Page 145 of An Inevitable Marriage

This wasmything.

That pang of sadness from earlier was back with a vengeance. I wished my mom could have been there to see it.

Swallowing down the hurt, I took in the people who had become my stand-in family. No, that wasn’t right. They might not have been related to me by blood, but that didn’t make them any less my family.

They weren’t stand-ins; they were the real deal. Each and every one of them.

“Thanks, everyone, this really means—”

Tristan held up his hand, cutting me off. “Nope. There will be no mushy speeches tonight. Tonight, we let our hair down and have fun. Besides…” He leaned a bit closer. “I have it on good authority that the new Nouvelle Femme line has a salacious ad campaign.”

Liam and I groaned while the rest of the group laughed. I’d almost forgotten about the new line and the hotter-than-sin photo shoot to promote it. Gosh, maybe it was a good thing my parents weren’t here after all.

More people filtered in, a few of them stopping by our table to congratulate Liam and me on our nuptials. Then there were those who’d walk by and point before immediately whispering behind their hands.

I knew there would still be people who believed the first article, even after the news site issued an apology and confessed they were paid to write what they’d written. Unfortunately, that’s just the way people were wired. There would always be those who believed the worst.

The important thing, I realized, was those people didn’t matter. All that mattered was what Liam and I believed of each other.

As if hearing my thoughts, Liam laced his fingers through mine and brought my knuckles to his lips.

“You know I can have security throw them out.”

I smiled because he’d do it. That was the kind of man he was. “No, let them talk. The more people talk, the more buzz we’ll create around the new line.” I shrugged. “More buzz, more sales. We win.”

He stared at me momentarily, then threw his head back and laughed that rich, beautiful laugh I’d never get enough of. “I’ve already won, wife.”

As always, it was so easy to get lost in his eyes. Until his phone dinged and he looked away to check his message. The longer he stared at his screen, the lower his brows dipped.

“Everything okay?” I asked, the slightest hint of trepidation tingling down my spine.

Liam’s gaze met mine, and I swear, the expression on his way-too-handsome face nearly did me in.

“All good. I just need to take care of something.” Leaning forward, he pressed his lips against my cheek. “Be back soon.”

I watched him push to his feet and stroll out of the ballroom. As much as I wanted to believe him, I couldn’t help but feel like the other shoe was about to drop.

“What’s wrong?” Natalie slid onto the chair Liam had vacated moments ago. “You’re a little pale.”

The last thing I wanted to do was worry her because my paranoid brain ran away with me. Forcing a smile, I reached forward and patted her hand. “Nothing’s wrong, sweetie. I’m just taking everything in.”

“You did so good, Evie. I just know people are going to talk about this event for years to come.”

I smiled again and I knew if my friend watched me close enough, she’d see exactly how fake it was.

The trepidation from earlier grew bigger when I felt eyes on me. The hair on the back of my neck slowly lifted while tiny bumps sprinted across my skin at breakneck speed.

This feeling was nothing like how I felt whenever Liam’s gaze was on me. I was vaguely aware Natalie was still talking, but I couldn’t listen. I was too busy scanning the crowd, trying to figure out who the hell’s eyes were boring into me.

I finally couldn’t take it anymore and jumped up and excused myself. Natalie didn’t even have time to follow me before I hurried out of the ballroom, searching for a bathroom.

I found one a good distance away from the crowd and was all too happy when I pushed inside and saw the space was empty. Pressing my hand against my rolling stomach, I let out a long, slow breath.

“Get it together, Evie.”

I would have loved to splash my face with cold water, but since I didn’t want to ruin my makeup, I just stood there until my racing heart and frayed nerves calmed.

Which turned out to be quite a while.