Reveling in Sin Read online

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  31

  Whitney

  Walking down the aisle to Lincoln feels surreal.

  Someday soon, if I know him, I’ll be doing this again . . . but for real.

  Instead of terrifying me, the thought fills me with strength. I’ve let the world chew me up and spit me out, but now I’m strong enough to fight for what I want—and what I want is this man by my side for the rest of my life.

  When I reach the front of the room, I take my place off to the side near Karma.

  Everything’s moving smoothly until it’s Asa and Cricket’s turn to walk up the aisle. As soon as they take their first step, Mrs. Havalin bustles into the aisle.

  “You’re not waiting long enough. I told you to wait two minutes.”

  “Mom,” Hunter says quietly from the front of the room.

  “I can’t help it if she doesn’t know how to follow instructions. Did you tell her not to get high before the rehearsal?”

  “Mother!” This time, Hunter’s tone snaps like a whip. “Enough.”

  Cricket’s face pales, and I grit my teeth. She and Asa stay where they are for another few seconds before moving forward, and I know that Mrs. Havalin and I will need to have words tonight.

  Especially when she sees Cricket isn’t carrying anything when she gets to Hunter.

  “Where is the bouquet? There was a broach bouquet from my niece’s wedding you’re supposed to be carrying. Did you lose it already, Cricket? I swear, you can’t do anything right.”

  The music goes quiet, and everyone shifts awkwardly where they stand.

  “Mother, if you—”

  Cricket interrupts him. “I didn’t lose it, Mrs. Havalin. I told you I didn’t want to use it.”

  “And this is all about you?” Mrs. Havalin asks.

  Jackie bristles in the row across from her, her mouth opening like she’s about to rain down hell on Mrs. Havalin.

  I step toward Hunter’s mother before she can speak. “If Cricket didn’t want to use it, she doesn’t have to. After all, it’s just a rehearsal bouquet. Not exactly a big deal. Aren’t weddings all about the bride anyway, Mrs. Havalin?”

  “Maybe if they’re paying for it.” She narrows her eyes.

  Lincoln moves to stand beside me, blocking Hunter, who looks like he’s about to lose his goddamn mind. “The Gables is covering the cost of the wedding and reception, which means the bride can do and have whatever she wants.”

  Mrs. Havalin recoils at Lincoln’s statement, and I’m thankful that he’s able to intimidate her into shutting up.

  Asa moves into the row next to Jackie, making me thankful that someone’s there to hold her back if Mrs. Havalin speaks up again. Luckily, her mouth has been frozen in a tight smile since Lincoln’s pointed remark.

  The rest of the rehearsal moves along smoothly, despite Mrs. Havalin’s sour face and crappy attitude, and I hope that means that the rest of the night will be easy and fun. And it is.

  At least . . . until we get to the rehearsal dinner.

  “I knew you were the one,” Hunter says as part of his toast. “Even if you did make me wait five years for our second date.”

  Everyone starts laughing, but beside me, Cricket tenses and whispers a question to me out of the side of her mouth. “What is he talking about? Five years?”

  On my other side, Karma’s laughter grows louder and harsher, and the hair at the nape of my neck stands on end. Oh sweet Jesus. What now?

  Cricket leans forward and looks over me to Karma at the same moment I do. Karma covers her mouth with her hand, practically choking on her mirth. Hunter goes quiet, and everyone in the room follows suit. Every bit of attention shifts to Karma as she rocks back and forth in her chair, cackling.

  Oh. My. God. A thought hits me, and it’s the last thing in the world I want to be thinking. No, she didn’t.

  Cricket bolts up out of her seat, all semblance of patience gone. “Karma, tell me right now what the hell you did.”

  The rest of the guests, mostly members of the Havalin family, begin to murmur, and Hunter stands beside Cricket.

  “Baby, what’s wrong?”

  Cricket looks up at her fiancé. “I didn’t make you wait five years for a second date, Hunter. That was our first date.”

  Hunter’s face pales as he realizes what she’s saying. “What the fuck? Then—” His gaze darts to Karma.

