“Screw her—no, fuck her.” Anna pulled away and stood up—it was the first time I had ever heard my little sister curse. “We’ll stop the wedding! We’ll expose her!”
“Don’t you think I haven’t considered it?” I looked up at Anna. “I was ready to drive to her house on two good tires and beat the makeup off her face—but what good would it do? She’ll ruin my life if I try anything, and if I lay a hand on her—I’ll just end up in handcuffs.”
“We need to call Victoria as soon as she’s in Carson Cove.” Anna nodded. “She needs to know the truth.”
“Oh god no.” I shook my head back and forth. “I can’t tell her—I’ll be the one getting the makeup beaten off my face. If she even thinks I’m worthy of a slap after she hears what I’ve done…”
“She’s going to find out eventually, right?” Anna sat back down. “Think about it—you’re the damn Maid of Honor, sis. She’s not going to believe that you’re there because you want to be. Do you think she’d rather hear whatever crap Alexis comes up with to explain it, or the truth from you?”
“She would probably prefer a lie…” I looked down. “I would…”
“No, you wouldn’t. I want you to actually think about that. The role is reversed. You just found out Victoria has been in the city having sex with dad—okay, don’t picture it, just go with what I’m saying. What would you do?” She squeezed my hand.
“I would be angry…” I stared at the wall. “Really angry…”
“Why?” Anna tilted her head to the side.
“It’s my dad.” I looked down for a moment.
“Would you end your friendship with her? Would you hate her?” Anna leaned forward until she was able to look me in the eye. “What if they were in love?”
“I…” A lump formed in my throat, and I swallowed it. “I would be upset, but I would try to accept it.”
“Why do you think Victoria would have a different reaction?” Anna shrugged. “Seriously, think about it.”
I didn’t have an answer. From the lips of my little sister came the harshest truth I needed to hear. My friendship with Victoria was either going to end or it wasn’t—lying wasn’t going to change it. Either she found out that I had been involved with her father and hated me for that or hated me for standing at his venomous bride’s side—unless she was willing to forgive me. She would probably forgive me for the relationship with her father a lot faster than she would forgive me for choosing Alexis over her—that’s what it would ultimately come down to. That would be her perception, no matter what.
“Can we call Victoria?” Anna gave me a slight nudge.
“Yeah, I think we have too…” I exhaled sharply.
Victoria might have had hopes of her parents reconciling at some point, but that was off the table completely. The only hope we had of possibly stopping the wedding was figuring out what Alexis had on Bryant—Victoria would have access—she might even be able to get her father to tell her the truth. My relationship with Bryant was ruined—I didn’t think we could salvage it, regardless of what happened in the end, but if there was a way to stop Alexis from carving her way through his empire, then I owed him that much. We just had to find a way to nullify Alexis—or expose her for the heartless bitch she truly was. She had too much power in Carson Cove for me to do that on my own, but Victoria was a different story. Whether she liked it or not, she was one of the privileged—she had resources.
“Victoria?” I tried to hold back my emotions. “Are you in Carson Cove yet?”
“No, my flight got delayed. I won’t be there until tonight.” I heard a sharp inhale, then a loud exhale. “This is so frustrating!”
“I’m sorry.” I looked at Anna, and she motioned for me to keep going—she probably realized I was close to chickening out. “Hey, when you get here. Can you come by my house first? I have something to tell you—it’s about Alexis Devereaux—and your father.”
“You can’t tell me on the phone?” Her tone reflected a hint of annoyance. “I really want to see my dad as soon as possible.”
“Trust me, you’ll want to hear what I have to say first—and it’s gotta be done in person.” I felt another lump and tried to swallow it.
“Okay, I’ll let you know when I land…” Her voice trailed off. “Hey, it looks like they’re about to give us an update—maybe they got me on another flight. I gotta go.”
All I can do now is wait…
* * *
Victoria wasn’t able to get on an earlier flight, so it was already dark before her plane touched down in Carson Cove. My mother had a date—which was fortunate since I didn’t want her to be there when I talked to Victoria. Anna agreed to stay in her room but threatened to come down the stairs with a baseball bat if Victoria tried to hurt me—I didn’t think it would come to that. Truthfully, if she wanted to hit me—I would just have to take it. I was pretty sure she would storm out before she would take a swing, but either option would be understandable. There were some things that were just unforgivable—even if she didn’t turn anger into hatred.
“She’s here…” I looked over at Anna.
“Okay, I’ll be upstairs—waiting.” She narrowed her eyes and squeezed my hand before she walked away.
I couldn’t lay the news on Victoria immediately. There were hugs to be exchanged and happy smiles to go along with our reunion. Mine was fake—hers looked like it took a lot of effort to muster. I didn’t think she would have a smile on her face much longer, not when I hit her with the truth. I tried to stay pleasant as I prepared to execute our friendship in the middle of my living room. I offered her a drink—she accepted—that gave me a few more minutes to spare as I went to the kitchen and poured some wine. I decided to bring the bottle—one more thing that she could hit me with if she raged.
“Alright, tell me what you couldn’t tell me on the phone.” She sat down on the couch and sipped her wine. “Or were you just looking for an excuse to see me before I went protective daughter-zilla on Alexis Devereaux?”