Back downstairs, I find everyone still in the living room, and now I see Mrs. Edwards has arrived. She comes over to me and hugs me. “Liam, it’s so good to see you again. How have you been?”

“I’ve been good, Mrs. Edwards.”

“Please call me Margaret.”

Before I can respond, the doorbell rings. Jeffery answers the door, and a tall, well-built man walks in. Then I hear Avery scream, “Phil!” She runs into his arms. He picks her up and spins around with her. When he sets her down, he kisses her right there in front of me.

That’s it. I’m about to storm out the room to get her away from him and kick his ass, when I feel Gabriel’s arm over my chest, “Don’t, Liam. Let it go.”

I look at him with fury. “I thought you said he was going to be a short, ugly, and a pathetic piece of shit?”

Gabriel smiles. “Who knew?”

Zander jumps in and says, “Why didn’t Avery want him? Look at him. That man can get any pussy he wants.”

I look up at Zander like I’m going to kill him. He chooses to back up real quick, with his arms raised in surrender.

Avery walks into the room and introduces Phil to all of us. I notice she’s holding his hand. I am going to kill him.

* * *

I’m dressed in a tight-fitted black halter top dress that has no back to it and a slit down the side. It’s sexy and classy. I grab my handbag and hear the doorbell. Halfway down the stairs, I see Phil enter. He looks like classic Phil, tight jeans, T-shirt with a baseball cap and boots to finish his usual look. He looks at me, and God I’ve missed him. I scream his name and practically run into his arms. He lifts me up and spins us around. When he puts me down he grabs my face and gives me a full kiss, which takes me by surprise.

“Honey, you look beautiful,” Phil says as he ends the kiss.

When I turn around, my heart almost falls out of my chest. Liam is staring straight at me, with his brothers at his side. "Shit" Phil grabs my hand, I walk with him into the living room to introduce him to everyone and my mother practically attacks him.

He kisses her hand. “Mrs. Edwards, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I see where Avery gets her beauty.”

My mother blushes. Phil whispers in my ear, “I told you I was charming.” I giggle, trying to hide my laughter.

Next, I introduce him to Catherine. Phil kisses her hand and tries to charm her, but Catherine seems to be immune to his charm. But in true Catherine form, she is as polite as always.

“Mrs. Catherine Stern, ma’am, it is a real pleasure meeting you. My father says you are the woman who runs New Orleans.”

Catherine pulls her hand back and says, “Phillip Braun, your father lied. I run more than New Orleans. This is my state. Please inform him of his underestimation.”

Believe it or not, they both start laughing.

Phil tells her, “Mrs. Catherine, I do believe we’re going to get along just fine. My father will be pleased to learn about your hospitality.”

Catherine nods. “I hope to meet your father one day. I’ve heard a lot about him.”

I gain his attention back and introduce him to the rest of the family. He shakes everyone’s hand and charms Fallon.

She whispers in my ear, “Damn, girl, you passed him up? You’ve been holding out on me.”

I pinch her, and she gives me a scorned look.

I notice when I introduce him to Liam, the handshake is forced and Liam pretty much lets it known he is not happy.

Phil asks, “Mrs. Catherine, if you don’t mind, I’d like to freshen up and change my clothes before it’s time to leave.”

She answers, “Jeffery will show you to your room. Your bags have already been brought up.”

She waves to Jeffery, and Phil follows him out of the room.

We all have a glass of wine while we wait for Phil. My mother, Catherine, and Fallon are all telling me about how handsome they think he is. I look over to Liam, and he’s staring at me, looking pissed. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but I didn’t expect him to be like this.

About half an hour later, Phil walks back into the room without me knowing and Fallon pinches me hard. “What was that for?”

“For that.”

I look behind me and see Phil standing there, and God, he is gorgeous. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him in anything but jeans. He’s wearing a tailored black suit. With a black shirt and no tie, he has his first three buttons undone, and it’s enough to make every woman in the room gasp.

He asks me, “Honey, do you mind helping me with these cufflinks? It’s been a long time since I’ve had to wear a monkey suit.”

I walk over to him and adhere his cufflinks to his shirt. When I look at him, I notice his hair is a little longer than I remember, and it’s waved back, with the exception of one curl that fell on his forehead. Taking my fingers, I slowly and gently brush it back. He grabs my hand and kisses my finger. Our moment is interrupted by Jeffery, who says Mr. Braun your car has arrived.

