Page 30 of Implode

“Hey you guys!”

Claire and I turn to see Angie power walking up the street with a garment bag in her hand.

“What are you guys doing here together?” she asks, eyeing us.

“Just confirming calendars for the wedding,” Claire answers for the both of us, getting me off the hook from lying to my soon-to-be sister-in-law.

I can see the suspicion on Angie’s face. I glance behind her and see Collins not far away. He gives a tilt to his head and then stays in the shadows. Part of the arrangement that Graham and Angie agreed upon was that she would have a security detail when out in public, as long as they remained unobtrusive. I don’t blame my brother for wanting to keep his girl safe. I would be doing the same if the roles were reversed. Angie went through a hell of a year last year and had too many near-death experiences. To some, Graham may look paranoid. To me, he looks smart.

When you find someone worth holding on to, you would be an idiot to let them go. I’m done being an idiot.

“I have your dress for the last fitting, if that’s okay. Otherwise I can just drop it off and come back another time.”

Claire plasters a smile on her face. The girls have been best friends for years, so I would be surprised if Angie is buying this fake behavior from her. I know I’m not.

That’s the thing with Claire—she is good at putting on a facade, using humor and her bubbly personality to deflect from her underlying sadness. Sometimes the happiest people on the outside are hurting the most on the inside.

I will forever feel sorry for hurting my girl like I did.

If I wasn’t such a selfish fuck, I’d leave her alone and let her try to find someone who can give her the world. I just am incapable of letting her go. She’s mine. I just need her to come to terms with it.

“I’ll leave you girls to it,” I say reluctantly. I don’t want to leave Claire. I want to hold her to me and demand she empty her soul out so I can understand what is bothering her. I need to know why she is so wishy-washy with her emotions toward me. One minute she looks hopeful, the next she is sad.

Claire lifts her hand and flutters her fingers in the air to wave goodbye to me. I can tell she would like to say something, but from the look on her face, I know her words are trapped in the knot forming in her throat.

“See you, Nic,” Angie says.

“Bye. Catch you later.”

I pass by Collins and ask, “What’s Graham up to at the moment?”

“He’s at his home finalizing honeymoon plans.”

I nod.

“And Penny?”

“She has made it clear to Graham that his security guard is not needed, appreciated, or welcome in her life.”

Oh boy.

I groan and rub at the tension building in my forehead region. “Any more to that?”

“Penny decided to go on a shopping spree and test the guard’s limits by deliberately trying to lose him—four times.”

“Hell,” I sigh.

“Graham was made aware of everything. He’s not happy, though.”

I nod. I am glad my brother is handling our baby sister. I can already tell from our last meeting that she is raring to go out into the world again and make up for lost time—which translates to poor decisions and reckless behavior almost ninety percent of the time.

“So, I take it she discovered the guard relatively easily?”

“Within the first three minutes on the job,” Collins informs.

I stifle my snicker. “Maybe he was just a bad candidate.”

“Sure, we’ll go with that,” Collins says with a smirk. “I’m sure the two decades of field experience never prepared him for your sister.”

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