strong and purposeful. The man had great hands. And a great mouth. And a really great—
A face full of water smacked into me, cutting off my oxygen supply and drenching my hair. I bolted upright, sputtering and gasping for air.
My eyes flew open, wildly registering the woman standing next to the bed before I clamped them shut again.
No.
No. No. No. No.
No.
I was used to the texts. The phone messages. The e-mails. The penis-shaped cookie bouquet for my last birthday. All constant reminders from my mother of who I was and what was expected of me.
But two actual visits from her in less than twenty-four hours?
Forget waiting to be damned. I was already in Hell.
“Again.” Her voice echoed in my head and my eyes popped open in time to see my mother’s ever-faithful assistant step forward with a half-full pitcher in her hands.
“Stop!” I held up my hands to ward off Cheryl and her liquid attack. “I’m awake. Seriously.” I scrambled from the bed. The floortilted for a split second as I struggled to get a grip. “I’m up. All the way up.”
“It’s about time.” My mother flicked a piece of invisible lint from her tailored red suit. She’d pulled her hair back today, which accented her sculpted cheekbones and her full, red lips. “We’ve been standing here
forever
, haven’t we, Cheryl?”
“Actually it’s been four minutes and fifty-three seconds,” Cheryl offered.
“Exactly.” Lillith Damon glanced at her diamond-encrusted Rolex. “I’m late for an appointment. We’re working on a new downtown condo development. I’m doing the decorating. Now.” She eyed me, and the rings around her pupils fired the same shade as her designer suit. “Show me what you’ve put together so far.”
I was trembling with anxiety. Soaking wet. And suddenly there didn’t seem to be enough oxygen in the room. “You just commissioned me yesterday,” I pointed out.
“And?” My mother arched one perfectly tweezed eyebrow. “Surely you’ve put some plans together by now. The wedding is in two weeks, after all.”
“Two weeks? But you said next month.”
“I’ve changed my mind. The news has spread fast and there’s a lot of dissension. Two weeks is all I can spare.”
My heart did a double thump and my stomach bottomed out. “But it takes longer than that to get the invitations printed.”
“Then I guess you’d better get moving.” She must have noted my loss of color, because she frowned. Her eyes glowed again. “Surely that won’t be a problem.”
“Of course not,” I managed, desperately trying to swallow the golf-ball-size lump in my throat. “The sooner, the better.” Don’t freak. Just breathe. In. Out. In. Out. Easy. Calm.
“Good, because time is of the essence. Bella and Levita are probably already plotting a way to stop me.”
And I knew just how they planned to do it.
Back off now or you’re dead.
“And I’m sure Lucy will be in on it when they do. That I-could-care-less-about-the-family-biz is just a front. She’s a Damon, which means she’s as power hungry as the rest of us.”
I debated telling my ma about the bloody message all of a nanosecond before nixing the idea. Hey, we’re talking the Devil. She wasn’t exactly known for her calm, rational thinking. She was sure to want to know who had called and/or paid me a visit last night. And that was the thing. I had suspicions, but I didn’t
know
. Sure, the AB negative was probably a dead giveaway that it was Bella, but it could also have been one of her daughters. Maybe Portia. Or Hester. Or one of the others.
Not that my mother would waste time finding the guilty party. She would take them all out, and I didn’t want any innocents—even one of my mean cousins—getting hurt in the cross fire.
“It’s imperative that we move swiftly.” My mother flicked some lint off her jacket. “But not too swiftly. I don’t want them to think I’m worried that they’ll succeed, which I most definitely am
not
. Even
A face full of water smacked into me, cutting off my oxygen supply and drenching my hair. I bolted upright, sputtering and gasping for air.
My eyes flew open, wildly registering the woman standing next to the bed before I clamped them shut again.
No.
No. No. No. No.
No.
I was used to the texts. The phone messages. The e-mails. The penis-shaped cookie bouquet for my last birthday. All constant reminders from my mother of who I was and what was expected of me.
But two actual visits from her in less than twenty-four hours?
Forget waiting to be damned. I was already in Hell.
“Again.” Her voice echoed in my head and my eyes popped open in time to see my mother’s ever-faithful assistant step forward with a half-full pitcher in her hands.
“Stop!” I held up my hands to ward off Cheryl and her liquid attack. “I’m awake. Seriously.” I scrambled from the bed. The floortilted for a split second as I struggled to get a grip. “I’m up. All the way up.”
“It’s about time.” My mother flicked a piece of invisible lint from her tailored red suit. She’d pulled her hair back today, which accented her sculpted cheekbones and her full, red lips. “We’ve been standing here
forever
, haven’t we, Cheryl?”
“Actually it’s been four minutes and fifty-three seconds,” Cheryl offered.
“Exactly.” Lillith Damon glanced at her diamond-encrusted Rolex. “I’m late for an appointment. We’re working on a new downtown condo development. I’m doing the decorating. Now.” She eyed me, and the rings around her pupils fired the same shade as her designer suit. “Show me what you’ve put together so far.”
I was trembling with anxiety. Soaking wet. And suddenly there didn’t seem to be enough oxygen in the room. “You just commissioned me yesterday,” I pointed out.
“And?” My mother arched one perfectly tweezed eyebrow. “Surely you’ve put some plans together by now. The wedding is in two weeks, after all.”
“Two weeks? But you said next month.”
“I’ve changed my mind. The news has spread fast and there’s a lot of dissension. Two weeks is all I can spare.”
My heart did a double thump and my stomach bottomed out. “But it takes longer than that to get the invitations printed.”
“Then I guess you’d better get moving.” She must have noted my loss of color, because she frowned. Her eyes glowed again. “Surely that won’t be a problem.”
“Of course not,” I managed, desperately trying to swallow the golf-ball-size lump in my throat. “The sooner, the better.” Don’t freak. Just breathe. In. Out. In. Out. Easy. Calm.
“Good, because time is of the essence. Bella and Levita are probably already plotting a way to stop me.”
And I knew just how they planned to do it.
Back off now or you’re dead.
“And I’m sure Lucy will be in on it when they do. That I-could-care-less-about-the-family-biz is just a front. She’s a Damon, which means she’s as power hungry as the rest of us.”
I debated telling my ma about the bloody message all of a nanosecond before nixing the idea. Hey, we’re talking the Devil. She wasn’t exactly known for her calm, rational thinking. She was sure to want to know who had called and/or paid me a visit last night. And that was the thing. I had suspicions, but I didn’t
know
. Sure, the AB negative was probably a dead giveaway that it was Bella, but it could also have been one of her daughters. Maybe Portia. Or Hester. Or one of the others.
Not that my mother would waste time finding the guilty party. She would take them all out, and I didn’t want any innocents—even one of my mean cousins—getting hurt in the cross fire.
“It’s imperative that we move swiftly.” My mother flicked some lint off her jacket. “But not too swiftly. I don’t want them to think I’m worried that they’ll succeed, which I most definitely am
not
. Even
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