Phil says, “Thank you, Jeffery. Mrs. Margaret, I hope you don’t mind if I take Avery with me and follow you all in my car?”

She smiles big and tells him that would be wonderful. We all walk out together, and Zander’s the first to notice in the driveway is a parked brand new black Maserati Quattroporte.

Zander says, “Damn, man, nice car.”

Phil smiles and says, “It’s a loaner. I called in a favor when I saw how Avery was dressed. I couldn’t take her out in my truck. But I do have one at home. I just prefer driving my truck long distances.”

He opens my door and helps me in. He then walks around the car, undoing his button on his jacket. After he starts the car, he holds my hand.

“I missed you, Avery.”

“I missed you, too, Phil.”

“Wow, Avery, you look beautiful. I’ve never seen you like this. I like it a lot.”

“I could say the same about you, Phil.”

“Well, don’t we both clean up well? We look like the perfect couple,” he says.

We wait for the first car to pull out of the driveway, and we follow behind them. The whole drive, he holds my hand and talks about what’s going on back in Boston. We catch up on all we missed, except my words were all lies. I don’t want him knowing anything about what happened to me. Not now, not ever. I never want him to look at me like I’m a victim.

We all meet at the entrance of the casino as the valet drivers take our cars. As we enter, Phil still has my hand in his. Suddenly, everyone stops on a dime, then my mom calls my name very loud like something is wrong. I look at her and see she has her hands over her mouth and is looking up with everyone else.

I slowly look up and say, “Oh God!”

Catherine comes to my side and says, “It’s your surprise. Look at how beautiful you look. The pictures came out so well, we decided to display them all over the casino.”

I still can’t speak. I’m starting to freak out. Phil feels my hand trembling, and he leans down to whisper in my ear, “Wow, honey, I’ve never seen you look more beautiful. Avery, it’s gorgeous, I think every man is going to be jealous of me tonight.”

I can’t stop staring at the giant banner that goes across the whole entrance of the casino. It’s me lying on a table covered in food. I don’t know how to feel. Then I hear my mother say how lovely I look, and she has tears in her eyes as she tells me, “Avery, I never knew how truly lovely you were. I’m so proud of you.” She continues to wipe her tears as she hugs me.

I look over and see Liam’s face. He’s staring at me with a look I can’t decipher. Then he gives me a slight grin. Zander whistles and says, “Damn, kid, I might have to rethink my feelings for you.”

Everyone continues to talk about the picture as Phil walks me into the casino. Then I notice more pictures; I’m all over the casino. In all different scenes and poses. Fallon comes and grabs my other hand. “What do you think?”

What do I think? Good question. Part of me is embarrassed at being so exposed with people gawking at my image. But then there’s a part of me that loves them. I really do love them. Oh my God, I do love them. I start to feel pride in myself for doing the shoot and taking the risk. It’s something I would have never even thought of doing before. Me, Avery Edwards, the little shell of a girl who no one ever noticed, is now on display, and people are gossiping about who I am. I love it.

I burst out saying to Fallon, “I love them. I think they’re absolutely what I needed.” My smile grows, and I start to walk with confidence.

We walk into Sin, and immediately we’re spotted by Chef Acosta. “Avery, sweetheart, your pictures are amazing. Catherine and I couldn’t decide which ones we liked the most, so we filled the casino with all the ones we loved.”

“I know, Catherine already told me. Thank you.”

He then turns to Catherine and tells her, “I have the best table in the house reserved for you and your family, come.”

We all follow as we’re led to the center of the restaurant. They have a large table waiting, and the flower arrangements are incredible.

We all sit, and I start seeing eyes on me. People are whispering and looking my way. Catherine tells me not to worry, they are just wondering if I’m the lady in all the pictures. She says I need to hold my head high and show them my confidence. I do, and as time goes by, people start nodding their head my way. My confidence rises.

As the conversation goes on, I look around the table, and for the first time in I don’t how long, I am truly happy. My mother and Phil, along with the Sterns, are all laughing and having a great time. All except Liam. Every now and then, I catch him watching me. I smile, but he doesn’t return it. He’s on his second drink now, and I hope he doesn’t have anymore. I start to sense it might be because Phil is here. He shouldn’t feel jealous, though. He knew Phil was coming, and there really isn’t anything between me and Liam. But part of me takes satisfaction in knowing that if it is jealousy, it serves him right. I had to watch him with someone else, so now it’s his turn.

