Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
ANNA
Dinner is served, the cake is cut, Mel’s bouquet is tossed—Elena runs away from the flowers—and as the night wears on, my complete abhorrence for leaning on a man, emotionally, matters little in the face of my need to lean on this man physically.
“This has been the best wedding I’ve ever been to.
” I drape my arms over Dean’s shoulders and play with the hair at the nape of his neck.
“It’s always so much better when the couple actually love one another. ”
“Have you been to many weddings where the couple weren’t in love?”
“A few.” I melt against his muscular chest, lazily stroking the warm skin behind his ear.
“I don’t think they start out that way, but life is stressful, and planning a wedding takes its toll on just about everyone.
Invitations go out, and by then, even if the relationship is in trouble, some folks go through the motions anyway, because they’re terrified of creating a mess or returning gifts.
” With the extra four inches my shoes allow me, I lay a gentle kiss on the underside of his jaw.
“It happens way more than it should. But not Mel and Nick.” I peek across at the pair.
“Their love makes it easier for me to trust.”
“Anna?”
Dean turns rigid, his hold tightens and his heart thumps in my ear. Then his breath comes out in a low warning growl.
Pushing off his chest, I twist and sigh. “Carter?” Too tired to deal with him, I lean against Dean again and allow him, the poor injured man, to keep me standing. “What are you doing here, Carter? It’s rude to crash someone else’s wedding.”
“I need to talk to you for a moment.” His eyes flicker past me to Dean. “In private.”
“No, I don’t—”
“I insist.” He closes the space between us and grabs my hand, yanking me away from Dean and stealing the breath from my lungs. Then he drags me across the dance floor.
I cast a desperate glance back in Dean’s direction, only to be caught up in his gritted jaw. His swollen frame. His anger, pointed not at me, but at the cop who thinks himself an exception to my rule.
Despite how goofy and arrogant I’ve always thought him to be, he’s better behaved than Carter is, staying put rather than pounding on a cop in the middle of Mel’s wedding.
Frustrated, I jerk Carter to a stop near the bar, a mere ten feet from where Elena flirts with her new friend, then I tear my hand from his and slam it to my hip.
“What the hell are you doing, Carter?” I slap him away when he attempts to grab me a second time.
“You weren’t invited tonight! You shouldn’t be here. ”
“I had to talk to you.” He rushes back in, stopping only when his toes touch mine and his warm breath hits my chin. “I need to speak with you in private. It’s important, Anna.”
“No! I—”
“It’s life or death,” he growls, wrapping his palm around my bicep and surprising me into silence. “You’re not safe with him, Anna.”
“With Dean?” Humorless laughter bubbles from deep in my chest. “Jesus, Carter. Just give it up already!”
“No, I really mean it.” He digs into his pocket and snatches out his phone, unlocking the device with a swipe of his thumb. He scrolls for a beat, searching for whatever it is he wants to show me, then he turns the phone and presents…
Narrowing my eyes, I inch closer and read.
Assault and battery.
Assault with a deadly weapon.
Stalking and intimidation.
Contravention of an ADVO.
Sexual assault.
Threats to kill or cause serious harm.
“He’s not safe, Anna.” He lowers his phone and searches my eyes. “He’s the worst of the worst. He’s already spent time behind bars, now he’s here, and he got you lying for him within the first hour.”
“He’s not…” I press a hand to my belly and glance over my shoulder at the man who stands amongst dancing couples.
The powerful, charming fighter who wears a suit and makes a commitmentphobe consider more.
“No.” I don’t believe it. Not for a single second.
I shake my head and bring my focus back to Carter. “You’re mistaken.”
“I’m not mistaken!” he snarls, his voice a whispered roar. “Whatever happened, however he came into your life, he set it up to happen that way. He targeted you, Anna. He wormed his way into your home and convinced you to lie for him.”
“No, I—”
“He tricked you!” He shakes my arm, jerking my head and rattling my teeth. “This isn’t you. This woman you’ve become is not the intelligent, ball-busting, courtroom-commanding siren I know.”
“I haven’t become anyone!” I tear free from his grip and growl. “I’m me, Carter. I’m Anna Maxwell, and I’m exactly who I’ve always been.”
Except now I have a Christmas tree in my living room. A beautiful memory from the center of town last night. A man in my bed. A small shift in my heart. And a door that wasn’t open before, now cracked just enough to allow a sliver of light through.
“I-I haven’t changed,” I lie. “And I especially haven’t changed because of him.” Double lie.
