I raised an eyebrow at him.
“I understand how it looks,” Ryan said. “Michael was really leery of her at first, too. She’s abrasive because she’s scared, but she doesn’t show too many people the other side of her. Believe me, bro—I know exactly what I’m getting into.”
His gaze held a faraway look as a smile crossed his face.
“I love her,” he stated, “and she loves me. She wants the money, too, but I can deal with that.”
“Fighting for everything you need isn’t a bad way to live,” I said. “It makes you stronger.”
“Mandi has done enough fighting that battle,” Ryan told me. “I’m going to take care of that now.”
“What the fuck are you doing in the business anyway?” I asked, glad to have the opportunity to change the subject.
“Chief Operating Officer over Silver Springs,” he said. “Basically all the day-to-day stuff—IT, call centers, security—it’s not bad work.”
I let him go on about the family business for a few minutes, but then it was time to go to the cathedral. We both finished one quick shot of whiskey, and I brushed my teeth before heading back down the stairs.
“You sure you don’t want to stand up there with me?” Ryan asked. “You know I want you there.”
“Nah,” I said. “I’ll sit with Tria and try to come up with a toast that doesn’t involve that time you got your cock stuck in the zipper of your tux right before prom.”
“Hey now,” Ryan laughed, “that fucking hurt!”
“There they are!”
Chelsea stood at the bottom of the stairs with her graying hair coiled up into a fancy bun of some sort. Her bright red dress didn’t match the season so well, but it made her look stunning. Michael’s hair was slicked back, and his tie and cummerbund matched his wife’s attire, but I barely saw them.
Tria was near the door, and as soon as my eyes made contact with her, everything else disappeared.
Deep blue accentuated her cream-colored skin and brought out the deep brown of her eyes. One strap over her left shoulder left her collarbones and right shoulder bare, and the flowing sheer skirt showed off her beautiful legs with her feet encased in silver, high-heeled shoes.
She was covered in sapphires and diamonds, from the three-tiered pendant necklace to the large bracelet on her wrist to the drop earrings. There was even a sapphire and diamond ring on her right ring finger.
I lifted my hand up and made a motion for her to turn around. She complied, showing me the intricate nature of the back of the dress. The single strap over her left shoulder met with the two pieces of fabric coming from around her front and gathered together at her lower back in a slight V shape, leaving most of her back exposed. As she spun around, I saw the tiny clutch purse on her wrist and had to hold in a laugh.
I moved beside her, reached out to place my hands on her hips, and brought her against me. I leaned in close to kiss her right below her ear.
“You are so fucking beautiful,” I whispered in her ear. “With you here, I just might survive tonight. I know seeing you like this has made it all worthwhile.”
“I’m going to kill myself in these heels.” Tria giggled. “Carter said I could keep the dress, but the jewelry is on loan.”
“Well, you do have about four million dollars in gems around your neck,” I informed her.
From the look on her face, I probably should have kept that information to myself.
“I do?” she whispered. “Four…four…”
“Shh…” I breathed against her ear again. “Just on loan, right?”
“How much is the dress?” she whispered back.
“I don’t know shit about dresses,” I said. “I grew up with gemstones.”
“Oh…yeah,” she said. “I thought it was silver.”
“You tend to make the setting out of the silver and then put the stone in the setting. They all sort of go together.”
“You did that as a kid?”
“I made jewelry out of silver as a kid, yes. Set my first gemstone—a garnet—into a ring when I was eight.”
“Wow.” Tria looked up at me and gave me one of her more fantastic smiles. “You are always full of surprises.”
“Are you ready, Liam?” Michael’s hand rested against my shoulder. “Tria is absolutely stunning, isn’t she?”
“She always is,” I replied as I took her hand.
The limo parked outside was huge, ostentatious, and typical of my family. The wedding was, too. I was really glad I had opted to sit with Tria in the pews of the huge cathedral instead of standing up with the wedding party, which seemed to consist of a who’s who list from the local society page.
While everyone else watched various actors, politicians, and tycoons, I watched Tria. Even when I could feel my father’s eyes on me, I watched Tria. When my mother paused to look at me as she walked down the aisle, I watched Tria.
I watched her skin glisten near the flawless gems around her neck. I watched her tear up when the vows were repeated. I watched her blush as she realized all I was doing was watching her.
“I can’t stop,” I whispered in her ear. “It hurts to look away from you.”
Her neck warmed as I kissed her skin softly, making a trail along the thick silver chain around her throat. Ryan and Mandi turned around to face the congregation as the priest pronounced them husband and wife. They made their way down the aisle, followed by a couple dozen members of the bridal party.
Tria and I filed out with the rest of the guests.
“This way,” I said to Tria as I pulled her back along the walkway to the side of the cathedral and around to the back. Damon was back there with the car already, and I figured that was easier. “Avoid the papz.”
“Papz?
“Paparazzi.”
“You have to be kidding me.”
“Not at all.”
“But…but your family members aren’t celebrities.”
“Depends on who you ask,” I replied with a shrug. “It also depends on what else is going on in the society news. If one of the guys from Magic Mike happens to be hanging out at the pub, they’ll go there. If no one else is around, they love taking pictures of my dad.”
