Chapter One

Courtney stood beside her mother as she talked with an older couple she had known for years. It was like any other day in her life—standing next to her motherat one of the functions she hated, being seen and not heard.

It was something her mother cautioned her about so many times over the years after her father had passed away from a heart attack when she was thirteen. She was to stand as a beautiful mannequin but nothing else.

His death had been a huge blow to the family, and her life had changed from a fun-loving little girl into a figure her mother had turned her into. Her mother’s obsession was making her the perfect little daughter, one that wouldn’t embarrass her and help the older woman climb the ladder in social groups.

Courtney’s father hadn’t wasted time on what he called nonsense. He didn’t care if he was friends with the Fitzgeralds, Hammonds, orRoosevelts in their community. Her mother had been almost giddy when her husband died, and she could finally be involved with them.

The fact that her mother hadn’t so much as grieved when her husband died made Courtney angry.

Courtney looked around the huge room, where at least a hundred people stood, sat, or danced. The people she knew in the room were snooty and cold, and Courtney could think of twenty other things she’d rather be doing than attending this fundraiser.

She glanced down at herself and sighed. Her mother had dressed her in a shimmery blue gown. Courtney thought it was too tight in the chest, but her mother waved her comment away.

Courtney knew she had large breasts, and the gown didn’t seem to fit with her very slim body, and she hated drawing attention to them.

A waiter walked by with a tray of appetizers, and she wanted to grab a few because she was so hungry. She could feel the hollowness in her stomach and should be used to it since her mother hadn’t let her have a full meal, absolutely no sweets or junk food since her father had died. She had to have the perfect figure.

Her mother wanted her to look perfect, and Courtney hated it. She wanted to be able to go outside in the sun, but her mother didn’t want her to lose the alabaster skin, which Courtney would call deathly pale. The fact she used to freckle made her mother even more uptight about the sun.

When her mother mentioned plastic surgery to make her cheekbones more prominent and a dimple put into her chin, Courtney lost it. It was one of only a few times she’d rebelled against her mother, and although it made her mother furious, Courtney stood firm.

Her mother patted her arm to get her attention.

“Dear, you know the Suttons, but I don’t think you’ve met their son, Neil.”

Courtney shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Neil stared at her. “Hell, Father, you told me she was pretty, but she’s gorgeous.”

Courtney saw the pleased look on her mother’s face and the hopeful one on the older couple. She just didn’t understand why they seemed so happy.

“Would you like to dance?” Neil asked, pulling her toward the dance floor without waiting for an answer.

Courtney looked back at her mother to see the huge, excited look and how all three talked enthusiastically as they stared at them.

The emotions were not only confusing her, she was also starting to feel sick about the situation. Neil pulled her tightly against his chest, making her extremely uncomfortable.

“Sir, please. You’re holding me too tight,” Courtney said.

Instead of giving her space, he tightened his grip and grinned.

“It’s fine, dear. You really are beautiful, and you dance very well. My parents told me so much about you and so far, you’re surpassing my expectations.”

Courtney stopped struggling to get free from his tight hold. “What are you talking about?”

Neil chuckled. “You haven’t heard about our engagement?”

Courtney felt her stomach twist into a knot. “Whose engagement?”

Neil laughed out loud. “Ours. I had to agree to it once I met you.”

She shook her head. “No.”

Neil nodded. “Yes. Our parents are making the final decisions about our future.”

No! God. She couldn’t imagine what her mother was thinking. The thought of marrying this stranger made her physically sick. Not that he wasn’t handsome in a preppy kind of way. His body was slim and only a few inches taller than hers. His skin was as pale as her own, and his hands were soft and clammy. She felt no attraction to him at all.

But it was the lust-filled look with a touch of malicious intent in his eyes that scared her. She wondered if she was imagining it, but he couldn’t seem to hide the cool, cruel, remote darkness in his eyes.

She almost gagged when she felt what she guessed was his hard cock against her pubic area. She tried to put some space between them again, but he just tightened his hold. She knew he was purposely grinding his cock against her, and she gritted her teeth to keep from yelling at him.

When she couldn’t go for another moment, she stopped moving. “I need to use the restroom.”

He looked disappointed but led her off the dance floor.

“You don’t need to take me there, “ she told him when he kept his grip on her.

She could tell he wasn’t pleased by that, but it was too bad. If she had her way, she would never see him again.

Courtney walked on, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Once in the bathroom, she flattened her hands on the counter, leaned toward the mirror, and stared at herself. She couldn’t help but notice the blatant desperation in her expression.

