by K. A. Linde
Damon kissed her lips and pressed into her harder. “I love you,” he groaned.
“I love you, too.” She grabbed him for another kiss. “God, you feel amazing.”
“I just want you to let go for me. Come with me, love.”
She tilted her head back and let go, just like he’d asked. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. Yes. Oh my God,” she cried.
Her body shook, and she disintegrated into a million little pieces at his insistence. He was right there with her, doubled over her as he released.
Trihn sighed as she finally came back to herself. “Oh God, you’re right,” she whispered.
“What?”
“It was dirty and totally wrong in almost every way.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I have no idea what you mean.”
“I think you do, considering we were loud enough to be heard throughout the whole house,” she said.
“It felt good though, right?”
She smiled and nodded. It had felt good—the orgasms and the small dose of payback.
TRIHN STARED OUT AT THE OCEAN visible in the distance from where she was standing at the edge of the pool on the back deck. She and Damon would be heading back to the city with Ian and Renée that afternoon. Ian was unsurprisingly taking summer classes, and Renée had no intention of sticking around with just his parents, no matter how much they liked her. Trihn’s parents would follow later that week, so they could get back in time for the fashion show.
Damon was finishing packing upstairs and promised to bring everything out to the car, so she could enjoy some last-minute sand and surf. He’d gotten a phone call from his agent as she was walking out the door and figured he would be a while.
The silence and peace was just what she needed before she returned to the insanity of high-end fashion. She had put in countless hours making her clothes runway-worthy. She really wanted to prove her mother wrong and show that the designs could be designer and not mass-marketed. So, she’d added some flare to the runway performance. The models would all be flying in tomorrow morning, and she was just about ready to get back to work again.
“What a vacation, huh?” Preston said from behind her.
Trihn whipped around. There was no one else there. She and Preston were alone again.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“So defensive. Can’t I just come out here to chat with my future sister-in-law?”
Trihn nearly gagged at that word. “I’d rather leave here on a high, so I think I’m going to bow out of this conversation.”
She tried to move past him, but he reached out and grabbed her arm. “Not so fast.”
“Let me go.”
“Trihn, come on. Just stay and talk to me for a minute,” he said, his voice soft and encouraging. It had lost all the bite, and for a split second, he’d sounded like the man she had fallen in love with.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do, using that voice with me,” she spat, wrenching her arm out of his grasp. She crossed her arms over her chest, conscious of the fact that she was wearing nothing more than a black bandeau bathing suit top and tiny black cutoffs.
“I’m not doing anything,” he said, the edge coming back. “I just want to talk to you.”
“Okay, fine. What do you have to say to me that is so important?”
“I think you’re making a horrible mistake,” Preston said.
She raised her eyebrows. “Me, too. I’m still talking to you.”
“Damon is not the right guy for you.”
“And you think this, why? Because you met him and realized that he was better than you in every possible way? Because you saw everyone swooning over him?” Trihn shook her head and started walking away.
“He’s sleeping with Chloe Avana. You know that, don’t you?” he yelled, running ahead of her to face her.
She stopped in her tracks and glared at him. “You disgust me. I don’t have to defend Damon to you because I know the kind of man he is. He has proven himself to me time and time again. And this is really rich, coming from you, considering you cheated on me the entire time we were together!” she yelled into his face. “You were sleeping with my fucking sister. Then, you had the audacity to lie and turn her against me.”
“We were together, but we were never exclusive, Trihn,” he said, his own voice rising.
He was clearly pissed about Damon and trying to rile her up. She hated that it was working, but she was also glad that she was having this conversation because this sure as fuck was the last time it was ever going to happen.
Trihn saw a figure coming down the stairs, as if brought forth from the screaming match. It was Damon. He looked like he wanted to rush out to save her, but when Lydia and her mother joined him, he held them back, as if telling them to just watch.
“We saw each other every day. You took me out on dates. You chased me and pursued me. You assured me that we’d be together come the fall term. You begged me to stay the night at your apartment. How the hell was that not exclusive?”
“Fine. All of those things are true, but you know I had to choose Lydia. I had no other choice. Your mother already knew me as her boyfriend.”
Trihn narrowed her eyes, disgusted. There it was, laid out before her. She had always suspected what it was, but to have him actually admit it…
“So, this was always about the magazine then? Just a stepping-stone in your career? You hurt me, and you’re only with Lydia because it’ll help you climb the corporate ladder. Do you even love her?”
“It doesn’t matter whether or not I love Lydia. That’s not the point of the conversation.”
“Then, what is the point of the conversation?”
“What do you even know about this Damon guy?” Preston asked, changing the subject.
Trihn rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you just admit it? You don’t like that I’m dating someone else. You don’t like that you can’t push me around and flirt with me behind everyone’s backs. You don’t like that you aren’t in control.”
Preston took a step forward and pressed his hand onto her hip. He brushed a loose wisp of hair from her face and leaned forward. To anyone watching, it looked as if he was going to kiss her. She even froze for a moment, horrified that he would even consider it. They were out in the open. He didn’t know that others were watching behind his back, but just the thought should have scared him off of it. He was losing his edge.
