Diamonds

by K. A. Linde

  “How I feel about you,” Gates said softly. His eyes stared into her, all bright blue and pleading. He looked like he wanted to tell her something, like he’d been holding it in for a while. “Everyone else seems to know but you anyway.”

  Bryna’s mouth opened slightly in surprise. He is not doing this right now!

  “Gates, are you saying you love her?” the reporter asked, thrusting the microphone forward. “Care to comment further?”

  “No, he does not,” Bryna said. She took his hand and marched him down the rest of the red carpet and inside the theater.

  Bryna had been here before for her father’s premieres, so she quickly found them an empty room. She shoved Gates inside and glared at him.

  “What the fuck was that about?” she demanded.

  He glared right back at her. “What the fuck do you think it was about, Bri?”

  “I came to this premiere with you because we’re friends, which I’ve said to you over and over again. I agreed to go months ago. And you have been so good to me lately that I wanted to do something nice for you, but I’m not your girlfriend!”

  “You think I don’t know that?” he growled. “You remind me every chance you get. I can’t help that I’m in love with you, Bri.”

  Bryna rolled her eyes. Is he really playing this game? “Stop! We’re not even in front of the cameras. You don’t have to bullshit me and pretend that you’re in love!”

  Gates’s eyes flashed with anger. “Pretend? You think I’m fucking pretending? I do love you, Bri. I have for a long time.”

  She shook her head. He had no idea what he was saying. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. “No, you don’t.”

  “If I could love someone else, don’t you think I would have already done it? You’re a psychotic bitch most of the time, and you drive me crazy, but I love you.” He threw his hands out and stomped across the room, away from her. “For some unknown fucking reason.”

  “You’re just saying that because I’m with someone else now.” God, she hoped that was the case.

  “Do you fucking hear yourself? You are out of your goddamn mind. And don’t even bring that fucker into this conversation.”

  “Jude?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Fuck that guy!”

  “What is wrong with you?”

  He looked manic.

  Where is this all coming from?

  He flung his hands up in the air. “Wrong with me? You’re the one who thinks you’re in love with this guy. He’s deluded you with presents and exotic trips, so you think that’s fucking love, but he’s just using you.”

  “You don’t even know him!” Bryna cried angrily. How dare he throw all this out at me now!

  “I don’t fucking need to. I know how he treats you, and I know what he said to me that night in Vegas. That’s all I need to know about this guy to know he’s a fucking douche.”

  “You’re being ridiculous.”

  “See? You don’t even want to know the truth. You don’t care that he only wants you when it’s convenient to have sex with you.”

  “Fine!” she spat. “What did he say to you?”

  Gates laughed contemptuously and looked away from her. “After I told him I’d just be taking you back to the hotel to sleep, he said that if I laid one finger on you, he’d tear me apart limb from limb. That I needed to do the right thing and stay away from you…for your own good. He asked if I understood that there would be hell to pay if he found out otherwise.”

  Bryna paused where she was standing. “He said that?” she asked softly. It sounded really hot…like Jude really wanted her.

  “Yes. It’s the most unhinged, controlling, douchey thing to say when I was only trying to help you.”

  Should I see that as controlling, or was Jude only looking out for me? “You still stayed the night,” she reminded Gates.

  He glared at her. “Would you have rather I left you there to drown in your own vomit?”

  “No, but Jude was right.”

  Gates looked at her in utter disbelief, as if he was seeing a completely different person. It was an unsettling stare. “I can’t do this, Bryna. I can’t do this with you anymore.”

  She eyed at him uneasily. “What do you mean?”

  “What do I mean?” He stared at her like he was seeing her for the first time. “I told you that I loved you, and you act like I’m fucking jealous. I’m the one who has been there for you through all the bullshit, Bri, and you thank me for being there for you, but it’s not out of appreciation. It’s an expectation. You were flirting with me on New Year’s before we kissed. You took me away from a girl I was hitting on at Posse and then joked around about how sex with me sounded fun. The mixed signals have pushed me over the edge. You think because you say we’re friends that it’ll magically happen. But that’s not how it fucking works!”

  “I don’t know what you want me to say,” she whispered taken aback.

  “Nothing. It’s obviously too much for me to expect you to say anything.” He shook his head. “You might think you’re queen bee, but I’m not the same person I was when we first met. I’m a movie star. We’re at my fucking premiere. I could be doing whatever and whoever the fuck I want.”

  “Then, do that,” Bryna said harshly. “I’m not fucking stopping you.”

  “Good. Because I’m not fucking around anymore.” He brushed past her toward the door and then spoke quietly, facing away from her, “I used to think you were everything, Bri. Now, I realize that you were just a waste of my time. You’re not queen. You’re just another desperate wannabe. And you’re no longer welcome here.”

  “What?” she snapped. Her mouth dropped open.

  He turned around, and his eyes were icy. “Leave. Before I have to alert security.”

  With that, he walked out the door, leaving Bryna standing alone in the empty room with her hands shaking, her breath coming out in shocked sputters, and her mind reeling.

  PINK WAS THE COLOR OF THE EVENING.

