Chapter 4 Lexie #3
“There is nothing, and I mean nothing that will ruin our day, do you understand? Someone like you will not break us apart.” His gaze flashes down at me and I want to gouge his eyes. Someone like me?
A moment passes, then two. Each second more excruciating than the last. My heart pounds so heavy in my chest that if he doesn’t step back soon, I’ll pass out.
I want to scream that he shattered my world, and if his wedding day is ruined, it’s just a taste of the payback he deserves.
“Why…” My chin verges on trembling. I bite the inside of my cheek until it relaxes.
“Why did you ask me to be your planner? Why not leave the second you heard me say those things?”
He plants his palms on the wall beside my head, caging me in beneath the breadth of his body, and I hate that he smells so good.
I rise onto my toes, a useless attempt to make myself taller—bigger, stronger—anything but what I feel right now.
It fails. He’s so close now that the air between us hums, a crackle of static jumping between our chests.
“Because no one gets the better of me, least of all someone like you. As they say, keep your friends close,” he murmurs, his face now only inches apart from mine.
His eyes flick to my lips before moving up, locking onto my eyes with a piercing intensity.
“But your enemies closer.” His voice is a low, icy drawl that sends a sickening wave of goosebumps crawling over my skin.
As if he realizes our proximity, he pulls himself back and his tone sharpens, each word cutting like a blade.
“Let me be crystal fucking clear. I don’t trust you.
Not even a little. Right now, you are a threat.
Believe me, you do not want to find out what I’ll do to neutralize a threat.
If you even think of hurting Anna, of hurting this wedding, of fracturing what we’re building, I promise you’ll regret it. And I always keep my promises.”
My throat tightens as I force down a hard swallow.
Inside me, there’s a relentless tug-of-war, a chaotic triangle pulling me in three directions at once.
One side wants to kill him. Another urges me to play it cool—be friendly, obedient, treat him like any other client.
But then there’s the third side, the one itching to break free, the one that wants to fuck with him.
He moves away from me, adjusts his cuffs with a sharp tug, and smooths his expression into something almost pleasant.
“Now, I’m going to head back out there, grab my fiancée and tell your boss how excited we are to be working together.
” His gaze sears into mine. “And you’re going to do nothing but be a fucking gem. ”
Gem. My whole body goes still.
Oh my God. Does this mean he remembers me after all?
Back then, after everything fell apart, I disappeared.
I had to. I needed distance—from the person I’d been, from the name everyone knew.
So, I buried Gemma and started using my middle name instead.
Lexie. Maybe it was na?ve, maybe dramatic—I was only twenty at the time—but I couldn’t risk anyone Googling my name and uncovering what happened in Boston.
Still, a flicker of vindication curls through me.
No matter how indifferent he acted when he first arrived, this has to mean he remembers me.
Right? Could someone who ruined a life really forget the person they destroyed?
Maybe to him, I was just a passing amusement or a sadistic distraction.
To me, he’s the villain who stole my future.
Revenge is a sweet, dirty intoxicating little bitch. One that has been coursing through my veins for close to a decade. Flickers of memory surface—every dead-end job, my mother’s deteriorating health—fueling the fire burning in my chest.
I lower myself from my tiptoes and cower under his invasive stare, purposefully, giving him the illusion of control.
“Absolutely,” I say, blinking up at him through my heavy eyelashes, wondering if my green eyes that an ex referred to as “hypnotic” will have the same effect on Theo. “I’ll be whatever you need.”
A moment passes where he studies my face and sizes me up. I swear I can see behind those dark eyelashes and know exactly what he’s thinking. He doesn’t trust me. And for right now, that’s okay.
I raise my chin, straighten away from the wall, and school my features into casual politeness.
“I’m looking forward to working with you and your beautiful bride-to-be.
” For all the power he holds, that his family holds, I can’t be scared.
I refuse. I’m no longer a quiet, shy, nineteen-year-old terrified of her own shadow.
I’m an adult woman, presented with the opportunity to turn the tides.
Theo’s already taken everything. There’s nothing else left to lose.
Theodore James Astor may have thought he buried me all those years ago. But I assure you, he hasn’t. The time has finally come.
Starting today, I become judge, jury, and executioner.
Game on, motherfucker.