Page 14 of Kinks of a Billionaire
My best friend’s eyes locked with mine, and so much of the sparkle I was used to seeing in her eyes had dimmed. I didn’t like that at all. Fuck, she was mine to protect. Stuart was all wrong for her. Ineededto watch over her.
I opened my mouth to protest, but Willow cut me off. “I’ll see you later. Yeah?”
She gave me a pointed look and I nodded. But Willow’s annoyance didn’t escape me, nor did the hissed “Stop dragging me, I’m coming” that was directed at her fiancé.
Thanks to my… surveillance, I knew which hotel Willow was staying at, and as I watched the newlyweds-to-be scramble toward Stuart’s parents, I decided I’d crash her “night before the wedding.” I had to talk to her.
“See what I mean?” Mr. Auclair said once they were out of earshot.
Before I could reply, his wife added, “If you want to… beat him up or… take her away and make her see reason, we won’t object.”
Did I just get a carte blanche to whisk their daughter away into the sunset?
Then she smiled sweetly, slipped her hand into her husband’s, and walked away, leaving me staring at their backs with my jaw on the perfectly manicured lawn.
Chapter 5
Willow
This engagement party was a fucking disaster for so many reasons.
The main one being my fiancé.
I tried to hide behind grace and poise, but as the day went on, it became progressively harder. I’d pasted on my best fake smile all day and held my fiancé’s arm, allowing him to make a fool out of me.
Again!
Passing the fountains set up throughout the terrace and the round tables draped with gold tablecloths and littered with champagne glasses, I heard the hushed pity and felt the judging eyes on my skin.
My parents, Royce, Aurora, and Sailor—and their doting husbands—were the only guests here for me. The remainder were strangers, people whose names I was learning today, at myengagementparty.
Stuart never loosened his proprietary grip around my waist, leading me across the terrace like a prized medallion. Meanwhile, I considered my options on ending this engagement despite the little life growing inside me.
Hindsight was a bitch, because it couldn’t be more painfully clear here, surrounded by strangers on what was supposed to be a joyous day, that this arrangement was doomed from the get-go.
Initially, I agreed to go out on a date with Stuart, believing he was the next best thing to Royce—my best friend who I secretly fantasized about when I needed to get off.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Stuart didn’t hold a candle to him. My best friend was a playboy; Stuart was a downright cheater and a liar. While Stuart made himself look smart by putting other people down, Royce was sharp and deeply intelligent. It was what made him so dangerous. People were so focused on his muscles and swagger that they underestimated his genius mind.
And while I’d kept my distance for the past month, that genius mind had picked up on the fact that something was off between Stuart and me.
Ten years ago, I made the mistake of going to a party with a boyfriend I thought I could trust. It turned out to be one of the dumbest things I could’ve ever done, but like a prince, Royce swooped in and saved me.
Could he do it again?
Or would he forever discard me once he learned that Stuart had knocked me up?
My heart ached as I released a shuddering breath.
Life was made up of choices, and I regretted the one I made three months ago when I said yes to Stuart. In the first week of what was supposed to be a very brief relationship, I got pregnant. Even though we used protection every single time.
God sure had a funny sense of humor.
I was a pro-choice girl, except my mother’s deep Catholic roots had a firmer hold on me than I anticipated. So, in an attempt to make things right, I was getting married.
But enough was enough.
I’d have this baby but not his father, otherwise the weight of everyone’s stares—assessing me, judging me, pitying me—would be something I’d deal with for the rest of my life.
