Page 132 of Killer Kiss

And that hadn’t changed.

37

OPHELIA

Ihad nothing to wear to a wedding.

Riddick had escorted me straight from the old ice arena to my mother, who had gotten out of bed at his insistent pounding on the door and come downstairs in a nightgown that looked like she’d just stepped out of some movie set. Her dark hair fell softly around her shoulders, her perfectly painted toenails peeping out from her open-toed slippers.

The only thing that gave away that she was rattled was the way she kept her face ducked because she wasn’t wearing makeup.

Riddick pushed me through the doorway, none too gently. “We’re getting married tomorrow,” he’d announced to her.

Mom’s head had snapped up, her eyes suddenly bright. “You are? Tomorrow?”

“Your daughter’s idea. I’ll be back around three for the ceremony?”

Mom had nodded like I wasn’t even in the room. “Wonderful! Of course. I’ll arrange everything. Thank you!”

Riddick had leaned in and kissed my cheek, then dropped his voice to a low whisper. “I really hope you don’t change your mind, Little Ophelia.”

“I won’t,” I’d said about as enthusiastically as if I was being forced to crawl through mud. “I’ll be the one in white.”

Except I probably wasn’t going to be in white, because who had a wedding dress just lying around in storage at their mother’s house? What did it matter anyway? I could wear these same clothes I’d been wearing for days. Maybe I wouldn’t even shower. If I got to the top of the aisle and I smelled like a sewer rat, maybe Riddick would change his mind.

I stared at the ceiling in the guest room, contemplating a future with a man like Riddick.

It didn’t paint a pretty picture.

It would be a continuation of my childhood. Only worse because I’d be bringing children into this life.

Children I wouldn’t be able to protect from the horrors of what their parents were.

I didn’t cry. There was no point. I was just resigned to the fate I’d always known was coming.

My bedroom door opened and then closed.

I didn’t bother looking over, not caring who it was, until Jezebel hovered over me, studying me with a worried expression. She was pretty, her blond hair curled around her oval face. Her dress was a deep purple, and it hugged her curves sweetly. She wore a fresh flower pinned above her heart.

Neither of us said anything. She just lifted the covers and got in beside me, not caring she was probably destroying her corsage in the process. “You can’t marry him,” she whispered.

I sighed heavily. “We both know I have to.”

She twisted onto her side and punched my arm. Hard.

I rubbed at it. “What was that for?”

“Because I know you don’t want this. Who would? My brother would make any woman miserable for the rest of their lives.”

I shrugged. I’d be miserable anyway. Augie hated my guts, and rightly so. No other man had ever made me feel the way he did, so the odds of finding another seemed pretty small. Marrying Riddick didn’t sound like a walk in the park.

But I didn’t care.

None of it mattered anymore. “My parents need this to happen, Jez. I’ve known all along I’d have to marry someone they chose for me. Does it really matter who?”

“Yes! You don’t love him! Vincent is with someone he loves.”

“All the more reason for me to take one for the team. If I do this, she’ll have no reason to try to ruin his happiness.”

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