Page 264 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 2
“Oh.” He shook his head. “No. I just meant…I hate her.” He pressed his lips together and stared straight ahead, lost in thought.
First Daphne had been acting secretive.
And now Justin was too.
I looked over at Bee. She was sipping on a mimosa, watching us. She seemed equally perplexed by Justin’s comment about Isabella.
I cleared my throat. “Well, at least she’s dead.” I’d never wished harm on anyone before Isabella. But I meant what I said. Isabella was a menace to society, and I was glad she was six feet under.
“If it had happened sooner, everyone would have been a lot better off,” Justin said.
I nodded. Wow, he really did hate her. I thought I hated Isabella more than anyone else, but Justin was winning that competition. I stared at him. It seemed…personal. What had Isabella done to him?
Justin cleared his throat. “You look lovely,” he said to me. The change in subject was not at all subtle.
“Thank you. But…you have me so curious now. Did you know Isabella before what happened at my wedding?”
Justin shrugged and looked down at his watch. “No, not personally. An old friend of mine…” He swallowed hard. “Isabella hurt a good friend of mine.”
“I’m sorry. Well, I’m sure your friend is happy Isabella is dead too.”
“No,” he said. “She passed away a long time ago. Way before Isabella got what she deserved.”
“Justin, I’m so sorry.”
He shook his head. “I just get emotional at weddings. She was the first person who believed I could do all this, you know?” He gestured around the bridal suite. “And every now and then it just hits me. I owe everything to that girl. And she never got to see it.”
I grabbed his hand. “I’m sure she’d be so proud of you.”
He shook his head and opened his mouth like he was about to respond. But he snapped his mouth shut when the photographer came into the room. He leapt to his feet, literally running away from our conversation.
If Justin had lost his friend years ago, before Isabella died, she must have been so young. I felt tears welling in my eyes. There was nothing worse than a life cut so short. I put my hand on my stomach.
“That was very strange,” Bee said and sat down next to me.
“Yeah.” I stared at Justin who was talking animatedly to the photographer. “You don’t think he was implying that Isabella killed his friend?”
“I don’t know.”
“Isabella really had a way of wrecking peoples’ lives.”
“She didn’t succeed in ruining yours. You got the fairytale ending.”
With a dose of everlasting fear. That I hoped each day would go away. I just nodded.
Daphne emerged from the changing room. Alina was walking behind her, adjusting her veil. But it didn’t really need any adjusting. Daphne looked perfect.
I exhaled slowly. My new sister was getting married. This was not a time to be thinking about Isabella and doom and death. This wedding was a fresh start for all of us. I put my hand on my stomach.Right, little man?
Bee smiled at me and then grabbed my arm to pull me over to where the photographer was already snapping photos.
I didn’t bother trying to stand straight to hide my baby bump. I didn’t want to hide it. This baby was the blessing that had kept me going after what happened to James. He’d given me strength. I owed this baby everything. I wasn’t sure I’d still be breathing without him.
I put my hand on my stomach and smiled at the camera. And when Daphne pulled me to the side for a picture with just her, I knew everything had a way of working out. My whole family was here. I was safe. We were all safe. And I started to feel those butterflies in my stomach. The same ones I’d felt before I walked down the aisle on my wedding day.
I pressed my cheek to hers as we cheesed at the camera.
This felt like a do-over. And this time James and I would get it right.
