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“Vanessa’s your fiancée?”
″Wasmy fiancée.” Lucas growled.
“Wait. Wait. Wait. How can she marry you when she’s already married? To me.”
That’s when the world went red.
Not for me.
For Lucas.
My gentle, yet capable angel devolved into a snorting, stomping Brahma bull and was second away from completely decimating the proverbial china shop.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
“N... nothing. Forget what you heard. I was just rambling,” Phil sputtered, suddenly breaking out in a thick coat of sweat. His eyes rapidly darted around the lobby, no doubt searching for an escape route.
“You just claimed that Ariel’s your fiancée. Now you’re saying that you’re married to Vanessa? Which is it?” Lucas’s growl rumbled deep from his belly. I felt him tense under my fingertips as Phil continued to stare blindly like a deer caught in headlights.
Before Phil could spit out any more lies, the bane of our existence burst into the lobby, disheveled, her face stricken, and wide-eyed with panic.
“Oh my god! Lucas, baby! I’ve been looking for you since yesterday afternoon!” Vanessa’s heels clacked across the marbled floor towards us. When she grew close enough, she launched herself at Lucas and threw her arms around his neck. Lucas wasted no time in disentangling himself from the backstabbing, money-hungry,marriedhosebeast.
“Get your hands off of me!” Lucas shouted, pushing Vanessa back while swallowing down a mixed wave of revulsion and anger. “The wedding’s over, Vanessa. What the hell are you doing back here?” He was seconds away from erupting like Krakatoa. True to her serpentine nature, Vanessa’s thin, cruel mouth twisted with an abhorrent sneer while her nose wrinkled with disgust. She eyed me like I was shit smeared across the bottom of her shoe.
“To stop this fucking cunt from stealing what’s rightfully mine!”
eleven
Lucas
Present Day
“Whatthefuckdidyou just say?” I stared, slack-jawed and stunned through to the soles of my feet.
“I said that I’m not going to let this whore take what’s rightfully mine!” Vanessa’s long, bony finger pointed menacingly towards Ariel. Instinctively, I placed myself in between them, blocking Vanessa from getting any closer. From the wild look in her eyes, Vanessa was burning her fuse at both ends and god knows what would happen when the fuse was gone.
“You better watch the next words that come out of your mouth very carefully, Vanessa. I won’t be held responsible for what happens if you don’t!” The possessive snarl tore from my throat as I desperately tried to keep my anger in check. Sensing that I was moments away from exploding, Ariel’s steadying arm slipped around my back, her fingers settling upon my waist.
“That whore stole you from me!” Vanessa shrieked, her eyes crazed with rage. Her hand snaked out as she suddenly lunged forward. Vanessa attempted to slap Ariel but luckily, I stood in the way and blocked the blow.
“I didn’t steal anything from you, Vanessa!” Ariel popped back defiantly, despite the fact that she was trembling. Seeing my Ariel so upset left me thirsting for Vanessa’s blood. For a whole second, I wondered if she’d break down and cry. If she did, Vanessa was toast. Instead, Ariel’s inner warrior woman took over. “And you have a lot of nerve calling me a whore! I didn’t set out to take anything from anyone. How the hell could I know thatmyLuke was the guy you were marrying? You’ve rarely said his name over the last six months. You’ve only ever called him ‘Hot Stuff’ each time we spoke. How was I to know thatmyLuke was the man you were set to marry?”
“Wait a minute!” I interjected. “Didn’t you get our wedding announcement? It had our picture on the front.” I looked down at my flame-haired beauty.
“No. Vanessa clearly ‘forgot’ to send me one. Lou’s apparently got lost in the mail because she didn’t receive one either.” Ariel glared at the haughty blonde. “If I had, I would have knocked the world off its axis to get to you.” Ariel’s vow squeezed my heart and left me aching to throw Phil and Vanessa in the dumpster outside so I could sweep Ariel up to our new room and spend the rest of my life making love to her. The sound of Vanessa’s disgusted scoff reminded me that my plans would have to wait.
“Why would you not send her an invitation, Vanessa?” I demanded, angry at Vanessa’s oversight. “Wait,” I said as something clicked in my brain. “You knew, didn’t you? You didn’t send her an invite because you discovered that she was the girl from Rome. You intentionally kept that from her. Didn’t you?”
Vanessa averted her eyes and refused to answer.
“How did you find out?” I demanded, taking her silence as an admission of guilt. “How did you find out about Ariel?”
Again, Vanessa remained quiet.
“I am not going to repeat myself, Vanessa. How did you find out?”
With an over-exaggerated eye roll, Vanessa shot a breath out of her nostrils and crossed her arms over her chest.
