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ADAM

O nce 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 place that bid. 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 in that dress. 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.

She was 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?”

She glanced around the rose exhibition. “We had our engagement party here. It was a beautiful evening.”

Yeah, one that had triggered my twin brother because this was where he’d chosen to propose to Emery before he disappeared. At the time, I’d believed Victoria hadn’t meant to hurt Lex and simply wanted to have our party in a beautiful setting.

The thought that I’d trusted her so much that I’d believed everything she said, only for her to do what she did to me and my family, made me sick to my stomach.

“I’m not here to reminisce. What do you want, Victoria? “

“I want to talk,” she said finally, her gaze settling back on me.

“Talk?” I laughed. “And you chose now? In the middle of a public setting? A charity event?” I couldn’t keep the incredulity from seeping into my tone. “Couldn’t you have called me? Set up a meeting somewhere…private?”

She tucked a non-existent stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Would you have answered, Adam?”

I exhaled, a slow release of the tension that had built since I’d had to stand on top of a chair to tell our families she was gone. She knew me well enough to know the answer.

“Exactly,” she whispered.

“Where have you been, Victoria?” My voice found its footing, firmer this time, laced with a quiet demand for long-overdue answers.

“I’ve been away,” she said at last. “Thinking about life…about some of the things I did. The decisions we sometimes make that can affect other people’s lives.”

The air between us became charged, every unspoken accusation crackling in the silence. I folded my arms across my chest. “Like abandoning the man you supposedly loved on your wedding day,” I said, the words falling like lead between us, “and leaving him to deal with the fallout.”

Victoria’s eyes, once warm and familiar, now held a cool distance. “I’ve transferred the money for the wedding expenses to your account,” she announced, her voice steadier than I expected. The revelation should have brought some sense of justice, a settling of scores, but instead, it felt hollow. “And I’ve matched that with a donation to Star Finders,” she continued. Was this some hollow attempt at atonement? “I know it won’t absolve me of what I did, but it’s a start to making things right.”

A multitude of responses built on the tip of my tongue: anger, sarcasm, maybe even gratitude for the gesture, but they all fell away, unsaid.

The stillness of the room was broken by the soft tread of approaching footsteps.

River’s sudden presence eased the tension brought on by Victoria.

“Adam?” His voice held a note of concern. He stood there, his eyes searching mine, a silent question hovering between us. “Are you okay?”

The words were simple, but they carried the weight of our years of friendship, every shared secret, every quiet moment of understanding. Only weeks ago, that question had become a stone in my shoe. Everyone wanted to know how Adam Spencer was coping with the tragedy of being jilted on his wedding day.

I’d grown to hate the question because there was only one acceptable and expected answer. I managed a smile. “I’m fine, River,” I assured him, though “fine” felt like a foreign concept.

River’s gaze didn’t waver. He knew me too well.

I wanted to reach out to him, take his hand, wrap myself around him, and feel peace again. Confrontation wasn’t something I reveled in, and being surprised by Victoria like this left me feeling disconcerted.

Victoria’s gaze flickered between River and me, the air crackling with her sudden shift in demeanor. “Oh. My. God. You two are fucking, aren’t you?” The words slithered out of her mouth, venomous and sharp. “I knew it,” she spat, eyes narrowing with a triumph that made my skin crawl. “All the time you spent together. I always suspected there was something…off. Best friends, my ass.”

River stood beside me, his calm exterior showing nothing of what he might be feeling inside.

“Did you plan this all along, River? Waiting in the wings like some pathetic vulture, ready to swoop in the moment my back was turned?” she continued.

“Victoria, stop,” I interjected, but she barreled on, relentless.

“Or did you seduce him? Take advantage of his vulnerability?” She stepped closer to River, who held his ground despite the onslaught. “How does it feel to be someone’s second choice?”

Each word Victoria hurled felt like a blow, and I could see the muscles in River’s jaw tense. He exhaled slowly, a measured breath of restraint, but his silence was louder than any defense he could have offered.

“Enough, Victoria,” I said, stepping in front of River. Her words might have been aimed at him, but they pierced me just as deeply.

She lifted her chin in defiance. “I guess I have all I needed from tonight.” She stormed away, her dress swishing as she moved, never losing her poise.

It took a moment for my blood pressure to return to a semi-normal level before it shot up again.

“River,” I said, “she’s going to tell everyone. Spin it into some twisted tale.”

As the thought formed in my head, a knot formed in my throat with the realization of how quickly she could unravel us.

All the times we innocently hung out at his place watching a game. Or when we went to Tanner’s with my brothers. She could even spin those late nights I worked alone in the office.

I reached for him, finding relief in his familiar gaze. Our lips met, and for a fleeting moment, the world around us ceased to exist.

“Adam,” he whispered against my mouth, pulling back just enough to meet my gaze. “I don’t care what she says. You and I know our truth. That’s all that matters.”

I wanted to believe that, but with the blinders off, I could no longer make excuses for Victoria. She would do this out of spite, and suddenly, I would no longer be the jilted groom. I’d be the cheater she finally found the courage to leave.

Wasn’t she brave? It must have been heartbreaking to find out her fiancé was cheating on her. And with a man, nonetheless.

That’s what people would say.

I couldn’t let her ruin our reputations. “I have to go after her, River. I can’t let her control the narrative. This is our story.” My hands lingered on his arms, tracing the outlines of his tattoos under his rolled-up sleeves.

“Go.” He nodded, a gentle firmness in his tone. “But, Adam, remember we’re more than whatever she—or anyone else—says.”

“Thank you,” I said, gratitude lacing my voice. With one last look at him, I promised, “I’ll see you at home later.”

“You better.”

Then, I turned on my heel and ran toward the parking lot, determined to catch Victoria before she could weave her web of lies.