Out of the corner of her eye, Trihn saw that Damon and Lydia were both moving forward, as if to stop what was going to happen.
“That was quite the performance you put on last night,” Preston said.
“Is that what this is about?” she snarled.
“I don’t like other men playing with my things,” Preston growled.
“I’m not your thing anymore,” Trihn said, slapping his hand away. “You had me for too long, as it was. I pined over you, broke over you, nearly destroyed a perfectly good relationship over you, but I’m done letting someone as pathetic as you control me.” She took a step back and squared her shoulders. “I am not a puppet, and you no longer control me. I pull my own strings now.”
Trihn brushed past him, rocking into his shoulder, and walked away. Lydia’s mouth was hanging open, and there were unshed tears in her eyes.
“He’s all yours,” Trihn said.
“Wait,” Lydia said. “Wait for me.”
Damon pulled Trihn into his arms and kissed the top of her head. “Are you okay?”
Trihn released a deep breath. “Yes. I’m glad that happened.”
“I wanted to say something, but I thought…everyone else should see.”
A slap rang out across the deck, and Trihn turned to witness Preston with his head turned to the side and Lydia shaking out her hand.
“How fucking dare you!” Lydia cried.
“Lydia, babe—”
“Don’t even try it. You lied to me. This entire relationship is a lie. You made me turn against my own sister when she was
right all along, wasn’t she?” Lydia shook her head. “After two years, you still consider her your plaything, and all the while, you’ve been using me to get ahead.”
“And me,” their mother said, stepping out onto the patio.
“Lydia, you know it wasn’t like that,” Preston all but pleaded, losing his composure. “Mrs. Hamilton, of course I would never use you or your daughter.”
“The wedding is off,” Lydia told him. She was wiggling out of her engagement ring.
“What?” Preston gasped.
Trihn found herself gasping, too. After all this time, Lydia was finally seeing the man that she had chosen. She was seeing the person who Trihn had left behind all those years ago. Trihn was starting to wonder if maybe getting away had been the better deal.
“It’s over!” Lydia cried, pushing the ring into his hand. She hit his chest a couple of times, and when he reached for her, she shoved him away. “Get away from me. Don’t fucking touch me. I want all of your shit out of my apartment.”
“Lydia, you can’t do this.”
“You’ll find that I’m perfectly capable of making my own decisions without your input.” Tears started falling out of her eyes. “Now, leave.”
“Lydia—”
“Go!”
Preston opened his mouth to say something more, but he just slunk away like the rat that he was.
“And Mr. Whitehall,” Linh said, getting formal, “I’ll need to see you and your supervisor in my office on Monday morning. We have some…rearranging we’ll need to do in the marketing department.”
Preston’s mouth hung open, but he just mumbled something incoherent and stumbled away.
For a solid minute, everyone just stood outside in shock with only the sound of Lydia crying breaking up the silence.
Trihn finally moved out of Damon’s arms and walked over to Lydia. “Hey,” she said, pulling her sister into her arms.
Lydia kept crying hopelessly for a few more minutes before her tears began to wane, and she was just left with a pitiful hiccup. “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping at her eyes.
“You just dumped your fiancé. I don’t think you should be saying sorry to anyone,” Trihn said.
“No. I’m sorry for not believing you. I have never seen that man before. Not once. He was never that way with me. I just…I can’t believe the things he said to you and the way he acted,” Lydia whispered. “Do you think he cheated on me…besides with you?”
“I really don’t know,” Trihn said. She figured he had. It was in his nature. But she wasn’t about to say that to her sister when she was hurting.
“Yeah. He probably did,” Lydia whispered. “If he’s so nonchalant about you…then probably.” She covered her eyes and took a few deep breaths. “God, I am an idiot.”
“You just fell for it. We both did,” Trihn said.
“And the way I treated you…” Lydia shuddered. “I’m so sorry, Trihn. You’re my baby sister. I should have been there for you instead of assuming that you were lying to me. We were both so young and stupid, but it’s not an excuse. I was wrong. I just didn’t know it. How could you ever forgive me for all of that?”
“I already have,” Trihn admitted.
She hadn’t really known it until that moment, but it was true. She had forgiven Lydia for her callousness and bitchiness when everything had gone down. Trihn had been on the wrong end of Preston before, and Lydia had been blinded by it. Her sister was sincere, and Trihn had moved on. And since Lydia had now cut the cancerous man out of her life, there was no obstacle between them any longer.
“You’re too good to me.”
“No. I’ve just had two years to think about what would happen if this moment ever came about, and now, we’re here. I love you, Ly. You’re my older sister. I hate seeing you unhappy.”
“I was going to be married in a month. What will I do with the dress and the decorations and all the vendors?” Lydia asked in a ramble, seeing all the hard work she had spent the last six months doing unravel before her eyes.
“Don’t worry about it, dear,” Linh said. “I’ll handle everything. If we can’t return it, I’m sure there is a perfectly good girl in need who would want a one-of-a-kind wedding dress.”