  Rosé champagne in pink-rimmed flutes. Waitresses in baby-pink sequined skirts, carrying pink trays with pink champagne cupcakes. Ornate shimmering pink crystal chandeliers, pink peony bouquets atop waist-high cocktail tables, and already dozens of women wearing gorgeous designer pink dresses.

  Bryna was standing at the entrance table in a tight hot-pink Dior dress with the Harry Winston B necklace on, overseeing the idiots she had gotten to replace Avery and Tara. She had given them the guest list Felicity had made and informed them that they had to know every single person who was attending by face. She didn’t want any awkward moments where they would have to ask for a person’s name. Clearly, neither of them had done their homework.

  “Lauren, are you completely incompetent?” Bryna snapped. “How could you not recognize Jeremiah Anderson? He’s a very important alumnus and successful producer. I know he was on the list!”

  “Sorry, Bri.” Lauren frantically looked around as if she thought the other assistant, Julie, would help her. “I…I guess I just forgot. He didn’t seem to mind—”

  “I mind! You should have been more prepared for this.” Bryna shook her head in disgust. “You’d better get the next person right.”

  Felicity flitted over to the table with a big smile on her face. She was practically glowing. It was the happiest Bryna had seen the bitch since they started working together.

  “Bryna, everything is going so wonderfully. Thank you for all the hard work you’ve put in.”

  “I’m so happy I was able to help, Felicity,” Bryna said with a fake smile.

  She was shocked she could keep her temper under control, even for this moment.

  After her argument with Gates at the premiere, she had left in shock. Part of her had wanted to find the first reporter on the red carpet and let the media know about Gates and Chloe. But she couldn’t. As much as she was humiliated by what had happened, she cared about Gates too much to out him to the press.

  But she hated that they weren’t in a good place, and h
e wasn’t here tonight. She couldn’t believe how judgmental he was regarding Jude. It ate at her more than she wanted to admit. Not to mention, she was freaked out about finally getting to see Jude tonight after the benefit. Her stomach was in knots, and it only increased her irritability.

  “Oh, look! Our special guests have arrived!” Felicity said.

  Bryna turned around to see who was walking in the door, and her mouth dropped. “Daddy?”

  “Hey, sweetheart!” her father said, enveloping her in a hug.

  “What are you doing here? I thought you were still in New Zealand!”

  “We wrapped up this week. I immediately flew home for my little girl’s big charity event. Celia told me all about it.”

  Bryna looked on in surprise. My father flew all the way from New Zealand to be here for me? Her eyes shifted to Celia, who smiled politely, and then to the person standing next to her. Pace. He stared at her as if he knew all her secrets, and she quickly looked away.

  “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  Her father quirked his head to the side. “Now, Celia told me one other thing. Something about a boyfriend? Where is Gates? We need to have a talk.”

  Bryna’s face fell. “Oh, uh…he wasn’t able to make it. The Broken Road premiere was last night.” She hated lying, but telling the truth at this point would be more work.

  “Next time then, kiddo.” He patted her shoulder and then introduced himself to Felicity.

  Pace walked forward and leered at her. “No Gates tonight, huh? Fake boyfriend didn’t want to make an appearance?”

  “Leave me alone, Pace,” she said warningly.

  “What about Avery and Tara? No fake friends tonight either?”

  “Just go!” she snapped.

  He smirked. “Have a good night.”

  She glared at his back. She wanted to relish in the fact that her father was here and not worry about Pace. He couldn’t ruin her night. She had worked too hard for this.

  Felicity laughed at something Bryna’s father said. He shook her hand and then disappeared into the crowd with Celia.

  “Your father is quite the charmer.”

  “That he is,” she agreed.

  “Well, keep up the good work. I’m going to entertain the guests. I’ll be back to fetch you when your work is done,” Felicity said.

  Bryna glumly watched her walk away. She wanted to enjoy the party that she had created. She knew that it wasn’t unreasonable to have her working the front of the event while so many people were showing up, but mingling sounded like so much more fun.

  “Bryna! This man isn’t on the list,” Lauren said. “I’m sorry, sir. We’ll get this all cleared up.”

  She turned around, and her heart skipped a beat. “Jude?”

  His head snapped back. His mouth opened slightly in surprise. His gaze traveled up her legs, over the hot-pink dress, and then to her face. After he soaked her in and seemed to realize that she was real, his eyes darted around the room. “Bri, what are you doing here?”

  “This is my event,” she said.

  Suddenly, her stomach turned to ice. If he was here, at a Harmony event, then he could find out at any second that she wasn’t here as an alumnus but as a student.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked him.

  He opened his mouth and then closed it. He didn’t seem to know how to answer the question. His inability to give a logical answer only made her that much more fearful.

  “Oh, Jude, you’re here!” Felicity called from behind her, appearing out of the crowd. “Sorry. I forgot to add you to the guest list.”

  He stared at Felicity with a tormented look on his face, but she didn’t seem to notice. She walked right up to him and wrapped an arm around his waist.

  Bryna couldn’t tear her eyes away. It was like a train wreck. As much as she wanted to avoid the oncoming crash, she couldn’t seem to get out of the way.

