Page 1 of The Viper

Prologue

My breath catches when I walk into the room. My older sister looks amazing, staring at herself in the mirror. The white dress hugs her body, showing off her beautiful curves. Her sheer veil falls softly over her face, somewhat concealing her bright blue eyes.

“Hey,” I say as I approach her.

Eliza lifts her chin to look at me in the reflection of the mirror. “Hey,” she replies and offers me a slight smile.

My gut churns with unease. “What’s going on?”

She dips her chin again for only a few seconds before she takes a deep breath and smiles wider. “I’m just nervous.”

I step closer and stand by her side, forcing Eliza to turn to me. I lift her veil and stare into her eyes. “There’s something else. What is it?” I skim my gaze down her strapless white wedding dress, and I notice a small, fading bruise on her shoulder. “What’s this?” I brush the veil away and run my fingertips over the fading bruise.

Eliza’s eyes widen as she intakes a sharp breath. “It’s nothing,” she dismisses easily.

“What is it?”

“I ran into a door,” she says with an added hand flick. “It’s nothing.”

I narrow my eyes at her, and shake my head. “If you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to.” Eliza’s brows furrow together. “I’ll go out there and tell Adrian you’re not ready to marry him.”

“No!” She nearly leaps at me. “Don’t do that.” Eliza averts her eyes and sucks in a shallow breath. “I’m fine,” she finally says in a small voice. “Like I said, I’m nervous. And I guess I wish Mom and Dad were here. But...” She looks at me with tears in her eyes. There’s something more to her words. “They’re not.” Eliza’s chin quivers as she attempts to hold back the tears. “I wish they were here to…” She catches herself before she continues.

“Here to what?”

Eliza lifts her chin and returns her gaze to the mirror. “I miss them,” she says with little conviction.

“I know this wedding happened fast, hell I’ve barely met any of his family. But I miss them too and I think they’d be proud of you.” I step forward and hug Eliza. We stand together for a long moment. Eliza’s body slowly softens as her arms tighten around me.

“Rose, can I let you in on a secret?”

I step back and slide my arms down until we’re holding hands. “Of course. What is it?”

Eliza blinks several times to hold back her tears. “I’m not sure I want to marry Adrian.” I pull away from her, and start heading toward the door. “Where are you going?”

“To tell Adrian the wedding is off. You’re not ready for this.”

“No!” Eliza leaps forward, grabbing me by the upper arm and thrusting me back. “Don’t do that.”

“Why? If you’re not ready to marry him, then you don’t have to do it.”

She releases my arm and walks over to the steepled window in the bride’s room in this ornate church. “You don’t get it.”

“Get what?”

“These people don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” She points toward the front of the church. “Besides, there are over three hundred people waiting for this to happen. Not to mention Adrian.”

“I don’t care about those people. I care about you. And only you. If you’re not ready, we can just leave. We don’t even need to return home. We’ll...” I shake my head as I try to think of a plan. “We’ll...”

“We’ll what? Our parents are dead, so they can’t help.” She snorts and rolls her eyes. “Not like they would. Plus, you’re just a barista in a café and I don’t work. Where do you think we can go where he won’t find me?”

“Why are you with him?” I ask.

Eliza turns to look out the window again. She slowly shrugs and lets out an audible sigh. “I have to, Rose,” she says in a small voice.

“No, you don’t. We can jump in the car and leave. You don’t have to do this.”

Eliza pulls her shoulders back and turns to look at me. “Could you let Adrian know I’m ready?” she asks in a strong, confident voice. This request is the complete opposite to how she was acting only a few seconds ago. “Please?”

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