Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Walking up the path toward my foster parents’ front door, I blinked my watery eyes. God, I felt like shit. I’d woken with a bitch of a hangover from my girls’ night in. Even though I’d taken pain relief pills three times during the day, my head hadn’t stopped throbbing until an hour or so ago.

Hanna had thrown the get-together at her house last night and invited both Ashley and Melinda. Wyatt had insisted on coming, saying he felt “left out.” As I’d anticipated a simple evening of drinking wine, watching movies, and having fun, I’d said he was welcome to stay.

If I’d known it was a lingerie party, I’d have urged him to stay home. Hanna, the minx, didn’t warn him or anyone else. He’d gotten the surprise of his life when a woman entered the house with a rack of sexy lingerie and an array of sex toys. He’d left so fast I was surprised his shoes didn’t leave skid marks on the floor.

We’d had a ball—ate, drank, laughed, and sifted through the lingerie and sex toys. Dane had picked me up afterward, refusing to let me get a taxi home. Then he’d fucked me silly in bed. All in all, it had been a good night.

Melinda had texted me earlier, asking me to pop in on my way home from work. She hadn’t said why, but she had assured me that nothing was wrong. Hoping that was true, I used my key to open the door and called out her name.

Moments later, she walked into the hallway and beamed at me. “Hi, sweetheart.” Her brow creased. “Dane isn’t with you?”

“He’s at a meeting, but it’ll finish soon. Sam’s gone to collect him. He’ll bring Dane straight here.”

Junior came rushing out of the living area with a playful battle cry and hugged my leg. “Did you bring your new cat?”

Smiling, I ruffled his hair. “Can’t. She’d probably claw Ranger. My girl has attitude in spades.”

He pouted and released my leg. “I want to see her.”

“I’ll bring her to visit one day. Promise.”

“How is Blue?” Melinda asked as we strolled into the living area.

“Oh, fine,” I replied. “She’s all about Dane, though.”

Her mouth quirked. “I noticed that when we visited you Monday evening. He doesn’t seem to know what to do with all that feline affection.”

“He grumbles about her, but he likes her. I can tell.” I’d worked from home Monday and Tuesday so that Blue wouldn’t be alone in the house. But she was never completely alone anyway. The cleaning crew came daily, and the women fussed over her.

Blue never sought company, though. Unless it was Dane. She adored him and constantly rubbed herself all over him. She had purred for me, though. A little. Once.

Wyatt looked up from the armchair. “Hey, honey. Damn, you look rough.”

I gave him a dirty look. “And you no longer look crimson at the sight of all the lingerie,” I whispered, conscious of Junior, despite him wearing headphones while playing on his tablet on the sofa.

Wyatt glowered. “Hanna could have warned me.”

Melinda snickered and raised her brows at me. “Coffee? Tea?”

I flapped my hand. “I’m good, thanks.” Honestly, my stomach still felt a little queasy from the hangover.

Melinda gestured for me to follow her through the arch that led to the dining area and urged me to sit at the table. She crossed to her computer desk and rifled through one of the drawers. She pulled out a small, white box and then turned to me. “So, I called you here because … I was going to give you this on Monday evening, but I thought it would be better if we were alone.”

Intrigued, I sat up straighter. “Okay.”

She took the seat beside me at the table. “I know you have your old, new, borrowed, and blue covered, but … well, I was hoping you’d maybe still clip this to your bouquet for the reception, or maybe clip it to your clutch.”

“What is it?”

“See for yourself.”

I took the box from her and carefully pulled off the lid. My lips parted. Inside was a large safety-pin on which four small charms had been hooked—a sixpence, a horseshoe, a blue heart, and a photo frame that featured a picture of Simon holding me when I was a baby.

Feeling my throat thicken, I looked at her. “Melinda … thank you.”

“I was inspired by something my friend did for her daughter.” She bit her lower lip. “I’m sorry that I’ve been a little stiff with Dane since Travis told me about the trust fund. I just … I was so afraid of you getting hurt, and I made the whole thing about me. I shouldn’t have, and I’m sorry. I’ve been watching you two together and … he loves you, Vienna. It’s in everything he says and does for you. That’s what’s important.”

