Page 3 of Homewrecker

“Come on, Dad. You look like you’re at my funeral, not my wedding,” Rebecca complained.

“Trust me, this is not how I’d look at your funeral,” he muttered, even as he pushed his shoulders back and tried to putmore emotion into his smile. “I’d be crying my eyes out, not trying to smile.”

She giggled, and smiling authentically became just a touch easier. She really did look beautiful with her long black hair curled and primped into some kind of elaborate updo, and her makeup flawlessly applied to emphasize her dark brown eyes. The full skirt and glittering fabric of her wedding dress made her look like the princess she was…

Somehow, something had gone wrong. She’d kissed a toad and decided to marry him instead of waiting for a prince.

All that matters is that she’s happy. All that matters is that she’s happy. All that matters is that she’s happy.

That was the mantra he’d adopted since she’d introduced her boyfriend—who had still been married at the time—to Lincoln and her mother. It helped him cope less and less with every passing day, though it did keep him from completely exploding. Her groom was two years older than Lincoln. How the hell was he supposed to take that?

What the hell did they even have in common?

Yet ever since he’d found out his own wife was cheating on him—with his business partner and a man he’d grown up with, no less—he was second-guessing his own opinions on the matter of marriage. They’d gotten married because they were young and in love and thought that was all that mattered. It wasn’t until after Janet was pregnant that some of the cracks started to show, but he’d kept things together for years now, all for the sake of his daughter.

All that mattered was that she was happy.

It was why he hadn’t confronted Janet and Marshall when his team had come to him with the damming pictures earlier this week. He wasn’t about to ruin his daughter’s wedding week with that. Well, and he and his brother Harris needed time to shore up their business before they kicked Marshall out. Boughthim out, technically, but they would all know what it really was. Marshall had always handled the business and financial end of things, so it was going to take them a bit to get everything together. In the meantime, Lincoln had to just live with his cheating wife and pretend he didn’t know.

Being cheated on himself didn’t improve his opinion of Rebecca’s groom. Wiley Vaughn was not only twenty-three years older than Rebecca, but his divorce had only been finalized as of yesterday. Rebecca swore up and down that he and his wife had been separated before she and Wiley had gotten involved, but Lincoln wasn’t sure he believed that.

Not that it mattered since there was nothing he could do about it.

“Okay, well, I got a few good ones,” the photographer said, lowering her camera.

Shit. His expression had changed while he was thinking again. Hopefully, the photographer was truthful about getting a few good ones, and if any of them showed his disgust, she would delete them before Rebecca got to see them. Maybe he’d have a quick word in her ear later, along with an extra-large tip.

Rebecca sighed, but she didn’t get a chance to say anything before the door opened, and Janet came hurrying in. His wife looked flushed and a little ruffled, her lipstick slightly smeared, and Lincoln stiffened. Hurt flashed through him, even though he’d already accepted she was cheating on him. Yes, Marshall was here at the wedding as a long-time family friend and one of the partners in Lincoln’s firm, but he hadn’t thought they would…

Well.

He had no proof they actually had, but he wouldn’t put it past her or Marshall. The less attractive parts of her personality had been coming out more and more over the past few years, all the things he’d ignored when they’d first gotten married andas they were raising Rebecca. As for Marshall… their friendship had dwindled in the face of business, though he’d never expected Marshall to stab him in the back by having an affair with his wife. He’d figured they’d just keep on being business partners, even though they didn’t spend time together as friends anymore.

“Oh, sweetheart, you look so beautiful!” Janet put her hand on her chest, blinking back tears. Whatever her faults, she did love their daughter, even if her parenting methods didn’t always align with Lincoln’s. She had a tendency to indulge Rebecca and treat her more as a friend than a child, leaving Lincoln to set the boundaries—which she ignored—and be the disciplinarian—which she undermined. When they’d first met, he’d thought she was a delightfully bratty submissive, which had appealed to his Dom side.

Eventually he’d realized she wasn’t a brat, she was just selfish and manipulative, and she didn’t have a submissive bone in her body, though she’d faked it well enough while they were dating. It had been a disappointment, one he’d borne mostly alone all these years.

“Thanks, Mom.” Rebecca beamed at her mother, who had nothing but encouragement for Rebecca marrying a cheater who was nearly twice her age. “You look amazing, too.”

Janet waved her hand, though she was clearly pleased with the compliment. She did look good, but knowing about her affair had killed any of Lincoln’s attraction to her. The clinging, dark-blue dress she was wearing made the most of her admittedly fantastic figure, and other than her slightly smeared lipstick, her makeup was perfect. She was a beautiful woman, but her physical appearance had nothing to do with the repulsion he felt when he looked at her.

“I have nothing on you, darling. You’re going to have to be careful, or you’ll give Wiley a heart attack.” Both of themlaughed. Lincoln pretended to smile again as the photographer took another photo.

He really wanted to be anywhere but there.

“Lincoln, you look so handsome.” Janet sidled up to him, slipping her arm through his, her breast brushing against his arm. A year ago, the movement would have interested him, made him wonder if she was open to sex that night… Now, he truly hoped she had no such intention in mind. The very thought made him nauseous as he remembered the pictures his employees had presented him with only two days ago.

“Thank you. You make a beautiful mother-of-the-bride,” he replied automatically, aware his expression and tone weren’t the same as they normally would be. Neither Janet nor Rebecca seemed to notice.

“Let’s get your cousins in here to take some pictures.” Janet fussed with Rebecca’s veil. “We should have gotten some of them helping you get ready.”

“I didn’t want them to help me. I had it handled.” Rebecca made a face, but she tolerated her mother’s fussing while Lincoln stepped back, doing his best to blend into the scenery. “None of them even like me, you know that.”

“They like you just fine. You’re cousins. Not like that Wiley’s daughter, who was supposed to be your friend.” Janet rolled her eyes, shaking her head, as if completely clueless about why Wiley’s daughter—who had been Rebecca’s best friend before they’d broken the news that Wiley was having an affair and was divorcing her mom to marry her best friend—might not want to be in the bridal party.

Lincoln held his tongue, not wanting to start a fight on his daughter’s wedding day, but surely Janet wasn’t that stupid. Or maybe he was the stupid one, thinking she had any kind of emotional intelligence. Sighing, he leaned against the wall.

“She’s upset, but she’ll come around,” Rebecca smirked. “She’ll have to, now that I’m going to be her stepmom. I wonder if I should insist that she call me ‘mom’?”

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