Chapter Thirty-Three Play Nice
Mirabelle ended the call, leaned against the wall of the café, and pinched the bridge of her nose. She had stepped outside the cafe to talk to Bastian when he mentioned the nudes, not wanting to have the conversation in front of everyone. Taking several deep breaths of the crisp autumn air, she forced her emotions back so she could think rationally. What fucking nudes? Did Eddie sneak pictures of her naked while she wasn't looking? The thought made her blood pressure skyrocket, and she had to take several more deep breaths to calm herself down again. She'd kill him if that were the case.
But she really didn’t think he would have. He had asked if he could film her giving him a blow job before but had immediately put away his phone when she told him no. For all Eddie’s faults, he was incredibly considerate when it came to sex. He never pushed her boundaries and always respected her refusal to do something she wasn’t comfortable with without complaint. Plus, he always asked for permission before he did something new.
Unable to figure out how Eddie would have gotten nudes of her, she was about to go inside when she heard voices approaching and looked up to see Casey approaching with her bridesmaids. Bastian had asked her to get the keychain if she could; the only way to do that was to get close to her, which meant Mirabelle would have to kill her with kindness no matter how much she grated on her nerves. She quickly looked down and began messing with her phone to give Casey time to reach her.
“Mirabelle.” Casey's bell-like voice broke through her thoughts. “You're allowed to go inside.” There were a few small titters from her friends as they looked her over.
Mirabelle looked up from her phone and smiled brightly. “Of course, just handling a few work-related things.” She made a show of looking her over and let out a slight, impressed noise as she opened the door and held it for them. “You look incredible. Pregnancy suits you; I didn't realize the whole “pregnancy glow” was real.” She was exaggerating things greatly. Casey looked puffy, exhausted, and sweaty. The bridesmaids exchanged wary glances with one another as they entered. “Congratulations, by the way.”
“Thank you.” Casey looked at her suspiciously as she passed on her way in, clearly not expecting Mirabelle to be so jovial and courteous.
“No, thank you for the invite. Bastian and I have had an absolute blast catching up with Eddie's family, and I'm so happy we can let the past go and move forward.” Mirabelle followed her in, still smiling brightly. “Honestly, catching you two was the best thing to happen to me. Bastian and I admitted our feelings for each other, and I'm pretty sure he's going to propose any day now.”
Casey's face went white, and she looked around quickly. Everyone was watching her, and she seemed to realize saying the wrong thing would end badly for her. “Well. It seems our misunderstanding worked out the best way for everyone involved.” She laid her hand on Mirabelle's arm. “Just make sure Bastian doesn't propose during my wedding, or we'll really have a problem.” She laughed lightly, but her grip on Mirabelle told her she wasn't kidding.”
“God, no! What kind of person makes an announcement like that at someone else's celebration? That's so trashy.” Mirabelle widened her eyes innocently. “It would be like me announcing my pregnancy at someone's birthday party or something like that. I would never take the attention away from the person being celebrated.” She shook her head and patted Casey's hand, watching Casey's face go from white to red very quickly. “Anyway, as I said, thank you so much for the invitation and congratulations on the baby and the wedding. I can't think of two people who deserve each other more than you and Eddie.”
Extracting herself carefully from Casey’s grasp, Mirabelle turned and walked back to the table, the bright smile changing to a smirk as she sat down, and the others hid their smiles behind the menus. “Mira, you might be my hero,” Lila said, chuckling softly. “That bit about not being trashy enough to announce something at someone else’s celebration was brilliant.”
“It was incredible.” Eleanor agreed as Francesca and Caroline tried their best not to laugh. What did Bastian want? Is everything okay? You looked upset when you went outside.”
Mirabelle quickly filled them in on what Bastian told her. “If any of you see an opportunity to steal her keys and are okay and comfortable with doing so, please do. I've never taken nudes for anyone, so either she's done some serious photoshopping, or Eddie took them without my knowledge.”
“Isn't there revenge porn laws that can get her in a lot of trouble if that's the case?” Caroline asked, her brow furrowing. “It was all over the news a few years ago.”
“In New York, posting or sharing an intimate image is both a civil and criminal offence, so the victim can sue and press charges. If you're convicted, it's six months to a year in jail plus fines and whatever the judge awards the victim in the civil suit. In New York City specifically, even threatening to release someone’s nudes has the same penalties as actually doing so.” Mirabelle explained. “Bast looked up the laws in Michigan, and they have basically the same laws as New York, but the penalties aren’t as harsh, and it’s not listed as a civil offence.”
Seeing them all looking at her with a mixture of sadness and worry, she smiled. “Listen, it'll be fine. Bast is not going to let anyone do anything to hurt or humiliate me, so kill her with kindness, get the keys if we can, and have fun.”
“All right, Dear.” Francesca nodded reluctantly. “Just know, whatever this outcome is, you have mine and Victor's full support.”
Eleanor, Caroline, and Lila all looked at each other and nodded. “Ours too,” Eleanor said immediately.
“And our husband's,” Lila said firmly as Caroline nodded. “We’ve never liked Casey anyway.”
“Aw. Thanks, you guys.” Mirabelle blinked back the tears that were suddenly threatening and swallowed. While she had lots of friends, she really only counted Bastian and Marie as being close enough to her to have her back in any situation, so having them rally around her like this truly warmed her heart in a way she hadn’t expected. “That means a lot to me.”
Her phone chimed with Bastian’s unique notification sound, and she pulled it out to check his text message as the waitress brought them their meals.
Play nice, Bunny; we have a plan.
Seeing those words on her screen made her heart flutter. Bastian, with a plan, was very dangerous. Being on Bastian's good side was incredible. He was loving, loyal, and caring to a fault and made sure you knew how important to him you were. Crossing him and the people he cared about, however, went one of two ways. He either cut you out entirely, and you ceased to exist to him, like with his parents, or he destroyed you without remorse. She did not doubt that whatever his plan was to get back at Casey for even thinking about humiliating or hurting Mirabelle made what he did to Eddie in the divorce look like child's play. She smirked and looked up at the others. “Bastian and the guys have a plan.”