“Suddenly, I’m glad Liam gave me that check. We would’ve had to take out a loan otherwise, and that’d take too long,” I smile at Baron’s sigh of relief before he leans back to drain his beer swiftly. Hesitancy slithers up my spine. I rub my palms together before grabbing my own drink and washing away the dense lump in my throat. “We can make it a huge thing? Celebrate the resort, the baby. . . have a wedding?”
Baron’s eye rolls in its socket to catch mine, and I hold my breath in anticipation. Blood drums in my ears as he tosses his beer bottle into the cooler haphazardly. Lumbering over to my lounge chair, he nuzzles my face as alarm skitters down my neck. Pushing me onto my back, Baron lays next to me to palm my abdomen lovingly.
“Oh, it’s an excuse alright- an excuse to use all those ideas you’ve accumulated over the past few weeks and pick the best ones for yourself,” Baron chuckles huskily, and I cover his hand with mine to stare at the domed top of the cabana. “I think bundling it all up will be stressful but worth it if we can pull it off. Who’ll we invite?”
“I think. . . we should just invite everyone. My family, the Mackenzies, Eamon’s and Keenan’s business partners, the families of all those people. If we’re going to go big, we’re going to go bi-i-g! This resort isn’t a ghost town, either,” I pause, memories flashing in my mind’s eye of the first moment I walked into the bustling lobby. “And having a huge complimentary event for guests that are already here would generate buzz, aye? It’d be free for regular guests, and it can happen in sections.”
“Woah, woah, slow down there, love. You’re getting way ahead of yourself. We haven’t signed the paperwork yet, let alone gotten to the point that we’re sure we can throw a festival,” Baron chuckles, and I blink hard before tilting my head to look at him. “Let’s start with the wedding, and we’ll take the rest as it comes.”
CHAPTER23
BARON
The reflection in the mirror is different than I’ve ever seen before. Usually when I look at myself I can see the worry or anger in my face. Today all I can see is my future with Delaney. I close up the last few button on my shirt and pull my sleeves down to get ready to insert the cufflinks that Delaney bought me as a wedding present. They're simple and have my initials engraved on them. I haven't seen her all morning and though I know she has her family over there with her to get dressed part of me wishes that I could just peek over and make sure that she's okay. I was told under no circumstance would I be able to see Delaney before the wedding. I'll. just have to wait.
I've waited my whole life for someone like her so I guess waiting a few more minutes is doable.
The sound of the waves crashing against the beach a bit further down from the resort lulls me into a deeply relaxed state. I honestly feel like the luckiest man on the planet not only am I embarking on a new adventure that is married life but also I'm going to be doing so with my wife. and child. I walk slowly over to the large glass balcony doors and open them. the warm sun beats down on my face and the smell of the ocean fills my nose. What would it be like to wake up to this every day? to wake up in this little slice of heaven with my family and my business. I step out onto the balcony and look over to see a group of workers hustling towards the main building with boxes of tropical flowers. It must be for the wedding. When Delaney plans something she doesn't leave anything to chance. She knew what type of flowers she wanted for the wedding down to the species and amount in each bouquet. I'm perfectly fine to let her take over when it comes to this, as long as I get to marry her at the end of it she can have any flowers she wants.
I hear a heavy knock at my suite door which breaks my serenity for a moment.
Who the hell is that?" I mutter to myself. Maybe it's one of Delaney's brothers? though I'm sure they'd want to stay close to her at this moment.
Every muscle in my body clenches when I open up the door and see my fucking mother.
"What did I fucking tell you mother! Did you forget already?" I snarl at her and step closer to get into her face. She put Delaney through too much already. there's no way that I'm going to allow her to ruin her wedding day as well. Over my fucking dead body.
"Oh, Baron, so dramatic. Move please." She glares at me and doesn't say another word. I raise an eyebrow and step back so she can come into the room. I'd rather have this argument with her behind closed doors anyway.
"I'm going to ask you again mother, what are you doing here?" I fist my hands at my sides trying to think of the quickest way for me to get her back on a plane without having to leave the wedding. I don't want hurt Delaney in anyway , and if I have to abruptly walk out on my own ceremony she may be a little fucking pissed about it.
"Honestly Baron, did you really think I wouldn't show up to my own son's wedding. I know you think me a cold hearted bitch but even I have limits.
Fury burns inside of me, "Limits! Are you crazy? Where was your limit when you were accusing my wife of lying about Hans? Where was your limits when you attacked her at my work place? Where the fuck were your limits then!" I yell at her and she cringes away like she's ashamed.
"Oh baron, you just don't understand"
I shake my head and huff out a half-hearted chuckle, "No. I don't understand. I don't understand any of it. You go about your life trying to get in where you can. Always ready to kick someone under a bus to get ahead in the world and now you want to what... Come in here and fix my cufflinks? cry about how handsome I look?"
She turns her head to me and looks me over once, "You do look handsome Baron."
I blow out a hard breath and toss my hands in the air. She frustrates the hell out of me.
"Baron, I came here because I need to talk to you about what you're going to do."
When I turn back to face my mother she is standing and her hands are crossed across her midsection, she seems uncomfortable. Good. She should be uncomfortable.
"What do you want? Hurry up and say what it is that you have to say and get the hell out of here."
She sighs and takes a step in my direction, when she puts her hand on my forearm my eyebrows go up to my hairline. What the hell is she doing.
"Baron, I know you have feelings for this woman but you cannot marry her."
"What? " I pull my arm out of her reach and take a step back. If I stand any closer I'm liable to grab her and toss her over the balcony for coming in here and even thinking about saying something like that to me. "What the hell would make you say something like that to me? This is my wedding day. I'm getting married to the one person in the world I know fucking loves me and I can't live without. She chose to be with me in spite of all the fucked up shit you and the rest of my family did to her. She wants me in spite of how you tried to break her down. You think I'm going to give her up because you think I should? What kind of crazy are you?" I try to walk around her to open the door and send her on her way but she grabs my arm and pulls me so that I have to swing back in her direction.
"Dammit, Baron, just listen to me. Listen to reason! You said it yourself , your family tried to destroy her. We broke her down and left her to pick up the pieces. You mean to tell me that you truly believe after all we've done to her and the rest of her family she's just going to sweep it under the rug and forget all about it? You think she's going to want to be married to the same person who shared years of his life with the man that supposedly raped her? For one second would you think with something other than what's between your legs?'
"Mother, watch your fucking words. You don't know shit about me or my relationship with Delaney. In fact you don't know anything about Delaney. That's exactly what I think she'll do because I know that's the kind of person she is. She's not going to hold what You or Hans have done to her over my head. ."
