Apparently, the press release Connor’s PR person had arranged to publish while they were gone had finally circulated and calmed down the fervor, at least among the legitimate newspapers. That crisis was technically averted, so she didn’t have to deal with flashbulbs in her face every time she left her home, at least not until she got to the point where she jilted Connor and became the heartbreaking villain in the piece.
That didn’t mean she was freed from annoyances.
Carly and her troop of planners had pretty much monopolized her time since their return. Connor had managed to plead business as a way to avoid most of the meetings and decisions thrust upon her. He had so kindly told her that whatever she wanted was fine with him, flashing her and the assorted ladies present a billion-dollar smile at the same time. That smile had left Carly and the others swooning and hadn’t left her completely unaffected either. They didn’t mean she was jumping with joy from being stuck making all the decisions and helping wrap up the arrangements for this farce.
On the other hand, she was being well-paid to handle it, so she was trying to view it as just another unpleasant detail necessary to keep Connor’s schedule flowing without a hitch. Of course, a fake wedding ending with a spectacular jilting at the altar was bound to put a pretty big hitch in his schedule, but she couldn’t think about that at the moment. Whenever she thought about the reaction she was likely to get after people knew what she had supposedly done to Formula One Racing’s Prince Charming, it was enough to make her stomach churn with dread and bring beads of sweat to her brow.
After the deed was done, her tentative plan was to slip away for at least a week or two, until everything died down, but she didn’t have the luxury of leaving forever, not if she wanted to keep Kevin in the Henderson Center. She hadn’t been allowed to visit him yet, but she received daily emails from his support coach, and pictures often accompanied the update. He seemed a little confused, but according to his coach, he was settling in fairly well, though she knew it would take Kevin a while to acclimate and integrate to any extent, if he chose to at all.
Knowing he was on his path to settling in made it impossible to even think about transferring him to a different facility, so she would have to weather the reporters, their ugly comments, and probably the even uglier looks from the average person if they happened to recognize her. It was a daunting prospect, almost awful enough to make her consider actually going through with the marriage.
Before she could even mentally laugh at that idea, she froze instead when she heard Brenda behind her. They were viewing a facility, since Connor had given William carte blanche to invite whomever he wished. Apparently, his father thought that the more people involved with the wedding, the less likely Connor was to back out, because his guest list was bordering on an absurd one thousand people.
She knew about ten of those people personally, and perhaps recognized another twenty-five names from tasks that she had performed for Connor over the last few years as his personal assistant. With that in mind, the mansion was no longer a practical spot to have the wedding, so yesterday and today was all about exploring other venues that could accommodate such a monstrous gathering. Somehow, Brenda had managed to weasel her way along, and now, she had managed to catch Angelina alone.
With a sigh, she turned away from the glass wall showing the expanse of bluff overlooking the Hudson in the distance. She didn’t greet the other woman, because she could see the ice in her expression. Kitty’s claws were finally coming out apparently. Frankly, she was unsurprised, except perhaps that it had taken this long for Brenda to show her true opinion about Angelina.
“You know you aren’t good enough for him, right?”
She barely blinked at the other woman, once again struck by how beautiful she was, but barely fighting back a shiver at the coldness in the other woman’s expression.
“Do you hear me? You aren’t good enough for him, and you certainly aren’t good enough for the Blackwell name. The thought of you having his children and carrying on his legacy is appalling.”
She continued to stare impassively at Brenda, kind of enjoying watching the other woman’s frustration and anger grow as she remained aloof. “Are you through now?”
“No, I’m not through. I won’t be through until this sham of an engagement is over. You’ll never marry him. I guarantee it.”
“Maybe you’re right.” She strove to sound disinterested. Pointedly, she looked down at her left hand. “Of course, I am wearing his mother’s ring. From what Connor said, apparently William intended it for you instead of me?” She let out a small giggle, as though that was the funniest thing she’d ever heard.
