Page 47 of Lush

Slamming the door, I started the engine and peeled out, leaving Laurene shrinking in my rearview mirror.

CHAPTER 11

Laurene

Erik’ssleek sedan purred quietly as he drove through the gates of the Ashbournes’ resort, up a gorgeous driveway with perfect hedges and bright flowers.

I checked the rearview mirror again, but my own wide eyes stared back.

Erik glanced at me, then behind us. “What do you keep looking for?”

“Nothing.”

I forced my hands to still in my lap, but the feeling crawled up my spine anyway, cold and certain—like I was being watched.

With the wedding three weeks out at this point, almost everything should have been sorted already. Coming here was taking up time to follow leads about our blackmailer. Maybe Mama was trying to twist the knife further and shove this in my face? Let me know how little choice I had?

“What the hell was that asshole thinking?” Erik muttered, but I shook my head. “He had no right to leave you like that.”

I sighed. “It’s complicated. He’s just…stubborn.”

“Don’t excuse stranding you like that.” His voice rose. “Do you want me to talk to him? Set his ass straight?”

I chuckled despite myself. “No need to get violent, E. I’m a big girl.”

He sighed, rubbing his face. Mama had been running him ragged lately.

“Yeah, you’ve got your moments, but I still remember having to be the one to sneak out and pick you and Noelle up from Monterrey ’cause y’all got busted with those fake IDs from China.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why you bringing up old news? They worked for a while until our faces got scratched up.”

Erik laughed, but luckily, I remembered the old guest list for the engagement party. Mama still had it tucked away in the basement. Something told me it was worth another look.

Blair’s name had been there, front and center.

How could I have forgottenher?

“It’s between us. I’ll handle it.”

Blair Sterling had a way of making herself a problem.Six years later, and just her name still pissed me off. Over the years, we butted heads over everything—pageants, school elections, even whose family threw the better charity gala.

I mostly won, but Blair kept trying.

I didn’t agree with Mama on much, but when it came to the Sterlings, we were on the same damn page. There was always somethingopportunisticabout them, and gossip from Gigi had revealed that Blair and Reese had apparently become close friends since I left.

Reese had befriended my fucking nemesis—and didn’t tell me.

Erik’s eyes narrowed. “You sure? I can handle him. Hell, Iwannahandle him.”

“I’m sure.” I injected as much calm into my voice as I could muster. “Why didn’t you tell me you bailed him out of jail a few times?”

Erik gripped the wheel, then shrugged. “’Cause it wasn’t about you.”

That threw me.

“What?”

“Look, I don’t evenlikedude like that. But he reminded me of—” He stopped, drumming his fingers on the wheel. “I don’t know, Lu. You was gone. Reese was… You ever see somebody and just know they on the edge?”

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