Page 78 of Release Me
Guilt snakes into my stomach again, threatening to steal my happiness once more. ‘Do you think I’m awful?’ I ask lowly, addressing no one in particular.
‘No,’ everyone answers unanimously.
‘Your husband is awful,’ Sean remarks, lifting his whiskey glass to his lips. ‘But perhaps you should leave him before you and Rian get involved.’
‘If only it were that easy.’ I shake my head.
‘Fuck him,’ James mutters. ‘He didn’t leave Rebekka before he started dipping his dick elsewhere. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.’
‘Just so we’re one hundred percent clear.’ Scarlett arches over the table towards her husband. ‘If you so much as think about dipping your dick elsewhere, your goose is cooked, burned, cremated,’ she warns.
‘Baby, I wouldn’t dream of it.’ He winks at her. ‘I can barely keep up with you, let alone go looking for more work.’
‘Huh.’
‘I would leave Anthony in a heartbeat if I could.’ I sigh. ‘But it’s so much more complicated because our marriage was arranged.’ As I say the words out loud, the truth of them sinks in.
‘What’s meant for you, won’t pass by you,’ Ivy pats my knee. ‘Don’t overthink it. Anthony’s out having fun with his mistress tonight. He’s the one setting the standards, leading by example.’
‘You know, you guys aren’t really selling the whole marriage thing to me.’ Doubt creeps across Avery’s features as she glances down at her enormous engagement ring. Scarlett told me Avery’s father cheated on her mother when she was a kid, which is why it surprised me when she told me tohave some fun with Rian. Maybe she sees me as her mother twenty years ago and would love her mother to get her own back? Who knows?
‘I admit, mine is less than conventional, but it was an arrangement between our families at the end of the day. You guys are in love. It’s different.’
‘So is Rian,’ Sean mutters.
My stomach somersaults, and the air exits my chest with a whoosh. I fake a cough and pretend not to hear him.
‘Sweetheart, you have nothing to worry about,’ Killian takes Avery’s hand, firing the death stare at everyone else around the table. ‘Becketts don’t cheat.’
‘Why would we want to? When we have you?’ Caelon wraps an arm around Ivy’s shoulder.
‘So, are you guys going to set a date?’ Ivy asks Avery and Killian. Caelon nudges her and shakes his head.
‘We will when you guys start selling it better.’ Avery picks up her drink and draws from it.
‘I’ll sell it very quickly,’ Scarlett glances at her husband lovingly. ‘It’s like waking up with your best friend every day—Sorry, Avery—you know you’re my original BFF, but he does things to me that you never did.’ She giggles and clinks her glass against Avery’s. ‘It’s never feeling lonely again. It’s having the trust and freedom to express yourself, in and out of the bedroom. Basically, it’s beautiful—when you’re married to the right person.’
Zara pretends to vomit beside me. I avert my eyes, willing the tears that are threatening not to spill. Ivy takes my hand and squeezes it. ‘I still think you’ll be a Beckett one day.’
‘If only…’
Rian chooses this second to reappear. ‘Are they taking care of you?’ He drops a hand protectively on my shoulder.
‘Yes, thank you.’
‘We were just discussing the merits of marriage.’ Scarlett beams at him.
‘I guess it depends who you’re married to.’ Rian’s fingers give me a reassuring squeeze. ‘Do you want to get out of here?’ He glances around the crowd. ‘I got rid of the press, but maybe you’d prefer if we went somewhere quieter?’ Compassion creeps into his eyes.
‘But it’s your big night.’ I motion around at the crowds swarming by the bar and on the dance floor.
‘It’s the biggest night of my life,’ he murmurs into my ear, ‘but that has fuck all to do with the club. Do you know how long I’ve wanted you for?’
Butterflies swirl in my stomach; the urge to be alone with him again is all-consuming, but it can wait a couple of hours. ‘Probably the same amount of time I’ve wanted you for… three years, four months, two weeks and five days.’
‘Stay at my place tonight, please.’ He brings my fingers to his lips and kisses them one by one.
‘Well, whatever happens, I’m not going back to the penthouse tonight. I can’t.’
