“Are you saying no one matters to her?” I rub the side of my jaw, tempted to undo the bow tie around my neck that suddenly feels as if it’s strangling me. I wear a suit almost every damn day of my life, yet this one is somehow suffocating me.
“Sylvie is in her own little world. You know this. We all know this.” We angle our heads toward each other, and Carolina sends me a look, one that tells me she sees all. “Our mother created that monster.”
“You think Sylvie is a monster.” My tone is flat, and I’m definitely not asking like it’s a question. There are many ways I could consider Sylvie a monster, though I don’t.
“We all are, in our own way. I tried to escape it, but they lured me back anyway.” Carolina reaches out and pats my arm in a sisterly fashion before snatching it back, which I find shocking. She so rarely touches anyone willingly. “Looks like she lured you back as well. You’re just as fucked as the rest of us.”
A buzz sounds from Carolina’s white Chanel bag, and she pulls her phone out, frowning at the text message she receives. Her gaze never straying from the screen, she murmurs, “I need to go.”
Before I can say a word, she’s walking away.
I watch as Carolina leaves me, as graceful as ever. Heads turn as she passes, her nose in the air, a serene expression on her face. As if nothing could ever bother her. Her sister has a similar attitude and expression, moving about the guests at the reception as if she’s the hostess. Pausing at tables, greeting everyone with a smile and I’m sure a kind word.
Still hasn’t come over to talk to me though.
Pushing away from the wall, I move through the room just like Sylvie, going in the opposite direction of her. There are plenty of people I know who are in attendance. Kids I went to school with. All of them business associates now. I smile and nod as we pass each other. Even stop a couple of times to chat with some of them for a few minutes. All the while I can feel eyes on me, tracking my every movement. Icy blue and all-seeing.
Finally giving in to my urges, I glance over my shoulder to find Sylvie watching me while standing within a circle of people. The conversation is animated with plenty of hand gestures and laughter, but Sylvie doesn’t react. Her expression is blank, her gaze heavy. She’s too caught up in staring at me.
I look away, irritation making my blood run hot. I am not the same person I was the last time we were together. When she unexpectedly showed up at my apartment late at night, naked beneath her thick winter coat. Drinking way too much champagne before she fucked me and slipped away while I was sleeping. Never to be heard from again.
Her engagement was announced within days of that encounter. Her quickie wedding held soon after that. I realized then that the girl I’d known, the girl I loved for far too long…
Wasn’t who I thought she was.
At all.
SIX
SYLVIE
“Why were you talking to Spence?”I ask Carolina, my voice purposely light.
Inside, I’m as dark and turbulent as a brewing winter storm, ready to unleash my fury if she says the wrong thing.
The amused expression on my sister’s annoyingly beautiful face makes me want to slap her. Her delicate brows lift, a challenge in her gaze. “Jealous, Sylvie?”
“Never.” My response is too quick and I take a brief moment to calm myself. “Why would I be jealous? He doesn’t matter to me any longer. Did he ever?” The laugh that slips from me sounds so fake, I immediately clamp my lips together to silence it.
“Someone protests far too much.” A sigh leaves Carolina as she glances about the room. The reception has been in full swing for almost two hours and we’re currently sitting at a table with the family, finally eating the main entrée—steak or fish. I chose fish, though I don’t have much of an appetite. The day has been far too stressful, starting with my worry over interacting with my mother. Then seeing Spence. Feeling his wrath.
It's my fault for not thinking he would be here—and that he would be angry with me.
Thank God, Mother is on the opposite end of the table, so I feel relatively safe in being here, not having to talk to her.
Even if the conversation I’m engaging in with my sister is a tad uncomfortable.
“I was just catching up with him,” Carolina says, as vague as ever. “It’s been a while since I saw Spence.”
It’s been a hot minute since I last saw him too. The memories rush through my mind, one after the other. Arriving at his apartment that night, desperate and needy. Revealing my naked self beneath the coat. How he went down on me while I was sprawled across the kitchen counter, making me come with his perfect mouth before taking me to his bedroom and fucking me thoroughly. Just as I requested.
My intent when I went to his apartment was clear from the start. I had a task to complete, and nothing was going to stop me. I firmly believed my mother had sold my virginity to the highest bidder, and I was determined to get rid of it, thinking my lack of a hymen would completely ruin the wedding plan.
But Earl didn’t want me. Not like that. He wanted the status my family name brought—and access to the Lancaster money, which he didn’t always take, much to my confusion.
The money, the status, it didn’t make him happy. Not much made my late husband happy.
“He’s changed.” When I shoot her a questioning look, she clarifies, “Your Spencer.”