The chef comes back and tells us we will be receiving a taste of everything on the menu and he hopes we enjoy. The first course arrives, with waiter after waiter laying them neatly on the table.

Phil whispers in my ear about how hot my photos are, and then his hand squeezes my knee. This, too, confuses me because part of me is turned on, and then part of me feels it’s wrong. Not the flirting, but who’s doing the flirting. I enjoy it, but not like when Liam used to flirt with me. I just have to forget Liam; it’s time.

Halfway through our first course, I hear the voice of a long-lost nemesis. Marcy.

* * *

I can’t wait for this night to fucking end. I sit here having to watch Avery giggle every time this fucking prick, Phil, whispers in her ear. What could he possibly be telling her? Whatever it is, she giggles and blushes. And I get more and more pissed. All I want to do is hurt him, badly. How dare he touch what’s mine? What has always been mine?

All of a sudden, I hear her before I see her. What the hell else can go wrong tonight?

Marcy comes around the table. “Liam, here you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

I stand and kiss her cheek. “Hello, Marcy, was there something you needed?”

She fucking giggles and says, “No, silly, I just wanted to see you. I thought I would’ve heard from you by now.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve been busy.”

She starts to look around the table. “Mrs. Catherine, hey, it’s Marcy, remember? I haven’t seen you in years.”

My mother, being polite, says, “Yes, Marcy, I remember you. Why don’t you have a seat and join us?”

What? Why? I look to my mother, and she’s giving off a vibe that tells me she’s up to something.

Marcy accepts, and I pull a chair out for her. She starts whispering in my ear about how much she misses me and would love nothing more than to have some alone time with me. Well, she can keep on dreaming because that shit is not happening. The last thing I need is Marcy trying to get her claws into me.

I look over to Zander, and he’s chuckling. I’m glad my predicament is so fucking amusing. I start to introduce Marcy to everyone sitting down. When we get to Avery, I notice she has a scowl on her face.

Marcy practically yells out, “Oh my God, Avery, is that you?”

Avery answers, “Afraid so, Marcy. This is my date, Phillip Braun.”

Phillip the asshole is more like it.

Marcy starts looking around the room and says, “Avery, is that you in the pictures?”

Avery hesitantly says, “Yes.”

Marcy laughs and says, “Wow, who knew quiet Avery was that pretty?”

I immediately look up at Avery and say, “I did.”

Marcy replies, “Well, yes, I guess you did. You always seemed to have a soft spot for poor little Avery.”

I’m about to shut her up when I hear Avery tell her, “Really? Because I remember him having a soft spot for the school slut.”

I am so caught off guard and at the same time very impressed with Avery’s comment.

Zander shouts out, “Oh shit!” And then laughs.

Before Marcy can say any more, Phil looks at Avery and says loud enough for everyone to hear, “Him, Avery? He’s the one?”

I stand from my chair and say, “Yeah, asshole, that’s right. I’m the one!”

Phil jumps up, ready to attack, when we all hear Fallon yell, “Oww! Oh crap, it hurts!”

Everyone’s attention goes straight to Fallon with concern. She can have this baby at any time, and now we all start freaking out, forgetting everything else. Gabriel and Mom keep asking her if she’s okay. She says she’s fine; the baby just kicked. But then I catch her wink at Avery. What the hell? It hits me. It was a distraction from me kicking Phil’s ass.

We all sit back down except Marcy, who asks if we can leave. “Hell no!” I tell her. Once settled, I look straight at Phil. He leans back, putting his arm around Avery with a shit-eating grin, and says, “Well, this is going to be fun.”

Fuck him. But then I see Avery looking at me, pissed off. What does she have to be pissed at? Then I watch her eyes slide over to Marcy. Bingo, that’s why she pissed. Well, Phil, two can play this game, and he’s right, this should be fun.

The rest of the night, I give Marcy the attention she desires and notice how well it pisses Avery off. If she thinks now I believe for a second there is nothing between us, then she has another thing coming. She should have played her jealousy off better. But now I got her. She obviously has feelings for me. I just need to figure out what to do with my newfound information.