He loves you, Vienna. How I wished that were true. Keeping my smile on my face by sheer force of will, I closed the box and said, “Thank you. I’ll most definitely clip it to my bouquet. Did Simon give you the picture of us?”

She nodded. “He thought the safety pin was a great idea. He’s really looking forward to the reception. Are the plans for it still going well?”

“Yep. I couldn’t have done it without Chris and Miley, though. I’m glad Dane hired them.”

“They are very good at—” She cut off when Wyatt yelled at the TV—or, more precisely, at the football players on the screen. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Melinda muttered. “Wyatt, can you keep it down?”

Wyatt leaned around his chair to scowl at her through the arch. “Can’t a man watch a game in peace anymore?” he griped.

Melinda rolled her eyes. “It won’t kill you to lower the volume and stop yelling.”

Just then, the front door opened. And since only one other person had a front door key to their house, it was no surprise when Heather breezed into the living room. But the sight of Owen trailing behind her? Yeah, that was new.

Heather said a brief hello to Junior, who gave her a quick wave and went back to his tablet.

Wyatt, looking kind of puzzled by my ex’s presence, flicked a concerned look at me. I hadn’t told my foster parents about what an ass the guy had been since I’d first begun “dating” Dane, but they did know how Owen had broken our engagement all those years ago.

Melinda’s brow furrowed. “Owen, is that you?”

He smiled. “It’s me. How are you?”

“I’m well, thanks,” she told him, casting me a brief worried glance.

His gaze cut to me. “Hi, Vee.”

Heather puffed out a breath. “I didn’t realize you were here, Vienna. Well, this is awkward. Then again, it’s probably best that you hear it from us anyway.” She briefly glanced at Junior, who still had his headphones on and was tapping the screen of his tablet like crazy. “Um, Owen and I are dating now,” she told me.

Melinda stiffened. Wyatt cursed beneath his breath. And I knew they’d both toss him out of the house if I gave them the slightest indication that I wanted him gone. Pfft. Like I’d give either Heather or Owen that satisfaction.

I smiled at her. “Good.”

She stared at me for a long moment. “Good?”

“Well, I was hoping there’d come a day when you’d date a guy who wasn’t taken,” I said. “That day has finally arrived.”

She blinked. “It … really doesn’t bother you?”

I lifted my shoulders. “Why would it?”

“Well, you guys were engaged at one time.”

“That was a long time ago. He and I have both moved on. I’m mean, I’m kind of married now,” I reminded her.

Her mouth opened and closed a few times. “I’m glad to hear it’s not a problem for you.”

Hmm, I doubted that. I turned to Melinda. “Thank you so much for this,” I said, tucking the box into my purse. “I absolutely love it.”

“What is it?” asked Heather, frowning.

“A bridal charm,” I replied, to which Heather made a weird face. Whatever.

Melinda quickly pulled me into a conversation about idle shit. Wyatt did the same with Heather and Owen in the living area, as if to keep me and the terrible twosome from engaging any further. That suited me just fine. Heather did still try to get my attention a time or two, but Wyatt distracted her fast.

Hearing my phone ring, I fished it out of my purse. Chris. He often called when he wanted to run something by me. As I didn’t wish to have a conversation about the details of the reception in front of Frick and Frack, I pushed out of my chair and told Melinda, “I’ve got to take this. I’ll just be a minute.”

I went into the kitchen as I answered, “Hello?”

“Darling, sorry to bother you, I just wanted to coordinate with you on a few points,” said Chris.

“No problem,” I told him.

Seeing Ranger scratching at the back door, I let him out and followed him into the yard as I talked with Chris. It was a few minutes before, satisfied with my responses, he rang off. I turned to head back inside the house and saw that Owen stood in the doorway.

His arms folded, he stepped onto the deck. “I always knew you had a good poker face, Vee, but I didn’t realize how good an actress you were until just now.”

I tipped my head to the side. “Excuse me?”

“You didn’t even flinch when Heather told you about me and her. You took that news far too well.”

“How did you think I’d take it?”

