“You used me,” she said. “You made me think you loved me, proposed marriage, then dumped me without any reason.” She gave a humorless smile. “I’m curious to see if you’ll do the same thing to your new fiancée. Is it true what I heard? You knocked up your maid?”
“Honora was never my maid.” Nico set his jaw. He was starting to feel seriously annoyed. Why had he ever thought it was a good idea to invite his ex to his wedding? Maybe Theo was right when he’d said weddings were an unnecessary evil. He took a deep breath. “I wanted to tell you I was sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”
Lana stared at him then said, “You never thought of me at all. If I were a good person, I’d warn your bride about how selfish you are.”
He set his jaw. “Oh, come on, Lana. Don’t try to pretend we were some great love affair. I wasn’t using you. We were using each other. You enjoyed the lifestyle, the extra attention right before awards season. Don’t make it out to be something it wasn’t. I only hurt your pride, not your heart.”
She glared at him, clearly not listening. “How pregnant is she?”
“Seven months.”
“Seven! You must have gotten her pregnant just days after you dumped me.”
He forced himself to be honest. “Hours.”
She looked at him with loathing. “Heaven help this girl if she ever loves you.”
“She won’t. She’s too smart.”
His ex-fiancée gave a low laugh. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day. In that case, I hope you fall in love with her, Nico. Wildly and desperately.” She spoke the words as a curse. Lana’s dark eyes glittered. “And I hope you’ll suffer for the rest of your life when she never, ever loves you back.”
* * *
“I’m so happy for you, Honora.” Her maid of honor’s voice was strangely wooden as she spoke the words.
Honora turned from the three-way mirror, where she stood in her simple strapless wedding dress in cream silk, which went to midcalf, and pretty sandals on her feet. Her toenail polish matched the bright pink roses in her long dark hair. A twenty-carat diamond—Nico had picked it out—was on her left hand.
She was standing with Emmie in a sunlit room inside Nico’s Hamptons mansion. It was strange to Honora now, remembering how just a few weeks before she had rushed here on a stormy summer night, desperate to keep either Nico or her grandfather from being shot by his hunting rifle.
And now, Granddad had just returned from his honeymoon cruise with Phyllis yesterday, deliriously happy, and she herself was Nico’s bride. She never could have imagined any of it.
With her grandfather so focused on his new wife, Honora had been glad that her best childhood friend, Emmie Swenson, had been able to take the weekend off to be here with her.
Unlike Honora, Emmie came from a large family. She’d grown up with her parents and four brothers, crammed into a tiny three-bedroom apartment on the same street. Also unlike Honora, Emmie had already worked her way through community college, sensibly ignoring her interest in baking to major in accounting. At twenty-five, her friend always looked exhausted, working long hours as an underpaid junior accountant on Wall Street, even on weekends.
And now, Emmie’s round, pretty face looked more pinched than ever.
“You don’t seem very happy,” Honora said quietly.
Emmie took a deep breath. Her blond hair was tucked back in a chignon, and she was wearing the strapless pink silk gown in a flattering bias cut that the wedding planner had arranged. “You’re right.” She rubbed her eyes. “I’m a lousy friend and I’m sorry.” She looked at the door. “It’s time to start. Your grandfather is probably waiting...”
“Wait.” Honora looked at her friend anxiously. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”
Emmie paced a few steps, then stopped. “Look at how big this room is. And it’s just a vacation home. For two people.”
“Three, once we have the baby.” Feeling guilty, Honora decided not to mention Nico’s island in the Caribbean, his chalet in St. Moritz, or his recently acquired, but never lived in, villa on the Amalfi Coast, for which they’d leave tonight on their honeymoon.
Emmie looked out at the ocean through the wall of windows. “This is going to sound awful, but...for all these years, I’ve worked so hard.” She sounded as if she were about to cry. “I’ve worked myself to the bone, doing a job I hate, with people who treat me like dirt. But I’ve done it because I want my family to have a better life.”
“I understand, Emmie.”
“How can you?” She looked from Honora, in her strapless silk wedding gown, to the bouquet of pink roses and the big diamond on her hand. “You didn’t have to work for it. You’re just marrying it.”
Honora’s cheeks went hot with shame as she looked down at her bouquet of pink roses. She couldn’t answer because she knew everything her friend said was true. A lump rose in her throat.
“Damn it. I’m sorry.” Emmie reached for her hand,
tears streaming down her cheeks. “I hate myself for saying such awful things. And on your wedding day! I know you’re not marrying Nico for his money. You love him.” Her friend wiped her eyes. “You’re lucky, that’s all. And I’m hideously jealous and you should just smash cake in my face. I deserve it. Please forget everything I said and forgive me.”