by Zante, Lily
“New Haven.”
A couple of hours drive there and back. She braced herself. “And it’s formal wear, I presume?”
“It’s a church wedding, with the usual wedding reception after.”
She gritted her teeth together. “Why don’t you show me the invite? Then I wouldn’t have to interrogate you about something so simple.”
His brows pushed together. “I threw it away.”
Shock swept over her like a gust of wind, forcing her to close her eyes as she absorbed his words. She opened them again, and blinked. “You threw away your sister’s wedding invitation?”
What kind of a man did that? And his sister was the one member of his family he claimed to like.
“I have the address, I know the time. I know where we have to be.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He was insane. Talk about totally dysfunctional. This was going to be a family gathering from hell.
“It will be nice to meet your sister,” she said, being sincere, meaning it. But also because she didn’t know what else to say. Surely his sister would be normal? How much more dysfunctional could she be?
His expression seemed to relax then. “Amanda’s not so bad. I’ve never met the guy she’s marrying, so I can’t comment on him but I hope this marriage will last longer that her last one did.”
“She’s been married before?”
“This is her second wedding.”
“How old is she?”
“Twenty-five.”
Another one, she thought. Luke’s sister was a few years younger than her and on her second husband.
She was going to ask him how his mother died, and when, and how old he was, but she didn’t dare to there.
“I’m going to head home,” she said.
“But you haven’t had a drink or…”
She shook her head, sliding her arms into her jacket. The last thing she wanted was a drink. It had been a mistake to come here. Lately, either her rose tinted glasses had come off, or the stark reality she had realized during the past few weeks had made her question and examine each and every interaction with Luke more painstakingly than ever.
He was nothing like the carefree and friendly man she had met at the bar on Tobias’s private island. If anything, he was so Jekyll and Hyde that it sometimes made her uneasy. This wasn’t a hookup, as much as it was a mistake, and as soon as his sister’s wedding was over, she was backing out of their arrangement. She could have dumped him no, but she didn’t like to let people down.
That was her downfall, her Achilles tendon.
He looked pensive, as if he was on the verge of telling her things, but right now, she had neither the patience nor the energy to want to hear it.
“I don’t like talking about my family.”
“I noticed.”
“You’ll meet them soon enough.”
“I know.” She slid out of the booth and stood up. “It was good seeing you,” she said. He looked so lonely as he sat there, not even getting up for her. Not that she expected a hand shake or anything, just an acknowledgement that she was going.
At least she knew that the kiss on her cheek when he’d seen her earlier had been solely for Marie’s sake.
Chapter 23
“We’re late!” Kay cried, for what must have been the fourth time that morning.
He floored the gas pedal. “We’ll get there in time.” Just in time. He’d planned it so that they would be the last ones to arrive at the church. So that they could sneak in the back once everyone was already seated.
“But the wedding starts at eleven.”
“We’ll get there.”
“But it’s…”
He slammed his foot on the accelerator. “We’ll get there. It’s no big deal if we’re a few minutes late. Don’t stress me out, Kay.” She fell silent.
He winced as a spurt of pain shot along his neck. It was becoming more frequent now. Pressing his fingers to it, he felt the pain intensify. Maybe he should have returned the doctor’s call after the blood tests for the STD check had come through. The doctor had wanted to run a few further tests, but Luke didn’t have time. Miami and LA had been more important then.
It wasn’t ideal, but he already hated the idea of coming face-to-face with people he would rather not ever see again.
He reminded himself that he was only doing this for Amanda. On top of the family headache, he had a pain in the front of his neck which was spreading up towards his ear. A blasted wisdom tooth, no doubt, or he was coming down with something.
He had considered staying at a hotel near the wedding venue, because the four-hour round trip, coupled with the stress of seeing his father—and dealing with all that other stuff—was too much to deal with on top of his pain. But the idea of staying over made his stomach roil, and he decided to go with his original plan of driving to New Haven and back in one round trip. No matter what, he was determined to see the wedding through because he owed Amanda that much.
He glanced over at Kay who was turned completely silent. Damn it, he didn’t want her in a mood. The whole point of bringing her was to make things easier for him, and he didn’t need for her to look like a sour puss on his arm.
“We might be ten or so minutes late,” he said, trying to get a read on her mood. “It shouldn’t be a problem. Amanda’s hardly going to be at the church on time.” But Kay didn’t say a word.
Maybe his plan was going to spectacularly backfire. Maybe he should have hired an escort, because at least she wouldn’t have gotten pissed. Nor would she have complained that they were running late. And unlike Kay, an escort wouldn’t have been interested in meeting his family. She would have seen today’s wedding as payment for a day out. Kay probably thought it was a step up in their relationship.
In the end, they were ten minutes late. As they got out of the car and headed towards the church entrance, he saw his old man. Silas Hunter stood at the top of the short flight of steps. He was an imposing sight. Even in his early sixties, the man was fit, and large, and as terrifying as ever. Luke inhaled deeply, forcing himself to hold it together. His father liked to screw with their minds, and he’d screwed with his mother's mind the most, chewing her emotions to mincemeat before spitting her out. A shiver rolled down his spine. After all these years, the big bastard still had the power to make him feel like a frightened teenager again.
