Page 94 of Payback
The ballroom is a sea of white and taupe. Very tasteful. Very clean. Very unlike Rosalie. Wreaths of baby’s breath and candles illuminate the round tables. I stand in the doorway, recognising many faces but not feeling a desire to reconnect with any of them. It’s funny how a couple of months in London has changed my perspective on the life I left here. Everything is pale in comparison to what I experienced overseas. And even though I’m moving back, I’m determined to make a new start for myself, detached from all of these past acquaintances.
The DJ announces into the microphone that Parker and Rosalie are going to share their first dance, so I decide now is the big moment. I take a deep breath and glide through the door, doing my best to keep my head held high. I feel eyes following me, and I can’t tell if it’s because of my dress, or because everyone here knows that Parker was my boyfriend before he and Rosalie became an item. Never mind the fact that I was recently featured in a sex video with a sexy athlete in London. Nobody cares about that!
I make my way to the edge of the dance floor, grabbing a flute of champagne off a server’s tray as I walk. I sip the fizzy bubbles and move close enough for the colourful DJ lights to illuminate my skin. My eyes can’t help but admire Rosalie’s princess-style wedding gown as it sways back and forth like a broom across the dance floor. Clearly she didn’t make Parker take dance lessons before this affair, and I feel a small sense of victory over that. After meeting Roan, I now know what it’s like to truly move to music. But regardless of their limited mobility dancing, she’s beautiful. Her makeup is fresh and half of her blonde hair is pinned back. She makes a gorgeous villain all things considered.
“Allie?” a voice says and I turn my gaze to see my ex-stepmother, Hilary, blinking her wide blue eyes at me. “Oh my God,” she says, her gaze lowering to my dress and taking me in like she’s just seen a ghost. “I didn’t know you were coming.”
I smile and shrug my bare shoulders. “I was hoping to surprise Rosalie.”
Hilary nods and her eyes look around the room. “Is…your father here?”
She looks hopeful. Hilary always was a bit clueless. Clueless in life and extraordinarily clueless when it came to her daughter.
I shake my head regretfully. “No, he had to work.”
She nods, disappointed by that answer. “When Rosalie said Charles was going to walk her down the aisle, I’ll admit I was shocked that he agreed to it after everything that happened between you and Rosalie and Parker.”
“You and me both,” I reply coldly, pressing my lips together so I don’t say more.
Hilary winces. “I’m sorry, Allie. I could always tell Rosalie had feelings for Parker, but I never thought they’d—”
I force out a laugh because I will vomit all over my pretty dress if she finishes her sentence. “Honestly, Rosalie did me a favour.”
“Oh?” Hilary asks, stepping closer to me. “Have you moved on? Are you with the boy from that video?” She softens her voice. “Don’t worry, I never watched it. You’re like a daughter to me.”
I huff a disbelieving breath out of my nose because I’ve never felt like a daughter to Hilary. She certainly didn’t pay me any extra attention the way my father did with Rosalie.
“I have moved on, but that video ruined the relationship I had with him. It was heartbreaking that it got leaked.”
She gets a conspiratorial look on her face. “So, it wasn’t him who released it? I assumed it was.”
“No,” I exclaim and feel everyone in the ballroom watching us. “Roan was my boyfriend, and he would have never put that out in the public eye. Not in a million years.”
She holds her hands back defensively. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. But how did it get out there then?”
I smile and tilt my head, staring back at good ol’ clueless Hilary, who really doesn’t know the first thing about her own child. “You really should ask your daughter that question.” My voice is louder than I intended as the end of the song begins to fade.
When the music stops completely, I slowly turn my head toward the dance floor to see Rosalie and Parker both staring open-mouthed at me like a tacky Big Mouth Billy Bass that sings on the wall. I smile and wave, throwing my free arm around Hilary just to get under Rosalie’s skin.
They look at each other with confused expressions, not understanding what my presence here means. The DJ breaks all of our focus as he announces to the crowd that everyone should grab a stranger and drag them out onto the dance floor.
The sound of Frank Sinatra fills the quiet room as Rosalie strides purposefully toward me with Parker following in her white, bridal wake. He looks nervous, like a whipped puppy, and I can’t help but wonder what I ever saw in him.
Rosalie’s eyes are slits as she looks at my dress. “Allie,” she states my name like a curse. “You came.”
My brows lift as I smile brightly at her. “I wouldn’t have dreamed of missing your big day!” I set my flute of champagne down and waltz over to her, wrapping my arms around her strapless shoulders like Judas kissing the cheek of Jesus. When I pull back, Rose’s brows are pinched together. “Congratulations, sis.” I turn my painted-on smile to Parker. “Congratulations, Ghost Penis—I mean Parker.”
He frowns, clearly not understanding my reference, and then shakes his head, mumbling a pathetic thanks. He lowers his gaze and stares unabashedly at my breasts. Granted, I’m wearing a plunging neckline, so you can’t help but notice the cut. But he’s not just glancing. He’s staring at my cleavage like it has just come home from war.
Rosalie notices Parker’s focus and elbows him in the ribs before turning back to me. “What’s your plan here, Allie?”
I give her my best doe-eyed look. “Plan?”
She purses her lips. “Yes. You’re obviously here for something. So, what’s your deal? Are you serving me with legal papers? I’ve already heard from your lawyer.”
Hilary steps up beside us. “Rose, a lawyer? What is going on?”
“Nothing, Mother,” she snaps. “Parker is handling it.” She turns her icy blue eyes on me. “Are you here to out me to all my wedding guests? To tell them all that I accessed a sex video off your Cloud and published it to a pornography site without your consent?”
