The Deal (London Suits 0.50)

“Yes, you do.” I stared right back at her.

A wry smile crossed her lips. “I apologise for the way I spoke to you yesterday. I will be honest and say you aren’t who I was expecting my son to end up with, but it appears you make him happy, so I will accept it.”

“Very generous of you,” I commented dryly. “I accept your apology. Your son is an incredible man.” I stumbled over my words, my throat suddenly closing up. “I-I’m so lucky to have him in my life.” My mouth twisted. If only I had him in my life, for real, not just for this weekend.

She nodded, then turned away, effectively dismissing me. I watched as she headed in the direction Ethan had gone, slipping out of the doors. The room began to fill with people, and I sat, an empty chair on either side of me, and Ethan and Victoria’s uncle, who had introduced himself as Jack, directly behind me.

“I’m the black sheep of the family,” he told me in a conspiratorial whisper, his blue eyes twinkling merrily. “Poor Victoria didn’t get any say in this bloody farce of a wedding, but the one thing she insisted on was having me in the middle of all the action. No grandparents alive, see.” He swung his arm around. “No other siblings, so I get to sit up here as her favourite relative. Georgina was not impressed.” He snorted with laughter. “I thought she was going to have a conniption when Victoria put her foot down.”

I couldn’t help grinning. “I like you already. Now, tell me, you’re not really Georgina’s brother, are you?” He looked so similar to her, they could almost pass for twins.

“The one and only.” He smirked. “Georgina likes to pretend I don’t exist most of the time. Don’t get me wrong—she’s my sister and I love her to death, but she’s got impossible standards that most of the rest of us fall short of.”

“I’ve already experienced that. She wasn’t impressed by me.”

“I’m not surprised. She wants Ethan with some trust fund brat, or someone ‘influential.’” He made air quotes with his fingers, pulling a face.

I laughed, a little too loudly, and people turned to look at me. “Oops. I hope I can get through today without embarrassing Ethan.”

“Ah, you’ll be fine. Don’t worry about impressing this lot. You’ve already ruined your reputation by talking to me.” He winked at me, then glanced to the front of the room. “Looks like the ceremony is about to begin. We’ll talk more later.”

A hush fell over the gathered guests as the organ began to play. All eyes turned to the back of the room as the doors swung open.

8

Ethan

Victoria clutched her bouquet with a shaking hand, the other gripping onto my arm for dear life.

“V? It’s not too late to back out, if you want to.”

She lifted her gaze to mine, her heart-shaped face pale. Her eyes shone with unshed tears, and she bit her lip, hard.

“No. I’m doing this.” Squaring her shoulders resolutely, she faced the doors leading into the drawing room.

“You look good, Ethan.” Clarissa wafted past me in a cloud of overpowering perfume to take her place in front of us with the procession of bridesmaids, led by my mother, who was being escorted up the aisle by one of the ushers.

“Thanks,” I muttered through gritted teeth. Next to me, Victoria’s grip on my arm tightened, and she swayed on her feet. All thoughts of Clarissa flew out of my head, concern for my sister filling me.

“V. Do you want to get out of here?” I whispered.

She shook her head. “No.” Her voice was so quiet that I could hardly hear her. She took a shaking step towards the doors, then another. The usher holding the doors for the bridesmaids held up a finger to indicate that we should wait. Finally, the last of the bridesmaids had gone through, and the music changed. The usher swung the doors open dramatically, and we stepped through. Victoria raised her chin, her faltering steps turning sure.

“I can do this,” I heard her breathe. We made our way down the aisle. Ralph waited at the end. The expression on his face…not the look of an adoring groom, but a smug, knowing grin. I knew, deep in my bones, that Victoria was making a mistake and she’d end up hurt. Ralph cared about Ralph. Everything he did was in his own interest.

As we drew closer to the end of the aisle, my eyes sought out Avery’s. She watched us, a concerned frown on her beautiful face. I relinquished Victoria and went to stand next to her. Her hand slipped into mine and squeezed it tightly.

“Okay?” she mouthed, her eyes darting from me to Victoria. I shrugged, unable to articulate my worries, and she leaned into me, placing her other hand on my arm, her touch a comfort and a reassurance. I lifted our entwined fingers and pressed a grateful kiss to the back of her hand, before turning my attention back to the ceremony.

Vows were exchanged, Victoria never once smiling, Ralph grinning like the cat that ate the canary. I’d never once been in a fist fight, but I would have loved to punch that smug smile from his face. As they walked back down the aisle as husband and wife, Avery and I trailed after the procession. It was done. My sister was married. There was nothing I could do now, other than wait for the inevitable fallout.

The next hour passed in a blur of posing for hundreds of photos, before I could finally make my way back to Avery’s side. She’d made firm friends with my uncle Jack during the drinks reception, and I joined them in the middle of Jack telling her one of his tall tales about his travels in the Amazon rainforest. I rolled my eyes, smirking, having heard it all before.

“…and the only way we could escape was to jump in the boat as quickly as possible. We left nearly everything behind, barely escaping with ou

r lives.”

Avery’s eyes were round as Jack recounted his greatly exaggerated story, her mouth almost a perfect O. My gaze locked on that mouth. Those ruby red lips. Her tongue, darting out to lick those lips.