  “Bryna, this is my husband, Jude.”

  NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! This couldn’t be happening.

  Jude wasn’t here. Felicity wasn’t his wife. Bryna hadn’t been having a raunchy affair with the organizer’s husband.

  She was going to blink, and this nightmare would disappear.

  “This is Bryna?” Jude asked. Shock was clear in his voice too.

  Oh shit! She had only ever told him that her name was Bri.

  “The student who has been working with you on the charity event?”

  She closed her eyes again, hoping to make this all go away. Please work!

  Fuck! It isn’t working!

  Jude’s eyes met Bryna’s in disbelief and…horror. She was sure that she mirrored his expression. She wanted to say so much to him in the moment, but what could she say?

  Yes, I’m a seventeen-year-old high school student. I’ve been meaning to tell you.

  She didn’t think that was going to help anything.

  “Yes! Isn’t she wonderful? She’s done the most amazing job,” Felicity said. She smiled brightly at Bryna.

  His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed.

  Right about now would be a good time for some acting skills to kick in.

  “Everything looks…great,” Jude said.

  Smooth.

  “I think so, too,” Felicity agreed.

  “Thanks,” Bryna managed to get out. Her stomach was churning, and she was short on breath. She needed to get out of there, get some air, get her emotions under control. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to find the restroom.”

  Without a backward glance at Jude, she turned and walked directly into the crowd.

  She was horrified, and surely, everyone would notice. But she pushed through the benefit guests, toward the back of the room, anyway. She couldn’t believe what had happened. Tonight was supposed to be the night she and Jude worked out all their issues. They were going to be honest with each other, but she hadn’t expected it to ever happen this way!

  And the look on his face when he had found out.

  She choked down the pain. He’d been disgusted with her. She had thought that when she finally told him that she was still in high school, it wouldn’t matter because they would be on equal footing…equally in love.

  But how could he look at me like that if he was in love with me? How could he love me if he showed up tonight to be with Felicity?

  She just needed a minute to think before panic set in. She rushed into the restroom, and the room was mercifully empty. She locked herself into a stall and leaned her head back against the door as she closed her eyes.

  What the hell am I going to do?

  She could not go back out there with Jude and Felicity.

  Yet she couldn’t leave. She wouldn’t leave. This was her event. She had done all the work to get this thing running. She wouldn’t be scared off because he was here. She would simply avoid him at all costs.

  That’s possible. Right?

  Her hands stopped shaking, and she straightened. After taking a deep breath, she left the stall and stared at herself in the mirror. She was strong. She was the queen. Later, she would figure out what the fuck was happening with Jude and why he had fucking lied to her.

  She left the restroom and walked back toward the waiting room of guests. Halfway to her destination, a hand reached out from an open doorway and pulled her inside by the elbow.

  “What the—” she cried.

  Then, her back hit against a firm body, and a hand covered her mouth. The door was kicked shut, and she let out a muffled scream.

  “Bri,” Jude whispered into her ear, silencing her outburst.

  She breathed heavily in his embrace. Her body molded to his, and despite everything, she was turned on by his touch. She couldn’t help her body’s reaction to him. It had been too long since she had seen him, and even before she had gotten to know him, his body had set her off. He was still holding her against him, and she wondered if he was thinking the same thing.

  How wrong would it be for him to take me right he
re with his wife in the other room?

  God, I’m sick. She was not that person!

  He had fucking said they were separated. And she had believed him. She hated that he had lied to her about that, but she hadn’t known. Now that she did though, it changed everything. She would not be the girl on the side. No matter how she felt about him.

  She wrenched herself out of his grip and faced him. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “We need to talk. Now.”

  “That is the epitome of bad ideas,” she said in frustration. “Your wife is out there! I’m leaving.”

  She started for the door, but he grabbed her again.

  “Not before you tell me the truth!” he said. His eyes, which had been so beautiful and comforting, stared at her with anger and confusion.

  “The truth about what?” she snapped. She smacked his hand away from her.

  “About you. You’re a high school student?”

  “You want the truth as if I’ve lied to you!” she snapped. She couldn’t believe this was happening right here, right now. “You never asked if I was in high school, if I went to college, what kind of work I was in. You never asked how old I was! You liked the mystery, remember?”

  “I met you in a fucking bar. I shouldn’t have had to ask you how old you are!”

  “Yes, because no one underage goes to bars,” she quipped.

  Jude ran a hand back through his hair. “This is fucking ridiculous. Just tell me how old you are.”

  “How old are you?” she asked. Even when he had asked her at point-blank, she still had to deflect the question. Seventeen. Why is that so fucking hard to say?

  “Thirty-two.”

  Bryna’s mouth hung open slightly. She had known he was older, but she had always told herself that he was probably twenty-seven. Only ten years older than her. Not fifteen. Christ!

  She opened her mouth and then looked away from him. “Seventeen,” she whispered.

  “Fuck!” he cried, whirling away from her. His hands were balled into fists, and he looked like he was going to punch his way through the nearest wall. “You’re a minor! This cannot be happening. We had sex.” His eyes found hers across the room. He was panicking. She could see the desperation in his face. “I took you out of the country.”