Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 90114 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90114 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
"I know." He taps his cocktail glass against my bottle of Pellegrino. "You treat me right."
"The best for my best man."
His chuckle is low. "Yes, it's got nothing to do with your issues with your brother."
"He's here, isn't he?"
He gives me that Ian look that means stop lying to yourself.
"And you're Mr. Family?"
"I have women who call me daddy."
I can't help but laugh. Of course, he does. "Don't let Key overhear that."
"She'll find me even more irresistible?"
"Don't sleep with her."
"What kind of man do you take me for?"
I shoot him a really look.
Ian smiles and taps my glass again. "Fair." He turns to greet Nick as he crosses the room to us. "Always good to see you, Phoenix." He calls my brother by his full name. None of his friends call him Phoenix. It's always Nick. But then Ian is making a point. They aren't friends.
He's actually on my side.
"Always." Nick shakes.
Lizzy practically bounces after him. She's in one of those purple dresses of hers. One that is somehow innocent and dirty at the same time.
She must drive him out of his mind.
Usually, the thought of Nick's sex life would irritate me. Right now, I don't mind. I'm glad he's happy. As long as he doesn't start lecturing me in that do as I say, not as I do way of his.
"You don't look nervous." Lizzy's eyes fix on me. "Aren't you nervous?"
"Baby, you're going to scare him," Nick says.
"Just think. Everyone is going to watch your wedding. Everyone has different expectations. After you say I do, that's it. You're with one person for the rest of your life," she says.
"Do you have something to tell him?" Ian chuckles.
"Ian doesn't believe in commitments," I say.
"No. Just short ones," he clarifies.
Nick shoots him a knowing look. "I believe you've met. Ian, Lizzy. Lizzy, Ian."
He leans down enough to shake her hand. "You're the girl who almost convinced the great Phoenix Marlowe to leave artificial intelligence forever."
"Guilty as charged." She smiles, not at all ruffled by his implication. "Though I think Shepard had more to do with that than I did."
Ian studies me the way he studies a mystery he's yet to solve. Like he's figuring out where to start on his search for information.
"Nick was too smart," I say. "He refused to play that game."
"I don't think he realized he was playing," Lizzy says.
Nick leans down to whisper something in her ear.
She nods an okay and turns to me with a cutting look. "Seriously, Shep. You better be good to Jasmine. Or else." She makes that finger across the throat you're dead gesture.
"I think she could take you," Ian says.
"Without a doubt." I offer her a toast.
She taps her glass against mine. "Until then… the bride is much more interesting. Congratulations." She shoots my brother one of those find me in twenty minutes and fuck me senseless looks, then she joins Jasmine's family.
"That girl is crazy about you." Ian keeps his eyes on my brother. "Congratulations."
"Aren't you supposed to say that to the groom?" Nick asks.
"Jasmine only seems mildly intrigued," Ian says.
"She looks happy," Nick says. "Are you?"
"I am." For the first time, in a long time, it's the truth. I'm happy. Period. End of sentence.
I let Nick and Ian discuss business. Nick has a new project. Machine learning for a bio-tech company. Guessing people's health ills before they realize they have them.
It would be terrifying if I worried about technology.
But computers aren't dangerous. People are. The darkness that lurks in certain hearts, waiting to consume anything that comes close.
Somehow, he hears my thoughts. Somehow, he knows there's a parade he can rain on.
Because the second I join my bride and her family, that bastard walks through the door in his three-piece suit and his easy smile.
"I'm sorry I'm late." Lucien's voice is matter-of-fact. Like everyone expects him to be here. Like we've been waiting for him to really start the party. "I hate to keep a beautiful woman waiting."
Jasmine looks to me for an explanation. Did I really invite my stepfather to this dinner?
No. But maybe Lock or Key… it's what a normal person would do. So I nod. "He is the closest thing I have to a parent." My stomach turns. The words are true. They shouldn't be true, but they are.
This man is the only father figure I've ever known.
The only parental figure I have left.
The only mentor I ever trusted.
And he's here, once again, to ruin everything.
Chapter Forty-Two
Shepard
Even with Jasmine next to me, I can't hear anything but my pounding heart.
This event isn't for us. It's for our families.
I stay quiet as Jasmine's aunts share stories about her childhood. The time she and her mom started acting out scenes from their favorite TV drama. Jasmine's impatience when her mom taught her to cook. She always wanted to eat right away. It was impossible for her to wait for beef bones and herbs to mix into a tantalizing broth.