Chapter Fourteen
Iris
“I think Nova invited the whole city,” grumbles Rosalie, pacing back and forth. The long black skirt of her cocktail gown swishes on the shiny floor. “Or probably threatened them. No way even half of them care about dogs. They’re just here to get in Nova’s good graces.”
Tonight is the opening of Rosalie’s animal shelter, Paw Army. She began working on it last year with Justin Merchant. The billionaire real estate developer and one of our close friends, who constructed the world-class hospital and shelter for Rosalie.
The gala is not only to celebrate the launch but also to raise funds since Paw Army is a nonprofit. Although she exudes her usual confident self on the outside, I can still sense her palpable anxiety about the grand party.
She isn’t exaggerating when she says the entire city has shown up. I take a peek at the ballroom. It’s filled to the brim. The last time I saw this many people was at her wedding. Unlike that function, this is a happy occasion.
I’ve seen how hard Rosalie has worked on this since last year. She was involved in every step, working day and night to make sure things ran smoothly. Witnessing her dream come to fruition is nothing short of inspiring. I’m so proud of my best friend.
Despite the tension between me and her regarding Kian, there’s no way I’d miss being by her side.
I met the girls at Rosalie’s place in the afternoon, where Rosalie had invited the stylist and the makeup artist to help us get ready. It was exactly what I needed to get my mind off the other stressful complications in my life.
“Who cares?” Bianca replies from beside me, where we’re sitting on the couch. “As long as they’re writing a big fat check for the donation.”
Two of Rosalie’s pets, Bunny and Maggie, sit near our feet, watching their mommy strut back and forth.
“If I can convince them with my speech first.” Abruptly stopping to face us, she scowls, “My mom says I need to smile more while speaking up onstage. Do you guys think I’m not smiling enough?”
I bite my lip to stop from laughing at her predicament. She utters it like her mom is asking her to jump off a cliff.
“Well, we don’t want to scare the donors away, Ro,” I softly say.
“I don’t know what I should be smiling about. These are some sick and brutally abused dogs I’m trying to raise money for.” Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighs. “Schmoozing with people is my mom’s and sister’s thing. I am not built for this. Hell, even Nova is better suited.”
“No one is more perfectly built for this great cause than you, Ro,” I tell her fiercely. “Just speak from your heart.”
“I don’t want to mess this up.”
“You won’t,” murmurs Bianca. “It’s okay to be nervous.”
“I want to make Nova proud.” Her stunning features soften at the mention of her husband. “None of this would’ve been possible if it weren’t for him. He made my dream come true without asking for anything in return. I have to make this shelter succeed.”
“I couldn’t be more proud of you, Rose.”
The three of us turn our heads toward the doorway.
A handsomely dressed Nova in a crisp tux stands at the threshold, holding their pet dog, Fire, in his arms. His dark eyes stay locked on his wife with nothing but love and possessiveness.
Dropping a wiggling Fire to the floor, he saunters straight to Rose without sparing either Bianca or me a glance. We may as well not exist to him.
Pulling an emotional Rosalie against his body with an arm around her waist, he cradles her cheek and smiles. “You will succeed, sweetheart.”
“You think so?” she asks, leaning her face into his palm.
“I know so. You are going to save so many dogs. It’s all that matters,” he tells her, kissing her mouth. “I might have helped, but you did this. Once all those guests outside hear you talk up on that stage, they’ll be in awe of you. The same way I am.”
She tears up, throwing her arms around his neck. “I love you.”
“I love you even more, my Rose.”
“Please be with me on the stage.”
“Okay.”
All three of their dogs sprint toward them, trying to sandwich themselves between their feet and turning their embrace into a group hug.
Staring at the beautiful family they make, my heart yearns for Kian.
Every inch of me hurt when I left our apartment in the evening. The night has barely begun and I’m already ready to call it quits. I’m both dreading and furious about having to confront Nathan. The engagement ring scalds my finger the longer I have to wear it.
How am I going to pretend to be in love with him tonight?
Or act heartbroken over losing Kian to fool him? I won’t be able to stand the smugness on his face while he thinks he won.
Yet there’s no avoiding it.
I’m still very much at his mercy. The danger of his manipulation hasn’t passed. I may have won the battle, but not the war.
Even if there wasn’t a party, I had to meet him at some point to gauge his thoughts.
Despite having two options, he chose to tell Kian about my stalking.
He himself said his brother might forgive me for it, which Kian did.
So, why would he risk it? Is he testing our bond before he delivers the kill shot by revealing I’m an undercover agent at Kian’s company?
He’s holding a gun to my head, ready to shoot at any second.
An invisible clock ticks in my head, warning me I’m running out of time.
As if my subconscious conjured him, a movement in the corner catches my eye. I twist my head just as he enters the room. Looking ravishing as ever in a black-and-white tuxedo with a bow tie and his hair styled, his eyes immediately clash with mine.
Once upon a time, I trusted the warmth they held.
Now that I know the cunning manipulator that lurks beneath, they chill my bones.
Looks and behavior can be deceiving .
Rosalie’s ominous words flash in my mind, haunting me. She was warning me about Kian. If only she knew his younger brother turned out to be the traitor.
“Oh hey, Nathan,” chirps Bianca, noticing him.
“Bianca,” he replies, walking up to us. “Good to see you.”
It takes herculean effort to keep my lips from curling in derision at his politeness. He has everyone fooled.
Nova and Rosalie break apart to greet him.
“Hey, man.” Nova smirks.
Rosalie elbows her husband to garner his attention, pointing to Fire, who’s trying to climb up his leg. “Your boyfriend needs you.”
“It’s still not funny, Little Hellion.”