“I’ll email you the file.” He taps his phone screen, furiously jamming his thumb against the delicate glass.
“Read it. See what I see.” Hitting send, he drops his hands and meets my eyes.
“This isn’t about you and me, Anna. It’s not a pick me thing, or an I’m mad because you swore you weren’t bringing a date to the wedding.
” He leans closer, the pores on the bridge of his nose close enough for me to study.
“I’m trying to keep you safe, and I’m especially trying to do it discreetly, because I know this day means a lot to your friend.
” He inches back, his eyes burning into mine.
“Just say the word and I’ll have him removed. ”
“No, I—”
“I’ll do it quietly,” he hisses. “I’ll do it safely. He has no active warrants, so I can’t arrest him. But I can move him along, and then I can keep watch over your house tonight to make sure he stays gone. You just have to—”
“I said no!” I stumble back a step and swallow the nausea burning my throat.
I blink the tears from my eyes, and lick my impossibly dry lips, then I turn away from Detective James and stumble to a stop again when, across the room, Dean is exactly where I left him.
But now, my phone is in his palm, and his eyes are on the screen.
This may be the first time since we met that he’s not looked at me.
I force my feet to move, one in front of the other, and though I revisit my earliest thoughts about this man—he’s large, he’s determined, and he’s a fighter—I shake my head.
I don’t believe it.
“Dean?” I slow four feet away and draw a shuddering breath. “W-what are you—”
He offers my phone, his eyes impossibly sad as they come up and stop on mine. “I’m sorry for looking.” His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. “You asked me to hold on to this earlier, so when it vibrated in my pocket, I took it out without really thinking.”
I attempt to regulate my breath. To calm my wildly beating heart. To remain upright, when my entire system wishes desperately to drop.
Accepting my phone, I turn it over and search the still locked screen. Sitting front and center, an email waits with the subject line: Here’s that info you asked for. And right below that, a snippet of the email I’ve already seen: Assault and battery. Assault with a deadly weapon…
I tremble all over and will the tears to stop coming.
Say it’s not true. Tell me this is all a load of shit!
Instead, he digs his hands into his pockets and stares at the floor. “Guess I should get out of your way, then.”
“What?” My voice crackles and breaks on that single word. “What are you—”
“I won’t say anything to Mel and Nick,” he rasps, backing up a step.
“I don’t wanna draw attention to me leaving.
I dunno…” He sighs. “Maybe later, or when she texts you tomorrow, you could tell her congratulations on her beautiful wedding. Give her a hug or something.” Stopping his retreat, he comes forward again and ducks in to press a feather-soft kiss to my cheek.
“Be good, okay? Get a cab home tonight. Don’t drive. ”
“Why won’t you tell me it’s untrue?” I stare at him through blurry eyes, my breath hitching on a sob. “I told Carter he was wrong. I said… I trust you, Dean. So now you tell me the email is bullshit, then we can get back to dancing.”
“I can’t.” He offers me the world’s fakest smile, his shoulders bowing forward in defeat. “It’s true. It happened. I already told you a lot of it, but the fact you went searching doesn’t really feel like trust.”
I choke on a noisy, heart-aching sob. “Dean—”
“Don’t date him though, okay?” His glances over my head, his eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. “I know his type. I know it all too well.” Reaching across with his left hand, his sore side, he thumbs fat tears from my cheek. “Maybe I’ll catch you sometime.”
Releasing me, he turns on his heels and cuts quietly through the dancing crowd, exiting through the server entrance.
The door swings shut at his back, the world continues without him, and then Carter presses his fingertips to my neck, startling me around and dragging a furious snarl from deep in my chest.
“Anna…” Just as Dean did, he attempts to swipe my cheek.
Unlike with Dean, I slap his hand away and create the exact scene I was trying to avoid all along. “Don’t. Touch. Me.” I scour the room and find eyes—Elena’s—and then further—Nick’s. But Mel remains blissfully oblivious, sipping from a champagne glass and happily chattering with Camila.
Nick’s jaw clicks. His eyes narrow. His entire torso swells and grows, adrenaline leading him toward a fight I won’t allow him to participate in tonight.
Instead, I drop my chin in a kind of acknowledgment, a silent I’m okay, then I turn on my heels and find a different exit.
Somewhere to hide, so Mel doesn’t have to worry.
Somewhere to cry, because dammit, December twenty-fourth didn’t have to do me dirty like this again.
And somewhere to grieve, because my Christmas curse remains in full effect.
December fucking sucks.