Phantom: Her Ruthless Villain (Ruthless Triad 5)

His mother gave us an approving look at the same time his father, Gerald, climbed onto the lip of the terrace’s stone fountain to tap on his champagne glass.

“I just wanted to say a few words to the happy bride and groom…” he said before launching into a twenty-minute speech that was more about the upcoming Easton Whiskey acquisition of Glendaver Bourbon than either of us.

We clapped nonetheless along with all of the guests when he was done.

“That was not short,” Garrett joked to his mother.

“Indulge your father,” his mother said. “It’s not every day we get a wedding and an acquisition on the same weekend. He’s elated about both.”

“I just have to powder my nose,” I told them, handing Garrett the glass of champagne I’d been pretending to sip on all night. “If you’ll excuse me….”

“Of course, darling. Rush right back. Your father’s toast is next.”

“Oh, I will,” I promised.

I made quick work of relieving my bladder, and I admired myself in the mirror after I finished washing my hands.

That primer Skylar swore by had really done the job. I looked flawless, even after two hours of mingling. Who was this Southern Lady Who Lunched?

So first, you ask me to lie for you. Then you stop returning my calls? I just got your wedding invitation in the mail. In the mail! Like I’m so old med school buddy, not your best friend. What the hell, Livvy?

The memory of Eric’s last voicemail, the one she also hadn’t answered, invaded her mind without warning.

And, oh dear…the woman in the mirror was now staring back at her, her face terrible and sad.

That wouldn’t do.

Inviting Eric to the wedding had been a mistake. A misplaced bit of sentiment. Perhaps I would text him when the party was done and politely suggest he not come….after insisting I was happy, of course.

Truly happy.

I blinked away the guilt in my mirror image’s eyes. Then I scraped that sorrowful furrow off her brow, pinned on another smile to make the look complete, and headed for the bathroom door.

Time to return to the party.

Perhaps after my father’s toast, I would whisper in Garrett’s ear about escorting me back to my room—

I stopped, the pinned smile dropping away.

Phantom.

Phantom stood there waiting for me outside of the bathroom.

He was dressed in a suit, just like Garrett and all of the other men at the party. But he looked so out of place, standing in front of a portrait of a hunting hound in the hallway lined with dark green damask wallpaper.

Goosebumps—check.

Hair rising on the back of my neck—check.

Crazy fluttering in the pit of my stomach—check.

All my adrenaline responses checked in as usual as I stared at him in complete and utter shock.

He was the same as he had been when I saw him last. But different. Angrier, scarier—his body almost seemed to be vibrating with violence and rage.

“What…? What are you doing here,” I finally managed to ask.

“Just lost a bet with myself,” he answered. His voice was a sharp contrast to his appearance. Laconic and casual, like we were old friends who’d just happened to run into each other in the hallway.

But his black shark eyes glittered with malice as he told me, “I figured the first words out of your mouth would be ‘don’t make a scene.’ Isn’t that what you cared about the most? Me embarrassing you?”

I didn’t answer those questions. They felt like a trap. “You shouldn’t be here. Please go.”

He shook his head. “I was wrong again. I thought you’d try to explain why you fucked me bare for three months, then suddenly decided that I wasn’t good enough for you anymore.”

“Four months. It’s been four months since we were together like that, since I let you go,” I replied. “Technically, we’ve been apart for longer than we were ever together at this point. I thought you got it. I thought you accepted it. But you’re here. Why?”

“Because you’re marrying that prick instead of me. That’s why.” No more laconic tone. His words cut through the air between us, sharp and vicious. “Because you promised to become my wife, then bounced like you never gave a shit about me. That’s why.”

I took a step back.

I had been so clueless before breaking up with him. People had acted like he was the scariest guy in the world—even his family, the ones who had known him the longest. And I hadn’t understood why. I’d thought, “Sure, he’s a little rough around the edges, but once you get to know him, he’s a big old teddy bear.”

But now I saw it—what they saw when they looked at him.

I swallowed. “Garrett…Garrett is the one I chose. The one I’m marrying. You’re just going to have to accept that—”

He closed the space between us so fast I didn’t have time to react before my back hit the bathroom door I’d just closed behind me.