“You’re wearing a tie.” She looked down, and then her eyes bugged out of her head. “Is your shirt tucked in?”
“Force of habit.”
“Nice try, but you never followed the dress code. I’m sure Mrs. Adams is relieved that she doesn’t have to write you up every day now,” Four retorted, referring to the school counselor.
“Please. She only pretended to care to cover up the fact that she kept staring at my dick.”
“Then stop offering to show it to her!” Four shouted. When I simply grinned, she rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. “So how do you explain the dress shoes?”
“You’re wearing them,” I pointed out.
“Not. Willingly.”
I took a second to light up as I searched for a way out of this conversation. I didn’t want to tell her that I’d been in the city all day or even why. It would only demand more answers that would hurt too many people.
I only truly gave a fuck about hurting one, though. It may not have been my choice to lie to him, but it had been my choice to keep it going.
“Hey, what’s up?” Ever greeted. Trapped inside the whirlwind that is my head, I didn’t even notice him walking up. “What’d you do now?” He immediately grilled me when he saw the look on Four’s face.
Their identical glowers were evidence that Four and my cousin were genuinely becoming one. It took most couples ten years to achieve this level of synchronicity.
“Oh, thank fuck.” I sighed, feigning relief, though my stomach had turned even more with Ever standing in front of me. “Keep your woman out of my business.”
Ever’s gaze shot down to Four, and the look she gave him dared him to try. I rolled my eyes when he shrugged and regarded me once more. I was almost disgusted at how pussy-whipped he’d become and in such a short time. By contrast, my respect for Four only grew.
“Why are you dressed up?” he asked, echoing Four.
Rising to my full height, I flicked my unfinished cigarette into the grass and yanked open the driver’s door. “We’re having brunch at Vaughn’s tomorrow morning,” I announced, ignoring his question. “Be there, and bring your other woman, too.”
I didn’t wait for a response or even a sign that they’d show up before speeding out of the parking lot. I made it a mile down the road before my phone beeped with a text. Glancing at the screen, I quickly read the short message.
Lil’ Lou Who: I’m in.
Smirking, I threw my phone on the dash. One way or another, I’d get answers. They could all bet their life on that.
“EXACTLY WHERE ARE YOU TAKING my daughter dressed like a hoodlum?”
I cringed at the disgust in my father’s tone, all the while wishing I could muzzle him. I knew he wouldn’t be addressing my “fiancé” that way if he knew Ever was aware that our family was at his mercy. Elliot Montgomery enjoyed having control almost as much as he enjoyed spending money he didn’t have.
“We were invited to brunch,” Ever replied, barely concealing an eye roll. “I don’t need a tie to eat.”
I cringed even harder this time at the defiance in Ever’s tone. As if showing up in sweatpants and a T-shirt with his hair still mussed from sleep wasn’t bad e-fucking-nough.
I sighed, feeling resigned to the inevitable.
Our charade had nearly run its course, and it was only a matter of time before Ever jumped ship.
I expected to feel my heart quake from fear, but instead, I inhaled the fresh air blowing in from the open window of my father’s office until it filled my lungs. I didn’t have time to wring my hands like some damsel. I’d rather take my fate into them.
“You do if it’s my daughter on your arm,” my father countered.
“But I won’t have your daughter on my arm,” Ever slowly replied, and my gaze narrowed at the hidden meaning. “I’ll have my fiancée.” He finally looked my way, grinned, and winked.
I made a mental note to draw and quarter his balls later.
“Yes, well, I haven’t walked her down the aisle yet, which means her best interests are still my responsibility.”
I almost snorted, but according to Mother, ladies don’t snort, so I settled for a subtle eye roll instead. And just in case my father happened to see, I rapidly blinked as I picked at my eye with a perfectly manicured nail. I’d tell him there was an eyelash stuck in it if he asked, but he didn’t. He’d likely already forgotten that I was in the room.
“Brunch will be an intimate affair with a friend of the family. We won’t be in the public eye.”
“And who is this friend of the family?”
“Vaughn Rees.”
My father’s thick brows pulled down even further at Ever’s answer. “I’m not sure I want my daughter in the company of a Rees.”
“Our fathers have been considering business together. It’s in everyone’s best interest that we push aside our personal feelings.”
My father’s only response was to sit back in his chair, and after a moment of contemplation, he nodded to me. Elliot Montgomery would never pass up the chance for more money. Money that he’d never get his hands on if I had anything to say about it.
I crossed the room on the Mary-Jane Prada pumps my mom insisted I wear. Just as I cleared the door, I heard my father speak. The light feeling that came during the rare times I was free of my father’s thumb dissipated at his demand.
“Have her back in two hours, or you won’t see her again until your wedding day.”
Ever’s back was already turned, so my father couldn’t see the dark expression that clouded his face, but I did. I also knew there would be serious trouble if I didn’t separate them right now.
Grabbing Ever’s hand, I pulled him toward the front door. I actually broke a sweat since he was resisting a little. Somehow, I managed to get him out the front door. The moment we stepped outside, I spotted Four leaning against the passenger door of the G-Wagon. She wiggled her fingers in greeting, but when she caught our hands clutched together, her eyebrow rose. I dropped his hand as if it were made of hot coals, which only made her grin harder. Even though touching Ever had been innocent and extremely necessary, I had trouble meeting Four’s gaze. The shame sweeping over me made me loathe this arrangement even more. I almost wish she’d done what any woman would have and kept Ever’s ring when I’d given it back to her. When I cornered her in the girl’s bathroom five months ago, it was the last thing I’d expected.
“It’s not like Ever and I could go public, anyway,” Four reasoned as she lifted the ring I’d laid on the counter. “Our parents are still dating, and Rosalyn”—Four exhaled as her shoulders sagged—“she wouldn’t take the news well. She’ll just think I’m trying to ruin her relationship with Thomas. I don’t want her to get sick again.”
“What are you talking about?” I prodded with a frown. If Rosalyn was her mother, why did she call her by her first name? And why would Four dating Ever make her mother sick?
“It doesn’t matter now,” Four answered cryptically. And then she handed me the ring. What the hell? “Think of this as you doing me a solid too. Us girls have to stick together, right?”