Page 56 of Crown of Thorns
“We have to go,” Suzanne Thomley whispers. “Now.”
I just nod as she grabs me by the arm and leads me back out of the lobby and several feet down the hall before turning us around. “What are you doing?” I whisper.
“You were never there, and you heard nothing,” she says. “Do you understand me?”
“Yes.”
“I’m serious, Stella. I wasn’t kidding when I said they were dangerous.”
“I know that now,” I tell her. “They… they were talking about my car accident.”
“You have to leave,” she says. “You have to get out of here.”
“Don’t you think I’ve tried. Rhys won’t let me go,” I tell her. “He says he can protect me, but I don’t think he can.”
“Fuck,” she says. “We need time.We’re going to have to fake it until we make it as you Americans are so fond of saying.”
“What do you mean?”
“We pretend like nothing has changed,” she says. “You continue to be wary of Rhys but go through the wedding events, like tonight’s dinner and such, and I’ll continue to flirt unabashedly with your fiancé. Hopefully, we can figure out a plan from there.”
“But… why are you doing this?” I ask.
“Because I can’t stand by and watch you get yourself killed,” she says. “You’re in over your head and it’s much more than a handsome man with a big cock.”
“It is pretty big…” I mutter and she snaps her fingers.
“Now is not the time to get sidetracked.”
“All right, what do we do?” I ask.
“We head to dinner,” she answers, linking her arm through mine and leading me down the hall and back through the lobby. “It’s time to play the game of thrones… at least for a little bit.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know how.”
“That’s all right, darling,” she says as she places a fake smile on her face. “I do. Now smile.”
I try for a shaky smile that feels more like a grimace and force myself to relax into a face that won’t be so terrifying and seems a little more natural before replying, “Okay. I think I’m ready.”
“Good girl,” she replies but it doesn’t have my toes curling the way it does when Rhys says the samewords. She pushes open the door to the now occupied sitting room and greets the room at large. “Well, now the party can begin. I’ve found the bride!”
My eyes scan the room and immediately find Rhys who looks as surprised at my entrance as I’m sure I do.
He raises his eyebrows and says, “And I’d thought you’d run, hen.”
“Your lovely bride would do no such thing,” Suzanne says.
“Aye. I think she’d do just that,” he says as he moves across the room to stand in front of me. He takes my hand in his, pulling me away from Lady Thomley. “But she also knows that I’ll chase her and catch her if she does.”
“Don’t hog the lovely girl,” the earl says to Rhys with a smile on his face. It doesn’t reach his eyes which gleam with a level of menace I’m not prepared for even though I just heard him talking about my death. “You’ll get her forever but she’s about to be my step-granddaughter-in-law.”
“Aye,” Rhys says through gritted teeth. “But as my wife, that trumps all so I think I’ll be keeping her to myself.”
“You’d both do well to remember that I can be an ally or an enemy,” the earl leans in, snarling low so that only we can hear him. “Besides, it’s polite to share.”
“I’m afraid my hospitality ends with you under my roof and not fucking my wife.”
“She’s not your wife yet,” he spits. “Besides, mydaughter is queen.”
