Page 92 of Traitor

I stood up and pulled her into my arms. “God, I’ve missed you. So, what do you say? Marry me?”

Wild strands of red hair tickled my face as she reached up and pulled my mouth down toward hers. “Absolutely yes.”

Lauren

July 2016

“Hold still. Winged tip eyeliner requires absolute focus. One wrong swipe and you’ll look like a nightmare.” The tip of Elizabeth’s tongue peeked out from the corner of her mouth as she popped the lid on the eyeliner and leaned in.

Every now and then, a girl just needed a bitch slap across the face from her best friend. A proverbial bitch slap—not actual.

After David stormed the room, ready to defend my honor, I’d planned to just die from embarrassment. It was never in my plans to have my best friend’s husband see me handcuffed to a bed in nothing more than an unbuttoned dress shirt. Mike had just barged out of the room and I had to sound the alarm somehow. Thankfully, Elizabeth had been right on his heels and other than the wide eyes, seemed to handle the entire situation just fine.

They were like someMacGyverdream team. She’d buttoned up my shirt before slipping a bobby pin from her hair and handing it over to David. He’d expertly bent it into a ninety degree angle and used his teeth to remove the little plastic end. Within seconds, I was freed and David had disappeared from the room.

Elizabeth had cocked her head to the side and simply stated,“Let’s have it. What’s really going on with the two of you?”

I’d taken a deep breath and told her everything—even the parts about my mom. She cried when I cried, but otherwise, sat in silence as I dragged every secret out into the light.

I wiped my eyes with shaking hands before telling her about Mike’s dad. “I thought he knew—I mean, why wouldn’t he? He didn’t though and now I feel like a horrible person!”

“Do you really believe that he was responsible for what happened to your mom?” She’d asked me gently.

I shook my head. “Yes—No. I don’t know.” I had known though. Regardless of the words that he’d spoken, I’d seen the truth in his eyes and I knew then that he’d never do anything to hurt me. Torch had already told me of what Mike had done—how he’d gone after the medical examiner and the dirty detective; for me. For my mother. “I think it’s easier for me to believe that he was behind it all—to put the blame on someone.”

Elizabeth nodded and laid back on the comforter. “After everything came out with David and we separated, I was in the same place you are now. If you’re busy blaming Mike for everything, then you don’t have to face the fact that you don’t know how to allow yourself to trust. You’ve got a man who loves you and you have no idea how to just be with someone—to let them take care of you.”

She’d been right.

Growing up with Monica had come with its own idiosyncrasies and those didn’t disappear overnight. Mike had said that I deserved someone who made me happy, but if that someone wasn’t him, then it wasn’t worth it.

I’d promised Elizabeth that I’d take her words to heart and waited until she left before opening the velvet box and slipping the ring onto my finger. Where I’d expected it to feel foreign, it felt right. Like it had always been meant for me.

“What are you thinking about? The wedding night?” Elizabeth teased as she put the last finishing touches on my eyes, pulling me from my thoughts.

The woman staring back at me in the mirror was almost unrecognizable. My hair was swept to the side with loose curls trailing over my right shoulder. My eyelids were a champagne gold and I must’ve been a statue, because my eyeliner was perfection.

“I look so pretty,” I exclaimed in wonder, causing Elizabeth to giggle.

“Every woman should feel like that on her wedding day. Are you nervous?”

I waited to answer while she swept bronzer across my cheeks, afraid to break her concentration. “I’m not. Just so ready—I’ve wanted to marry him since I met him in Galveston.”

It was true.

No matter how much had happened, he was my person. Now, here we were, one month later at the exact same location. I’d thought it was a long-shot, but fate must’ve been smiling down on us because they had a cancellation for a Friday evening wedding.

Elizabeth had dubbed herself the official wedding planner and somehow, with having a one-year old to look after, managed to throw together the entire thing within a matter of weeks. WithAbuelita’shelp of course.

“Let me get a look at my LoLo,” Josué called, as he andAbuelitastepped into the room. She made it three feet before she had to stop and rummage around in her purse for tissues.

“You are stunning,mijita. You will knock hispantalonesoff.”

Josué looked down at her in horror. “Mamá, you mean socks. She will knock his socks off.”

Abuelitajust grinned wickedly before giving me a wink. “I know exactly what I meant.”

Elizabeth mashed her lips together, trying not to crack up as she lined mine. I finally held a hand up to stop her before losing it. Somehow, we managed to compose ourselves long enough to finish makeup. Elizabeth andAbuelitahelped me into my gown before stepping back to embrace each other.

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