Page 47 of Belle Amour
Eddie ran his hand through his hair again, further messing it up. “Mira never starts the drama, Bastian. She puts an end to it in the most brutal way she can.”
“She does have a gift for that.” Bastian agreed as he nodded thoughtfully. “Still, if crap is going to come out, what difference will it make if she's drunk?”
“Sober Mira is way more tactful than drunk Mira; that’s what the difference is.” Eddie groaned as he appeared to contemplate his ex-wife confronting his fiancée, sober vs drunk. “Fucking hell, maybe she’ll do everyone a favour and get Casey to stop bitching about the damn flowers.” He muttered. “Excuse me.” He flashed his father a look of deep resentment before turning and walking away.
They all looked curiously at Victor, who snorted and shrugged. “He’s blaming me and his mother for Casey’s attitude about everything. He says if we never forced them to invite Mirabelle and Bastian, Casey wouldn’t be so particular about everything. Apparently, she’s been comparing everything about their wedding to Eddie and Mira’s wedding and is upset that theirs doesn’t look as elegant. She originally wanted a wedding planner, but when she found out Mira had planned and organized everything herself, she was determined to prove she could do it on her own and do it better, but nothing so far has looked like she envisioned, and she’s taking it out on everyone.”
“Well, to be fair,” Bastian felt a little bad about being the reason Casey was making everyone around her miserable. “Mirawasn’t pregnant and had Eleanor’s and Francesca’s help if I remember correctly.”
Victor nodded, waving his hand dismissively. “Yes, that’s right, and Eddie did tell her that, but that just made her more determined to do better on her own.”
“Well, the bachelorette party sounds like it will be a much better show.” Benji chuckled. “Can we go spy on the scavenger hunt?”
“Oh, I'm sure if it gets out who Bastian is, we'll be dealing with our own drama.” Robert looked up from his phone. “Eleanor just texted me. Eddie and Casey have been selling their story to everyone, even their best friends. Zeke's wife approached Mirabelle and was shocked when Mira told her the truth.”
“That’s not that surprising.” Benji shrugged, looking around at everyone who was already on their second or third beer, according to the number of cans already littering the bus. “Do you think they’ll confront Bastian?”
“Eddie seems to want to avoid that.” Bastian pointed out. “He’s not telling anyone who I am.” He hesitated and looked at Victor as the bus pulled up to the stadium. “Mira told me to go scorched earth if I had to but not to seek out drama. If you'd rather I kept the peace, Victor, I will.”
Victor shook his head. “No, they lost the right to be upset about being humiliated when they lied and made Mirabelle the villain. You could give a speech in front of the entire wedding telling everyone what they did, and I'd shake your hand after.” A cheer rang out through the bus as it came to a stop in front of the doors, and they watched in mild amusement as everyone chugged their remaining drinks and then started to file off the bus.
Chapter Thirty-One: Revenge Porn
They followed the main group to the Jack Roth Lounge, got their drinks, and found comfortable seating next to a window with chairs around a small table.A few people made small talk with them, introducing themselves to Bastian, Peter, and Benji after they said hello to Victor and Robert. Victor explained who they were and how they related to Eddie when they walked away. Most were members of Eddie’s friend group from university, but some were the husbands or boyfriends of Casey’s bridesmaids.
“Are you Bastian?” Bastian looked up in surprise as a tall man with red hair appeared on his left, looking around somewhat nervously.
“I am.”
“I need to talk to you.” He muttered, his eyes flickering around the group, and then he looked around the room again.
Bastian raised his eyebrows. His nervousness and the fact that he was trying to hide it and failing instantly put him on edge. “About what?”
“Look, just pretend you're happy to see me, Robert, and introduce me to everyone.” He looked at Robert almost desperately. “I don’t want anyone to question why I’m talking to you.”
“Greg!” Robert stood up and shook his hand, smiling broadly. “Good to see you! When did you get here?”
“Yesterday morning, I had to finish that project in DC.” He relaxed a little as Robert immediately followed his request and smiled back. “It’s good to see someone else I know here.”
“Yeah, I heard that one was a pain. Guys, this is Greg Bedford. We both work at BIG, but we are in different departments. Greg, this is Peter Johnson and Benji Harkins; their wives are Eleanor's cousins. This is Victor Shea, Eleanor and Eddie's father, and Bastian Avery, a family friend.” Greg shook hands with everyone as Robert introduced them. “Why don't you pull up a chair and join us for a drink?”
