Chapter Twenty-Three
When Jimmy woke upthe next morning, he was alone. That wasn’t so unusual as Cold was often awake hours before Jimmy ever was, but what made this particular absence exciting was that this was their wedding day. He wouldn’t see Cold again until he was walking down the aisle to meet him at the altar.
He sat up, finding a small card waiting for him on the bedside table. It instantly reminded him of the little cards Cold used to leave him when they first started seeing each other, and he smiled as he read it.
Our bags are packed, and your tuxedo is waiting for you at the Pacofsky Spa. Enjoy your pampering, and I’ll see you soon. Please trust me. I’m going to give you the wedding of your dreams.
All my love,
—RL
Though Jimmy appreciated the sweet closing, he didn’t understand the note. He read the cryptic message a few more times before setting the card down. His dream wedding was barefoot at the beach, and he didn’t get how Cold was going to deliver that with their current plans.
He took a deep breath, reminding himself to trust Cold.
Whatever he was up to, the gangster knew what he was doing.
Jimmy stumbled out of bed to get ready, singing loudly in the shower as he rehearsed the song he had chosen for today. The more he sang it, the more confident he felt about his selection. The words poured right out of his heart, and he couldn’t wait to actually sing it to his husband.
He sped through getting dressed and hurried downstairs, skidding to a stop when he found Jerry in the kitchen.
That was normal.
Grinding against Charlie on top of the counter and sucking on his tongue was not.
“Oh! Sorry!” Jimmy squeaked, turning red and quickly averting his gaze.
“Shit!” Charlie snapped, quickly jumping up to fix his rumpled clothes as he and Jerry worked to make themselves decent. “Apologies, Mr. Poe! Wasn’t expecting you up just yet!”
“Obviously,” Jimmy mumbled.
“I meant no offense,monsieur!” Jerry chimed in. “We had been talking and perhaps got a little carried away.”
“I just came by to, to...” Charlie stammered for a reason.
“Wedding,” Jerry mumbled.
“Right!” Charlie was visibly relieved, smoothing his clothes as he explained, “I’ll be going with you to the spa and helping you prepare for the ceremony. Your father and Mr. Martine are meeting us there, and afterwards we should have time for at least one quick rehearsal.”
“I can make you breakfast,monsieur,” Jerry offered humbly.
