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“They never told me either.”
His glacial blue stare slides my direction, honest concern behind it. “If they do-“
“I’ll let you know.”
He nods his head in the closest thing to a truce we’ll ever find.
I’m still staring at the twins when Mason’s father steps out of the crowd with mine and they approach to announce our engagement.
Knowing what they are about to say drops my heart into my feet and makes it difficult to catch my breath.
Still, I face the crowd and remember to smile, even when I have nothing to smile about.
All the water has slipped through my hands, it seems, and the time I had to be myself is finally running out.
Ezra
“I’d like to thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate the engagement of my son, Mason Strom, to the beautiful and talented Emily Donahue.”
A spark of anger rolls down my spine at what I’m watching. It’s not like we’re surprised to be standing here tonight. This sham of an engagement has always been a backdrop to Emily’s life, a shadow that’s hovered over her since she was born.
It made her weak in the eyes of everybody who knew her growing up.
Docile.
Timid.
Hell, even I made the mistake of believing she could be crushed beneath one cruel word or the weight of any bullshit problem.
I learned quickly just how much of an error in judgment it was to believe Emily weak.
Beneath that dark red hair and snow-pale skin, behind a pair of turquoise eyes that glimmer like a sun-kissed sea, lies a fiery temper that rivals what Damon and I are known for.
The trick is learning how to tease it out of her. Being sly enough to tear down her walls, and strong enough to stand in the scorching heat of her fire once she shows you who she is.
What very few people know is that Emily Donahue is a queen.
One who isn’t broken by obligation.
A woman who shakes off the whispers and opinions of those around her.
A wild spirit who stands tall regardless of the crap life throws at her, a beauty who dances within chaos when she thinks that nobody can see her.
She was strong enough to hold my leash in high school, even when I didn’t believe I had one, even when she didn’t know it was in her hand from the second she showed me who she really was.
I bet she believes it took her six weeks to develop the close bond she once had with Damon and me, when the sad truth is that it only took her a few seconds.
One flash of honesty.
One peek at the violence that exists within her.
And we were hooked.
At the first flicker of her flame, I was dropped to my knees, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. It doesn’t make me weak to feel that way about her. It simply means I know when I’ve met my match.
It just pisses me off that she’s too fucking stubborn to accept it.
Even now, she stands with her shoulders back and spine ramrod straight, her chin tipped up and her fake smile in place.