Page 76 of The One Night Match
“It’s the denial beforehand. You know you have to do it, and so you mentally block how fucked up the whole event actually is.” A tall woman with bright green eyes laughs.
I scoff, taking another sip from the glass of champagne someone handed me as I passed them. I think it was a waiter, but honestly, I don’t really care who it was if it means gettingthrough this next line of questioning. “You might be right about that.”
“Cruz seems really happy with you. After everything that happened when his father died, we started to wonder if he would find someone who could bring him out of his shell. As a teenager, he was so full of life, and then when he took the reins, a part of him died,” the first woman explains. “I’ve seen him smile more tonight than I have in the last five years.”
My heart does a little flip that it has no right doing.
I didn’t mean to tell Cruz I wanted to make things work between us. Not tonight, at least. But I’m glad it slipped out. I’m glad that it’s one less thing he needs to worry about while he gets the family back on track.
“Cruz is a good man. I’m lucky to have been matched with him and to call him my husband.” It’s the spiel I prepared for tonight, but more and more I’m realizing how true it is.
I came into this marriage looking for a way out from day one. I didn’t want this to last, and I’ve actively tried to show him all the reasons we won’t work, but he’s been all in from the start.
“My Bobby says he’s been a lot easier to work with since you came into the picture. Perhaps all he needed was the love of a good woman,” the tall one says.
I bite down on the inside of my cheek in preparation for the panic, but it never comes. The idea of loving Cruz doesn’t scare me. It…excites me. There’s an energy thrumming in my chest that’s unfamiliar, but I lean into it, because I don’t have to fight anymore.
“Danny said the same thing,” the third woman gushes. “God, I’m just so happy. I grew up with the De Lucas, and Cruz’s father was not a good man. The family was divided. There was constant infighting and betrayal for power and money. It was honestly scary, and my mom kept me away from the worst of it.Obviously, things have been rocky since Cruz took over, but it’s already a much safer place for the women and children.”
I smile at her, my response on the tip of my tongue, when a wave of dizziness hits me out of nowhere.
I plant my feet to keep my balance as I scan the room for Lexi or Mary.
Something’s not right, and I can’t put my finger on what it is.
I’m not anxious.
My blood sugar isn’t low.
I was feeling fine just a few seconds ago.
“Riley, are you okay?” one of the women asks, concern coating every word.
I nod. “Yeah. I’m okay. I might just nip to the restroom quickly.”
I don’t bother waiting for them to respond before turning on my heel and making my way toward the door we came in through.
A few people try to speak to me, but their faces blur together, my mind swimming as my body drives me forward with muscle memory alone.
By the time I reach the hallway, I’m clinging to the wall for balance, every step harder than the last as my mind and body grow further apart.
A fresh wave of nausea crashes into me, and I try to look for a bathroom, but my vision is almost nonexistent.
And then it hits me.
I’ve been drugged.
The realization does nothing to settle the nausea as my legs give way beneath me.
My knees hit the concrete floor hard, and I cry out, or at least I think I do. All I can hear is my own blood rushing through my ears, and when I open my mouth to call for help, nothing comes out.
Oh god.
This is it.
All the safety training in the world can’t save me when I have no use of my body. All those hours of combat training, the classes, the self-defense seminars I took in college—it was all a waste of time, because when it really counted, I took drinks from strangers.
Idiot.
