25. Ivy #2
“Your birth mother and that vicious, spiteful sister of yours?” she finishes on my behalf. “Yeah, they’re both at the guest house at the residence. If you want to see them, you can.”
“What? They’ve been there this entire time?”
“Babes, are you in touch with reality at all?” I mutely shake my head. “Well, the Hughes family has gone up in flames! They’re being grilled by the public after all that guy’s crimes came to light.”
“Oh my gosh.”
“He committed murder, embezzlement of state funds, human and drug trafficking, prostitution, you name it! Their house upstate was seized by the FBI.”
I can only blink, thinking about the sudden turn of events. Who knew my mother’s perfect life would unravel like this?
“Although your mother and sister’s ‘acts’ have been kept private so far, it’s running loose among the so-called important people, which means before long, that too will be exposed. I guess it depends on you.”
“Why me?”
“My cousin’s moves are terrifyingly sinister, as you saw after Theodore slapped you that night. He won’t stop until the Hughes name has been tarnished completely and if you want to add the woman who birthed and abandoned you to the mix, he’ll get right to work, I think.”
“Please, as if that bastard would listen to me. He’s even avoiding me!”
“He is?” Scar is shocked. “I would never know judging from those impressive hickeys you have there?—”
“Stop right there!”
My cheeks heat up and I down my glass of water, which only makes Scar laugh.
That night was almost everything… until he pulled out.
I want a baby, but if that bastard can’t stand being traditional about it, then we’ll just have to go to a fertility clinic, even if I have to drag him.
“He even disappeared without a word!”
Scar muffles her laughter then she grows semi-serious when she sees my glare.
“Okay, okay, I have an idea.”
“You have that evil smirk on your face again,” I say cautiously.
“Well, you’ll like this one! It involves all this that God gave you,” she says, gesturing at my body. “There’s a dinner in two nights. My cousin’s going to be there and you are going to play him like a violin and make him regret it!”
Hmm, making Emmett Alessio Damian Easton regret something. I might be on board with that.
“By the way, Ivy, I meant to ask you this all day, but well, I didn’t want to ruin your mood,” Scar starts. “Where are your rings?”
I glance down at my bare left hand.
“Uh… at Emmett’s place?”
“Hmm, you’re going to be in trouble for that! Trust!”
Two nights later, I’m almost hyperventilating as a price for allowing Scar to dress me.
“I can’t do this.”
“You will do this,” she states like a drill sergeant. “You look ravishing in this dress, better than the other one from before!”
“I don’t know…”
“Trust me! Besides, you are the crown jewel of this entire thing! Everyone is here to see the new queen of the Family!”
We’re in the master bedroom Emmett dumped me in before he left days ago.
The room is a mess of fabric, makeup, tubes of skincare products and lotions strewn all over the place.
After two hours of her tugging this, and applying that, I’m done, and I want to hide.
Scar receives a text on her phone and practically squeals with joy when she reads it.
“It’s time for your entrance, beautiful! Let’s go!”
She tugs my hand and rushes me downstairs, completely dismissing the fact that some of us are not as adept with heels as others, but in no time at all, we arrive at the great hall’s banister.
Scar doesn’t even allow me a moment to breathe before she clears her throat, and all eyes look up at where we stand.
Then she starts speaking in Italian before she glances at me with a wry, proud smile on her face. “Mrs. Emmett Alessio Damian Easton, the queen of our Family.”
A round of applause sounds in the room as Scar gestures for me to go down the stairs just like how she made me practice yesterday. It was like a whole The Princess Diaries bootcamp!
I avoid catching people’s gazes and only focus on one person and one person alone, the husband who ditched me on our wedding night.
And his eyes are blazing.
So are mine, jerk!
With a small smile on my face, I make it to the landing where Emmett waits for me, offering me his arm to take, but I bypass him and go straight for Vaughn.
“Hey, old friend,” I say flirtatiously. “Introduce me?”
“Uh, it would be the highest honor of my life,” he says without missing a beat, and takes me around the room, meeting some important people within the Outfit.
But, of course, I’m not listening to a word because I can feel those bone-chilling, bloodcurdling eyes on my back.
Vaughn says something and I laugh sweetly, ignoring the heat on my back.
When we get to Grandpa Armando, he kisses the back of my hand, and we get to chatting like old friends until he hits me with a statement I wasn’t expecting.
“My grandson is a jerk. Give him hell, sweetheart!”
And just like that, I’m a goner.
Scar gives me a thumbs-up, then Vaughn, who’s still beside me, suddenly pulls me in for a dance.
“Are you using me to make him jealous?” he asks two seconds within the dance.
“No,” I deny, but he only chuckles.
“You’re a shitty liar but like I told you before, I don’t mind being used by you.”
I hold Vaughn’s gaze. “Are you still playing the game?”
“I already lost the game.”
“And yet you’re still flirting with me?”
“Ivy, sweetheart, you’re a stunning lady, wearing the hell out of that dress. Which red-blooded human would?—”
I don’t get to hear Vaughn’s praise because I suddenly get pulled and then dragged across the room by a raging, agitated, completely insane bull.