The door behind her opened, and four young women walked in, giggling and talking. All four of them stopped and stared at her as she turned to face them.

One of them came to her, took her hands, and squeezed. “What’s wrong?”

Courtney didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t remember talking to other young women, and these seemed to be as sweet as could be.

Courtney looked back and forth. “Oh, well…”

Another of the women came to her and wrapped an arm around her waist.

“My name is Brylee, and the other ones are Larkin, Sienna, and Nia. What’s yours?”

“It’s Courtney.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Brylee said. “Now that we’re friends, you can tell us what’s wrong, and maybe we can help.”

Courtney felt her throat swell with emotions. “It’s my mother. I think she is going to make me marry a man, and he’s awful,” Courtney said.

The women gasped.

“God, what are you going to do?” Sienna said.

Courtney sniffed. “I don’t know.”

“How old are you?” Larkin asked.

“Twenty-three,” Courtney said.

Sienna looked at Larkin. “What should we do? We can’t let her get married to an awful man.”

Courtney looked on as the four girls talked about how to save her.

“Okay, I’ve got it,” Brylee said. “We’ll give you our phone numbers. We want you to call if or when you need us to come get you.”

“You would do that for me?” Courtney asked.

They all nodded and smiled.

“What will happen when you pick me up?” Courtney knew it wasn’t a matter of if but when because she knew her mother would try to make her marry that man.

“We’ll hide you at my house,” Larkin said. “It will give us some time to come up with a plan. If we can get you away from your mother, we have time for the rest.”

A wave of hope built in her. Could this really happen? Could she get away from her mother once and for all? It was something she dreamed about for years.

Courtney still loved her mother, but she knew it was the mother she had when her father was alive, not the one who turned into the selfish, controlling, greedy, and obsessive woman she was now.

“Yes,” Courtney said. “I’m so glad we met. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“Now we never need to know,” Brylee said.

Larkin was writing down her number and handed it to her. “I always have my phone on me except when I’m asleep.”

Courtney tucked it into her bra. “Thank you, guys, so much.”

“That’s what friends do,” Nia said.

Before Courtney could say anything else, the bathroom door opened and her mother stood there scowling at her.

“What is taking you so long, Dear?” Diana, her mother, said.

“I was on my way out and met these girls. It was nice meeting you,” she said and walked to her mother.

Once the door closed, her mother grabbed her arm. Courtney gasped and cringed. “Mother, you’re hurting me.”

“I don’t want you talking to trash like that,” Diana said.

“How can you say that? You don’t know them.”

“I do know it because I’ve seen them before at these functions. The group of girls are always bubbly, and they hang off some men obnoxiously. I don’t know who they are, and I never see them anywhere else. Did you see the way they were dressed, for God’s sake?”

Courtney shrugged. “I don’t know. We didn’t talk that long.”

Her mother relaxed. “Good. Now, let’s get back. People are waiting for us.”

“Who is?”

Diana paused. “Friends of mine.”

“It’s not that man I danced with, is it?”

The way her mother’s face tightened told her it was.

“You will be nice to them. The Suttons are very rich and are considered part of the city’s elite. This is what I’ve been working for so many years.”

Courtney gritted her teeth. God, she really was going to make her marry a stranger. “What about what I want? Does my happiness not mean anything to you?”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” her mother hissed.

“Dramatic? This is my life you’re destroying.”

Her mother rolled her eyes. “Stop it. I’m making sure you never have to worry about money again.”

“My father already made that possible. We never have to think about money because of all his hard work.”

“How do you know what we have?” Diana asked suspiciously.

Courtney backpedaled. She didn’t want her mother to know her father had sat Courtney down several times and told her about his plan for her future. Courtney knew she received eighty percent of his will and her mother twenty percent, which was more than enough for her mother to live on for three lifetimes. It just never seemed enough.

Courtney had known from her mother’s demeanor after the will was read that she was not happy with what she received. Courtney hadn’t been allowed into the office, but she’d already known what it said.

“We’ll talk more about this later,” her mother said.

Courtney opened her mouth, but it snapped shut when her new friends walked out of the bathroom. She waited until her mother turned her back to smile and nod.

They nodded, andone of them winked but otherwise ignored her, for which she was thankful. She really hoped they hadn’t heard the way her mother insulted them, but she would apologize when she saw them next time.

Courtney followed her mother back into the ballroom. Her stomach twisted in disgust when Neil grabbed onto her arm, and it stayed there for the rest of the night. At least she was able to keep from dancing with him again.