Free Rush of Redemption (Rush Series #2) by LR Potter

matter?”
    “Now’s not the time or
place, Trinity,” he warned smoothly. By looking at his expression, anyone in
the room would assume he was standing with her exchanging pleasantries.
    She turned her head to snap
back a comment, but it died in her throat when  Marlena  Franklin
slid up beside her father and wrapped her arm through his. Marlena  and her
father ?
    Glancing around him,  Marlena’s  face broke into a smile.  “Trinity!  It’s so wonderful to see you. It’s been way
too long,” she gushed as she moved to her and hugged her tight.
    Not knowing what to do,
Trinity hugged her back and murmured, “Aunt  Marlena ,
it’s good to see you also. How have you been?” she asked the woman
automatically without thinking.
    “Oh, you know, good days
and bad days. Life goes on, as they say. Well, look at you. Congratulations on
both your engagement and your new son. You’ve certainly done well for yourself.
It makes me wonder what we were all worried about. It seems you knew how to
trap a man all on your own,”  Marlena  said
snidely.
    Trinity’s eyes widened at
the intentionally cruel comment. Before she could comment, she saw Rush coming
up behind the group unbeknownst to them and it was obvious he’d heard the
comment as well.
    “You will apologize to my
fiancée,” he said evenly and in a tone so that only their group heard him.
    She saw  Marlena  flinch at his voice. Without warning,  Marlena  swung around and slapped Rush across the face.
“You bastard,” she spat.
    The room suddenly grew
quiet, the slap sounding as loud as a gunshot.
    Arthur grabbed  Marlena’s  shoulders and pulled her back against his
chest, the movement intimate somehow. Repeating the words he’d told Trinity
earlier, he said against  Marlena’s  ear,
“This is not the place.”
    “It certainly isn’t,” Rush
concurred. “In fact, now that you’ve been seen, I think it’s time for
you both to leave.”
    The muscle in Arthur’s jaw
clenched, but he nodded. A nod in Trinity’s direction was his only
acknowledgment of her before he tugged  Marlena  Franklin
out the door. She watched them go, shell-shocked on so many levels.
    Rush moved to her and
wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips against her temple. “I’m so
sorry. I don’t know what my grandfather was thinking,” he murmured against her
hair. “You okay?”
    Hidden against his chest,
she nodded. Inside her head,  Marlena’s  words
swirled. Trinity bet every person in this room probably thought the same thing,
that she’d gotten pregnant to purposely trap herself a wealthy man.
    “Let’s just get through
this dinner,  then  we can go home. Okay?” he
said, pulling back to look into her eyes with an encouraging smile.
    With a migraine pounding
now behind her eyes, she gave him a tight smile and nodded again. Needing a
moment away from the scrutiny of his eyes to compose her scattering emotions,
she said, “Can you get me something to drink, please?”
    He eyed her for a moment,
trying to read her, she assumed. She gave him a smile and he gave her a quick nod
before pressing his lips once again on her head. “I’ll be right back,” he
murmured.
    Anger simmered through Rush
as he headed towards the bar. He was holding on to Trinity by a thread and his
grandfather was doing everything in his power to come between them. He’d told
his grandfather to keep the engagement party simple and small. He couldn’t
believe it when he pulled into the drive and had seen the crowd.  And then to invite Trinity’s father and  Marlena  Franklin,
of all people.  His grandfather had been badgering him since Blake’s
birth, when he’d told him of his engagement to Trinity, about having her sign a
prenuptial agreement, but he’d adamantly refused to do so. His grandfather had
railed against him, reminding him of what had happened between his own father
and mother… as if he could ever forget it. He’d even stopped by the office