26. Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Five

Ronan

I ’m holding a neat scotch that I haven’t touched all night. Quite the opposite to my very inebriated fiancée. This is her sixth or seventh dirty martini, and it shows. I’m not sure why she feels so untouchable. Maybe because she is engaged to a Putnam, or maybe it’s because she’s a Williams. Elder family or not, there is no room for embarrassment in the Brethren, and she is most definitely an embarrassment.

Annie tries to stand up straight but ends up crashing into me, her drink spilling over her glass as she giggles.

“Ooopsies. Sorry, fiancéééé,” she drags out, giggling once more.

I swear to Christ, I’ve never met anyone that giggles as much as this woman. She knocks back her glass before signaling one of the servers. I catch her hand, though, lowering it to her side.

“That’s enough,” I say lowly.

“Pfft, I’ve only had two.” She defends.

“No, you’ve had six, possibly seven. You’re drunk, sloppy, and embarrassing me and your family. Go to the bathroom, sober up, and come out like the respectable woman you are expected to be,” I snap before shoving her away from me.

Hurt flashes in her eyes, but I really don’t give a fuck. In the small increments of time I’ve spent with Annie Williams, I’ve learned several things. She’s extremely self-centered, her condescension knows no bounds, and she’s honestly just a fucking bitch.

“Move!” she snaps at a woman and man in front of her, shoving the woman several feet away.

See? Bitch.

My eyes scan the room, in search of that beautiful head of blonde hair and those piercing green eyes. I don’t doubt she’ll be here. It would look bad for her and Asher if they didn’t. After all, we’re family. If they don’t arrive soon, people will talk, and Christopher will not be happy about that.

Speaking of Satan himself, he slithers across the room, holding out his hand for me to shake as if we aren’t fucking blood.

“Ronan, congratulations,” he says with a head nod.

“Thank you,” I say stiffly.

Christopher’s eyes roam over the crowd before he faces me.

“Where has your fiancée run off to?”

“Bathroom,” I say curtly.

He nods. “And my son? Have you seen him?”

“No, not yet. I’m sure he’ll be along,” I say as my eyes come to Liam.

His gaze has come to my own a few times, hardened and judgmental as he looks away to focus on what his mother is saying. I catch Wesley’s eye in the corner. He’s laughing and schmoozing with a group of people when his smile falls away. A look of indignation crosses his face as he shakes his head and looks away.

It’s obvious why they’re upset with me. If the roles were reversed, I’m sure I’d feel the same. They don’t get it, though. They should, but for some reason they don’t. The party wasn’t supposed to be for another two weeks. Christopher only informed me of the date being moved up this morning after I left Skyla in the pool. I planned to talk to her at lunch, but of fucking course, Annie had to beat her to it. The way I wanted to snap her thin fucking neck when she smiled and sneered in Skyla’s face. And the heartbreak that etched across my sweet girl’s face…it’s an image I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to remove from my mind.

As if I conjured her from my thoughts alone, the doors open, and Skyla appears. She’s wearing a white fur shawl and a blood red gown that looks absolutely breathtaking on her. Asher is by her side, her arm tucked into his as he escorts her through the room.

“Finally,” Christopher mutters before waving Asher towards us.

He nods his acknowledgment, sending me a brief but scathing look while Skyla looks anywhere but at me. They stop a few feet short of us, Asher holding out his hand to my brother first.

“Father,” he greets before turning to me. “Ronan, congratulations.”

“Thank you,” I say numbly while Christopher takes Skyla’s hand, kissing the back of it as his eyes roam over her.

Her hair is in an updo, wrapped up with a sparkly hair piece holding it together. Her lips are the same blood red as her dress, and her eyes have a shimmery shadow on them that make those green gems absolutely pop.

“My darling daughter, you look absolutely breathtaking,” he says as he pulls her from Asher’s grasp, forcing her to do a spin.

I notice the way Asher’s hand flexes, like he’s trying to reach for her before he closes his fist by his side.

“You must honor me with a dance,” he says, dragging Skyla to the dance floor.

She casts an uneasy glance to Asher but makes sure to smile and nod.

“I’d be honored.”

They stop in the middle of the room, my brother’s hand resting far too low for my liking on her back as he begins leading her through a waltz. She twirls around the room effortlessly. Everyone can’t help but to watch her. She has this presence about her that forces you to pay attention, whether you want to or not.

“Where is your bitch fiancée?” Asher asks, keeping his eyes on Skyla and his father.

“Bathroom trying to sober up,” I say blandly.

Asher huffs. “Trading Skyla for a boozehound. Nicely done.”

My head whips to him, lowering my voice as I do.

