Page 60 of Stolen Summer
My head volleyed between wolf and death—father and son. I felt caught in the middle of a timeless fight.
“Everything in life is a deal. Don’t be so foolhardy. I don’t want to hear anything else about an engagement unless it’s with Gianna. Is that clear? I will not let you ruin this family,” Mr. Riley stated as if this was the end of the discussion.
“You’ll do that all on your own,” Cole tossed back.
The wolf seemed to have forgotten I was there. I wished I could forget I was. Eyes as dark as coals pierced me with undeniable disdain, as if I was the sole reason his son disobeyed him—as if I would be the destruction of what he worked so hard for.
If he only knew I was nothing more than his next-door neighbor hired by his son.
Cole still fiercely clasped his hand against mine, and I’d nearly lost all feeling. I needed a moment to myself—a second to breathe and process what the hell was going on. With a gracious smile, I cut in. “Please excuse me. I need to use the ladies’ room.” Things had gotten too tense.
I turned to walk away, but Cole hadn’t released my hand. I glanced over my shoulder, lifting a brow, a crack forming in my heart as Cole looked at me like he didn’t want to let me go off on my own. Or perhaps it was he didn’t want to be left alone with the wolf. I gave him a reassuring smile, hoping it conveyed I could handle finding the bathroom without a chaperone.
The pressure of his grip lessened, his hand falling to his side. I passed him my champagne, leaning forward and brushing a kiss on his cheek before whispering, “You need this more than I do.” Then I turned and strolled to the hallway where I prayed I’d find a bathroom. Preferably unoccupied.
I turned the corner, my heels clicking on the dark wooden floors. God, what a mess. Why couldn’t I find a normal guy? With normal problems like what color shirt he should wear to work or whether he should have oatmeal or French toast for breakfast. How did I end up smack-dab in the middle of a family war? Not just any family but the fucking Rileys.
I was nothing but a pawn in Cole’s scheme to undermine his father, but then I thought about the large deposit sitting in my checking, and I suddenly didn’t care if Cole used me to defy his daddy.
I rounded another corner and assumed the bathroom would be there. Instead, I nearly got stabbed in the eye by a pair of antlers. Stumbling, I quickly leaned out of the way or risked getting injured by a mask.
The girl with the antlers poking out from the sides of her long, strawberry-blonde hair eyed me, so I eyed her back. “What the hell are you doing here?” she sneered, her greenish-brown eyes spitting fire at me.
I flinched, taken aback by her harsh tone, especially to a stranger. It raised my hackles. “Do I know you?” Was this Gianna? If so, I could see why Cole didn’t want to marry her.
A smug grin curved on her deep red lips. “I don’t need to know who you are,” she spat. “It’s who you came with that gives you away.”
So, she’d seen me with Cole and obviously didn’t like it. “And how is that?” I asked, folding my arms and reinforcing my stance.
“You’re the slut of the month. Nothing more.” She lashed the words at me like she was wielding a whip.
More like the summer, bitch, but I kept the comment to myself despite wanting to hurl the words in return at her. I had something better in mind. “I’m his fiancée.”
She choked. And then she let out a mangled laugh like a bird caught in a net. “Is this a joke? The Rileys don’t commit. Everyone knows that.”
I smirked. “Or they just haven’t met a girl like me.”
She snorted. “I’ll say. A trashy bitch like you can never last long in his world.”
My fingers twitched. I flexed them before squeezing them into fists. I could either dig my nails into my palms or follow through on the alternative—rip the dyed blonde hair from her skull. I fucking really wanted to go for option two, but a nice head slam into the wall would feel good too. “Let me guess, you’ve been trying to trap one for years. A bit of free advice because we’re such fast friends. Unprotected sex. Works like a charm,” I said, rubbing my belly affectionately like pregnant women were fond of doing.
Something between a scoff and a gasp expelled from her throat. “That’s all you’ll ever be. A quick fuck.”
“So, I guess I should scratch you off the wedding list,” I shot back sarcastically. I wasn’t about to let some snotty, stuck-up brat insult me.
“I wouldn’t get comfortable,” she snapped. “Once his father finds out, you’ll be gone.”
“And I’m sure you’ll be eager to take my place. You seem like a girl who doesn’t like sloppy seconds. Will you be okay having him knowing he was deep inside me first?” I didn’t normally start catfights, but I also never backed down from one either. If she wanted to make a scene, I could accommodate her. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d been tossed out of places I shouldn’t be.
She firmed her chin, lifting it higher in the air and doing her best to pretend my words didn’t fire her blood. They did. I could see it in her eyes. “You’ll never be anything but a useless whore with or without the Riley name.” Her gaze flicked down, and I knew what she was looking for. It would be too obvious if I moved my hands. “Besides, I don’t see a ring. You’re probably a liar as well as a gold-digger.”
“Why don’t you take that ugly mask off so I can see your face?” I taunted.
“Did Cole tell you what happens if you break the rules?”
My silencing gave her ammunition power and smoke. She didn’t hesitate to use it, and I silently cursed, annoyed I’d let her fluster me with something as stupid as a fake engagement ring and a threat of an even dumber mask. But for just a few heartbeats, my imagination took hold and got the best of me. All I could see was a mob of rich assholes in creepy masks chanting I was a fraud and screaming I didn’t belong while they had me tied to a wooden pole with a massive fire burning under me.
“I’m guessing not,” Antler Girl smugly snapped, and as she brushed past, she clipped my shoulder.