Page 77 of The Best Man's Secret

“Check the cafeteria kitchen. We’re using their fridge for extras since they’re closed. If we’ve really run out, pick something else.”

When I turned back toward Adam and Victoria, all I saw was the red of her dress as she left through a side door.

I scanned the room, looking for Adam, but I couldn’t find him.

“Aren’t you going after them?” Noah asked, appearing out of nowhere.

“I…” I was as frozen in my spot as Adam had been on stage earlier.

“You have to go,” Emery said.

“What if they?—”

“No.” Noah cut me off. “This is not the time to go back to the sidelines. We’ve watched you do that all your life. Adam belongs with you, not that broomstick-less witch.”

“Please, River,” Lex pleaded.

It’s not that I didn’t want to go, but between seeing the pain in Adam’s eyes when he saw Victoria and witnessing her overbearing display of confidence, I’d lost all of mine.

Noah shook me. “Either you go or I will, and we both know that won’t end well.”

“And you think it’ll end better if I go in?” I laughed.

“Yeah, you won’t commit actual murder.”

I stared at the door they’d walked through and then remembered the fear and sadness in Adam’s eyes. My feet moved before my brain caught up.

30

ADAM

Once I got past the shock that held me hostage while I was on stage with hundreds of eyes on me, it was a different emotion that got me moving.

Rage.

How dare Victoria show up now, today of all days, and placethatbid. The number meant nothing to everyone in the audience, but for me, it was the final twist of the knife in my back.

I’d hesitated for a fraction of a second, watching Victoria detach herself from the crowd. The way she moved, with choreographed grace and every step measured, was achingly familiar.

With a deep breath that did little to ease the tightness in my chest, I’d followed her. I’d taken a quick glance at River but couldn’t keep my eyes on him because if he’d met mine, it would have been too tempting to ask for his support.

He’d been there for me when I needed him the most, and now he was more important to me than ever, which was why I needed to do this on my own. If nothing else, I’d prove to myself that I was truly over Victoria.

Besides, this was between Victoria and me.

As the door closed behind us, the murmur of guests and clinking glasses fell into a hush. The safety of River and my brothers’ support was on the other side of the heavy door.

I stopped by a cluster of blooms. The roses, so beautiful and delicate with their calming scent, could also draw blood with their thorns. That was Victoria. And inthatdress. The one she’d spent months telling me about until I bought it for her. The one she’d planned on wearing the evening of our wedding day. She looked…deadly.

Shewas as much a thorny rose as the displays around us.

Looking into her eyes, I searched for the woman I thought I knew, but in that moment, standing before her, it struck me. We were strangers, with nothing but memories to suggest we’d once been more.

“Victoria,” I said, surprised at how steady my voice sounded.

“Adam,” she replied, her voice soft, confident and poised.

“Why are you here?”