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But he was my friend, and once upon a time, he’d saved my life. That was the only reason I’d agreed to be his best man.

I was loyal to the people who were loyal to me.

Still, loyalty wasn’t enough to tame the ugly green beast inside me. I had more money and power than Jordan, but I envied his ability to create and maintain normal relationships. He could glide through life without others gawking at him like he was a zoo exhibit, and as much as I despised most human interactions, there were days when I craved a normality I’d never have.

I resented his privileged upbringing, with its silver spoons and easy access. He’d never been forced to trade in his soul for money. He’d never lost the people he loved.

Most of all, I resented the fact that he hadher.

I gritted my teeth.

Between the fire investigation and running a multibillion-dollar corporation, I had better things to do than obsess over my friend’s fiancée. But like I said, my good judgment paled when it came to her.

Jordan and Ayana. The happy fucking couple.

Something unspooled in my gut—a slow, insidious poison that crawled into my throat and made me choke.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t dispel it because of them.

Because they were getting married.

Because I saw her first.

Because she was his when she should be mine.

CHAPTER5

Ayana

“Wait. You’re sharing a bedwith Vuk Markovic?” Sloane’s disbelief crackled over the line. “How did that happen?”

“I told you. I forgot to change the reservation and every decent hotel in the area is booked out for the Riley K. concert.” I glanced at the bathroom door. The water was still running. Vuk had been in there for forty minutes, and I was tryingreallyhard not to imagine what he might be doing. “And technically, we haven’t shared the bed yet. It’s just…an inevitability for when we do sleep.”

“He really broke the cot just by sitting on it?”

“Yep.” For a five-star hotel, the Winchester wasn’t making the best impression.

I could practically hear her head shake in response.

Sloane Kensington had been my publicist for the past year and a half. She’d become a friend as well, so much so that I’d asked her to be one of my bridesmaids. I’d been pleasantly surprised when she agreed.

The sad truth was, I didn’t have many friends in the city. I had plenty of fashion acquaintances. We worked the same shows, attended the same parties, and ran in the same circles, but I wouldn’t consider them truefriends.They weren’t people I’d turn to when I was having a bad day, nor were they people I wanted to celebrate my wins with.

Thankfully, I had Sloane, who understood that world without being entrenched in it.

“As long as your hotel situation doesn’t end up in the press, we’re fine,” she said. “The last thing we need is a scandal before Fashion Week.”

“Trust me. I have no intention of causing any sort of scandal.”

That being said, intentions and reality didn’t always align.

What can you imagine me doing?

The memory of Vuk’s question sent a frustrating tingle down my spine. The way he’d sat, his legs spread, his gaze cool yet mocking, like a predator lazing before a hunt.

It made me envision things I had no right envisioning, if only for a moment.

I barely knew him.