“Withholding the truth is just as bad!”
“So you’ve said, but did you really want to be privy to my plans to murder people at our wedding?”
“Well, no, not exactly!” Jimmy hissed miserably. “I knew you were up to freakin’ something, and this, this is horrible! You made me plan this stupid wedding just to ruin it with Tamerlane and whoever whacking a bunch of guys!”
“Charlie will take credit for that,” Cold corrected firmly. “Tamerlane took the shots, yes, but Charlie is going to be the one who pulled the trigger. And we must all be very shocked that he was a federal agent.”
“Is that why we’re running away?” Jimmy asked dryly, his head still swimming from all the chaos.
“That and we have a plane to catch,” Cold replied.
“A plane! What plane?”
“To Florida, where we will be taking a ship to a private island I’ve reserved for our wedding and honeymoon,” Cold said calmly. “I told you this morning, Jimmy: our bags are all packed and I’m going to give you the wedding you wanted.”
“You... you... what?” Jimmy was having trouble understanding what Cold was telling him. He was still shaken up from having bullets fly all around him and finding out their wedding was an elaborate trap, now further stunned by hearing there was yet another wedding.
“Part of Charlie’s job was to ascertain exactly what you would want for your dream wedding,” Cold explained. “You told me much of what you wanted pretty directly, but there were some minor details I needed him to find out for me. While he was planning the decoy wedding, he was also retrieving all the additional information I needed.
“Tomorrow evening, we will exchange our vows on white sandy beaches and—” Cold sighed deeply, as if this was physically painful, “—barefoot, as requested. Your father and the others will join us on the island as soon as they are able.”
“All of this time,” Jimmy whispered, “you were using a fake wedding to find out what I really wanted...?”
“And to kill my enemies,” Cold admitted. “I can’t say that my motivations were entirely unselfish.”
“Is it... is it really over now?” Jimmy asked hopefully.
“The Luchesis are dead,” Cold promised. “I corrected my previous mistake of letting some of them live, and Mr. Eastwick will snuff out the last of their support back in Perry City. Quite the victory for all of us.”
“What about the shooting? Don’t we need to talk to the police?”
“Why?” Cold smirked. “We’re not suspects. There’s no reason to hold us for questioning. Miss Beccali already has our statements ready to turn over to the authorities, and I’ve promised to be most cooperative when we return from our honeymoon.”
“Wow.” Jimmy shouldn’t have been surprised. “Now what?”
“Now we get married and enjoy the rest of our lives together,” Cold said with a small smile. “Which I am free to do so now, thankfully.”
“A free man, and you got the cops to take care of the bad guys. Again.” Jimmy snorted.
“Why dirty my hands when I can get the authorities to do it for me?” Cold winked.
“You really do think of everything, don’t you?”
“I make an active effort to be prepared, yes.”
“Except for onions.”
“Yes, except for fucking onions,” Cold growled, making a sour face. “Never going to live that one down, am I?”
“Nope,” Jimmy said cheerfully, sliding across the leather seats to snuggle against Cold’s hip.
“Mm, thought you’d still be mad at me a bit longer,” Cold said, wrapping his arm around Jimmy’s shoulders.
“See, you don’t know everything,” Jimmy teased. “And maybe I’m finally learning to trust you.”
“Oh?”
“And how to forgive you,” Jimmy added, reaching for Cold’s hand. “Not that you need it or even want it, but it’s how I deal with that other side of you. You’ve been working so hard to be more honest with me, and it’s only fair I try to compromise, too. I know what you are, and it’s okay. I accept it as long as I don’t get too close to that part of your world. You’ll keep me good, and I’ll keep on loving you. It’s like in the song I sang to you. No matter what, Rod, I’m going to stay with you.”
