Page 31 of Deceit
In the background, the music changed, indicating our first dance had cometo an end, yet the two of us continued to hold on as the next song started. From the outside, we may have looked like a newly-married couple, unable to keep their hands off each other.
The reality couldn’t have been further from the truth.
“What did you do?”I growled, rage bubbling up and spilling over.“Asidefrom being part of the family I’ve spent my life despising? How about breaking the fucking heart of my best friend?”
Her perfectly shaped brows rose as a little gasp fell from her mouth.“What?I don’t…I don’t understand?”
I tightened my grip again, preventing her from running away. Nowthatthe dam had opened, I was unable to stop the word vomit from rushing out.“Let me explain it to you. The night you snuck into the club,underage,I’d like to point out, you stole Theo’s heart. He thoughthe’d met the woman he’d spend the rest of his life with, but you turned out to be a fucking fraud.”
Her mouth opened and closed several times before she formed a reply.“Hebarely knew me. We spent a few hours together,thatwas all. He couldn’t possibly have feltthatway about me.”
My fraying temper snapped. I gripped her chin and tugged her head in thedirection of where Kai and Riley were dancing, the two of them lost in each other’s gaze.“Clearly, obsession runs in my fucking family. You think Kai needed more than a few hours to knowthathe was going to spend the rest of his life with Riley?”I brought her chin back to face me.“And don’t youdarebelittle Theo’s feelings for you. From the minute he met you, he was smitten with you. Do you have any idea how much I fucking hated myself every time I had to lie to him to keep who you truly were a secret? My best friend, the one person I never had to hide anything from until you came along. You want to know what you did to make me hate you, Jailbait? You made me hurt the only person I’ve ever loved.”
I stopped myself from blurting the rest of what else I wanted to say;thatapart of me wouldalwayshate him for getting to her first.
Not giving a fuckthatmy sudden dismissal of her had attracted an audience,I stormed out of the ballroom and into the garden to finally smoke my much-needed joint.
Chapter 9
Miles
By some grace of God, I managed to avoid Sofia for the rest of the evening.I said too much, letting her in on the effect she had on Theo, and I hoped she was riddled with guilt. As she should have been. It at least answered some of her questions as to why I’d snapped at her the first time she tried to offer her condolences all those months ago.
Any other questions she had would remain unanswered.
After smoking notjustone, butthreejoints, my racing brain calmed. I spentthe time either talking with Kai and Riley, taking glasses of wine from Angel, who kept trying to snatch them off waiters’ trays when she thought no one was looking, or making small talk with people I had no interest in getting to know.
It gave me the opportunity to do what I did best. Watch. Assess. Plan. Therewas definitely something going on with Georgio. The shifty fucker kept disappearing, and when he reappeared, he’d grab Sofia’s arm and hiss something in her ear. Cue her seeking me out with her shame-filled eyes before she’d turn her heated face away.
I’d be getting to the bottom ofthatlater.
Andthenthere was Rafe. I was still on the fence as to whether I trustedSofia’s twin. Yes, he’d helped when shit went down in Hollows Bay, andsincethen, he’d proven to be a semi-decent business partner, but something in my gut told me he was hiding something,justlike his father.
I’d caught him several times eyeballing a guy and a girl across the room,looking like he was two seconds away from storming over to them and murdering them both.
I had no clue what the deal was between the three, and nor did I care. I hadenough on my plate as it was, namely getting through the rest of the night. When plans had been made for the wedding to be held at the Bianchi mansion, Georgio had insistedthatSofia and I were to spend the night at his house.
In her bedroom.
It was my own fault,really. When Georgio had suggested the idea, I was off myface. Not only was I taking painkillers to help manage the pain in my leg after I was shot, but I’d smoked too much weed, and found myself agreeing to whatever Bianchi had dreamed up for his only daughter’s wedding.
I’d purposely blockedthatupcoming part out of my mind, but as guestsstarted saying their goodbyes, the knowledgethatsoon, I was going to be sharing a bed with Sofia was front and square in my mind.
One night,thatwas all I had to get through. She didn’t know it yet, buttomorrow, when she left this fucking house for good and moved to Hollows Bay, we’d be moving into our own house. OnethatI had made sure had ample space to make sure she had no reason to bother me.
After everything I’d done for Kai, the fucker had kicked me out of the houseI’d been living at for the past few months.
Fine, he hadn’tquitekicked me out, but he’d politely reminded methatit was his and Riley’s house after I caught them fucking for the umpteenth time over the kitchen counter, and if I didn’t like it,thenI was free tomove out.
Honestly, I didn’tevenknow why I stayed with them for as long as I had; Ialways thought I preferred my own space, with the exception of Theo. When he was alive, we’d shared an apartment in the Wolfes’ apartment building in the heart of the city. After he died, I couldn’t bear to stay in the place on my own, but I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving it, either.
When the block was destroyed a few months back, it made sense to stay withKai while my new home was being renovated. I’d received news weeks agothatit was ready for me to move into, yet I stayed put.
Maybe it was because I’d grown used to the company I had at Kai’splace. With Angel always causing trouble and Jane trying to keep her in check, Kai and Riley’s occasional bickering, and the men who worked for Kai and me regularly coming and going, there was always something going on.
Or maybe it was because Theo had grown up in the house and was buried inthe grounds at the far end of the property. Maybe it was because I felt closer to him. Maybe I found comfort in knowingthatI could visit him any time I wanted.
Evenif I hadn’t gone to his grave since the day his coffin was lowered intothe cold ground.
