Page 42 of No Longer Safe

I tried to smile for them. “Brian proposed.”

Dad backed out of the camera and swore, not under his breath either. Way to go, Dad. I shoved Carina out of the way and fought the new emotions warring within my head. She did it on purpose to make her feel better about herself and her messed up situation with her mom. They were on the rocks and now me and my parents would be too. Misery loved company and it was a usual thing with Carina. I loved her to death but she wasn’t perfect.

“Have you picked a date?” My mom’s voice was too high-pitched to be happy.

“Does that even matter?” I turned the camera around. “I mean look at this place! I didn’t get to show it to you yet.”

Mom pressed her lips together. “We already saw a slow-mo of it on your social this morning.”

Right. I flipped the camera back around. “I didn’t know how to tell you guys.”

My mom looked at something above her phone. It was probably my dad throwing a hissy fit. “Congratulations, baby. Ifyou’re happy that’s all that matters. All we want for you is love, passion, and acceptance.”

The last word had me stopping in my tracks. Acceptance? There wasn’t any of that. I couldn’t eat my weight in queso. I couldn’t drink whiskey. I wasn’t lady-like enough. It hit me like a ton of bricks. There would never be acceptance because I wasn’t really what Brian wanted and he wasn’t what I needed. He didn’t satisfy my needs sexually, nor did he care about learning or expanding his horizons. He didn’t want to travel. He didn’t want to be here but he was here because of the silly video. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and here it was. I’d just been entirely too blind to see it. Blind and stupid.

“Is everything okay? Did we lose you?”

I stood up from the table and walked around the other side of the pool in a daze. I was too upset with Carina to have her listen in on this. “Can you get away from Dad for a minute?”

Mom’s sliver brows tented on her forehead. “Yes, but you know we tell each other everything, he will eventually know.”

“It isn’t a secret from him. I just don’t want to hear what he has to say yet.”

Mom nodded. “Go ahead.”

“I’m not good enough for him, Mom.” There was so much heartache in my words, that I fought from crying right there.

“Stop right there.” She pointed her finger right at me as if we were together and not thousands of miles apart. “You are too good for that boy. You’ve always been passionate, smart, and fun. We raised you to dance to the beat of your own drum. It isn’t your fault that he can’t see that or appreciate it. That is not on you. It is his flaw. You deserve the best. I hate that it’s taken you this long to see that.”

Could I see it? What did the best look like?

“It may take years to heal. It may take months. But I feel like your relationship with Brian has been done longer than youwant to admit. You should radiate joy.” She always knew what to say. But this was why I hadn’t spoken to her sooner. I knew it would finalize things for me. “Also, who picked out that ugly thing on your finger?”

I grimaced. “His mother.”

My mom’s laugh caught me off guard. “I always hated that woman.” She slapped a hand over her mouth and I rolled my eyes. “Don’t drag it out, honey. It’s time to lose some weight and not your own.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Alexei

“So how isshe in bed? I’ve been wondering since I met her,” Griffin elbowed Brian in the middle. Subtle, real subtle. I told him to pick on the man, not make him want to plot murder.

Ace got to Griffin first and slapped him in the back of the head. “Shut up. No one talks about someone else’s woman like that.”

Brian’s face flamed red but he didn’t speak up for himself or Audrey. I was going to end up grinding my back teeth to dust dealing with this shit. He was a bitch.

“It’s okay, I’m sure she’s feisty,” Ivan smirked.

My brothers were going to get it.

Brian frowned but spoke up this time. “She’s actually pretty docile.”

Docile? He was describing Audrey as docile? Did he even know the woman he was marrying? Apparently not.

“There’s no fucking way,” Dimitri fired his gun in rapid succession. Hitting the target dead center with each one.

Brian blinked at the accuracy. Dimitri was a psychopathic killer who could use any weapon with ridiculous accuracy. It was disgusting and also fascinating.

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