  Tears stream down Karma’s face as she continues to snort-laugh. “This is too perfect. I couldn’t have planned it better myself.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Cricket demands.

  Aunt Jackie rises next. “Karma, what’s going on?” She keeps her tone even, but it’s clear she’s concerned and jumping to the same conclusion we all are.

  “It wasn’t totally my fault. He just assumed . . . so I went with it.”

  Oh. My. God.

  “You pretended to be me? With my fiancé?” Cricket screeches.

  “He wasn’t your fiancé then! He was drunk; we were at the bar. One thing led to another, and . . .”

  Cricket spins around to face Hunter. “Please tell me she’s lying. Please tell me this isn’t happening. Please tell me anything but this.”

  “She answered to your name. I thought—”

  “Oh. My. God.” Mrs. Havalin jumps out of her chair. “Of course this would happen. I told you not to marry that girl! She and her family are trash.”

  “Not another word out of you.” Hunter’s father grabs his wife by the arm and hustles her out of the room.

  The rest of us are all left staring at each other, and I pinch the inside of my elbow. It stings like hell, so I know I’m not having a nightmare. But I wish I was.

  “I can’t believe this. I . . . I . . .” Tears trickle down Cricket’s cheeks, and as I wrap my arms around my cousin, she gasps. “Oh fucking Christ. Please tell me that Hunter isn’t . . . that your girls . . .”

  Jackie’s face turns ghostly white. She grabs each of her granddaughters by the hand and helps them out of their chairs. “Girls, let’s go find out what’s for dessert.”

  “But—” Addy says.

  “Not right now, sweetheart. Come with me.”

  As soon as they’re out of the room, Karma’s lips tilt up in a feline smile. “You can be stepmother to your nieces too. Don’t worry.”

  “What the fuck? You’re saying those are my kids?” Hunter’s expression is aghast as he stares at the doorway Aunt Jackie just left through. “And you never said a goddamn thing? Why?”

  Karma lowers a hand to her belly, tightening the billowy fabric of the dress over her rounded stomach.

  A baby bump?

  “You’re pregnant?” My question comes out on a shocked cry.

  “I didn’t want those girls to be yours,” she says to Hunter, her tone suddenly devoid of laughter. “They weren’t supposed to be yours. It was an accident. They were supposed to be Ricky’s. He was supposed to get me pregnant. It just took longer for that to happen than I thought it would.”

  I blink twice and then once more, staring at my cousin.

  “Wait. What the fuck?” I exhale on a strangled breath. “You and Ricky . . .”

  Karma’s expression turns deadly. “He loved me. He never loved you. And then you fucking pushed him over the edge and he wouldn’t listen to reason. He just wanted the drugs. He didn’t even know about the baby when he died.”

  Confusion swirls through my brain as I try to piece together what she’s saying. “You were in LA that night?”

  “I jumped on a flight as soon as he told me what you did. I tried to comfort him. But you had already ruined everything. He sent me away, and it was all your fault!”

  “Screw Ricky Rango,” Cricket yells. “I want to know why the hell you didn’t say anything until now about Hunter! What the hell is wrong with you? You’re my goddamned sister, and you were going to let me get married and never tell me any of this? How could you do this?”

  “Because I didn’t think you needed to know—y
et. Don’t worry, I was going to tell him eventually. After the wedding. I figured we’d find out just how much he was willing to pay to keep his little secret instead of losing you.”

  “You fucking bitch,” Hunter says, but Lincoln clamps a hand on his shoulder as Cricket leans against my side for support. I wrap an arm around her body to keep her upright.

  “This can’t be happening,” she whispers, her voice breaking. She jerks away from me to reach out, and the sound of her palm cracking against Karma’s cheek rings out in the room. “How dare you? You are dead to me.”

  Cricket whirls and bolts toward the door.

  “Baby, wait,” Hunter calls out.

  My cousin pauses and turns back, shaking her head. “No. I have to go.” Tears spill down her cheeks as she runs out of the room.

