Page 97 of No Longer Safe

I shook my head. “Of course you didn’t.”

Alexei was a pawn for his father. But what could his father possibly have to hold over his head?

The next morning the tabloids were full of pictures of Alexei’s engagement to the hotel heiress,Vina Adaire.I tried to not zoom in on Ace in the background of the photos. It still hurt, not as badly as it would have before, but it hurt all the same. I kept my phone off for the rest of the weekend.

“The flowers should be hereany moment!” Mrs. Phipps announced to the room. I pasted a smile on my face even though I was a big ball of nerves. I was terrified of everything that was about to happen. The wedding. Seeing Alexei— having to walk down the aisle with him and pretend. I was good at pretending these days. I pretended at work and when I went out with Lu and Tavon, but I didn’t know how good I was when faced with the man who destroyed my heart. It didn’t help that I now knew the truth. I squared my shoulders as the camera shuttered on the other side of the room. I knew what I needed to do and I hoped it didn’t cause too big of a stir.

My hair was twisted in an elaborate hairstyle around my head. It was beautiful and scary. I didn’t know how I would possibly get it all undone to go to sleep later. My mom and dad were in attendance though I wouldn’t get to see them until later, after the wedding. They flew in last-minute and weren’t supposed to be in attendance but then my mom FaceTimed me and saw something in my gaze. She immediately booked them last-minute flights. She insisted they could find their way around the city, get a ride to upstate New York, and they would see me soon enough. She wouldn’t let me get them from the airport even though I hadn’t driven anywhere since I moved here. I’d barelyused the subway. Why chance it when Ace had a private driver for us when we needed him? I even offered to send the driver to pick them up but my parents weren’t having it. They wanted an authentic view of Manhattan. They would definitely get that on their own. So instead of fussing over my parents like I wanted to, we left them in the city and made the long drive to the Cristof estate the night before with all of Carina’s family right behind us.

My dress was off-the-shoulder, deep red, and had a thick crop coat to go over it. A few of Carina’s cousins flew in and were in matching dresses. After all, she needed fill-ins for all the Cristof brother’s to have someone to walk with. It was strange seeing them all together. Carina didn’t speak much about her extended family. They belonged on her mother’s side. Mrs. Phipps apparently stopped speaking to them when she lost everything to her ex-husband. She was tired of the judgment. I wondered if she didn’t mind them now that they could see her living a life of luxury. The tables were turned in her favor this time. Mrs. Phipps exchanged smiles with her sisters as they all gushed over Carina’s in-law’s home. They couldn’t believe the luck.

“It wasn’t luck,” My voice was flat.

One of the sisters turned my way, a little coy smile playing at her mouth. “What was that?”

“None of this,” I waved my hand around the massive bathroom we were all getting ready in. It was one of the guest bathrooms that one of Mrs. Phipps’ sisters was staying in. There were four of them with two daughters each. One of them had a son but I couldn’t remember who. They were all staying in their parent’s rooms on the floor. It was just a little taste of the luxury they would never know. Now that they were speaking about my sister, I was over it. They could eat dirt. They didn’t deserve to have a single sliver of this. “Was because of luck. It wasbecause of love. They matched on a dating app that they both downloaded and fell in love.”

One of the cousins snickered and I was so close to flying across the space and showing them just how lucky someone could get. “I would have fallen in love with him too if I’d seen all of this.”

I gritted my teeth. I was pissed off that Carina was upstairs because there was nothing I could do to these fucking idiots. I hated them. I scowled as Mrs. Phipps painted a smile on her face. The look screamed for me to behave. She’d given it to me on many field trips growing up if my parents couldn’t be there— which didn’t happen often. It was a common look even at sleepovers.

“She didn’t see all of this. She knew nothing about this life or the money or anything.” The words came out quick and clipped. I hoped she knew I was on my last thread. I hope she knew that if she kept pushing I was going to takeout all of my pent-up frustration on her pretty tanned face. I would love it too, every single second.

The girl rolled her eyes and turned back to the makeup artist. The camera started clicking again and I could have slapped myself. How dare I make drama during Carina’s big day? I hoped and prayed that wasn’t in the wedding video or the photography taken.

Mrs. Phipps pinched me under the arm. “Get it together. I know today is going to be stressful but it’s about Carina.”

“I know,” I hissed as I yanked my aching arm away from her.

I was the Maid of Honor. Technically, I didn’t have to be down with the other fake bridesmaids. I should have been upstairs with the bride. So I did just that, I carried my sorry ass up the stairs and knocked twice on the door. The photographer on my heels the entire way. I hadn’t seen Carina since the night before when all of her family got in and caused a big fuss. Itwas probably a good thing for the photographer to capture this moment.

Emeline opened the door for me and her face fell for a moment before she recovered. She pulled me in for a hug and it took everything within me not to burst into sad tears. I loved them all—except her husband—so much. When Alexei and I spoke—when we were together—I pictured a future with all of his family. I loved them dearly. I thought this was going to be my future. “How are you feeling?”

“Wonderful.”

One of her blonde brows went up. “You’re a shit liar.”

I’d never heard her swear before, but it was nice. Refreshing even. It took me out of my panicked state of mind and I was able to laugh a little.

“Who is it?” Carina called from the bathroom, breaking our little moment together.

Emeline grabbed my hand in hers and pulled me toward the bathroom. There she was sitting on a big, cushy white chair as someone applied makeup to her face and another person curled her hair. She was radiant and they weren’t even finished yet. Her gown wasn’t on yet, but the little lacy robe was just as breathtaking on her. I fell to my knees at her feet and wrapped my arms around her.

“You look so magnificent,” I cried.

“I feel like a princess,” she whispered.

“You are a princess.”

We both gritted our teeth and smiled at each other even though I knew we both wanted to cry. I couldn’t believe we were here. I couldn’t believe this was happening.

“How are you feeling?” She pulled me to my feet.

“This day is about you,” I reminded her.

She swatted me. “I don’t care about any of that. I care about you. Do you need anything?”

I shook my head. “I have everything I could possibly ever need.”

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