Brenda scowled at her. “I’d be a much better wife for Connor than you could ever be.”
She shook her head. “You’re like a sister to Connor, or at least he thinks that way. I think it’s pretty clear whatever feelings you harbor for Connor, they aren’t at all sibling-like, are they?”
A flush filled her face, finally bringing a hint of color to her pale skin and serving to make the other woman only that much more beautiful. If she’d actually been a rival for Connor’s affections, that she only got more beautiful as she grew angry might’ve been enough to make Angelina hate her.
Angelina knew she wasn’t as luck. Anger didn’t bring out her best features. At the moment, she wasn’t feeling at all angry though, and she certainly didn’t regard Brenda as a rival in any fashion. Even if she and Connor had truly been involved, she was observant enough to know he had no feelings for the other woman beyond fraternal. Brenda just couldn’t see that for herself.
“I was going to marry Connor until you interfered. You won’t make it down the aisle.”
She almost laughed in the other woman’s face, but only because of the astuteness of what she had just said. She could well imagine Brenda’s shock if she admitted that no, she wouldn’t make it to the aisle with Connor.
Discretion held her in check though, because she couldn’t reveal anything beyond the fiction they were presenting to anyone, especially to someone like Brenda. “Just give it up. I’d suggest accepting gracefully that Connor doesn’t love you and doesn’t want to marry you. I have a feeling you know deep down that’s the truth. Even if he and I weren’t getting married, there’s no way he would have married you.”
Brenda bared her teeth, looking insanely angry and slightly unstable for just a moment. “His father’s health is on the line. He would do anything to keep William around. So would I.”
“In that case, you should consider giving in gracefully, because William seems happy with Connor’s choice, and Connor said he hasn’t seen his father this relaxed in a long time.” That much was true. Connor had commented to her during a family dinner two nights before—a family dinner which she had been reluctantly drafted to attend—that his father looked happy and relaxed from the first time since his mother had passed years ago.
William had also been warm to her, but she suspected he would have probably welcomed just about any woman into the family if it meant his son was settling down and preparing to produce the next generation of Blackwells to secure his legacy.
Without another word, Brenda spun on her heel and sped off the opposite direction as Carly and Leanne approached. She listened with half an ear
as they chattered at her, offering choices, and she picked random selections. Apparently, she must have done what she was supposed to, because there were no second guesses or questioning looks about the choices she made.
Somehow, she must have avoided making any major mistakes. If she could just get to the ceremony with the same kind of luck, maybe the next couple of weeks wouldn’t be so bad.
And maybe Brenda would completely transform her personality and turn into her best friend in the whole world. Yeah, that seemed about as likely.
***
That weekend, William sprang his surprise on them, which was an engagement party. Apparently, his birthday party where he had forced Connor to propose didn’t count, so he wanted something to commemorate the occasion and an excuse to take pictures.
She was surprised and pleased to find his little sister was home for the weekend, and even more pleased to discover Lizze was an atypical rich white teenager. She wasn’t bratty or rude, and she seemed genuinely happy for Connor and Angelina. It was touching to experience the other girl’s welcome, but it also left her feeling vaguely guilty. Okay, more than vaguely guilty.
She hadn’t given much thought to the people in Connor’s life when she had agreed to continue the charade, not really thinking it through or realizing she might end up liking them, or they would like her. Suddenly, it wasn’t just about jilting Connor at the altar. She was going to be jilting his family in a way too.
She still understood his reasons, and she couldn’t see an alternative, but she bitterly regretted her role in their upcoming disillusionment. Still, it couldn’t be helped. It was too late to back out now or tell them the truth. It would only hurt them worse if they realized Connor had lied to them about the relationship all along.
The reality of events would make her and Connor both seem cold and heartless if his family found out they had schemed and planned their fake engagement and its spectacularly abrupt ending right from the start. Their motives for doing so wouldn’t matter, and no one would believe they had acted from mostly from altruism.