Page 61 of Merry Fake Bride

“An emergency,” Mom cuts in with a sharp, sweet voice. “But it’s all sorted now. Who are you?”

My heart stalls in my chest as a hundred excuses burst through my mind, but before I can speak, Devon gets there first.

“I’m Devon.” She balances my gloves on her cast and smiles warmly at my mother. “I’m Kairo’s fiancée.”

Mom goes as pale as a sheet as she looks Devon up and down.

Her pursed, red lips part once, then twice, then she looks at me and frowns.

“Fiancée? I think it’s time the three of us had dinner, don’t you think?”

“Mom, it’s late,” I say, throwing Devon an apologetic look. “Devon was just going home.”

“Nonsense,” Mom scoffs sharply. “You’ve been hiding her from me for weeks, and I think I deserve some answers, so come on.”

She snaps her fingers and turns on her pencil-thin high heels. “We’ll take my car. Martin can follow.”

15

DEVON

Mocking Kairo for being overdressed has come back to bite me.

His mother, Clarice, sweeps us back into the city and brings us to a late-night restaurant that, in any other situation, would be rather romantic.

Snow is falling outside, coating the bushes lining the path up to the door in a white powder dusting that glows due to the sparkling lights woven between the branches.

Inside, elegant Christmas music fills the air from the live musicians on a small, circular stage at the back of the restaurant.

A Christmas tree bigger than anything I’ve ever seen takes pride of place in the middle of the restaurant floor, with all the tables situated around the giant fir.

It’s covered in silver and gold baubles and enough lights that those on the ceiling have been dimmed to prevent oversaturation.

We’re led to a private table at the back by a man dressed in a tuxedo with a festive red bow and as I sit, I catch the subtle sparkles woven into the fabric of his suit.

Clarice is dressed in a fine red dress that wraps her thin body up like ribbon, and Kairo’s returned the tie to his neck while we were driving.

Now it’s me, in dark jeans and a flour-stained T-shirt, who sticks out like a sore thumb.

The table is laden with sparkling silverware, crystal glasses lined with gold, and a small vase of gold roses as the centerpiece.

It’s a beautiful place and the festive warmth would usually put me in a great mood.

But Clarice has barely taken her eyes off me since we met and I feel sick.

For the first time in a long time,

I fought the urge to reach out to Kairo for comfort.

Something about his hand in mind felt like it would be a token of safety, but my walls prevent me from doing so.

So I keep to myself as we sit around the table with Kairo on my right and Clarice on my left.

The waiter pours water from a crystal jug and then silently bows away from the table, leaving a silence that’s interrupted when Clarice stands suddenly.

“I see someone Imustspeak to. Be patient.”

Fuzziness fills my chest as if I’ve just been scolded while Clarice sweeps away from our table and vanishes around the Christmas tree, leaving Kairo and me to exchange a glance.