Page 60 of The Queen's Denial

“What’s up?”

She puts down her cheeseburger and takes a sip of her soda before answering. “Will you stand up at the altar with me at the wedding?”

Now my smile is genuine. “Um, fuck yes! You want me to be the maid of honor?”

Her enthusiasm gushes through her smile. “Yeah, but don’t tell anyone that you have a title. Obviously, Andy is going to be Cas’s best man, but again, it’s not something we’re advertising. Not that it’s going to be a big ceremony anyway. But we have such great ideas. I want to make my own decorations. I’ve been looking on Pinterest, and they have these cute lanterns…”

I smile at her genuineness and the way she glows when she speaks of her upcoming nuptials. “It’s going to be amazing,” I say when she finally finishes her thought. “I’m so happy for you.”

She gets even more excited. “Oh my gosh, I just thought of this!” She grabs my hand and squeezes, looking directly into my eyes. “You can come with me to go dress shopping! I have no one…”

I wasn’t expecting her to say this, and an involuntary tremor goes through me at the words as I remember my own experience a few days ago. She drops my hand when she sees my change in demeanor and clams up immediately. “Oh, or not. Sorry, I didn’t think… I mean, I know you have to get your own dress.”

I recover quickly and blink my memory away. “What? No! Of course I want to come!”

Her big, golden eyes widen in excitement. “Yeah? Awesome! I’ll come with you too, if you want.”

I smile softly at her. “Oh, that’s okay. I’ve gone already. I just picked out the first dress that looked halfway decent.”

Her smile falters a bit. She’s never been great at keeping her smile up well enough to hide when she’s feeling uneasy. “Oh, okay. How’s all that going?”

I give her a flat look. “Seriously, Mara. It’s fine. You don’t have to ask me that every time we see each other. I know you found your happy ending, and you fucking deserve it, babe. You really do, after what you’ve gone through. I love that you’ve done what all us rich, bitchy little billionaire girlies wish they could do. But ya know… things are… different for me.”

She looks at me genuinely, her wide eyes filled with understanding. “I get that, sweetie. I really do.”

She looks like she’s about to fucking cry, and I want to smack myself for ruining her vibe so badly and so quickly. I can’t be doing this if I’m going to be her maid of honor.

“All right, bitch! When are we going dress shopping?” I ask. She sniffles and perks up a bit before giving me another wide smile.

“Well, we’re not waiting very long. The wedding is gonna be in a month, and then we have a week-long honeymoon planned.” She picks up her burger and takes a satisfied bite, chewing dreamily. “A week, Chi! And it’s going to be Paris. Fucking Paris! Imagine Cas trying to be romantic in Paris?” She giggles like a little girl. “It’s going to be fucking hilarious! But… ya know, he’s hot and really good in the sack, so we probably won’t go out much anyway. I mean, if it’s anything like the long weekend we spent in Fiji, we are good to go.”

She stops for about three seconds to stare wistfully out the window before starting up again. I don’t let my smile falter this time. I’m going to be the friend she needs no matter what I’m feeling inside. After what she’s been through and done for me, it’s the least I can do.

Chapter 32

Andy

The week before Cas and Mara’s wedding is quiet, thank God. I don’t end up having to bother Cas with anything because Mara is driving him crazy, flitting around from one place to the other, dragging him from one vendor to the next to make sure everything is ready.

Cas is in a mood, filled with restless energy, doing pushups on my safehouse livingroom rug. “She’s never planned a fucking party before, she says. How is that possible?”

“I don’t know. Chi says the same thing, like she never had to do the heavy lifting because…” I trail off when I recognize the strange, wistful tone of my voice and remember that I haven’t even spoken to Chi in a month. “Anyway, yeah. She used to say the same thing.”

Cas apparently doesn’t notice my inner turmoil. “Fucking almond cake, some kind of filling called cassata cream? And apparently, it’s just cannoli filling. Just say it’s fucking cannoli cream.”

“Do you not remember Nona talking about the cassata cream in the cannolis?” Our grandmother and Cas’s mother are the ones who taught us the Italian language, and while I know Cas wasn’t exactly their most astute pupil, they were both great teachers.

He shoots me a severe side-eye. “You saying I’m a bad Italian? There’s ricotta and mozzarella. No cassata. Nona made cannolis and called them ‘cannolis.’” He throws his shirt on the couch and checks his physique in the hallway mirror.

I look at him skeptically, but my amusement is clear. Cas doesn’t usually joke around this much. “Yeah, I think you were born in America and learned the Italian language here. That’s what I think.”

He looks like he wants to smack me, but smirks instead, which is surprising considering who I’m talking to. But Mara changes him in the best ways, and I’m certain that her influence is the reason why he lets my snide shit blow over these days. He’s so different now that he’s found her, but from the way he studies himself in the mirror, it’s clear that he’s still the same in all of his arrogance, at least. “I came here for an update, not just to appreciate the results of the extra fifty pounds I’ve been lifting. What do you have for me?”

He’s fishing for a compliment while asking for me to speed things along — sounds about right for Cas. I roll my eyes but give him some of what he wants. “It’s been quiet. I don’t trust Chi’s brother or the guys she’s passed over. I saw one the other day that was very unhappy. He came to try and win another chance, and she flat out rejected him. She’s set on the guy she chose, which honestly makes sense. From the footage Oxy has shown me, he’s pretty smitten with her—”

“Andy, if I wanted a fucking rundown of her arranged marriage, I’d pick up a copy of Vanity Fair, Jesus Christ.”

I sigh in frustration. “Well, what do you want then? You asked for an update, and I’m giving you one.”

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