“I haven’t traded Skyla for anyone. You know as well as I this is nothing more than a business transaction.”

His head turns to face me, an unimpressed look on his face.

“Maybe to you. Not to her,” he says as he points to the bathroom. “Most certainly not to her.” He nods towards Skyla, who is putting on the show of her life.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was enjoying her time with Christopher. My eyes never leave her, I’m practically willing her to look at me, just for a second. She doesn’t, though. She’s perfected the art of pretending I don’t exist at all.

“You should have told her,” Asher said with a shake of his head. “Warned her.”

“It was sprung on me. I ran out of time. I was planning to—”

“Yeah, well, your plan went to shit. I didn’t see you picking her up off the ground, holding her while she cried over this fucking joke,” he says, glaring at the elaborately decorated party. No doubt all Annie’s doing.

My heart aches to hear how hurt Skyla was today, how hurt she no doubt is now. I wish I could steal a moment with her, reassure her that she is my everything. That no one will ever take her place. It’s not ideal, but it’s the world we live in. I will have to marry Annie Williams, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop loving Skyla, that I’ll stop seeing her. If she’ll have me. It’s complicated, but doable. If she wants it too.

“Will you distract Annie for me? I want to talk to Skyla,” I say as I spot Annie making her way towards us, looking a hell of a lot more put together than she was before. Not sure how she managed that, but I don’t really care.

Asher snorts condescendingly as he looks to me out of the corner of his eye.

“You’re fucking delusional. You’ve already made her cry enough for one day, for a lifetime. Stay the fuck away from my wife,” he seethes as the song ends, and he weaves through the crowd to collect Skyla.

A white manicured hand slides up my arm, digging in as she forces my attention to her.

“Better?” she asks.

My eyes roam over her out of obligation as I give a stiff nod. She seems to preen under my approval, which is fucked up since I didn’t even give her so much as a compliment. My indifference must be all she needs to feel valued. Poor girl has no idea what it’s like to truly be appreciated. Or maybe she doesn’t care either way.

I notice the moment she sees Skyla. Her mouth purses and her eyebrows raise as her eyes roam over Skyla from top to bottom. My shoulder pushes into hers, reminding her to fix her face, and like the good little daughter of the Brethren, she does.

“So good to see you. Thank you for coming to celebrate us.” She smiles at Skyla, resting her head against my chest.

Skyla’s eyes remain on her, a perfectly practiced smile on her face as she nods.

“We wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Are you having a good evening?”

“The best. How could I not with this amazing man by my side?” Annie says as she looks up at me, batting her eyelashes dramatically.

“We’re so happy to have you join the family, Annie.” Christopher smiles, that wolfish grin spreading across his face.

She smiles demurely at him, though you’d have to be stupid not to clock the suggestive gaze she gives him in return. Maybe she’ll decide to hell with me and go for my brother instead. It would save me a lot of pain and heartache if she did.

“I couldn’t imagine life getting any more perfect now,” she says, winding her arms around my neck and dragging my mouth to hers.

I resist for a moment but remember all of the eyes on me. The one pair I care about most is reason enough to rip myself away, but I know it’s not the right move.

Skyla, forgive me.

Annie’s lips are thin and cold. She presses our faces close together to the point where it’s uncomfortable. A turning in my stomach spreads to every inch of my body, and when she finally allows me to pull away, I discreetly wipe my mouth.

However, when I look up, I see Asher watching with unrestrained rage, Christopher with approval, and Skyla gone. My head whips around to see the hem of her dress slipping around the corner. I feel myself take a step towards her before I take a breath. Chasing after your nephew’s wife at your engagement party is the exact thing I shouldn’t be doing. So, I find an out.

“Annie, have you been given a tour of the art room at the manor?” I ask, knowing it’s one of Christopher’s favorite things to boast about.

Predictably so, his face lights up, and he slides up beside her.

“I’d be happy to show you. The Putnam family has been collecting for over three hundred and fifty years.”

She gives me a tight smile before it melts into something more convincing, her arm slipping in the crook of Christopher’s.

“I’d be delighted.”

“This way, beautiful,” he says, his eyes taking extra time on her cleavage as he leads her up the stairs and down the hall.

As soon as they are out of sight, I head after Skyla. I only make it a few steps before Asher catches my arm.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

“I need to talk to her,” I say.

“No, you need to leave her the fuck alone. Don’t you see how hard this is for her? You chasing after her is only going to make it worse.”

I shake my head. “I need to apologize, Asher. Explain…I don’t know. I have to do something.”

Asher stares at me for several seconds before letting go of my arm reluctantly. It’s not exactly his acceptance, but I know it’s the closest I’ll get from him. Turning around the corner Skyla disappeared behind, I peek my head in each room as I pass by, all coming up empty.

