Page 133 of Killer Kiss

Jez fell silent at that. “I don’t want this life,” she said into the silent room.

But neither of us had a choice in it.

We never had. I’d tried to pull away, but there was always something that drew me back.

It was time to just give in.

How my mother had managed to get a violinist with less than twenty-four hours’ notice, I had no idea. But one stood at the bottom of the stairs when I emerged from my bedroom. Mom had waltzed in an hour earlier, found Jez and I curled up in bed, and promptly kicked her out, claiming it was mom and daughter time.

She’d dragged me out of bed and practically shoved me in a shower, hovering around like I might jump out of the tiny second-story window if she left me alone too long.

When I’d finally got out, smelling of rose-scented bodywash, she’d thrust a white dress at me.

It was one from the back of her closet and was half a size too small so it pinched every time I moved.

Seemed fitting that I would be in pain throughout the wedding I didn’t want to be a part of.

Using the railing for balance, I came down the stairs slowly, not missing the way my mother and father, dressed to the nines, talked and laughed with Jezebel’s parents.

“For fuck’s sake,” I muttered. “Could you kiss their asses any more? Isn’t it enough that you’re selling your firstborn to them?”

But I plastered on a fake smile when Mom waved me over to say hello to them.

Jez’s mom, Mira, took in my outfit and gave a nod of satisfaction, like I was the fattest pig at the county fair, and she’d just won a blue ribbon.

Mira clucked her tongue. “Well, I can say your ugly duckling did turn into a bit of a swan, didn’t she?”

Mom gave a peal of laughter, like it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard and not a plain fucking insult.

Jez’s father looked me up and down with barely withheld disgust. “She’ll do. I would have preferred someone with lighter skin and hair. But if this is what Riddick wants, then so be it.”

Oh goodie. I got the parent-in-law tick of approval.

Mom beamed at them, like she’d needed their okay before this wedding could go ahead. She clapped her hands together. “Right. Well, if everyone could go outside and take a seat, we’ll get this show on the road!”

She was practically giddy with excitement.

I just wanted the floor to open and swallow me whole.

The handful of people in the room filed out, and the violinist started up a different song.

The wedding entrance song.

Might as well have been the Star Wars death march.

My mom took one arm, and my father took the other. The two of them escorted me outside, to a red carpet that had been laid on top of the synthetic grass. I stared at the small group of people. There wasn’t anyone I knew. Nobody sat on the bride’s side. Not one person.

Every face on the groom’s side was a stranger, other than Jez’s, who didn’t even glance my way as she was too busy with her phone.

My heart sank. “Where’s Vincent?” I whispered to mom as we started down the aisle. I wanted my brother.

And my sister.

“He couldn’t make it,” she whispered back. “Now pay attention. There’s your groom.”

I squeezed my eyes tight, not wanting to see Riddick waiting for me at the other end. That would only make it all too real.

I hated that Vincent hadn’t come. I knew he didn’t agree with any of this and he would have wanted me to fight this marriage, but we were past that point now.

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