The next few hours, he told himself. Just get through the next few hours. Reaching for Kay’s hand, he smoothed down his tie as they rushed towards the church. His father eyed them as they walked up the steps. “Luke,” he said, stretching out his hand.
Bitterness flowed through him, chilling his veins. He was loathe to take the proffered hand, but he knew it would only show his father that he was weak, that he was afraid. His father didn’t care that Luke hated him, but he would see the weakness in him.
So he reached out and shook his father’s hand hard, as if he wanted to crush every single bone in it. “Silas,” he said.
“Amanda will be pleased,” the old man said, turning his attention to Kay, his eyes widening. The slimy, old bastard hadn’t changed one bit.
“This is Silas,” Luke said to Kay. “This is Kay.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Kay, but he could tell from her voice that she was wary, as if she wasn’t sure how to address the old man.
“Delighted,” his father replied, taking her hand and kissing it. Luke balled his free hand into a fist, wanting to sock it to his father’s big ugly face. Instead, he fought for self-control, and stopped himself.
It took less than thirty seconds, the greet and go, but it seemed to last a lifetime. There was nothing more to be said between them, and with his hand still firmly holding onto Kay’s, he tugged her and walked towards the church door.
“Amanda wants you to sit at the front, with the family,” he heard the old man say, as they walked away.
At least it was done, one of the things he’d been dreading. The whole of today was going to
be one big obstacle course. At some point he’d come face-to-face with Travis and his wife.
“You okay?” he asked Kay. She’d been quiet in all of this, and he squeezed her hand, grateful that she was here with him.
“Yes, are you?” she asked, the earlier disagreement quickly forgotten.
“Couldn’t be better,” he muttered, guiding her towards one of the pews towards the back, purposely disregarding Amanda’s request.
“Didn’t your dad say that—”
“I don’t care what he said.” He ushered Kay in, and followed after her, choosing to sit near the aisle. Craning his neck, he looked around to see his brother and his wife, and some of his extended family occupying the front few rows. Unease, heavy as lead, settled in his stomach. He’d only been in a church a couple of times in his life. Once for his mother’s funeral, and a few years ago for Amanda’s first wedding. He hadn’t attended Travis’s wedding.
He turned to Kay, needing a distraction, eager to block out everything. She looked at him and smiled, and in her soft eyes he found a sea of calm. He took her hand in his and she squeezed it gently; that one simple, unspoken act, lifting his spirits and providing a reassurance that he needed.
She seemed to understand.
And she didn’t ask too many questions.
This was why she had been the perfect choice to bring to the wedding. It was why she was perfect for everything.
Their arrangement worked.
It was the perfect no-strings-attached type of arrangement that he preferred. He’d been worried that it wouldn’t be possible with Kay, with her being a friend of a friend, and him breaking his rule of getting involved with people he knew. But she was low maintenance—not in the way she dressed and carried herself, for he could see she was sky-high maintenance there, but in the way she didn’t bug him too much. She was always busy at work, and this he counted as a blessing. Kay was that rare thing—a woman who liked sex and didn’t care to hide it, and who also didn’t seem too bothered about commitment.
It was perfect.
They worked.
She nudged him, pulling him out of his thoughts and bringing him back to the present. People were standing. Amanda walked down on her father’s arm, a veil covering her face. His little sister couldn’t help but smile as she walked down the aisle with her father.
~ ~
It was all so odd.
This was the conclusion Kay had come to as she stood with Luke outside the church after the wedding ceremony had finished.
The wedding had been such a strange contrast compared to Savannah’s wedding, not in terms of extravagance, but in how different the atmosphere was, how different the family dynamics were. She had been prepared for some kind of friction, but not this. Luke had been edgy from the moment he had picked her up in the morning. He’d been late, and she had been ready an hour before he had arrived, risking his wrath and calling him twice to ask him what was taking him so long. He’d been miserable even before he’d reached her.
He was dragging it out, as if he didn’t want to go, as if this was a visit to the dentist for root canal, not his sister’s wedding.
Added to that, the relationship with his father seemed especially strained. While she didn’t always see eye to eye with her mother, she loved her unconditionally, and would do anything for her. But Luke, seemed to find it difficult to even look his father in the eye.
“Who’s that?” she asked, staring at the woman who was on his father’s arm. She was obviously so much younger.
“Bitch number three,” Luke replied coldly.
Startled, Kay stared at Luke. “Who?”
“His wife.” Quiet rage dripped from his words.
“Oh,” she remarked, squeezing his hand harder. He had let her hold it today. In fact, he had been surprisingly tactile towards her. Holding her hand as they had walked into church earlier, and now he’d slipped his arm around her waist. She couldn’t figure out if he was trying to make a point, or if it was just that he needed the comfort of having her near. Either way, it made her feel special.
