I’m not telling you what to do, Mrs. Jones.”
“No, you wouldn’t do that, would you?” She chuckled to herself. “You’re too busy being paraded around like the town strumpet.”
I wasn’t sure what a strumpet was, but it had a certain ring to it that made it seem like a definite insult. I took a step back. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“What, aren’t you going to say something nasty back to me?”
“No, Mrs. Jones.” I suddenly felt very, very tired. “I’m not.”