Lydia hiccuped both a laugh and a groan. “You’re right. It should go to someone else’s big day.” Then, she burst into tears all over again.
Preston left in his SUV without so much as a word, and it was another hour before Lydia was consolable. Ian and Renée showed up at the tail end of it. Both hesitantly looked around, as if they were entering a war zone.
“What’s going on, everybody?” Renée said.
“Hello, Mrs. Hamilton,” Ian said, always polite, even under the circumstances.
“Hello, Ian, Renée.”
Lydia looked up at Ian and Renée through her puffy red eyes. “I broke off the engagement.”
Ian’s mouth dropped open, and Renée’s eyes were as wide as saucers.
“Wow, Lydia,” Renée said. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. No one else is.”
“Well, I’m sorry you’re upset.”
“She’s going to be okay,” Trihn said, rubbing Lydia’s back. “Still in shock.”
“Yeah. Shock that I wasted two years of my life!”
Renée’s eyebrows rose. “Okay. Well then…we were just seeing if you guys were ready to go, but if you’re not—”
“Can I go with you?” Lydia asked. “No offense, Mom, but I don’t feel like sitting around here, thinking about him.”
“Of course, honey,” Linh said comfortingly.
“Is there room? Am I intruding?” Lydia asked, sinking back in on herself.
“There’s plenty of room,” Ian informed her.
“And you’re more than welcome,” Trihn added.
“Okay,” Lydia said with renewed energy at the thought of having something to do. “Thank you, guys. I appreciate it. I’ll just…go pack my things.”
“That was…unexpected,” Renée said once Lydia was out of the room.
“Yeah.” Trihn nodded. “But also…finally.”
“WELCOME TO MY PERSONAL STREET STYLE—Clothes by Trihn,” Trihn said, spreading her arms wide for the crowd.
She was standing at the center of the runway with a million lights on her and hundreds of people watching and waiting for her designs to grace the runway. It was exhilarating and terrifying.
She kept the smile wide on her face as she turned and walked off the runway, as if she had been made for it.
Francesca passed by her with a wink just as “We Never Met” started to play.
Trihn stepped off the runway and rushed over to the assistant who had been assigned for the show. The girl was a godsend. She knew her stuff, and Trihn was certain she couldn’t have put on such a big production without her.
It was incredible to stand backstage, even more so than last time. The thought that she would have her designs on a New York City runway for a fashion show had only crossed her mind in her dreams. Even if nothing came from it, the experience and realization of a dream made her hard work totally worth it. This moment was worth it all.
They rushed Francesca into the last outfit, and then she walked back down the runway. It was mesmerizing, and that dress always seemed to make the right impression. When Francesca made it back to the staging area, Trihn rearranged the girls so that they could all go and stand onstage one more time, and then it was all over. All of that work was for a whole three-minute song.
When Trihn was finished, Teena Hart was waiting for her backstage. She looked gorgeous in a sleek black dress with her hair stick straight and parted down the middle, falling to her shoulders.
She hugged Trihn. “You were marvelous.”
“Thank you!” Trihn said, beaming.
“Far exceeded expectations.”
“I appreciate everything you’ve done to help me get to this moment.”
“You put in the work. You’re here because you have talent.
And even if you don’t win today, we’ll spend the next two years honing that talent.”
Trihn smiled even wider. “I look forward to it.”
Teena nodded and then walked away to speak to someone else. Trihn rounded the corner to a section of the dressing room and stopped dead in her tracks. All of her models were clustered together, and a bunch of the other models were all in a mob-like mess. She didn’t know if models were hurt, in a fight, or had completely lost their minds.
“What the hell is going on?” Trihn asked.
“Damon Stone is here!” one girl gasped.
“I wonder if that means Chloe Avana is here!” another girl said.
Trihn laughed and started pushing her way through the girls. “That’s enough. Go mob someone else.”
And then there he was, looking as sexy as ever. He was missing his signature baseball cap, and Trihn was shocked to see that he was in a goddamn sexy three-piece suit. She walked right up to him and kissed him square on the mouth.
“Is this designer?” she murmured when they broke apart.
The girls who had been surrounding them disappeared when they realized Trihn and Damon were together.
Damon laughed. “Straight to the point. I was told I had to dress up for this sort of thing, and I thought I’d surprise you.”
“Not sure if I’ve ever seen you out of jeans.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Now, we both know that’s not true.”
Trihn giggled. “All right. What are you doing backstage already? I thought you were out there with my parents and Lydia and the girls.”
“I brought you something.”
“Oh?”
Damon reached into his pocket and pulled out a Hershey’s Kiss.
Trihn dipped her head back and laughed. “You and your Kisses.”
“I said I would earn your kisses.”
“And you did,” she agreed. She took it out of his hand and popped it into her mouth.
“Well, I guess that was the warm-up. Let’s see if I do this right.” This time, he pulled out a medium-sized blue box. It was not just any blue. It was Tiffany blue.