Twisted Love: The Bride He Never Loved

Sore. Aching all over.

It felt like she'd been run over by a truck.

A harsh beam of sunlight pierced through Celestia Brooks's eyelids, forcing her eyes to flutter open. The glittering Swarovski chandelier above, the extremely luxurious bedding, the tasteful antique décor-it all screamed one thing: this wasn't her place.

She stared blankly for a good ten seconds before her memory finally kicked in. Hotel. Right.

She groaned softly as a wave of soreness spread through her body.

Last night had been Sophia Quinn's bachelorette party. They were celebrating, and she must've had a few too many.

She usually held her liquor well, which made it even weirder that she'd blacked out. She didn't think she'd drunk that much.

Her head was pounding like crazy. Supporting it with one hand, she tried to sit up and make her way to the bathroom for a much-needed shower. But as she started to move, she felt a weight pressing against her stomach. Frowning, she lifted the blanket-

And froze.

A bronzed, masculine arm was draped across her flawless waist. Her breath caught in her throat as every cell in her body snapped to attention.

Oh God.

She slapped a hand over her mouth, barely muffling her scream in time. Her eyes widened, heart racing like mad. She stared at the man's arm like it might suddenly vanish. Her mind was a mess of static.

It took a minute before she could even think straight. Slowly, she lowered her hand and swallowed hard, then gingerly peeled the blanket back further.

And instantly went pale as a sheet.

No way.

Her skin was marked all over-reddened trails against her white body, like she'd been completely ravaged. Her thighs ached. And then she spotted the faint spots of red on the sheets.

Her whole face crumbled.

Every woman knows what that means.

Celestia's eyes blurred, threatening tears, her mind in total chaos.

When? How? She was certain a woman had brought her back to her room last night. Why was there a man here now?

Shock swirled in her chest like a maelstrom. Her gaze shifted from the red-stained sheet to the man's back. She stared at him, numb with disbelief.

Gritting her teeth, she carefully lifted his arm off her and set it aside. Then she jumped out of bed and scrambled to collect her clothes from the floor, yanking them on hastily.

Another minute passed before she finally looked down at herself to double check-everything was buttoned, zipped, covered. All set. Slowly, she turned around to face the man still sleeping in her bed.

She needed to know who this was.

Swallowing a lump of dread, she steeled herself and walked quietly around to the other side of the bed.

The second she saw his face, her heart just... stopped.

Her blood turned cold.

No. No, no, no.

His eyes were shut, his breathing slow and even as he slept.

Tangled strands of hair fell carelessly across his forehead, framing a face so striking it could make anyone forget to breathe-sharp features, defined jawline, effortlessly handsome.

But it wasn't his looks that made her heart skip a beat.

It was his identity.

Jareth Carrington. CEO of the Carrington Group. One of the city's most eligible bachelors.

And-

Her best friend Sophia's fiancé. Her soon-to-be husband.

And also... Ethan Quinn's close friend.

Her own boyfriend.

Looking at his exhausted sleeping face, Celestia forgot how to breathe. When she finally snapped out of the shock, her chest ached with a suffocating weight. Her whole body felt like it had been dropped into an icy lake, frozen to the bone.

Sophia's glowing smile flashed in her mind-it was the image of someone in love, someone about to get married. Celestia's face went pale with fear.

Today was Sophia's wedding. And she... she had just slept with the man she was supposed to marry.

Her brain was spinning. What if Sophia found out?

Celestia panicked.

No. No way could anyone know this happened. Sophia was her best friend. She couldn't let this ruin her wedding.

That thought kicked in hard. Her once soft gaze turned firm-she had to get out, right now. She turned to leave without making a sound.

But just as she was about to step forward, a hand grabbed her wrist-tight and unrelenting.

Celestia froze like she got zapped.

All she could hear was her own racing heartbeat. Biting down the rising panic, she slowly looked at the hand clamped around her wrist-strong and steady. Her heart sank.

She followed the hand up and met eyes as dark as midnight, with a faint curve of amusement in them. Jareth was awake.

Before she could react, a cheerful voice suddenly rang out. "Celestia, you're awake?" And right on cue, the door swung open.

Celestia whipped around, not even getting the chance to stop her. The smile on Sophia's face lit up the doorway-until it didn't.

Too late. Sophia had already seen everything. Her eyes locked on the bed where Jareth still lounged. The smile froze. Two seconds later, her expression collapsed into pure shock.

"You... you two..." All the color drained from her face-it was like someone hit pause on her soul. Her wide, bright eyes dulled with disbelief.

How could she even process it? The man she'd searched for all night... now in bed with her own best friend.

Sophia's whole body started shaking uncontrollably. Celestia could hear her own blood stop circulating. She yanked free from Jareth's grip, stepping quickly to the side to put space between them.

"Wait, Sophia, please, it's not what it looks like! Let me explain," she said in a soft, frantic voice, desperate to calm her down. But before she could finish, Sophia let out a sharp scream.

"Aaah!"

The piercing sound pulled in the person outside the room. A tall, dark figure burst through the door and came rushing in.

"What's going on?!"

Ethan stood frozen at the sight-Jareth casually lounging in bed, Celestia looking guilty beyond belief, Sophia backing away like she'd been shattered.

He didn't need to ask. The scene was more than clear.

His eyes turned red with fury.

"Jareth! What the hell did you do to Celestia?!"

With no hesitation, he lunged forward and slammed a punch straight into Jareth's face.

Jareth didn't dodge. He just sat there and took it, then slowly rubbed his burning cheek, his midnight eyes flashing with a cold glint. His voice came out sharp and dry.

"We're even now."

"What?!" Ethan's rage exploded. His eyes flared as he stared at Jareth's blank face, not a trace of guilt on him. He shouted, voice cracking with anger, "You bastard-!"

Fist raised again, ready to throw another hit-until Sophia rushed to stop him.