Page 4 of An Inconvenient Marriage
“Thank you, but I didn’t order anything.”
“I did.”
My head snapped to the door, and a smile—my first real one of the day—spread across my face. “Evie, you made it.”
Everlee waltzed into my suite, flicking her inky hair with one hand and holding on to a garment bag with the other. “Please. As if I’d miss my BFF’s big day.” With a huge grin on her face, she set the bag on the bed, then turned to me.
The room attendant was still standing there, probably waiting for a tip. I felt bad because I didn’t have any money to give him. Carrying cash around was a luxury I wasn’t afforded.
Fortunately for me, my friend knew this, and the moment she took in the situation, she jumped into action. I waited until he’d closed the door behind him, then immediately threw my arms around Everlee.
“I’m so happy to see you.”
Instead of hugging me back, she pushed past me to inspect the torn pieces of paper on the floor. “What happened?”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “My father stopped by earlier than expected.” I shrugged. There really wasn’t anything else to say. She’d been in my life since we were both nine years old. She knew the ugly truth hidden behind our mansion walls.
But much like mine, her hands were tied.
Because if she ever tried to help me escape again, it would be her family who paid the price.
“Oh, sweetie.” She put her arms around me and finally gave me the hug I needed. “It’ll be over soon, I promise.”
“I hope you’re right. If he finds out—”
Everlee drew back slightly to look me in the eye. “He won’t. And he’ll never hurt you again.”
With every breath, every beat of my heart, I wanted her to be right. Ineededher to be right.
After giving me one more hug, she made her way to the cart. Somewhere along the way, she’d retrieved her phone to put on her Esteban Alvarez playlist. It didn’t take long for her body and hips to sway to the sensual Spanish tune.
She was lost in the lyrics and rhythm when she suddenly asked, “So? Are you at least the teeniest bit excited?”
I shook my head, but she was so busy dancing and lifting the cloches one by one, she didn’t even notice, so I spoke up.
“Why would I be excited?”
“Seriously?” Her head snapped up, and she spun around to stare at me. “You are marrying Zach de la Fuente: Looks of a Greek god. You know, if Greek gods were Spanish. Top tenForbesbillionaire. Man of mystery… and the list goes on and on.”
She wasn’t wrong about any of it. Zach had a brutal beauty that could turn just about any head. Not that I’d ever met him in person, but I’d seen enough photos and read enough articles to know.
That wasn’t why I was marrying him, though. I told Everlee as much, too.
“I know, I know,” she said. “I was just pointing out that since you’ll be stuck with him for a few months, you’ll have a good view at least. Scratch that, a magnificent view.”
With a laugh, I walked to where my wedding dress was hanging. Tracing a finger over the intricate beading on the bodice, I let out a sigh. “If I didn’t need this so much, I’d tell you to marry the guy.”
Everlee mumbled something around a mouth full of food, but I couldn’t make out a single word. Which was probably a good thing because I didn’t want to talk about any of this anymore. I was getting married, and it was supposed to be a happy day, but I was feeling anything but.
In fact, the more I stood there and stared at the beautiful white gown, the more nervous and scared I became.
Because wedding days usually ended in wedding nights… and we all knew how that was supposed to go. My stomach twisted and churned, pushing bile into my throat.
What was I thinking? I couldn’t do this.
Everlee must’ve noticed something was wrong because she had her hands curled around my shoulders not even a second later.
“Look at me, sweetie. Take a deep breath.”
