The Wright Brother(74)

“Vanessa, as in…”

“Yes, Jensen’s Vanessa.” The way she said it was soft and seductive, as if she belonged to him and he belonged to her.

She was stunning, like drop-dead gorgeous. Her hair was a soft blonde color, and it came down nearly to her waist in supermodel waves. She had a good four or five inches in height on me, and she was in a black dress that accentuated her rail-thin figure. But it was her face and the honey color of her eyes that had clearly gotten her modeling jobs. She was exotic but familiar, striking but down-to-earth. She confused the senses.

And I hated her on sight.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded.

“Well, I came here to be with Jensen.”

“Too bad. He’s here with me,” I said, getting territorial on instinct.

“Ah, yes,” she said, eyeing me up and down like I was a piece of trash and she was considering how to dispose of me. “Are you the flavor of the week?”

“Nope. I’m his girlfriend. So, you should probably just leave. I don’t want to have to deal with you when we’re having a perfectly good night together.”

“Girlfriend,” Vanessa said, breaking into this little musical laugh.

No one laughs like that! No one!

I shrugged. “Believe what you want to believe. I really don’t care.”

“But how could you be his girlfriend when he stayed with me all last week?”

My heart stuttered. I’d known that Jensen had seen her last week, but I hadn’t known he’d stayed with her.

“I knew he was in New York and that he saw you. I doubt he stayed with you.”

“I saw you walk in here with him, but he never even mentioned you once,” she said, digging the knife in deeper.

“Jensen told me he saw you and that there was nothing there. I know that you cheated on him. I know that he divorced you for it. If you came here for a catfight, consider me tapped out.”

I turned and strutted away, back down the deserted hallway. I felt fierce. I felt like I was on fire. I was in control. I didn’t know why Vanessa was here, but I had handled her like a champ. I’d go tell Jensen, and he’d tell her to get the fuck out. The end.

“But did he tell you about Colton?”

My feet stalled. Who the hell is Colton? And why did he matter?

“Of course he didn’t,” Vanessa said with a staged sigh. “Because you’re clearly just a fling.”

I turned slowly and faced her. I wanted to ask her the question, but it was stuck on my tongue. Something was telling me that I didn’t even want to know. I didn’t want to deal with this.

“Just face it. You could never compare to me,” Vanessa said with a sweet tilt to her head. “How could you compare to the mother of his son?”





Twenty-Nine



Jensen


“She should be back already,” I said to Austin.

I’d left Morgan flirting with Patrick when I found out where Emery had gone off to. But that had been a while ago. I’d had enough time to get our drinks from the crazy line and return.

Austin shrugged. He’d been drinking nonstop, and I just wanted to slap the drink out of his hand. He had a problem. He’d brought a flask with him to church. I needed to send him to rehab or something. He needed to be sober, or he’d end up choking on his own vomit, like our father after an overdose. I didn’t want that for him. And I’d been so lost in my own mess to see it. New year and all that, and I’d get him help.

Right after I found Emery.

“What could be taking her this long?” I asked.

Austin shrugged again. “Don’t know, man. There’s probably just a line. You know how the girls’ restroom is.”

“Right, line,” I murmured but didn’t believe it.

I didn’t know why exactly. Maybe I was paranoid. After the week we’d gone through, I’d been trying to be on my best behavior. I had a big surprise for her. I was finally going to tell her everything. It would be such a relief when it all came out.

I was about to go find the restrooms and make sure everything was all right when Emery appeared out of the crowd. She looked…shaken. Visibly shaken. As if she had seen a ghost.

She had her hands clenched in low at her sides, and her eyes were wide, darting here and there and everywhere. Her stride was fierce, like she was anxious to be away. Her shoulders were tight. Something had happened. Something had definitely happened.

“Hey,” I said, instantly stepping toward her.

Whatever had hurt her…I would destroy it. This was supposed to be our night.

“I want to leave,” she said immediately. She wouldn’t even look at me.

“Emery, what happened?”