Reins Brothers Trilogy

Chapter 1

Vanna

The giant mirror in front of me reflects a wedding dress that costs more than most cars. It’s soft against my skin, yet it’s impossibly heavy. With every breath I take, it gets harder to fill my lungs, and it feels as though the world is closing in around me.

This wasn’t what I expected.

My soon-to-be mother-in-law stands beside me with a glass of champagne in her hand while she sizes up the dress.

It doesn’t matter if I like it, because she’s the only one that has to.

For the past two months, I’ve eaten nothing but salads so that this dress looks flawless on my body.

Does she know how hard it is to diet and take finals at the same time?

Now that I’m standing here, I’m beginning to question everything, and all I want to do is run.

Since I met Lilith, I’ve tried to get her to like me. It was a rough go at first, but over time, she’s been less prickly. I think she wanted her son to marry someone with a family pedigree or generational wealth. Most days, I barely have two pennies to rub together.

If not for some scholarships and work programs offered by the state for foster children, college would have only been a dream—a dream I finished two weeks ago.

When I told Nick I didn’t want to get married until I graduated, he huffed about it but agreed.

He pouted, but thankfully he never pushed me.

I think that’s why I’ve accidentally gotten myself in this position.

From the beginning, I never should have given a date. I didn’t actually say yes when he kind of asked me to marry him. He said it like it was a foregone conclusion which I didn’t correct. His mom hadn’t shut it down either, which I think surprised me the most.

After that I felt accepted, and I let myself get lost in the idea of what it would be like to have a family. Nick has so many relatives that there’s always more cousins and uncles I have to meet, and I can’t keep track of everyone.

It’s funny to think back on it now because his large family is what caught my attention on our first date.

Dating Nick was easy, and it didn’t have anything to do with his money.

We never fought, but we also only hung out on Friday nights unless there was some event going on and his parents insisted I be at his side.

The longer I spent with Nick, the more I saw his family as a facade.

Sure, they’re real, but it’s all so constructed, and everything is about how others perceive them.

I’m not sure they like each other, let alone love anyone but themselves.

It took me a while to realize this because having family was so foreign to me.

I missed the signs in the beginning that not everything was as perfect as they tried to make it out to be.

One of the most difficult realizations was that the only time they use the word love is when describing an object.

Nick and I have never spoken the words to each other, and I hadn’t noticed it until a few months ago.

It’s not a word I used growing up, and I’ve never uttered it to another soul.

I want to, but if I said it to Nick, I don’t think it would be true.

This can’t be love. Or at least I pray it’s not.

“What do you think?” Julia, the woman that’s been helping me try on dresses, asks.

“It’s too puffy. We need something to bind her waist.”

Ouch. Lilith might be accepting of this marriage, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to get a mom out of her.

No matter how hard I try, there’s no pleasing them.

I’m starting to understand why Nick works at his father’s investment firm so obsessively.

I’m sure he’s trying to make both his parents proud and to live up to the fancy last name.

It’s hopeless, and I can’t live this way.

Since graduation, I’ve had a second to take in everything around me, including our relationship. I’m not sure you could call it a relationship anymore, if it ever was one. I can’t recall the last time we kissed or even held hands.

“I think I’m done for today. I’m a bit lightheaded,” I admit to Lilith. My mind is racing, and I have to get out of this dress. I turn to Julia with pleading eyes. “Can you help me please?”

Lilith gives me a tight smile. “Fine. I’m supposed to have dinner with Richard tonight. Will you be at the Bennet event tomorrow?”

“The what?”

“I sent a dress over. The blue one.”

“Right. Yes.” I forgot. I never know if I should be thankful, because I feel used when it comes to these events.

“I’ll see you then, dear.” She gives me a halfhearted air kiss on each of my cheeks before polishing off her champagne and handing the empty glass to a studiously anonymous sales assistant.

“Off, please.” I tug at the dress.

“You shouldn’t be this miserable trying on wedding dresses,” Julia whispers under her breath as she undoes the buttons at the back. “It’s never too late.”

The dress falls free, and I suck in my first full breath since I put it on.

“Thank you,” I tell her before stepping out and throwing my clothes back on.

Once I find my phone in my purse, I call Nick, but he doesn’t answer.

Not wanting to wait, I leave the dress shop and go straight to his place.

It’s only a subway ride away, and I try him again when I get to his fancy apartment building.

He still doesn’t answer, but he’s probably in a meeting.

It's Friday, and we’re getting together later tonight, but I don’t want to wait. All of a sudden, this feels urgent.

The doorman buzzes me in, and I smile politely. I’ve only been here a handful of times, but I dig through my purse and flash the key Nick gave me. The only reason I’ve got it is because a while back, he was at work and asked me to pick up some documents from his place and bring them to him.

My key slides into the lock at the same time I hear a soft, feminine moan. Before I open the door, I know what I’m going to see, but I push it open anyway.

My understanding fiancé that never pressured me for more is having sex with a woman. Well, two women, to be exact. Both of them are carbon copies of each other, and they couldn’t be more different than me.

“Vanna,” Nick gasps, and his eyes widen so much it’s almost comical. The blonde on her knees in front of him never stops sucking on him. Damn, she really is intent on getting the job done. “This isn’t—”

“It’s fine.” I stumble backwards awkwardly, feeling like I’m witnessing someone else's very intimate moment.

I’m more embarrassed that I interrupted them than I am hurt. My cheeks burn with shame because I remember Nick mumbling more than once that I was a prude.

It should make calling off the wedding a whole lot easier, but I should have known better. With my luck, nothing is ever simple.