Chapter Eighteen: Calm

"Girls, girls, breathe,"

I say casually as I straighten my back.

"My husband insists on security, so-"

“You’re married?”

Britney interrupts as her mouth falls open.

“I am.”

I say and wave my ring.

Rose’s mouth turns downward as she takes my hand, but just as she moves it to observe the gem, my brown-haired bodyguard pulls my hand back, worsening her sneer.

“Who did you marry?”

Rose asks without missing a beat.

“Christopher D’Amico.”

“Isn’t…that your brother-in-law?”

“Well, technically, but my sister isn’t married yet; the wedding is soon.”

“Why would you marry your brother? Isn’t that incest?”

Britney asks with a disgusted look on her face.

“Britney, no, it's ‘brother-in-law’; they aren’t related.”

“So, it's not incest?”

Rose takes a second to sigh exasperatedly before turning back to me.

"So, what you mean to say, Lizzy, is that you don’t have any say in your marriage?"

Well, yes, technically, I have no say.

"It's more that I respect his decision to keep bodyguards around me; he mus