“Oh!” Tria blushed and stumbled a bit in the heels. I grabbed her arm a little tighter and straightened her out. “I saw that movie.”
“Did you now?” I asked with raised brows. “Want me to dance for you?”
“Do you dance?”
I laughed.
“Baby, you get some alcohol in me, and I can’t stop!” I took her by the hand and wrapped one arm around her waist as she squealed. I spun her around in a circle, and then dipped her down low, right there in the middle of the parking lot. “I got moves, baby.”
Tria gripped my arms tightly to keep herself upright as she laughed.
“I’ve never really seen you drink,” she said.
“I don’t much,” I replied. “I might tonight, though.”
“That might be…interesting.”
“Are you planning on taking advantage of me, Miss Lynn?”
“Maybe.” Tria turned her head to one side and winked at me. We linked arms and started toward the car.
As I looked up from her smiling face to the Rolls, I saw a figure there that was definitely not Damon. Even in the fading light, I knew exactly who was there waiting for me, and I wasn’t the least bit pleased.
“Come on, Tria,” I said. “Let’s go back around front.”
“I thought you wanted to stay away from the cameras.”
“They’ll be too busy with Ryan and Amanda,” I replied as I turned her around.
“Liam?” my father called. “Liam! Please!”
Tria craned her neck to look behind us.
“Someone’s calling you,” she said.
“No one important,” I replied as I moved us a little faster.
We managed to find room in one of the limos out front and made our way to the reception with six of the bridesmaids. Thankfully, I didn’t
know any of them, and they didn’t seem to know who I was. The ride to Sophia’s—one of the most ridiculously exclusive clubs in the city—was short and uneventful. As soon as we got there, I hopped out of the vehicle and pulled Tria along with me.
I just needed to get through the fucking dinner, make a toast, and then get the hell out of there.
“Mr. Teague, Miss Lynn,” a tall, skinny woman in all black said as we walked in, “your seats are right this way.”
I took a good look at her but was pretty sure I didn’t know her. I also didn’t want to know how she knew who we were, so I just followed her without a word. I pulled out Tria’s seat at the long table in front of the one where the wedding party was to sit.
“That’s actual silver, isn’t it?” Tria asked as she looked over the name cards at our seats.
“Undoubtedly,” I replied.
She ran her finger over the letters, then startled as a huge ruckus broke out at the far end of the room. Ryan swooped in with a squealing Amanda in his arms. The bridal party followed as Ryan carried his bride all the way over to the table and plopped her down in her seat. He grabbed an already-filled glass of champagne and held it up high.
“Here’s to the most incredible woman in the world!” he cried out, “because she has the tenacity and the perseverance to put up with an idiot like me!”
The crowd laughed as Amanda grabbed him by the arm and hauled him to his seat as everyone else raised a glass in toast. I clinked my glass lightly against Tria’s before draining it.
“This is really delicious!” Tria said as someone stopped beside me and refilled my glass.
“It ought to be,” I replied. “A bottle of it would probably cover our rent.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep.” I drank a good gulp out of the second glass and kept my eyes on the table as Douglass and Julianne Teague were announced.
“Those are your—”
“Yep,” I said again as I drank the rest. The magic champagne refill fairy was right there to fill it up again.
“They’re very attractive.”
I didn’t look.
A formal-clad waitstaff presented dinner with extravagant flair, and I was both surprised and secretly thankful when Tria and I were both offered vegetarian dishes. I glanced up at Ryan, who raised his glass and smiled at me. I held mine up to him as well.
By the time dinner was over, I had consumed at least five glasses of champagne and was feeling pretty good. Ryan and Mandi did their spotlight dance to get everything going, and then lots of people took to the dance floor. As they did, a woman in a shimmering silver dress stood up and started heading for our table.
“I promised you a dance,” I reminded Tria as I stood up and quickly grabbed her hand.
“I can’t walk, much less dance, in these shoes.” Tria huffed through her nose.
“Just follow me, baby,” I said.
I brought her close to me, holding her against me both for her balance and also for my own protection. I felt a little shitty using her as a human shield, but it would be better than actually letting my mother walk up to me. I had the feeling that hearing her voice would be my complete undoing, and I was going to avoid it at all costs.
I was definitely feeling the drink, and all I could figure was that it must have clouded my judgment. When Ryan and Amanda danced close to us, I didn’t even think much about it when he asked to change partners.
“I’m glad you came,” Amanda said with a big smile. “It means so much to Ryan for you to be here. Thank you.”
“I said I would,” I replied nonchalantly. “I’m a man of my word.”
“I know,” she said. “I was counting on there still being some of that Teague man left in you.”
I glared down at her.
“Sorry I tricked you into it,” she said with a shrug, clearly not at all remorseful. “I know what you think of me, and it doesn’t matter. All I can tell you is that I do love Ryan, and I would do anything for him.”
“Including throwing me to the wolves,” I shot back.
“If needed, yes,” she responded simply. “Though I’ve done no such thing.”
“What else would you call it?”
“Liam,” Mandi sighed, “the only wolf in the situation now is you.”
