Page 82 of Relentless (The Titans of Founder's Ridge 2)

“It means fitted from the bust through the thighs,” Claire says, “then flares out on the bottom.”

“Do you want long sleeves since it’ll be a winter wedding?” I ask while I flip through one of the bridal magazines I bought this week. “Here, look at this one.” I toss another magazine back at her. “Fold over any pages of dresses that stick out to you.”

“I’ll take one, too.” Claire holds her hand out for my other magazine.

With random Saturday morning traffic, it takes about twenty minutes to get to the shop. For the first time in days I can get out of the car on the sidewalk and not immediately be surrounded by photographers. Lilith convinces our security team to stay in their car, parked across the street from the front door.

We’re greeted as soon as we walk in the door with flutes of champagne. We’re directed to blush pink Victorian settee to sit while we go through the magazines showing what Lilith likes and what Claire and I could envision for her. After she gives her dress size and budget to the stylist helping us, we sit back.

“This place is overwhelming,” Lilith whispers looking at the walls covered with racks of gowns. “Also, I amnotspending five thousand dollars on a dress I’ll wear once. That is insane.”

“You aren’t paying for it.” I take a sip of my champagne, so I don’t tell her I already told the shop ahead of time that Franklin Marsh was paying for the dress, no limit on price.

“What?” She turns to me with narrowed eyes. “You don’t have the money to be buying me a wedding dress either.”

“I know, I’m not. Frank is paying for it.” I met her glare with one of my own. “He wants to do this as your uncle. Don’t make me tell him no.”

“I’ll tell him,” she pulls out her phone and starts to text him, but the stylist walks up and tells her that she’s pulled dresses.

While she goes back, I send off a text to Frank that he can expect a response. When I look over at Claire, she’s texting someone with a soft smile on her face.

“I know that face. What guy are you texting?” I ask.

“Oh,” she startles, “just a random Tinder guy. No one important.” She slides her phone in her purse.

“What’s his name?”

“G-Gary. He’s funny but definitely a player. I’m not going to meet up with him.”

Lilith comes out in the first dress, and I can tell by the look on her face that she hates it. It has an illusion bodice with feathers covering the A-line skirt. She steps up on the dais in front of the three-way mirror and makes eye contact.

“I look like a half-plucked chicken,” she says completely deadpan.

Claire and I both break out into laughter while the stylist grimaces. They walk back into the dressing room, and I check my phone. Frank sent me a text telling me not to worry about it. He just called the manager to ensure he’d get the bill.

Lilith comes out in a second dress. This one is much better. It’s a slim fitting white crepe with a plunging neckline and off the shoulder long sleeves. There’s no lace or embellishments except the pearl buttons on the back. It’s beautiful but a bit too plain. She goes back to the dressing room.

Another stylist comes out and sets a book of bridesmaid dresses in front of us. Lilith’s already told us to pick a dress in black, our choice of style and design. I see a few styles that I love, but I want to wait to see what Lilith goes with for a dress first. Claire seems to have the same idea and suggests we get dresses that compliment whatever she picks.

Lilith comes out in the third dress, and I can see she loves it so far. It’s another A-line dress with an illusion bodice, this one has lace appliqués covering the top and sleeves. There’s a deep V in front which shows off her cleavage in a sexy but classy way and the back is held together by a Chantilly lace keyhole. The skirt is a flowy chiffon with more Chantilly lace.

The stylist adds a tiara since Lilith has said she doesn’t want a veil, but Lilith rejects it with a comment about “princess shit” being unnecessary. I ask about customizing the sleeves to be made longer, at the moment they’re just cap sleeves. We’re told the designer is open to customizations like that, so they take her back to get precise measurements.

Lilith comes out after a while and notices that there’s photographers roaming around the sidewalk. She texts her security to deal with them while we devise a plan to go out into the alley in behind the shop. She shoots Saul a message telling him where to pick us up.

She argues back and forth for a few minutes with the manager about who is paying for the dress but ultimately backs down. She mumbles something about paying for alterations as she grabs her purse off the counter.

We head to the back of the shop and realize we’re in a different alley than we thought we’d be in and we’ll have to double around the block to get to where Saul is waiting. As we are walking and chatting Lilith stops mid-sentence. She turns her head quickly and yells at Claire and I to run.

I turn to see what is going on, thinking maybe some photographers found us when I see her spin and throw a punch right into a man dressed in all black with a hood over his face. I scream and look around, trying to find a way to help as she starts fighting him. That’s when I notice four more men and a sleek-looking black van parked at the end of the alley.

“Claire,” Lilith makes eye contact with her and nods. Claire grabs her ear right before she’s wrapped up in the arms of one of the men. She tries to fight him off, but she’s so thin and delicate he just lifts her up and starts running to the van.

I turn just as another man comes up behind me and push him backwards into the wall. Lilith is now trying to fight off two attackers. I see bottle sitting against the wall and reach down to grab it, swinging it across one of the attacker’s face. He falls to ground with a thud.

I start to rush over toward Lilith when I feel something crash against my temple. The last thing I remember seeing before everything went black was the glint of a knife arcing toward Lilith’s back.

27

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