“He humps you on a daily basis, hubby,” snorts Rosalie. “I swear you must’ve been his girlfriend in a past life.”
Bending down, Nova picks him up. Fire barks happily, trying to lick his daddy’s face, who coos, “He’s a good boy now, isn’t he?”
The fiery chihuahua barks in response.
Petting his fur, Rosalie laughs. “No one will believe he was my baby first.”
“You guys realize the party has begun downstairs, right?” Nathan interrupts. “And you two are the hosts.”
“Crap,” curses Rosalie. “Let’s move, people!”
I stand up, but before I can take a step, Nathan captures my wrist.
I tense at his touch, wanting to yank my arm out of his grip. He has lost the right to touch me. The presence of our friends holds me back from acting on impulse.
“We’ll join you downstairs in a minute,” he announces.
“Wasn’t two weeks enough to reunite with your fiancée, Nathan?” mocks Rosalie. “I need my best friend by my side tonight.”
“Rose,” commands Nova. “Leave them be.”
“Fine.” Waving a finger at Nathan, she warns, “Ten minutes, then I’m stealing her away.”
As soon as the three of them disappear, I rip my hand from his and put distance between us. “Don’t touch me, Nathan.”
“I don’t bite.”
“No, you just stab people in the back.”
“I’m getting rather sick of your double standards, Iris,” he retorts, irritated. “You’re acting like me breaking your trust is different and much worse than what you tried to do. If I deceived you for three years, so did you.”
“That is different.”
“How?”
“Because I never deceived you,” I cry out, angry tears burning my eyes.
“My friendship and loyalty to you were real. I was willing to sacrifice two years of my life for you. When I said yes to you, I had given up on ever being with Kian. And when we did end up together, I came to talk to you and confess the truth because I cared about you. Instead of showing me the same decency, you blackmailed me into marrying you. That’s the bloody difference.
” Wiping away the wayward tears, I murmur, “Everything I did was for love. For you, it was hate.”
A sardonic smile curves his mouth as he says, “Relationships built on lies are never real. If you were a true friend, like you boast you are, you wouldn’t have waited until Kian desired you back to come clean to me.
Every day you kept quiet for the last three years, you stabbed me in the back.
Our reasons may be different, but otherwise we’re the same. ”
“So, you’re going to continue blackmailing me?”
“Depends.” His gaze sharpens lethally. “Are you still together with Kian? I know you’re still working for him.”
I don’t fall for the bait. “You mean after you told him I’m his stalker?”
“He was going to find out sooner or later.”
The lack of remorse in his taunt kills any affection I ever held for him. Nathan is a lost cause, driven by misplaced rage and loathing. If I don’t protect myself, he’ll take me down with him.
“I hope you realize that if you tell Kian about my role in his company, it wouldn’t just be me you’d be hurting, but endangering the justice those missing women deserve.”
“Then you better do as I say.”
I’m speechless.
“One day you’re going to wake up and regret the choices you’re making. By then, you’ll have pushed away every person who ever loved you, including me.”
Inching closer, he tips my chin with a fingertip, whispering, “It’s a good thing you never loved me.”
My heart thuds.
Dropping his hand, his mask slips back on. Moving toward the door, he says over his shoulder, “Our friends are waiting. Let’s go.”
Composing myself, I lift the long skirt of my gown and follow after him.
He’s waiting in the elevator, holding the door open for me. I step inside, keeping my distance as the car begins to descend.
I feel his gaze on my profile.
“Come closer, Iris,” he orders. “Unless you want to cause a scene in front of our friends.”
“I don’t care,” I angrily reply, despising his authoritative tone. “In fact, keep your hands to yourself for the rest of the night. Or I swear to God I will scream bloody murder.”
“You’re my fiancée.”
“Only for show.”
“The world doesn’t know that.”
I slowly face him and throw his words back at him. “It will sooner or later.”
His face hardens, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
The elevator door opens.
Without waiting for him, I exit with my head held high. He can hold my secrets over my head all he wants, but I will not bow down to him.
Before entering the bustling ballroom, I pull out my phone.
A text from Kian is waiting for me, making my pulse skip a beat.
SCARY REAPER: Are you okay, Rainbow?
My chest aches, full of longing as I wish he were here. Before I can reply to him, a shadow falls. I lock my phone, recognizing it’s Nathan.
“Shall we?” he asks.
I nod tightly. It’s not like I have much of a choice.
“You can at least smile, Iris,” he whispers against the shell of my ear. “Whether you hate it or not, you’re stuck with me until you fulfill your end of the bargain. I won’t keep you any longer than that.”
“Why should I believe you? You’ve only ever lied to me.”
“What have I lied about?”
“Why me?” I demand, despite knowing the truth. I want to hear about his grandfather’s will from him. “You could’ve picked any woman to marry you for convenience. Why are you hurting me?”
“I told you why.”
“To hurt Kian. Except it was a big gamble to take. No way you could’ve known for sure that he and I would end up together. You’re not God. Are you honestly telling me that’s the only reason you conned me for three years? I’m na?ve, but I’m not stupid.”
With a straight face, he says, “It is.”
Irritation rises, but I simmer it down.
“Well, then, congratulations. You succeeded,” I lie, baiting him. “Because of what you told him, he has kicked me out of his life. So, let me go and find another girl.”
“I want you.”
“You’re too conniving for that to be the reason. Why do I need to be your wife?” I squint my eyes, and accuse, “How many secrets are you hiding, Nathan?”
Something flashes in his eyes before vanishing just as quickly. In a cryptic and cold tone, he taunts, “Worry about your secret, not mine.”
A humorless laugh trickles out of me. I fight the urge to throttle him. To shake some sense into him. “You know what, let’s just get tonight over with.”