“Thank you. I'll take you up on that.” Greg grabbed a nearby chair and moved it over. Everyone shifted a little to make room for him, and he put his chair between Bastian and Robert. “No one react badly to what I'm about to say, I don’t want to draw attention to us.” He smiled and leaned back in the chair, his eyes sweeping around the room, making sure no one was paying attention to them. “My wife, Helena, is one of Casey's bridesmaids and is probably Casey's oldest friend. They go back to elementary school together. They aren't anywhere near as close as they used to be, but Helena does a lot for Casey out of some weird sense of loyalty that I really don’t understand.”
He paused as two of the groomsmen walked by. “Like I said, I got in yesterday, but Helena has been here all week. Helena and I have only been together for five years, and Casey has been a constant source of conflict between us. I don’t like her; she’s tried to sleep with me several times. I’ve told Helena about it each time, but the first time when Helena confronted Casey, she said she was testing my loyalty to Helena to make sure I was good enough for her. Helena believed her, and that was Casey’s excuse for every time after.” He shook his head, anger briefly crossing his features before he forced himself to smile again. “I’m telling you right now, they weren’t tests. Shethrew herself at me every time I had a few drinks in me, but Helena insists she wouldn’t do that to her.”
“I’ve been slowly and very carefully, with the help of our couple’s therapist, pointing out that Casey isn’t a good person. It’s taking time. Our therapist said she’s been conditioned to take and accept Casey’s abuse since they were children and compared it to a child’s dependence on an abusive parent, but we’ve made good progress, and Helena is getting much better at recognizing Casey’s crazy on her own.” Greg shifted and looked at them pleadingly. “I’m telling you all this because I don’t want you to think badly about my wife. She’s a good person with a beautiful heart who wants to think the best about people, and that made her susceptible to Casey’s manipulations.”
Bastian nodded sympathetically; he did pro bono work for a few domestic violence shelters in the city and had seen firsthand how hard it was for his clients who a spouse had abused to break free of the cycle of abuse, lies and love bombing. “It’s okay, I understand.” He assured Greg, who nodded gratefully as he relaxed.
“Anyway, Helena is part of two group chats with Casey; one is their friend group from high school and university, and the other is the bridesmaid group chat. I haven’t read them, but Helena was upset last night, and when I pressed her, she told me that Casey and Eddie were planning to do something to humiliate you and Mirabelle.” He held up his hand as Bastian's eyes flashed, and he opened his mouth to interrupt. “I know what happened with Casey and Eddie. I overheard Casey bragging months ago about fucking Eddie Shea and stealing him from the prostitute's daughter and asked Helena about it when she left. It was after I pointed out how messed up it was that Helena started to really question things Casey has done over the years.”
“She told me that Casey is broke. She and her ex-boyfriend spent two years partying all over the world, emptying her trust fund. When she went to her father for more money, she found out he had made several bad investments and was practically bankrupt. She knew Eddie had always had a thing for her, so she figured he was her best bet to keep the standard of living she was accustomed to.” He hesitated, looking like he was considering saying something and then shrugged. “It probably doesn’t matter anymore, but Eddie and Casey slept together the night before he got married. She went to his hotel room and offered him “one more fling before the ring.’”
Bastian closed his eyes, his hands gripping the arm of the chair he was in to keep himself from throwing Eddie through a window. “That prick.” He growled and felt someone clamp their hand on his shoulder. He looked over to see Robert, Benji and Peter watching him with mild panic and realized he was starting to stand up. He relaxed back into the seat, and Robert squeezed tightly and let him go. His eyes swept the room, and he was relieved to see no one was paying attention to them. He rolled his shoulders to release the tension and forced a pleasant smile back on his face.
“Well, that explains a lot,” Victor muttered as he sipped his scotch to hide his disgusted expression. “I’ve been wondering why they aren’t asking Casey’s family for money or using her trust fund.”
“Yeah, Helena told me Eddie has lost his temper with Casey a few times because she keeps asking him to ask you and your wife to pay for things. She cries and fakes pain to get him back in line.” Greg nodded, looking incredibly sorry he had to be the one to tell them all this.