“Come and meet my sister,” he said, when the new bride and groom finally walked out of the church to the sounds of cheers and clapping.
They walked towards the newlyweds, still holding hands.
“This is what it takes for me to see you?” Amanda asked, as he kissed her on both cheeks. She looked radiant, and her face lit up even more on seeing her brother. “I didn’t see you in the church. Where were you?”
“At the back.”
“But I wanted my family to sit at the front—”
“Does it matter?” he asked, cutting her off. “We were there.” He congratulated the groom, and introduced Kay to the couple.
Amanda’s eyes grew large as the two women met. Something about her expression, and the quick glance she threw her brother told Kay that his sister was more than a little surprised to see her.
“We don’t get to see him much,” Amanda told her. “And I am so happy that he asked you to come along. It’s so lovely to meet you.”
“Lovely to meet you, too,” Kay replied.
“Don’t rush to make it number three,” Luke said to his sister.
“Hey,” the newly married groom retorted. “There will be no number three.” He kissed his new wife on the lips.
“No there won’t,” Amanda said, happily. “You’re on Table 1,” she told Luke. “Please make an effort to be nice.”
“Of course.” Luke bowed his head, acknowledging the request.
“Would you excuse us?” Amanda said, “We’ll catch up later.”
Make an effort to be nice?
“What did she mean?” Kay asked.
Luke’s face clouded over. “She’s gone and put us all on the same goddamn table.” She patted his arm, trying to reassure him. “It’s going to be fine.” She had no idea what she was trying to reassure him about, but clearly, something was amiss.
But Luke didn’t say a word. His jaw clenched, and she could see the muscles on either side of his face tighten.
“When was the last time you saw your sister?” she asked him.
“Two years ago.”
“Two years ago?” Her mouth gaped open. She barely went six months without seeing her mother.
“And your father?”
“Five years ago, at Amanda’s first wedding.”
Five years?
She had questions, even more so now, than she’d had in the morning.
“Luke.” They both turned to see a man and woman standing in front of them.
“Travis,” Luke said, stiffly. The man held out his hand but Luke refused to take it, the action causing a ripple of discomfort between the group. She had no idea who these people were. The man, tall and dark-haired, had more than a passing resemblance to Luke’s father. The pretty and svelte woman standing next to him stared back at her.
“I’m Travis,” said the man, calmly ignoring Luke, and offering his hand to her instead. She had no option but to take it, even though she sensed the animosity rolling off in waves from Luke’s body. “Luke’s brother.”
Luke’s brother? Shock spiraled through her. Luke had a brother? He'd never mentioned it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said, and hoped that she had managed to successfully mask the surprise announcement
“This is my wife, Maggie,” Luke’s brother said. She acknowledged his wife and the two of them shook hands while Luke’s face was turned the other way. Kay jabbed him in the ribs, but he didn’t turn around. He was purposely refusing to acknowledge them.
“Hi, Luke,” the woman said, pointedly staring at Luke. The situation was getting so embarrassing that Kay was compelled to jab him in the ribs again. “Luke!” she said sharply.
This time he turned his head. “Maggie,” he ground out, squeezing Kay’s hand for comfort. Catching the hard edge to his voice, Kay looked up at him. A fake half-smile was plastered to his face, but he didn’t shake the woman’s hand or kiss her on the cheeks.
“Is it?”
“Let’s keep things civil,” his brother said. “For Amanda’s sake.”
“Let’s hope Amanda doesn’t get married again,” Luke replied. “Otherwise we'd have to do this all over again.”
Kay looked at them, trying to connect the dots and failing.
“We’re on the same table,” Maggie said to her.
“Oh,” Kay replied, forcing a smile. She had no idea what this meant, or what Luke would say, but a polite smile from her seemed to be fitting. Maggie seemed equally as uneasy, as the two men beside seemed desperate to avoid the conversation.
“Are you staying at the hotel?” Maggie asked her. “Silas blocked out a whole floor for family.”
“Uh, no, I don’t believe we are.”
“We’re not,” Luke stated.
“There you go. We’re not.” She gave Maggie an apologetic smile.
“That’s too bad. Well, we can catch up at the reception.”
“We’re not staying,” Luke replied.
“Not even for the reception?” Kay asked. Since when had he changed his plans?
“That’s low,” his brother said. “You don’t have to take it out on Amanda.”
As she looked from one brother to the next, and saw the way their faces twisted in hate, Kay wondered what exactly was going on.
Luke fixed his brother with a cold stare. “I’m not.”
“Don’t do that, Luke,” his sister-in-law interjected. “Amanda will be upset.”
“She’ll understand,” he growled.
Kay squeezed his hand gently, and even though she knew she’d wouldn’t have much chance of getting him to change his mind, it was worth a try. “Why don’t we stay for a while?” To leave now would only make things worse—though things already looked pretty bad to her. “Your sister looked so happy to see you.”