“It takes time to sink in,” she said softly.
I hope that wasn’t meant to be reassuring. If anything, it made me even more curious as to how she wound up with Zacharias. The man in question slipped an arm around her shoulders and stared at me with a smile only he knew the meaning of.
I had a flash of my future then.
I could see clear as day, Judas and me in their exact position. The worst thing about that was the cold realization that I could come up with a list of reasons why I wouldn’t exactly hate it. What I hated more than that, in fact, was wine. It all tasted like the cheap or overpriced beer I’d drank far too much of.
I reached for my still topped-off glass needing any kind of alcohol I could get.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I’d somehow managed to score some desperately needed time alone. I knew it wouldn’t last long. Once the men stopped congratulating him, Judas would follow the chain that kept me at his side and pull me right back into his orbit.
Until then, I was going to take full advantage of this moment.
The sun had set a while ago, so the air outside was cool and refreshing. Too bad that wasn’t enough to help get my shit together. I studied my engagement ring with a quiet sigh.
Jesus.
My engagement ring.
Yesterday I was Rhiannon Clermont. A bartender who took the long way back to her apartment so that she had time to herself. She lived there with her best friend and sometimes watched Bob’s Burgers with a man she now knew was a lying sack of shit.
Today I was Rhiannon Saldaña, the fiancé of Judas Barron and daughter of a mysterious and powerful man.
There was potential here to shed my skin and become something new, but even a new identity couldn’t rid me of my damaged heart, dirty soul, and obsessive love for a man I should despise with every fiber of my being.
I ran the tip of my pointer finger over the large champagne, pear-shaped diamond in the center of the ring. It was surrounded by more diamonds. The band itself consisted of them too.
It was a beautiful piece of jewelry that fit me perfectly and would be sure to catch some attention. He’d had it before I got here. His entire family was aware of what would be happening tonight. Gavin’s earlier words echoed in my head. Judas had been planning this for some time.
Hearing soft footsteps, I glanced over my shoulder and saw Nova slowly approaching.
“It’s a lot to process, right?”
I laughed humorlessly and looked back at the pool. “I’m not sure if it can be processed.”
She stopped right beside me and crossed her arms over her maroon skater dress, following my gaze to the shimmering aquamarine water lit by underwater poolside lights.
“You’ll get to a point where this will be nothing but a blimp in time, a small piece of your bigger picture.”
I gave her a look.
“Trust me, it took a while for things with Rhys and me to iron out and we still have our moments.”
“Did you two begin with chaos too?”
“Oh, we're still chaotic, but I choose to love the hell out of him instead of murder him while he sleeps.”
We turned our heads and looked at one another with knowing grins before her pretty features smoothed into a thoughtful expression. “What he and I have, it’s the aftermath of pretty lies and ugly truths.”
“Meaning?”
“Let’s just say my family was a mess and my life wasn’t going to get better despite them being permanently out of the picture. Everything changed for me when I met Rhys. There was a lot I didn’t know back then, plenty I still don’t…Anyways, I have my Barron now. He may be a dick of epic proportions sometimes, but I know he’d do anything for me.”
“This is all sounding a little too familiar.”
She leaned closer and lowered her voice, “Wanna know something even crazier? I have an Evie too.”
I blinked in surprise and turned so that I was fully facing her. “You know Evie?”
“Woah, let me clarify. I have a recently discovered half-sister named, Evie. She’s a bit of a bitch, but I like her,” she joked with a one-armed shrug. “All kidding aside. Things always seem to move at break-neck speed around here. Give yourself time to go through the motions while moving forward. If you wanna be pissed, then be pissed. Cry and curse Judas to hell and back but try to remember he’s on your side.”
“We all are,” Maisie interjected as a means of announcing herself.
She walked right up to us and planted herself on my other side. Nearly as tall as her brother, she towered above me in stilettos.
I glanced up at the starry sky and carefully considered my next words. I didn’t know why I was still trying to spare their feelings. Maybe because they’d been considerate of mine for the most part. Or it could have something to do with the scars marring Maisie’s otherwise flawless skin. Had Evie been the cause of those?