Page 4 of A Prince of Smoke and Mirrors (Billionaire Sanctuary: The Heir #1)
her
LEXI BYRNE
Her voice was the satiny croon of an alto singer in the comfortable center of her range.
“We’ve been together for four years, James, all through engineering school at Penn State,” were her words.
“I knew you had someone at home, but what we have was never just a college fling. We’ve lived together for two years, drinking coffee on weekend mornings and studying late into the night together.
I tutored you through Calculus with Analytical Geometry Three so you could ace the final and not have to repeat a semester.
We have a dog, Lucy, a golden retriever, together. ”
Her sundress was a pale blue waterfall shimmering over her slim curves, sophisticated and beautiful. A spotlight showered a cone of angel light around her in the dim chapel, shimmering on her blue-black hair.
Her tone rose a few notes, a key change signaling rising passion.
“I get it. I really do. Lexi is absolutely gorgeous, so pretty and blond, and I’m just your typical engineering student with Coke-bottle glasses and split ends.
I understand why you think you should marry her, because you’ve been together since high school and especially since she told you she’s pregnant. ”
Gasps whispered through the crowd in the Las Vegas chapel, rising through the warm air to the spinning ceiling fans hanging from the crevice of the A-line ceiling far above.
The whispers started with the bridesmaids muttering, their words breaking through the air.
“Lexi’s pregnant?”
“She doesn’t look pregnant. Why would she say she’s pregnant?”
“The wedding does seem to have been planned fast, just since March. The invitations just went out last month.”
“Wow. I never thought Lexi would do that to trap him.”
Her voice crackled with emotion as she called from the crowd, “But Lexi is obviously not pregnant. You told me after spring break that Lexi said she was knocked up, which meant that you must’ve gotten her pregnant at Christmas.
She’s obviously not six months into a pregnancy in that form-fitting wedding gown. ”
Jimmy gaped, his light-brown eyes bulging as he swiveled like his tuxedo’s peach-orange bowtie was strangling him. He looked down and glared into my eyes. “Did you lie to me?”
Her words steeled, becoming thrown knives. “It doesn’t matter whether Lexi lied or whether she lost the baby, James. Whatever happened, it obviously doesn’t matter anymore. She’s obviously not pregnant now.”
Her athletic form jutted out of the crowd, a swaying, speaking shadow in the throat-clenched, heart-clutched crowd.
“You told me you loved me. You told me I was everything you’d ever wanted, smart and funny and able to go places with you without embarrassing you.
We were supposed to go to India together to celebrate our graduation and meditate at an ashram for a month, attending Buddhist festivals and studying the civil engineering of ancient Indian temples. ”
Her arm reached, beckoning, grasping, ripping everything away. “Be with me, James. I can give you everything you’ve dreamed of, everything we dreamed of together. We can build a life that we want, that we’ve talked about for years. Choose me.”