  “Cricket!” Hunter yells, but Lincoln holds him back.

  “I’ll go after her,” I say before heading for the door.

  Cricket’s already out of sight, but Jackie is standing in the alcove with the girls.

  “What happened?”

  “You need to talk to Karma. It’s . . . it’s bad.”

  Jackie’s brows draw together and I run for the elevators, intent on getting to my cousin as quickly as possible.

  32

  Lincoln

  Everyone in the room stares at Karma, and I guarantee not a single thought in anyone’s mind is complimentary.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Hunter asks her. “I don’t even know what to say to you. You fucking have my kids, and then what? Pass them off as someone else’s?”

  “I did what I had to do. Ricky had a hell of a lot more money than you, and he did right by them. That’s what matters.”

  “You fucking bitch.”

  “Hey, man, calm down. This isn’t gonna help,” Asa says.

  My friend whips his head toward Whitney’s brother. “She just ruined my goddamn wedding to the woman of my dreams . . . and you want me to fucking calm down? I need to talk to Cricket.”

  He pulls away from my hold, but Jackie hits the doorway with her granddaughters, and Hunter freezes as soon as he sees them.

  The two little brown-haired girls stare at their mom as Hunter locks his eyes on them. All the tension drains from his muscles as he drops into a chair and rests his elbows on the table. “Jesus Christ.”

  Jackie looks from him to Karma to the girls, and she’s no doubt thinking what we’re all thinking. How didn’t we see it before?

  And now Karma says she’s pregnant . . . with Ricky Rango’s kid. A kid that could possibly carry Riscoff blood in its veins, if Renee was somehow telling the truth.

  Fucking hell.

  “I’m going to go check on my sister and my cousin,” Asa says.

  “I’m going with you,” Hunter and I both reply.

  “Karma, what did you do?” Whitney’s aunt asks quietly. “Please tell me that you didn’t—”

  “Don’t lecture me, Mom. You don’t have a whole lot of room to talk.”

  Jackie sucks in a harsh breath like her daughter just stabbed her, and I don’t even want to know what she’s talking about. All I care about right now is Whitney and her cousin and my best friend.

  “Let’s go,” I say to Hunter as Asa disappears. We catch up to him at the elevator because he doesn’t have a key card to open it.

  “Havalin, you need to back the fuck off my cousin right now. I think I understand what the hell just happened, and if Karma’s telling the truth, Cricket needs some space.”

  “I didn’t know. I didn’t fucking know. Karma played me. She fucking played me.”

  “You think I’m going to believe—”

  “She did it to me too, Gable, and you fucking know it.”

  Asa’s gaze meets mine, and I know he remembers just as well as I do the beating he gave me when Karma pretended to be Cricket and took the letter I wrote to Whitney.

  He swears under his breath. “What a goddamn goat fuck.”

  We all step into the elevator, and I swipe my card across the key reader before hitting the button for the VIP floor. We ride up in silence, but Asa speaks when it opens.

  “If Cricket doesn’t want to see you, you’re not forcing your way in. I don’t give a damn what you have to say.”

  Hunter clenches his jaw so hard, I’m surprised his teeth don’t crack. “You can’t keep me away from her.”

  Asa glances at me and then back to Hunter. “I can and I will.”

  33

  Whitney

  When the knock comes on the door, I already know it has to be Hunter.

  “I don’t want to see anyone,” Cricket says on a sob. “Not Hunter, not Karma, not Mom. No one. I can’t do this right now.”

  “Okay, honey. I promise you don’t have to see anyone you don’t want to see. I’ll keep them all out.”

  Cricket sniffles into the pillows. “I just want to run away. I don’t want this to be real. How could she ruin this too?”

  I have absolutely no answers for my cousin, but I squeeze her hand. “I’m so sorry, Cricket.”

  “She’s my sister!”

  I walk to the door of the suite and open it to find my brother, Lincoln, and Hunter all waiting outside.