He snapped his mouth shut, as if to bite back words. “You didn’t even look shocked.”

“Oh, it was a surprise, given that you always claimed you hated her, but it’s not a bad surprise. If you make each other happy, that can only be a good thing for both of you.”

“I’m not buying that you’re really so blasé about this. I’m not just some ex. We’ve known each other a long time. We were friends, lovers, engaged. We have a lot of history.”

“Yes, history. That’s all.” I narrowed my eyes. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you wantedme to feel hurt. But that can’t be the case, can it? You wouldn’t really do that to someone with our ‘history,’ would you?”

His nostrils flared. “Why him, Vee? Why, of all the people in the fucking world, would you marry Davenport?”

I felt like groaning. “Owen, will you just let it go.”

His brows flew up. “Let it go?” he echoed, crossing to me and standing far too close. “I could have handled losing you to someone who’d be good to you; who’d love and adore you and give you all the things you need and want from life. I could have handled that, because I’d have known that you’d be happy. But Dane Davenport—”

“Is my husband. My husband. I love him. And I’m done listening to you badmouth him. You don’t have to like him. You don’t have to like that I married him. You just have to stop fucking whining about it. Butt out of my life and concentrate on this thing you have with Heather.”

“Fuck Heather.” He lunged and slammed his mouth down on mine.

Anger surged through me in a hot rush. I shoved him back and slapped him hard across the face. “You prick. Don’t you ever touch me again.”

“What the hell is going on here?”

At the sound of Wyatt’s voice, I looked to see him stood in the doorway, his face like thunder. Melinda stood slightly behind him, her mouth agape. Heather was beside her, smirking—not at me, though. No, the bitch was smirking at the person who stood at Wyatt’s side.

“Dane,” I said, my voice low.

He didn’t look at me. His unblinking gaze was locked on Owen, dark with fury. He slowly and fluidly stalked toward him like a panther—a predator closing in on its prey.

Glaring at him, Owen lifted his chin, belligerent. “If you think I’m going to apologize—”

Dane’s fist snapped out and connected with Owen’s jaw hard enough to make him stagger backwards. Damn, that was going to leave one hell of a bruise.

“Bastard,” spat Owen. He balled up his hand and took a clumsy swing at Dane, who easily dodged it and then punched him again. Before Owen could retaliate, Dane dealt him a hard blow to the temple that knocked the shithead right on his ass.

Watching my ex pick himself up off the deck, I winced at the deep cut above his eye. Ouch. He’d need a few stitches for sure. But I wasn’t feeling very sympathetic right then.

“Maybe you should do something, Vienna,” said Melinda, sidling up to me.

I gave my foster mother a helpless shrug. No one with a brain would try to get between Dane Davenport and something he wanted. And right then, what he seemed to want was to pummel my ex-fiancé into the ground.

I would not at all be opposed to that.

Owen had been something of an asshole lately. Today, he’d gone too far. He might not have made himself as problematic as the others who were set on separating Dane and me, but he’d certainly had this coming.

Melinda turned to her husband. “We can’t just stand here.”

“Why not?” asked Wyatt. “Owen should have known better.”

Why yes, yes, he should’ve.

Dane stared the prick down. “I warned you, didn’t I? I warned you time and time again to stay away from her, but you didn’t listen,” he reprimanded, his tone soft. “Worse, you pulled this shit. For someone who claims to care for Vienna, you sure don’t show it.”

Owen clenched his fists. “I do care for her, she’s—”

“Not yours,” Dane finished. “They’re my rings on her finger. It’s my name she’s taken. It’s my bed she shares. She is mine. So whether you care for her or not isn’t fucking relevant.”

Owen swallowed. “She was mine first.”

“And you should have held tight to her. You didn’t. You let her go. That was your mistake.”

“I did what was best for her.”

“No, you did what was best for you. You might have cared for Vienna, but you didn’t put her first. She was never your priority.”

Owen nostrils flared. “I was young back then. A kid.”

“A kid who wanted the space to pursue his ambitions. She gave that to you; she didn’t curse you for it. And how do you repay that? By trying to break up her marriage. You think she’ll thank you for that? That she’ll want someone who’d do that to her?”

