Home > Inked Persuasion (Montgomery Ink Fort Collins #1)(5)

Inked Persuasion (Montgomery Ink Fort Collins #1)(5)
Author: Carrie Ann Ryan

“You weren’t his real wife,” I bit out.

“Of course, not,” she whispered. “But I was his wife. Because he asked. And because my best friend was dying, and I loved him. I would have done anything to put a smile on his face in those last days. Anything,” she said, her voice breaking. “You know how much pain he was in. He just needed something, and I gave him what I could.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying not to look at her tears. I hated them. I didn’t think they were weapons right now, but I’d thought they were when we were younger. I’d thought she used them for the cameras. But as I looked at her here, I wondered if maybe everything I’d assumed before was wrong. Perhaps she wasn’t a person who needed the limelight. But I didn’t know.

I really hated those tears. They may look real now, but I didn’t know what to think. Still, I hated her.

“I hated you for so long,” I bit out. “Jonah was all about you. Everything that he did in the end was for you and about you. He pushed us away.”

Annabelle reached out, then let her hand fall. “I didn’t realize it at the time,” she whispered. “I didn’t realize that everything was so weird and different. I was only trying to help my best friend. I didn’t know I was hurting you or anyone else in the process. Jacob, I’m sorry.”

“I don’t think sorry is going to cut it. It never did. You paraded yourself out there in front of the news media as the virgin bride, the perfect, young, eighteen-year-old still in high school, marrying her high school sweetheart.”

“I hated the press. I hated everything. But your parents asked me to do it because it helped to raise money. You know that.”

I held back a flinch. “What?” I asked.

She shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

“No. What are you talking about?”

“There was a fund to help with the last of the bills. With so many. And the more Jonah’s story was out, the more people cared. And it helped him and the others in the center. I did what I had to in order to follow his last wishes. But you were there, too. I’m sorry I took moments from you and him. I’m sorry I can’t give them back. But he’s not coming back. I can’t bring him back. I would do anything to make Jonah come back. He was my best friend,” she repeated. “I don’t know what to do. I know you hate me, and I can’t change that. But you’re my neighbor now, and you’ll just have to deal with the fact that I live here.”

“You need to go,” I whispered, trying to get my thoughts in order.

“Fine,” she spat. “You know what? It’s fine.” She stormed past me, slamming the door behind her. I looked down at my hands, wondering what the hell I was going to do.

She had married my brother, given him five days of pure happiness as a husband and a man with a future. Five days of marriage, and then my brother died. And I hadn’t been there because he’d said he needed time with his precious Annabelle.

I had lost time with my sibling. I’d lost so much. I hadn’t been there.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t even hate her as much as I felt I should.

I could only hate myself.

 

 

Chapter 3

 

 

Annabelle

 

 

“That stupid, self-serving son of a bitch,” I snapped, pacing my office.

“Why don’t you tell me how you really feel?” Paige said from beside me, and I rolled on her.

“Don’t say that in your happy little voice. Be angry with me.”

“I don’t know who you want me to be angry at,” Paige said, handing over my coffee.

“Why? Why are you handing me this?” I asked, taking it from her.

My sister shook her head. “Because you haven’t even had a sip since you walked in here, and you need more caffeine.”

“I’m shaking with rage, and you want to give me more energy?” I asked dryly.

She beamed at me. “Well, if you lose any of your caffeine intake, you’ll only get grouchier, and I’m not in a mood to handle that. So, take a sip, breathe, and tell me who I need to help you castrate.”

I blinked at her, then took a sip of my coffee. “We just went straight to castration, then?” I asked.

“If that’s what we need to do, then I will learn. Do we use scissors, a knife, or a sword? What do they use these days?” Paige asked, and I visibly shivered.

“We’re not doing that, and you went really dark quickly.”

“I’m going to blame Archer for that. We watched this medieval show with subtitles. I didn’t understand it, but there was a whole scene about it, and now I’ll never be able to sleep again.” She shuddered, and I took another gulp of my coffee, wondering where I went wrong.

“You’re scaring me. Archer always scares me, but now you’re starting to scare me, too.”

“I can’t help it. It was a double date.” She gave me a slow smile.

“I guess Marc and Colton are doing well?” I asked, wanting to know a little bit more about my siblings’ boyfriends.

“Well, I can’t speak for Archer and Marc, but Colton and I are doing well. Okay, enough about me,” Paige said, rolling her shoulders back. “Who do we hate?”

“Jacob Queen moved into the house next door.”

Paige blinked before plopping down in the chair in front of my desk. “Jacob? That Jacob?”

“Yes, that Jacob.”

“Please tell me he’s at least gotten ugly and gross and has lost all of that beautiful hair of his or something. Maybe developed smoking and now has yellow teeth?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know why that matters, but none of those. And because the gods hate me, he’s broader than before, all muscle. And I think he’s taller. Or maybe I’ve shrunk, I’m not sure. But his hair is just as thick as before, wavy at the ends. And he still has that damn jawline. It’s the same Jacob Queen. The only man in the world who hates me.”

“That was a lot of descriptions for a man you want me to help you castrate,” Paige said nonchalantly.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “First off, we’re not going to castrate Jacob Queen.”

“That’s not something I expected to hear today,” Archer said as he walked in, eyebrows raised. “I mean, I don’t know if I should help with that, considering it’d be a horrible thing, but I could. Paige and I recently watched a movie that included it.”

“Please stop talking about castration,” I snapped.

“Okay then, it seems I’ve come at a bad time,” Benjamin said, Beckett behind him. I set my coffee down on my desk and put my hands over my face so I could silently scream into them.

“Annabelle is having a bad day, and we need her to finish that cup of coffee.”

“How many cups has she had?” Beckett asked.

“This is her first.”

“Dear God, get more caffeine into her,” Archer said.

I narrowed my eyes at all of them as I lowered my hands. “I hate you. All of you.”

“Not as much as you hate Jacob Queen,” Beckett corrected.

“Please, stop it. All of you.”

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