Page 1 of Lush

Prologue

AN HOUR BEFORE THE ACCIDENT

The laughter spilledfrom the main hall of the yacht club, bright and careless, tangled with the relentless thump of music. I should’ve been out there, smiling, toasting, pretending.

Instead, I’d been hiding in this bathroom for nearly twenty minutes, like it could stop the slow, sinking dread pooling in my chest.

Smile, Laurene! Smile!

Conrad’s great.

Really?my conscience said. He was great. Great for the family, great for appearances, great for everything exceptme.

The door opened and shut softly behind me.

“It’s over.”

I refused to look behind me. I couldn’t. If I did, I’d crack.

Instead, I focused on putting on my lipstick, the motion mechanical. I looked immaculate—perfect—the kind of woman my mother would smile at with pride. But Ihatedthe color.

This fucking burgundy.

The same shade she shoved at me for everyhappyoccasion, every moment she wanted to control. A color thatscreamedher. Everything she expected me to be. Everything I despised.

I met his gaze in the bathroom mirror.

He loomed there, his suit rumpled and tie slightly askew, his dark hair rebelliously unkempt. He looked the exact opposite of his brother—wild, unapologetic, dangerous. Everything I wasn’t supposed to want.

“Don’t look away.” Every word wrapped around me like a challenge, and that rebellious part of me strained beneath my skin. But he wasn’t asking. He was demanding.

And I obeyed.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

I wanted him here. Ineededhim. But I couldn’t have him.

“I could say the same to you.” In the dim light, his green eyes seemed almost black. “Shouldn’t you be outside? Smiling for the cameras? Pretending you don’t hate every second of this?”

“This”—I pointed between us—“ends now. Get out before somebody sees you.”

His eyes held mine, and the way hesawme, like he was stripping away every layer, every excuse, was almost too much.

I turned. “This isn’t a game, Reese. My mama would burn the entire town to the ground if she knew about us.”

“She doesn’t know.” He stepped closer. “I was careful. No one saw me. We still have the plan.”

“Please.”I had to get through this night without more tears. “Let’s…let’s just cut our losses. I—I don’t know if I can do it now.”

He was behind me before I knew it, his weight trapping me against the counter. I closed my eyes, my breath catching as his exhale grazed the sensitive skin of my neck, hot and tantalizing.

“Can we think of something else?” A bitter laugh escaped my lips. “She always knows, Reese. You don’t understand?—”

“What I understand,” he said, his voice sharp, “is that you’remiserable. You’re about to marry my brother, and you’re standing here trying to convince yourself it’s what you want. Believe in our plan or is that what you want, Laurene?”

My reflection stared back at me, every detail curated by Mama. I wasn’t the heir; that was Erik. I was the one Mama hadmolded into perfection—beauty, poise, intelligence, social grace. I was her trophy. But now, with everyone watching, with Mama’s grand plans hanging over me like a guillotine, the plan we came up with didn’t seem like a grand idea. I just wanted Reese safe.

“What I want doesn’t matter.”

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