My ex’s jaw hardened. “What I think … is that Vienna deserves to be loved. You’ll never love her—you don’t have that in you.”

Those words stabbed me right in the chest … because they were true. Dane didn’t love me. Never had. Never would.

I shouldn’t care. I wasn’t supposed to care. And I definitely didn’t like that I did. But I’d gone and fallen for my fake husband. Yeah, I was that stupid.

Dane sighed. “So you’ve said before. I didn’t care what you thought then; I still don’t care now. You’re of no interest to me. And you’re of no interest to her. You need to man the hell up and accept it, because I won’t have you playing these games with her. You’re going to leave here, and you’re going to stay away from her.”

Owen jutted out his chin. “You don’t get to dictate what I do.”

“When it comes to my wife, I absolutely do.”

“You won’t keep her in the long-run, you know. She’ll see that I’m right about you eventually. Then she’ll leave you.”

Dane tilted his head, looking at him curiously. “Now why would you think I’d let her do a thing like that?”

Owen’s head jerked back. “You can’t force someone to stay with you.”

“Vienna knows I’d never let her go.”

Damn, Dane was so good at acting that if he hadn’t been so clear to me that he didn’t want a real marriage, I might have believed him.

“She’s just a possession to you,” Owen insisted.

“My most prized possession, as it happens,” said Dane. “And I have every intention of keeping her. Deal with it. Accept it. Leave her alone. Get rid of this dream you have of winning her back. It won’t happen.”

“And if I don’t stay away from her?”

Dane’s mouth curved into a cruel, chilling smile that almost made me shiver. “I’ll make you wish you had.”

Owen’s eyes flickered. “She can do better than you. You don’t deserve her.”

“And you think you do? You, who just behaved like a complete asshole, think you deserve her?”

Shame flickered across my ex’s face. “Maybe neither of us do. But—”

“There are no ‘buts.’ You’re mistaken in thinking that you’d be married to her now if you hadn’t messed up. I’d have lured her away from you, even if it took me years. Don’t think for one moment she would be yours if A, B, or C hadn’t happened. I would have made her mine one way or another. You’d be wrong to think I don’t mean that. I’m ruthless in going after what I want. Quit banking on me fucking up and losing her the way you did. I’d never let someone so important to me walk out of my life.”

Owen narrowed his eyes, studying Dane hard. “Son of a bitch, I think you might just actually care for her in your own way.”

Dane’s gaze slid to me, burning with possession, impatience, and something … more. Something that made my pulse quicken and my breath catch. But Owen was wrong. Dane didn’t care for me. There was no way he’d want this marriage to be real. He didn’t even want a girlfriend, let alone a wife … right?

Right, I asserted. Of course he didn’t want more. I knew better than to let myself forget he was simply just playing his part.

“Vienna knows how I feel about her,” he told Owen. “That’s all that matters to me. I don’t give a damn what you think. I just want you to let her be. She’s made it clear that she doesn’t want you in her life. I definitely don’t fucking want you in her life.”

A sly smirk curled Owen’s mouth. “Well, now that I’m with Heather, I’ll be around whether you and Vienna like it or not.”

“No, you won’t,” Wyatt cut in, crossing to us. “If you think I’ll let you use Heather to hurt Vienna, you’re highly mistaken.”

Heather stormed over to her father, her eyes wide. “Wait, you can’t tell me who I can or can’t date.”

Wyatt turned to her, his mouth tight. “You … you’re my daughter, and I love you—I always will. I’ve never agreed with your choices of ‘boyfriends’ over the years. I made that clear to you many times in the beginning, but nothing I said ever got through to you. So I eventually let you be, figuring you’d one day learn from your mistakes. But I won’t let this be. You’re using Owen just as much as he’s using you, because the two of you have a common goal: to hurt Vienna. Nothing more, nothing less. The pair of you should be ashamed of yourselves, but I’m getting the sense that you’re not.”

Melinda sighed at Owen. “It pains me to see the person you’ve become. Vienna was a good friend to you for a long time. I never would have thought there’d be a day when you’d set out to hurt her.”

