Chapter 94
When I finally head down, I hover in the stairway, trying to count familiar faces. Yep–some of these people I remember from that cursed matchmaking barbecue. But one face in particular is glaring at me like I’m a roach on the floor.
Jade.
I forgot my stepfather works for Knox.
“Over here,” Knox calls, already seated with a plate of cake in hand.
I walk toward him, spotting the only available wide space on the couch–right between him and Jade. Hell. No. I make a quick decision and aim for the tighter space beside a guy I vaguely recognize. But before I can slip in, Knox hooks an arm around my waist and pulls me down, right into his lap.
I barely regain my balance before he’s addressing the crowd.
“Hey, everyone,” he says, “meet my girlfriend, Sloane.”
1 freeze.
Every head turns. One guy, cake stuffed in his mouth, blurts, “Your girlfriend’s cute, boss, and I can swear she looks familiar
The guy beside him kicks him in the leg.
“Aww,” he says. “I was just saying he played a fast one, that’s all. We all had eyes on the prize that day, but suddenly she disappeared–and so did our
boss.”
“Keep talking, and I’m going to pull your teeth out, Deckard,” says the man on Knox’s left side.
“Please do, Levi. You’d be saving me the money for a root canal.”
Everyone laughs. Even Knox.
He offers me a bite of cake, and I take it, never breaking eye contact with him as I chew. The noise swells around us, but all I see is him. His fingers start tracing lazy circles against my waist, making me feel like I still have some kind of control in a room that clearly belongs to him,
“So how does this work exactly?” a calm female voice says across the room. I turn and spot a woman in the corner gripping a nearly empty wine glass. “Do we make speeches or something?”
“Naaa, Doc,” someone replies. “We only do speeches at funerals. We eat, drink, make merry, and get back to work.”
“Oh,” she says, eyes moving to Knox. I guess that makes her a fellow outsider in this group.
lean toward Knox. “Is that Dr. Yara? Your therapist?”
“Yeah.”
“She looks calm.”
“Don’t trust that look. She’s a lot meaner than she appears.”
“I bet. Whoever succeeded in therapy with you can’t be anything but mean. You’re kind of annoying.”
He laughs, loud and unashamed, and of course that’s when Jade turns toward us. He’d been doing a great job of pretending I don’t exist.
“Do you really have to play romance with my stepdaughter while I’m here?” he grumbles.
“Chill, Dad,” I say sweetly, purposely calling him Dad to watch him flinch.
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Chapter 94
He rolls his eyes and looks away, muttering curses under his breath.
Right then, someone clears their throat.
“Attention, please,” she says.
We all look up, quieting down.
I recognized her voice even before looking.
Soraya.
She’s at the center of the room, holding a bottle of Macallan with the label turned out, her posture so confident.
“I don’t care what you all think about speeches,” she says, flashing her bright, charming smile. “I’ll make one anyway since I don’t fancy talking at funerals. Also, Knox and I never had a large wedding to make a speech at.”
I can feel Knox’s entire body tense beneath me as my fingers clutch his thigh. Yeah, she can’t be up to anything good starting her speech with the word “wedding” when I’m here.
“Some higher power must have found me worthy enough to bless me with a husband like Knox,” she continues. “He’s caring. Selfless-”
I stop listening.
The words turn to static in my head as I lean in close to Knox, my mouth right at his ear, and hiss, “Why the fuck is she still calling you her husband? Didn’t you give her the divorce papers?”
His breath brushes my cheek as he whispers back, “I did. She said she was going to return them today–being Saturday. We were both busy all through the week.”
I jerk my head back to look at him. “You’re trusting her to return them?”
He doesn’t answer. Doesn’t have to. His eyes say enough–he does. I don’t.
My gaze snaps back to Soraya.
She’s still standing there, now holding up the bottle.
“Here’s to many more years of marriage, Knox,” she says. “Through thick and thin.”
I guess everyone else has figured out there’s more to her speech, because they turn to me.
Then her.
Then back to me.
I know what they’re thinking. I know exactly what this looks like.
The girlfriend vs. the ex–wife–well, technically still the wife. My fingers slowly slide off Knox’s leg, and my heartbeat pulses through my teeth.
She’s not signing the papers.
She’s not planning to. And now–now she’s staking her claim. Here. In front of an audience. In front of me.
She didn’t just move her queen on the board. She flipped the entire fucking table.
I barely hear the polite claps a few of the guests offer her, or the sound of someone awkwardly clearing their throat, or the way a few of the men mumble about refilling their drinks. My ears are tuned to one frequency only: rage.
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veu, zo vidy
Chapter 94
Knox shifts behind me. “Sloane…”
I don’t look at him.
th
My eyes are locked on Soraya, who finally lowers the bottle and takes a little sip. She heads back to her seat beside Dr. Yara, a peaceful smile in place, acting like she didn’t just label me the side chick in front of twenty people.
Guess my instincts were right about her wanting to bang Knox.
I’m going to have to go crazy on this one. Because let’s be clear: this woman has no intention of signing those papers. And as for me? It’ll be a cold day in hell before I ever, ever, settle for the title of mistress.
