Reading people is part of the job, and let me tell you, he's not jittery from brotherly emotion. Something's wrong.
And where the hell is the groom?
I step toward Xander with a practiced, calming smile, resting a hand on his forearm to steady him. He jumps back like I burned him.
"Sorry, I just wanted to check if everything's okay. You seem nervous."
His eyes go wide. Sweat beads on his temples.
"You're Roxy, right? The planner?"
"That's right." My suspicion spikes.
He fidgets then exhales, resigned.
"God, I hate him for putting me in this position… The groom's not coming."
He didn't just say that. He couldn't have.
"Sorry, could you repeat that? I think I had a small stroke."
"He's on his way to Costa Rica. With his assistant."
He's where? With whom?
The priest is making his way to the altar, so I grab Xander's wrist and drag him outside, dump the bouquet on a bench, and thank God I didn't drink a second coffee this morning or I'd be vibrating enough to explode him with my glare.
"And when exactly were you planning to tell the bride? Because she just texted me that she'll be here in four minutes."
Puppy-dog guilt looks back at me. Oh, he’s just the scapegoat for his coward of a brother.
I rub my temples. “You’resure?”
His face is answer enough.
A muffled scream escapes my throat. Instead of delivering a dream today, I’m about to deliver a disaster.
“Roxy?”
Iris’s voice. Behind me.
I close my eyes, steel myself. It’s fine, Roxy. She’s better off without him.
I turn and my courage falters.
She’s radiant in a princess gown, pearls at her neckline, blonde hair in a loose bun, silver rose-shaped earrings glinting. Hope shines so brightly in her eyes that it makes me sick.
Xander steps up beside me. He knows, same as I do, that we’re about to turn her happiest day into her worst.
“Iris, we have a problem.”
For the next hour, I hold her while she sobs for the future she thought she had. She doesn’t believe me when I tell her she’slucky this happened now. She doesn’t believe me when I tell her she dodged a bullet.
And out of nowhere, my mind flashes to a gold chain and the scent of leather and musk. I shake it off.
They’re all the same. They’ll break your heart the moment you love them most.
Chapter 4