I was about to give her a big old fuck you, but I saw Ryan’s form out of the corner of my eye as he danced with a redhead I vaguely remembered from high school.
Where the fuck was Tria?
Dropping Amanda’s hand, I turned around and saw her in the arms of my father just as the music changed.
I was never one to cause a scene, but they took this one way too far.
Chapter 13—Flee the Scene
I think I went a bit insane for a few minutes. Maybe it was the alcohol—I really didn’t drink often, and it was definitely affecting me—or maybe it was just the strange sense of déjà vu being in the presence of all these people again. None of them had approached me, so either they had forgotten Douglass and Julianne had a son, or they were just afraid to say anything to the estranged only child.
Whatever it was, I lost it.
Amanda tried to hold on to me, but I shoved her to one side and stalked straight toward my father and Tria. I could see Ryan out of the corner of my eye, but he seemed more confused than anything and didn’t move to block me. The redhead in his arms glanced from his face over to me, and there was a slight twinkle of recognition in her eyes.
I barely registered any of it.
The man I hated more than anything had his hands on my girl, and God only knew what he was saying to her. His expression was good-natured enough as he smiled gently at Tria. His mouth moved, but his words were muted.
I could only imagine what he might be telling her.
“Get your fucking hands off of her!” I screamed as I inserted myself in between them.
I braced my hands against his shoulders and shoved him backwards across the dance floor. He slammed into another couple who stumbled but didn’t quite fall.
“Don’t you ever, ever touch her!” I continued to yell.
“Liam!” Tria’s hand grasped onto my forearm. “He was just—”
“Shut up!” I screeched as I turned and glared at her, my eyes blazing. I could see her tense, but my attention returned to the tall, blond man who had been dancing with her. “You don’t touch her! You don’t touch anything in my life, you hear me?”
For a moment, all I could hear were the panting breaths coming out of my mouth, and I realized someone must have stopped the music. There were hundreds of people just standing around watching me, and it only fueled my anger.
“I didn’t mean any harm, Liam,” Douglass said. “I only wanted to meet her—”
Holding Tria by the arm, I brought her behind me and up close. I didn’t want her near him. I didn’t want him to have the opportunity to tell her she was unworthy—I had to protect her from that.
“Well, you don’t get to!” I interrupted, sneering.
“I only hoped—”
“You don’t get to hope, either!” I continued to scream at him. “You don’t get shit! Not from me!”
“Liam, please don’t do this.” In another time, the melodic voice would have calmed me into submission, but those days were long past.
I turned toward my mother.
“You don’t get to talk to me,” I informed her. “You gave up that right.”
I grabbed Tria by the hand and half dragged her back to where we had been sitting. There were a few murmurs from the crowd, but most were still just watching me.
I didn’t give a flying fuck.
When we reached the table, I grabbed the little clutch purse off the back of the chair and shoved it at Tria. The champagne glass had been magically filled again, and I remembered there was one thing I still had to do, so I grabbed the crystal flute and held it up high.
“You should have known this was going to happen,” I called out to everyone around. “This isn’t the t
oast I originally planned, but maybe this will serve as a lesson to all of you. I know you didn’t really want me here in the first place, but you asked, and here I am. So here’s to my cousin Ryan and his far from blushing bride: with any luck, our family won’t kill off everything you love!”
I drained the glass and threw it on the table. It knocked a bunch of stuff around, but didn’t actually break, unfortunately. I was half tempted to pick it up and throw it again, but that desire wasn’t nearly as predominant as the need to just get the hell out of there. I grabbed Tria and started shoving our way through the crowd. People moved away as I approached, parting like the Red Sea as I made my way toward the exit. I didn’t make eye contact with any of them.
Even though I didn’t want to, I couldn’t help but see the faces of my family as I left.
Amanda was glaring daggers, not surprisingly.
Ryan just looked at the ground, his jaw tight with his teeth clenched.
Chelsea had her hands over her mouth.
Michael’s face showed nothing but pity.
My father—Douglass Teague, the richest man in the county—just stared, openmouthed.
It was the last face that tore into me, though.
My mother stood in the middle of the dance floor with tears running down her face.
I felt the bile rise in my throat, but I locked it down as I made my escape, Tria dragging behind me. I was a little disoriented at first—there were people standing all around just inside the doors of the club—and I wasn’t sure what direction all the cars were parked. I wasn’t even sure which car I was going to seek out—the limo or Michael’s Rolls.
The door swung open with a bang, eliciting a grumbled reprimand by one of the people working at Sophia’s. As soon as the cool air hit me, so did the drink. I stumbled a little on the steps, which nearly brought Tria down as well.
A camera’s flash went off.
“Liam!” Tria screeched. “Slow down! I can’t run in these shoes!”
“Then fucking ditch them!” My fingers tightened on her hand as I brought her closer. I wanted to put my arm around her to help her along, but I was afraid I wasn’t quite in control enough to do that.
Actually, I was feeling pretty seriously out of control, and I quickly realized that it wasn’t just the rage. As we headed around the back of the building, I saw where the cars were parked and quickly found a convenient shrub and waited for dinner to emerge.