  Hunter’s Adam’s apple works as he swallows. He looks absolutely destroyed and completely frantic to get to Cricket. But I also don’t blame my cousin for the instructions she just gave me. Still, I feel bad for how Hunter is going to react when I break it to him.

  “Cricket just wants to be left alone for a while.”

  “Please, Whitney. I love her so fucking much. I didn’t know. All this time, I thought . . .”

  “I know, and I’m sorry. She just needs some time to figure out what this means.”

  My brother steps forward, and I put up a hand. “She really doesn’t want to see anyone.”

  “Fuck. How are we supposed to fix this then?” Asa asks, and Hunter looks like he’s about to rip his hair out.

  “Just give her time.” I look up at Lincoln. “She wants to run away for a little while.”

  “She can’t—” Hunter starts but cuts himself off, like he realizes he might not have any grounds to object. “Fuck. I just want to hold her and tell her I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Please, just let me apologize.”

  “Maybe in a little while . . .”

  Lincoln’s gaze sharpens. I don’t know what he’s planning, but I know his brain is working something out.

  “Come on, man. Let’s get a drink at the bar and talk it through. Jackie and Karma and the girls will be coming back up, and we all have a lot to figure out.”

  Hunter’s voice drops to a whisper. “I can’t believe I have kids.”

  “Paternity test, man. I wouldn’t trust her, even if she is my cousin.” Asa chimes in, and I hate to say that I agree with him. I wouldn’t trust Karma as far as I could throw her.

  Lincoln nods. “Not a bad idea. You really don’t know anything yet—”

  “I saw their faces. They have my father’s nose. And the timing is right. My gut says she’s not lying.”

  “Come on, let’s go get that drink.” Lincoln guides Hunter away from the door, and I’m surprised he goes so easily. Maybe he’s shell-shocked over what happened.

  As soon as I close the door on them, I hurry back to Cricket. “Did you hear that?”

  She lifts her tearstained face off the pillow. “I can’t get married tomorrow. I can’t. Not now. Not here. Not after this.” More tears spill from her eyes. “I get it now.”

  “Get what?” I ask her.

  “How you felt when you wanted to run away from everything.”

  I hate the brokenness in her expression and in her tone. I want to make everything right in Cricket’s world, but I have no idea how to make that happen after this bomb Karma dropped. I let the rest of the horrible truth play through my mind.

  My cousin was my husband’s mistress, and now she says she’s pregnant with his baby.

  The press and his fans ar
e going to riot again, and everyone is going to be caught in the crosshairs.

  Maybe Cricket’s right. Maybe running away is exactly what we need to do. And I have an idea . . .

  “If I could get us out of here and somewhere no one could bother us, would you go?” I ask her.

  Cricket swipes at her tears. “Yes. God, yes.”

  “Give me a minute.”

  I head back into the living room to find where I left my purse and pull out my phone. There’s already a text showing on the screen.

  * * *

  Lincoln: Tell me what you need me to do. I’m here.

  * * *

  I quickly type out a response.

  * * *

  Whitney: The chopper and Blue House. Cricket said the wedding isn’t happening.

  Lincoln: Okay. We have to find a way to tell Hunter. I’ll have the chopper on the roof within the hour.

  Whitney: Thank you.

  Lincoln: Anything for you. I love you, Blue.

  Whitney: What about Hunter?

  Lincoln: He’s going to need to hear it from Cricket that the wedding is off.

  Whitney: She doesn’t want to talk to him right now.

  Lincoln: Then I’ll handle him. I can only keep him away for so long, though.

  Whitney: Just give us a few days.

  Lincoln: Done.

  34

  Lincoln

  I’ve never been so glad in my life that we cleared out the hotel tower for the weekend. Mrs. Havalin rails at her son in the lobby, and it looks like it’s taking all of Hunter’s restraint not to throttle her for the words coming out of her mouth.

  I’m going to be the next one he wants to kill because I’m planning his fiancée’s escape. What a damn disaster.

  “Mother, if you say one more thing about the Gable family, you will regret never having a relationship with your grandchildren.”

  “You don’t even know if those—”