Libra Ascending: An Epic Urban Fantasy Romance (Zodiac Guardians Book 1) by Tamar Sloan (adult books to read .TXT) 📗

The uneasiness blossoms to dread. There’s only one reason Cassandra would be looking like she just slam-dunked.

Brielle.

18

Brielle

Frank and Beatrice exchange flittering glances while their faces fail to hide smiles.

The dinner has gone so well. In fact, it couldn’t have gone better! As Brielle sits across from them at the table at Chez Monet thirty minutes after everyone cleared their plates, she’s certain they’re a perfect fit for her, and that she’s a perfect fit for them.

Now they wait for the waiter to return with Frank’s credit card, and Brielle burns with curiosity as to what they’re grinning secretly to each other about.

Beatrice gives Frank a subtle nod that Brielle wouldn’t have caught if she wasn’t watching them so intently, and he clasps his hands together in front of him on the white table cloth.

“We’re just going to cut to the chase,” he says, his smile shining as he speaks. “We want to adopt you.”

Brielle’s heart jumps into her throat, cutting off her oxygen supply.

“We want to be your mom and dad.” Beatrice positively glows as she says these words that seem both difficult and natural at the same time to say. “Will you join our little family?”

“Yes!” The simple word jumps out of Brielle’s mouth before she can even resume breathing.

“Really?” Beatrice squeals.

“Brielle, you don’t know how happy you’ve made us!” Frank says, taking his wife’s hands in his. “How about we celebrate with dessert at our house? Your new house.”

Brielle’s chest is so bursting with joy that it threatens to explode and ruin the nice white table cloth between them.

“I would love nothing more,” she professes.

“Excellent! Ah, and just in time.” The waiter hands Frank the receipt and his credit card, which is swiftly stowed back into Frank’s wallet. He stands up and holds out an inviting hand. “Shall we?”

Brielle nods so eagerly she feels like a bobble-head doll, and she and Beatrice stand up and follow him to the front door.

But an impossible sight has Brielle slowing her pace behind her new parents, staring as if to prove to herself that what she’s seeing is a trick of the mind. And yet, the longer she stares, the closer she gets, the sight only becomes more cemented in reality.

Tristan is sitting at a table in a dimly lit corner and holding hands with none other than her arch nemesis, the blonde beauty queen of Mirror Point High.

Cassandra.

And what’s worse?

Brielle can’t even duck out of view and pretend not to have seen them because Cassandra is sneering right at her, causing Tristan to turn and lock eyes with her.

She finally stops, frozen in a moment in time with Tristan, and not in anywhere near the same way they were earlier today. When he confided heartfelt hopes of his soulmate, and insinuating she might be it.

How could she have been so stupid?

A sudden surge of determination cuts the moment short and rushes her out the door after Frank and Beatrice. She’s not going to let Tristan ruin her night. She just got the family she always prayed for! Whatever he’s doing here with Cassandra, she can’t allow herself to care.

She’s not two steps into the parking lot, however, when a hand clasps around her upper arm, igniting the electric sparks that she no longer wants to feel.

“Brielle, please wait,” Tristan says.

Frank and Beatrice turn around midstep, and Frank’s expression goes from jolly to guarded in an instant.

“Is everything okay, Brielle?” he asks, regarding Tristan with a look that says, “you’d better be careful how you touch my daughter.”

Brielle is touched by Frank’s concern, and she debates shaking free of Tristan’s grasp and following them to their car without a word about what she saw.

But she can’t. Not after their lunch together. Not after how amazing Tristan made her feel, only to betray her in the worst possible way.

She deserves an explanation, and she’s going to get it.

“Yes, it’s alright,” Brielle says, amazed that her anger isn’t seeping into her tone. “Can I just have a minute?”

Beatrice and Frank hover in place for a long moment, assessing Tristan to make sure he’s not a threat, and an encouraging nod from Brielle sends them on their way to the blue Buick parked not too far away.

Brielle watches them until they get in the car and close the door before turning her righteous outrage on Tristan.

“So everything you said to me earlier today was a lie,” she accuses. “Maybe everything you’ve ever said to me is a lie. Maybe you’re the one person who’s immune to my lie-detection. And what a sucker I am for falling for all the—”

“It’s not like that,” Tristan cuts her off in a hoarse whisper. “I swear to you, on everything I have ever strived for, that I have no romantic interest in Cassandra.”

“Oh, so it’s just physical then? Why not, she’s beautiful, sexy, everything a guy like you would want. So, what, she’s the snack and I’m the meal? You have to take a little nibble of her while making sure I hang around, wrapped around your deceitful finger. I’m such an idiot!”

“No, you’re not,” he says, taking a step closer.

Too close. Too intimate a distance for what he just did. Brielle takes a step back.

That tiny gesture visibly stings Tristan, and Brielle takes a small bit of joy in that.

“I’m not into Cassandra like that,” Tristan continues. “Everything I told you is true. I only came out with her tonight because…”

He bites his tongue, and there’s no way in hell Brielle is going to let him keep his next words to himself.

“Because what,” she demands, crossing her arms under her chest and jutting her hip like a dagger meant to slice.

Tristan growls under his breath, then says with some difficulty, “Because I think she may be a Zodiac Heir, too.”

Brielle’s not sure what angers her more. That Tristan is using his same tired old lie to excuse his actions with Cassandra, or that he