Page 17 of Fall to Me
I wave my hand in the air, signaling him to put her on speaker, then plop down beside him on the bed. He taps the screen and sets the phone between us.
“Hi, Teagan,” I greet her. “We gotta make this quick?—”
“You two need to listen,” she says, cutting me off. Her voice slices right through me, and my eyes widen in shock. Teagan’s never been short with me. “Do you both realize that Carter’s face is an image of this organization? When you act like drunk idiots in public, it affects us all.”
I frown at Carter.What the hell?I mouth to him. He shrugs and looks back to his phone.
“I wasn’t even concerned about your cheap chapel wedding circulating all over social media and the gossip rags.ThatI can work with.ThatI can spin. But almost jumping into the Bellagio fountain? What the hell is wrong with you two? That’s a damn felony!” she spits.
Wedding?
“We didn’t—” I start but then close my mouth quickly.
The wall is fucking sparkling. Why is the wall sparkling? I look down at my left hand, and Carter’s eyes follow. Sitting on my left ring finger is a ring with a big ass diamond. What the hell? How did I not notice that?
His lips part like he’s about to say something as I bury my head in my hands, whispering, “This is so bad.”
“We can annul it tomorr?—”
“Oh, I can’t believe this. Are you two trying to make my job harder?” Teagan snaps, cutting him off. “You can’t do that to Aspen.”
My spine stiffens ramrod straight, and I feel my eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. “What?”
“You heard me. There can’t be an annulment. Do you really think your sister needs a scandal right now? She’s worked so hard to prove to the world that she’s capable of handling her team, then here you two go, messing that upandovershadowing her wedding day. What a freaking disaster. If the media catches wind of this scandal, they’ll have a heyday. I don’t want that for you, Carter, and Aspen sure as hell doesn’t need it. You saw what they did to her last year. Look. I’m going to be real straight with you; staying married for a while will make this a lot easier on everyone. One year; that’s all I’m asking. Once the year is up, you can file for divorce or do whatever you want, but if you care anything at all about your sister, River, you’ll do as I’m suggesting.”
Carter mumbles, sullenly, “Yes, ma’am.”
“What the fuck, Carter?” I whisper yell.
I would do anything in the world for Aspen, but this is all moving way too fast for my mind to fully wrap around.
“Good. I’m glad that’s settled. I know it goes without saying, but River, you need to go ahead and pack your things. You’re moving in with Carter.”
Wait. What?
“We live in the same building. Why do we have to live together?” I ask.
“You’re married now, remember? You have to sell it to the media. The paparazzi can be relentless and if one of themcatches you going into a separate apartment . . . just . . . please, do as I say. Okay? Trust me. Move in with Carter, and for God’s sake don’t tell anyone about this. The last thing we need is for someone to leak this story to a tabloid. I have to go. Someone just walked into my office.”
The line goes dead.
I can’t move in with him. There is no way. I can’t do it.
I feel like I’m gonna be sick as I sit in stunned silence staring down at the ring on my finger. My eyes cast back to Carter, trying to figure out how we’re gonna get out of this mess. He runs his fingers through his hair, and my eyes track his movement, then widen in horror.
“Carter! What the fuck is on your arm?”
Seven
Carter
“Umm . . .” I trail off, looking down at my arm as River stares at me in horror.
Scrawled in cursive is a beautiful tattoo of her name, taking up the entire inside of my forearm. I should tell her it’s a mistake; that’s probably what she wants to hear, but I’m not one to tell someone what they want to hear. She branded me long before the needle ever touched my skin, so the tattoo feels like it belongs there along with all the other ink.
My head feels like I’ve taken a sledgehammer to the skull, I’m nauseous as hell, and I could definitely use a few more hours of sleep, but none of that even compares to the weight settling in my chest. The guilt over what we did last night eats away at my conscience, and the shock and devastation on River’s face completely guts me. I’m sure it was me who somehow coerced her into this. There’s no way this was her idea.
“River,” I start, but my voice cracks on the thought of her hating me.
