Page 3 of A Convenient Ring to Claim Her

“I won’t voice any. I’m the one who gave Sylvain the benefit of the doubt, trusting he wouldn’t sabotage his best friend’s wedding. I should have insisted Hunter choose a different man to stand up for him.”

“As much as I love hearing you admit you’re wrong, you’re giving yourself too much credit. Hunter has a baby with another woman. I don’t see how Remy is at fault for that.”

“He wasn’t shocked when that woman turned up. He must have had something to do with her crashing the wedding.”

“Do you really—” He was so infuriating. “Remy recognized her because he brought Hunter here last summer for a golf weekend. I heard Hunter’s sister, Vienna, tell Eden that.”

“So Sylvain knew who she was.”

“Sure, but are you seriously postulating that Remy arranged this entire thing? That would mean he consulted a psychic last year who predicted that Hunter would meet Eden and decide to propose to her. Then he preemptively took Hunter away weeks prior to that meeting, sabotaged his condoms and somehow forced Hunter to engage in relations with a waitress. You’re right. Remy Sylvainisan evil genius.”

Micah’s look swung toward her with the weight of a broad sword.

“Hunteris the reason this wedding fell apart,” Quinn stated firmly. “Look at the Waverly history. Turning a society wedding into a train wreck is a regular Saturday afternoon for them.” Quinn felt a sting of remorse at besmirching Vienna with that brush. She liked her, but it didn’t make the statement less true. “Eden doesn’t feel it now, but she’sluckyshe’s not married to Hunter right now.”

“If you didn’t like him, you should have told me,” Micah said grittily. “Between us, we could have stopped her from taking it this far.”

“I am never going to gang up on your sister with you.” Eden was the most loyal friend Quinn had ever had. She would never betray her, not even for Micah.

Plus, Eden marrying Hunter would have worked for Quinn in ways that were very selfish and not very honorable, but she kept that to herself.

“Hunter is not a bad person. I think he was going into this marriage in good faith. So was Eden, but she didn’t love him.” Eden was a romantic and had always wanted to marry for love. “Plus, I don’t see the value in marriage. Well, I saw the literal value for her in this one. Obviously.” Eden stood to lose her father’s chain of stores, Bellamy Home and Garden, if she didn’t get an influx of cash, fast.

Quinn hated bringing up marriage and money around Micah, though. She was always conscious of the fact that women threw themselves at him all the time, thinking he was their ticket to both. She’d seen at least two make a play for him at the rehearsal dinner alone.

Whereas she threw herself at him purely for sex and that complicated approximation of affection that he offered when they were between the sheets.

“Given all that Eden was up against, I saw why she thought marrying Hunter made sense. Once she made her decision, I had to support her. That’s what friends do. Hunter is clearly a decent man since he put his child first the moment he learned he had one.”

“That’s where the bar is?” Micah drawled.

“Youcould have bailed her out.”

“Itried. Our mother refuses to let Eden take my father’s money for her father’s business. If I could change that, I would. I can’t.” His hands gripped the wheel so tightly, his knuckles turned white.

He released his frustration by overtaking a couple of cars that were already speeding. The river glittered on one side of them while rows of grapes flashed by on the other.

“Has she been seeing him all this time?” he asked.

“Remy?No. When? He was at their engagement party for, like, a minute. He didn’t show up at the vineyard until late last night. As far as I know, they’ve only spoken two or three times since—” She cut herself off, throat always going tight when she thought about that trip five years ago.

“Paris?”

“Yes.”

You’re a child.

That ancient declaration of his still made her feel sosmall.

“Then why did she leave with him today?”

“I don’t know. Eden is my friend, not my preschool daughter. Why do you care who she kisses at a nightclub or catches a lift with?”

“It’s not about what Eden does. I’m worried Sylvain is using her to take shots at me. That is what I refuse to tolerate.”

Quinn had plenty of experience with people who had ulterior motives. She had learned long ago to spot the opportunists who took in foster children to line their own pockets. Her radar was always alert for shifty eyes and straying hands. She might not have the curviest figure, but from the time her breasts had begun to bud, she’d been subjected to unwanted male attention and the pawing palms that seemed to follow those leering looks.

As naturally suspicious as she was, she had never seen Remy as nefarious. When Eden had met him five years ago, he had casually suggested they join him at a nightclub where he was meeting friends. That was a very normal thing to do.

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