When I come to the back door, I hesitate for a moment before looking outside. My feet move across the concrete patio, the rustling of the maze bushes catching my attention.

Of course.

I make quick work of jogging down the stairs to the gardens, entering the maze as I begin weaving in and out of the pathways until I find her. My heart practically seizes in my chest when I see her sitting on the ledge of the fountain; her head hung low, and the soft whimpers of her cries hanging in the night air.

Her head whips up when she hears my footsteps, quickly wiping away her tears as she sniffs.

“What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you,” I say as I come to sit beside her, giving her enough space but allowing myself to be close enough that she could reach me if she wanted to.

“This is your engagement party, Ronan. You should be inside with your fiancée,” she says bitterly.

I nod. “If I remember correctly, you and I seem to have a habit of spending engagement parties in the gardens instead.”

Her mouth twitches in what could be a smile or a frown, I’m not too sure, before she shakes her head.

“Just go. Please. I can’t be in there, smiling like I’m alright. Watching her dig her fucking claws into you, kissing her. Do you have any idea what that did to me?” she chokes out, clearly holding back a sob as she does.

I swallow roughly, my hands aching to reach for her.

“I’m sorry, baby. I never want to hurt you. We all have a part to play here. Trust me, I’d rather spend any amount of time with anyone else. She’s vile and conniving and—”

“Your future wife. You’ll be married soon and have vile and conniving babies,” she finishes.

I grimace at that and shake my head.

“I don’t want that,” I say lowly.

“You don’t have a choice, though, right? ‘We all have a part to play,’” she says, using air quotes as she does.

“If I could do something, anything, you know I would, right?” I ask.

She’s silent, and it fills me with an insurmountable level of panic.

“Baby,” I say as I reach for her hand, gripping it like she’ll be ripped away from me any minute. “Please, believe me.”

“I believe you,” she says, her voice soft and thick with tears. “It doesn’t change anything, though. I’ve lost you, and I…I just…I—”

A growl tears through my chest, anger and pain mixing inside me as I yank her over to me. She barely has enough time to catch herself, her legs forced to straddle me as my hand goes up her dress, bunching it up around her hips.

“Ronan,” she gasps as I pull my cock out through my slacks and push her panties to the side before sliding into her.

Her moan is louder than it should be, but I thrust into her deeper, craving another.

“Ohhh,” she shouts, as I do it again and again, savagely fucking her as rough as I can.

“You haven’t lost me. I haven’t lost you. You can’t quit me, baby. You understand? You’re mine, and I’m yours. We will never not belong to one another, okay?” I punctuate with another sharp thrust.

“Fuckkk,” she moans.

“She doesn’t mean shit. You’re everything, Skyla, absolutely fucking everything,” I groan as her pussy pulses around me.

“I hate her,” she cries, a tear rolling down her cheeks as she bounces on my cock.

“Me too, baby. Me too.”

“You’re mine. She can’t have you,” she moans as her eyes come to mine.

“She never will,” I promise. “Not in a way that counts. Not in the way you do.”

She nods her head, milking the cum out of me with her groans and whimpers.

“Fuck, baby. Ride daddy’s cock. Show me how much you love daddy.”

“So much,” she mutters.

“I know. I love you, baby. Forever.”

Another tear rolls down her face, and I catch it with my tongue, running a long line up her cheek before pressing my lips to hers. I feel her body shake, and I feel my own orgasm beginning to build. Our bodies are so in tune with one another, so connected. There is no way anyone could stand a chance at comparing to Skyla. To think otherwise is just plain idiocy.

“Ronan, Ronan, Ronan,” she shouts as her orgasm takes over her.

Her movements fall out of rhythm as her legs shake and her back arches. I curse under my breath as my cock floods her pussy. I fuck her deeper than before, intent on pushing my cum further and further into her before our movements still all together.

She rests her head against my shoulder, letting out a shuddering breath as she sighs.

“We’ll get through this together,” I say. “Okay, baby?”

Skyla doesn’t respond, concern weighing heavily inside me as she slowly lifts herself from me. I watch her adjust her dress, wincing as she takes a step. No doubt she feels uncomfortably full, my cum leaking down her legs.

“Asher and I are going to leave. I know that you don’t love her, but I can’t pretend to sit back and smile and be happy for you. Even for show.”

My mouth stays in a flat line, and I nod my understanding as she turns on her heel and slips out of the garden. I sit there for several seconds, running my hands through my hair. I wonder how the fuck I’m going to go back in there and pretend that everything is alright, let alone marry a woman that I can’t fucking stand, knowing that it’s breaking the only person that means anything to me in this life.