18
GARRETT
The King’s Land
Geezus, there was a line to get into the party. Just like there had been that night five years ago. I vividly recalled Betty nearly coming out of her skin with excitement that she was actually going to see The King’s Land and meet Sabrina, who had been on the covers of so many of those trashy gossip magazines.
The paparazzi loved the rich and the beautiful. And Sabrina was both.
But I remembered thinking how lucky I was to have someone like Betty. Cute, sweet. Someone who wasn’t gorgeous and ridiculously sexy hot. Someone who wouldn’t turn every man’s head when she walked by.
Because Sabrina was that kind of beautiful on the outside.
What hadn’t realized then was how beautiful she was on the inside. All I’d ever seen was the surface. Hell, that’s all anyone ever saw of her. Whether she was on TV or not, because that’s all she would let anyone see.
Except me.
Me, who she had trusted since she was a kid to protect her.
Me, who hurt her the worst.
When I got to the gate I was thankful they had at least hired security. Clayton would have thought of that, even without being aware of Sabrina’s situation. As I pulled up, I was asked to show a copy of my invitation. Instead I showed my badge, which I always kept in my wallet.
“Has a problem been reported, sheriff?” the guard asked me.
I shook my head. “No. I’m actually a friend of the family. Just wanted to stop in and see if they needed anything. You okay with that?”
He nodded and let me through, which meant that, while there was security, it wasn’t great. I pulled my truck up to where a person in an orange vest was directing traffic. It took another fifteen damn minutes to park. I was nearly out of my mind before I was jogging up the driveway to the steps of the grand mansion.
When I walked inside, people immediately turned their heads to look at me. I was ridiculously underdressed in jeans and a T-shit, but it’s not like a man dressed up to get shit-faced.
The people here, though, glittered and sparkled. Just like last time.
“Oh, no. You’re not doing this. You are NOT doing this. I’ve lived through one drama-filled engagement party and that was enough. I’m not doing this again.”
I turned to the person who was barreling down on me. It was Bea. She was a shorter version of Ronnie and equally stunning. She was wearing some designer black dress and pointing her finger at me.
“You need to leave,” she said.
“I need to find Brin. I have to talk to her.”
“You’ve said enough to her. You wrecked her! And I’m not giving you the opportunity to do any more damage.”
“You don’t understand,” I argued. “I was…I got.. I fucked up. Okay? I majorly fucked up, but I can fix this. I have to fix this. But none of that matters now. You have a house filled with people she doesn’t know and she’s got a stalker who has been harassing her. I need to make sure someone has eyes on her all night and those eyes are going to be mine.”
“Wait, a stalker? Is that why she keeps changing her phone number?”
“Yes. Who ever it is has been able to get into her email, hacked her phone. I can’t taking any chances he might use this party as a an excuse to get close.”
Bea bit her bottom lip. “Nobody tells me anything.”
“I kind of got the impression you two didn’t get along. Brin always said you didn’t like her.”
“Didn’t like her…ish. But that’s different when we’re talking about someone hurting my family. Here’s the deal. I’ll find Ronnie and tell her we need to keep our eyes on Brin, but you need to leave. Seeing you is only going to upset her.”
“Garrett Pine. You asshole!” I turned to see Ronnie coming at me from the ballroom. Clayton wrapped his arm around her waist and hauled her up against him before she could reach me.
I had the distinct feeling he’d protected me from getting my face slapped, not that I didn’t deserve that. Or worse.
