Page 103 of Blind Luck

Selene was sweet and quiet, a mouse of a woman. A pretty people-pleaser. I understood now why Jace had preyed on her. And I also understood how the Prophet had preyed on me because once, I’d tried to appease everyone too. It was only out of necessity that I’d developed survival instincts.

Rusty and I had decided to stay in Vegas for a few more days—there was no hurry for us to rush back to California, and I’d always wanted to see the shows on the Strip. Being in a relationship again after so long—and voluntarily this time—was weird, but a good weird. Learning about a whole other person, their likes and dislikes… A journey of discovery, and so far, I’d enjoyed the stops along the way.

But a new relationship also brought back old memories, and as with Selene, I’d realised I might never be free of them.

She saw my face as I walked into the kitchen. We’d done a lot of talking over the past few days, and I’d found myself opening up to her. In return, she’d spilled her secrets too. Jace was a monster. He used to lock her in the bedroom for days if she tried standing up for herself.

“Oh no. You didn’t get good news?” she asked.

“There’s a reasonable chance my marriage was legal.”

“That’s insane. Weren’t you fifteen?”

Fifteen and three days.

“Yup, but in California, that’s permitted if you have parental consent and a court order.”

Selene scoffed. “How would you get a court order?”

“The Prophet bought a judge. Ari did some research, and there’s one judge in Temecula who issues, like, fifty of those orders every year, and there’s a marriage licence filed with my name on it. The weirder part is that I was wife number five, and bigamy is illegal, so I figured phew, I had a lucky escape. But Ari couldn’t find licences for wives one through four, so…”

“So you’re married?”

“Who knows? I mean, it would explain why the other four wives hated me so much. It gets stranger—there was a second marriage licence issued for my husband, before mine, but with a woman I’ve never heard of. So at the moment, we’re not certain if the wedding went ahead, or even whether she’s alive or dead.”

Before I met Rusty, I hadn’t really cared about the details. What did a piece of paper matter when I intended to steer clear of men for the rest of my days? But now, maybe the specifics from all those years ago would make a difference. It wasn’t as if Rusty had proposed or anything, and he swore my past would never change the way he felt about me, but he also said it might be a good idea to find out for sure whether I was Mrs. or Miss, just in case. In case of what? He didn’t say.

Selene squeezed my hand as Sin sauntered in with Trooper trotting along behind her and began rummaging in the refrigerator. He was allowed to stretch his legs now. Rusty and I had offered him a home if he didn’t have one, but she’d decided to keep him. That was cool. The shelter had a bunch of dogs, and someday, we’d pick out a mutt to come live with us. And if we were both travelling, one of our extended family would help with the dog-sitting.

Family.

I had a family now. Not the one I’d been born into, but the one I’d chosen. Kai had been shocked when I told himabout Rusty, but he said that as long as I was happy, he’d be happy too.

And I was.

Happy.

“I’m so sorry,” Selene said. “At least I know for sure that I’m married to a snake.”

Sin glanced up. “I told you we’d take care of that.”

She shook her head sadly. “Jace will never agree to a divorce.Never.”

“Wanna bet?”

“He’ll draw things out until he gets my trust fund.”

“We’ll see.” Sin found a carton of juice and stood. “We’ll fucking see.”

CHAPTER 35

ERIN

In less than a week, this would all be over.

Probably.

It should have been over already, but Jerry had run into some kind of problem on her vacation, and Dusk said half of the team had gone haring off to San Gallicano. Now we were waiting for Cole to come back and officially tell Stanley Fuller that the golf course plan was off. Then the design project would be cancelled, and Kelsey and Selene could escape to Virginia.

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