“I don’t want to hurt her,” claimed Owen. “I want her to open her eyes and see him for what he is.”

Wyatt frowned. “Tell me how you thought ‘dating’ Heather would achieve that?”

Owen opened his mouth, but no words came out.

“You’re not fooling anyone,” Wyatt added. “You wanted to lash out at Vienna, and you figured that claiming you’re with Heather was the best way to do it. Only that didn’t work out, so you took it a step further and forced a kiss on her. But it wasn’t really a kiss, was it? You did it in anger.”

Owen closed his eyes. “I didn’t mean to, I just …”

“Maybe in the beginning you wanted to win me back,” I cut in. “But I think that changed at some point; that it became more about you wanting to beat Dane. I’m not a prize to be won in some game. I’m a person.”

“I know that,” said Owen, opening his eyes. “I just want you to be happy. Safe. Loved. You’ll never be those things while you’re with him.”

I shook my head. “No, Owen, you only want me to be happy and safe and loved providing I’m with you. That’s different. You don’t hate that I’m with Dane because you think he isn’t good for me. You hate that I’m with him because he does make me happy. You resent that. You resent him for it. And you’re making me pay for that.”

“Vienna made her choice,” Wyatt interrupted. “That choice wasn’t you, Owen. Just as your choice all those years ago wasn’t her. That ship has sailed. If you really do care for her, you’ll respect that, cut your losses, and move on. Can you do that?”

Owen’s gaze slid to me. “You really love him? He’s who you want?”

I nodded. “Yes and yes.”

He swallowed, openly sad.

Dane stepped toward him. “You’re done here. You’ve said your piece, she listened, she’s made her wishes clear. Now leave. And this time, don’t make the mistake of coming near Vienna again.”

“Or Heather,” Wyatt added. “Stay away from both my girls, Owen.”

She scowled at her father. “Who I date is my business.”

“You’re not dating him, you’re playing games.” Melinda slashed a hand through the air. “It stops now.”

Heather put her hands on her hips, glaring at both her parents. “You can’t meddle in my life like this—I’m not fourteen.”

“Be assured that I won’t go near either of them again, Wyatt,” Owen interrupted. He looked at me, the image of defeated. “You probably won’t believe me, but I do love you, Vee. All I wanted was to have the chance to prove it. I was determined to win you back. But somewhere along the way, I let bitterness take over. I really didn’t mean for things to get like this; didn’t mean to go this far.” He swallowed. “I won’t bother you again.” He bowed his head and disappeared into the house.

I let out a long breath and rolled back my shoulders.

Heather began arguing with her parents, pointing her finger and jutting out her chin.

Dane crossed to me, eating up my space. He slid a hand up my back and curved it around my nape. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Glad it’s over. Can we go?”

He swiped his thumb over my mouth, as if to wipe away any trace of Owen. “Sure. Once I’m done with that bitch over there.” He made a beeline for Heather.

Uh-oh.

She paused in ranting at her parents when she saw him coming. Her eyes widened as he stepped right into her space.

“You went too far,” he said, his voice low but like a whip. “You knew what would happen if you fucked with my wife again, but you did it anyway.”

“Again?” echoed Wyatt.

“Say goodbye to your blackmail money, Heather,” said Dane. “Because that money well is going to dry up the moment the man’s wife finds out about the kid’s existence.”

She shook her head, her eyes panicked. “You won’t do anything. You won’t.”

“Blackmail?” Wyatt repeated. “Will someone please tell me—” He cut off at a hard nudge from Melinda, who was staring at the house.

Tracking her gaze, I saw Junior standing on the doorstep, his headphones hanging around his neck. He glanced from person to person, taking in the tension and seeming uneasy.

The others then noticed him, but it was Melinda who hurried over to Junior and tried leading him back inside with little success.

“Let’s just go, Dane,” I coaxed, crossing to him. I put a hand on his back. “I’m hungry and tired and my head’s starting to throb again.”

His gaze slid to me, dark and hard, but then cut back to Heather. “Don’t even think about turning up to the reception on Saturday,” he told her. “You’ve burned every chance that Vienna asked me to give you—you’re now officially out of them.”