Page 40 of Corrupted Bride

“Okay, great, we got that out of the way.” She leaps to her feet and storms over to the vanity. “I’m on hair and makeup and dress duty. Got any preferences before we get started?”

A stab of panic. I look around and try to picture what I want to look like and come up blank. “I’m not… I don’t know…”

She holds up a hand. “Say no more. If you can trust me, I’ll make you look so fucking hot Bass will shit his pants.”

“Uh, maybe let’s not make your brother ruin the wedding day.”

“Fine, that’s fair. How about he’ll have to hide his boner?”

“That might be worse.”

“Cool. Let’s do this.”

“Wait, I didn’t say yes!”

But it’s too late. I get the feeling once Lia puts her mind to something, there’s no turning back. She steers me over to the chair in front of the big mirror, fires up the lights, and starts rooting through products as she talks about my hair length, volume, style, and shimmer. Whatever the hell all that’s supposed to mean.

And as she gets to work making me beautiful, I keep thinking about Bass, about my future husband. How he could’ve gotten out of this situation by choosing someone else… and how he took on the responsibility himself anyway.

Would I have done the same in his shoes? Given the chance to be free, wouldn’t I have taken it?

I’m bothered that I can’t decide one way or the other.

All I know is I respect a man who doesn’t make other people suffer so he can stay comfortable.

There’s a knock at the door a couple hours later. “Hey, Mari, it’s me. You ready?”

I tear myself away from staring in the mirror. I’ve been standing there for a few minutes, ever since Lia stuffed me into the dress. It fits perfectly, which shouldn’t be a surprise. She mumbled something about Bass getting my measurements just right, which is maybe a little disturbing, but whatever. She left me to have a moment to myself, and I haven’t been able to come to grips with how I look right now.

The door opens and Cruz is waiting in the hall. He’s in an ill-fitting suit, his hair floppy and messy, and his annoyed frown brightens.

“Holy crap,” he says and laughs. “Dude, you look like Mom used to in all those old beauty queen pictures.”

“Shut up,” I say and punch him in the arm.

But damn, he’s right.

I look amazing. I don’t know what Lia did to me, but I’ve never been able to make myself this gorgeous. My eyes are brighter, my cheeks sharper, even my figure is incredible. The dress is a strapless white silk mikado gown with a fitted corset and a full A-line skirt. No veil and simple pearl earrings. I wasn’t sure about it at first, at least until Lia squeezed me in, and now…

It’s perfect.

“Seriously, dude, you look perfect.” Cruz grins at me. “Bet you hate it.”

“Yeah, totally.” Even though I don’t. I’m not usually super girly, but this scratches a deep itch at the very core of my brain, probably some ancient training from when I was a little girl playing with dolls. I look like a bride, like a princess. Like freaking royalty.

And I really, really like it.

I tug Cruz’s arm until he’s standing next to me. I lean against him and we gaze at each other in the full-length mirror. He’s smiling sadly and seems uncomfortable, which is normal for a boy his age. “I remember when you were little,” I say, hugging his arm tighter. “You used to call me MarMar.”

“I stopped that a while ago.”

“I know, I miss it though.”

“Nah, I was so annoying. I followed you everywhere.”

“You really did.” I smile at the memory of Cruz teetering at my heels. There were days I couldn’t stand him, but now it’s like I can’t picture my life without my little brother in it. “Can you do something for me?”

“Yeah, sure.”