Page 194 of With Us

Rachelle and I took the seats in front of her desk as she rushed around to get different things. Most of the pages in the book were just shoved in.

“Very short meeting,” I whispered to Rachelle.

It was another fifteen minutes before she sat down and launched into her spiel about why I should hire her. In the short speech, she’d had to hunt around for things because she was disorganized. If that weren’t bad enough, she was pushy with what she claimed was her ‘vision’ for me.

I wanted a mostly silent DJ, but she said swing bands were making a comeback.

I wanted an event hall, she said churches were all the rage with their rich history.

I wanted classic with a unique twist, she said theme weddings were popular.

After the third time of being cut off, I stood. “We have other meetings to get to. Thank you.”

The planner just set her stuff down and looked at me. “I’m booking up fast, so you should probably get in while I’m willing to take you. It’s a fifty percent down payment, would you like to put that on a card?”

Rachelle was less kind. “I’d be surprised if you do more than one wedding a year. You’re rude and pushy. It’s the bride’s day to plan with yourhelp, not your day to dictate based on what companies are offering you discounts, or flat out paying you to push for them.”

Without another word, we walked outside and headed down the street.

“That was… interesting,” I said.

“I’m sorry about that. She came highly recommended, if you can believe. One of the girls I lunch with at the club said she did her daughter’s wedding and she was perfect. Of course, Angie isn’t exactly on the cusp of hot trends. She still has helmet hair…”

I laughed. “It’s fine. We have other meetings scheduled throughout the week, I’m sure we’ll find someone. Are you okay to drive me home? Theo got called away.”

“Of course!” She looped my arm with hers. “But I thought we’d check out some dress shops first. Maybe grab some dinner.”

Déjà vu hit me, making me panic.

My heart raced and I knew my eyes were wide when I looked at her. “Did Theo—”

“No.” Her expression looked pained. “This isn’t about what he’s doing. You probably know more than me. I just want to spend the time with my future daughter-in-law. Honest.”

My breath whooshed out, the bunched muscles in my shoulders relaxing. “That sounds like a lot of fun. Let’s go.”

Popping into random boutiques, we started talking about our different ideas for the wedding. It was a lot of fun, but Theo was always in the back of my mind.

As we sat down for Thai food, I went from starving to no appetite. I wasn’t sure how I knew, but something felt wrong.

Very, horribly, awfully wrong.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Betrayal

Theo

I had to hand it to him, he faced the whole thing better than I’d expected a rat to.

He could’ve denied it. Passed the blame to someone else. Thrown doubt around.

And fuck if I wouldn’t have fallen for it. Because, as I held a fucking gun on one of the people I trusted most in the world, I didn’t want to believe it was him who’d betrayed me.

But I knew the truth.

When Niall and I had walked into the basement of the building where he’d been working, he’d looked surprised to see us for a moment. But even in the dim light, he’d read our expressions easily.

I watched closely as he closed his eyes, opening them slowly. As he did, it was like the easygoing mask he’d been wearing slipped off. I was left staring into a bottomless black pit of nothing.

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