“You don’t have to let their opinions matter,” he reminded her. “They can’t hurt you unless you let them.”
“You’re right.” She heaved a sigh. “It’s just really hard to stop caring that they disapprove.”
The admission wasn’t one she’d confided to anyone before Ryan. She trusted him not to dismiss her concerns. Somehow he recognized how determined she was to face up to the challenges she’d once avoided.
“You’ll get there.” He kissed the top of her head. “In the meantime, you can count on me to play guard dog for you. I’ll bare my teeth at anyone who makes you uncomfortable.”
She smiled as no doubt he’d hoped she would. Grinning at him released more of her tension. She captured his face between her palms and kissed him firmly on the lips.
“Thank you,” she said, feeling her heart expanding as she gazed at him.
“I’m serious.”
“I know.” She released him and stepped back. “And you’re a wonderful champion.” I don’t deserve you.
The thought continued to ring in her mind as Ryan drove them to the venue, and even when he tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and led the way into the party. Her agitation grew with each stride into the historic downtown Charleston plantation home overlooking the Ashley River. Who would she run into at tonight’s thousand-dollar-a-plate fund-raiser for Susannah’s state senate campaign?
“Zoe Crosby.” A beautiful brunette stepped into her path. “I almost didn’t recognize you. You cut all your hair off.” Before Zoe could update Polly Matson with her post-divorce surname, the woman’s keen blue eyes shifted in Ryan’s direction and lingered. “Obviously divorce agrees with you.” She stuck out a slender hand tipped with blush-tinted fingernails. “You’re Susannah’s brother, aren’t you? I’m Polly Matson.”
“Ryan Dailey.” He shook her hand and gave her a polite smile.
“Susannah’s brother. You must be so proud of her,” Polly gushed, her entire focus coming to bear on Ryan.
“Of course.” Ryan nodded. “If you’ll excuse us, we were on our way to find her.”
“Don’t let me hold you up,” Polly said as Ryan guided Zoe away.
Zoe didn’t need to look back to know that Polly would make a beeline for Callie Hill and Azalea Stocks. The trio had never been all that fond of Zoe before her divorce. No doubt they’d been gleeful when the rumor of Zoe’s supposed infidelity had begun to spread. Charleston’s elite loved a juicy scandal and of course everyone had come down on Tristan’s side. He’d been the model husband, after all. The darker elements of his controlling nature had never made a public appearance. And those pesky rumors surrounding his supposed infidelity? No one cared. Yet Zoe had been shunned after the same allegations had been lodged against her.
“I take it she’s not a friend of yours,” Ryan said.
“I didn’t really have any friends.” That sounded overly dramatic so she quickly clarified, “Not true friends anyway. Not the sort you can trust with your darkest secrets and deepest fears.”
“Did you have a lot of those? Secrets and fears, I mean.”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
For several seconds Ryan regarded her somberly. She knew he hated it when she deflected his attempts to understand her better, but she’d spent so long guarding her true feelings that it was second nature to hide behind flippant remarks and bravado.
Zoe gave a huge sigh. “I’m sorry. It’s been a while since I felt this exposed.”
“I understand.”
And she knew he did. He’d proved to be more sensitive to nuance than any man she’d ever known. Was it because his twin was female? Whatever the cause, he knew how to listen.
“Shall we go find Susannah?” she suggested, taking his arm.
The steely muscles beneath the elegant tuxedo jacket reminded her that he’d promised to be her champion tonight and she relaxed slightly. Unfortunately her calm lasted for only a few steps because across the room she spied her ex-husband.
Tristan was deep in conversation with a slender brunette. Although she wanted to tear her attention away, something about the woman struck a chord. The elusive familiarity nagged at her while Ryan paused to chat with a friend. It wasn’t until the woman glanced over her shoulder and made direct eye contact that Zoe realized that the brunette was Everly in disguise.
What the hell?
Her anxiety spiked into the red zone as she was swamped by a barrage of questions. What was Everly doing at Susannah’s fund-raiser? Why was Everly talking to Tristan? What could possibly be going on? Panic roared through Zoe as she noted their ease with each other. Not once had Everly indicated she’d known Tristan. Was their association a recent development? If so, had she sought him out? Zoe wouldn’t put it past her. Damn the woman for stepping over the line again.
Zoe couldn’t tear her attention from the pair and when she saw them part ways, she excused herself from Ryan and headed after Everly. With the other woman demonstrating she had no intention of sticking to their original agreement of no interference, Zoe decided that gave her grounds to back out of the revenge bargain. And it wasn’t as if she’d done anything with the documents London had given her about Tristan’s financial dealings. If Zoe never went after her ex-husband’s offshore accounts technically she’d never get her revenge on him
.