Emmett shrugs. “Got me. Your bride must love black and white. At least it’s pretty…?”
“More like inoffensive.”
We walk into the place. Mountains of white chrysanthemums are everywhere. They’re nice enough, but not the kind of flowers I expected. Grace seems like a rose and daisy kind of girl.
“Is this supposed to be a wedding or a funeral?” Aunt Akiko comes over. She’s in a brilliant red and cream kimono, which she takes out only when she feels the occasion is special enough to warrant it.
“A wedding,” I respond.
She nods. “Do white chrysanthemums mean love in America?” She blinks up at me.
“I wouldn’t know.” I wish I could ask Grace what she was thinking.
“Well. They’re going to start soon. At least the soprano looks competent.” She gestures vaguely at the direction of a singer in a pale blue dress.
“Looks that way.” Madison handled hiring the staff, so the singer will probably be okay.
I barely have time to say hello to the guests as I walk to the altar to wait for Grace. Emmett and Ares stand with me as my groomsmen. The others are unhappy, but with Grace not having any bridesmaids, it would be ridiculous to have all of them with me.
A quick scan of the audience doesn’t reveal where Dad is. Nelson, however, is badly bruised again. During one of the calls to set up the medical trust, Bryce said Nelson got carjacked. He didn’t resist—too chickenshit, of course—but the masked thug punched his face a few times before driving away with the Mercedes, which was found the next day. WALLS MUST BEHAVE, all caps, was spray-painted on the burned husk of the car. The police have no idea who did it—there was no surveillance footage or witnesses. The security camera in the garage was apparently out of service.
Next to him, Karie stares straight ahead, her eyes refusing to focus on anything. Mick sits with his lips tight, and Vivienne sobs carefully into her handkerchief so she doesn’t ruin hermakeup. When she realizes I’m looking at her, she lifts her head and mouths,It’s not too late. I’m here.
She must’ve smoked something before coming. Itistoo late, precisely because she’s here. Can’t uninvite her now without making a scene.
Mom looks alert. Uncle Prescott leans over and says something to Aunt Akiko, who nods with her eyes wide. Catalina is smiling—probably feeling triumphant—and Andreas checks his watch.
Still no Dad…
Emma and Rachel are one row behind Catalina, and the former gives me a small wave and smile. She’s probably the most genuinely happy person at the wedding because she has no clue what’sreallygoing on and wants the best for me. Rachel’s with some boy-toy arm candy who barely looks eighteen. Guess she got rid of the last “love of her life,” who managed to stay with her for, like, two months. None of my other brothers’ mothers have come. Grant’s mom hates my mother. Nicholas’s mom can never keep her commitments, so nobody expects her to be anywhere she says she’ll be, except possibly at Dad’s birthday parties. Noah’s mom is a hermit, and Sebastian’s in Paris again.
What the hell?Adam is sitting on the bride’s side—all stoic but vibrating with misery. It’s as though he’s been asked to sit in one of Griff’s econometrics classes without an Excel spreadsheet. Why did anybody think it was a good idea to invite him?
Actually… Grace considers him a friend, and she wants to test her limits. My initial irritation slowly fades. He can enjoy watching me make Grace legally mine…and then go back to his undoubtedly tiny apartment and cry.
Finally, I see Joey—hard to miss that shock of orange. But there’sstillno sign of Dad.
Weird. He wouldn’t miss this for the world. I scan the audience again, wondering where he could’ve gone. Suddenly suspicious, I look up at the sky with narrowed eyes. But—nothing. Guess he isn’t going to attempt to parachute into the ceremony. He tried to attend Grant’s wedding from a helicopter, blaring Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” at full volume.
Grace appears at the end of the aisle, her arm linked with…
Dad’s.
Gasps rise from the guests. Her dress is classic, with a long train and a poofy skirt made with layers and layers of chiffon. Diamantés sparkle on her fitted bodice, which she would not have been able to wear if she were showing. A finger-length veil blows softly in the breeze.
And the entire thing isjet black.
Both my eyebrows rise. Is this a figurative flip of the bird because I made a joke to Madison about the theme of the wedding being “Amazing Grace,” and Grace found out about it?
I certainly didn’t expect her to run with it and make it her own, but the black wedding gown is surprisingly chic. I like the way she wears it with confident audacity. A reluctant admiration begins to swirl in my gut, along with a hint of heat that has to do with more elemental needs.
I missed her while I was away in London.The realization is a little unnerving. She’s just a scheming manipulator. But my libido doesn’t care, and it bothers me that I’m putting physical attraction above character.
If your father hit you, you would want to find a way to escape.
That doesn’t give her immunity. Not after she fucked me over so spectacularly. Still, retribution is far, far from my mind as I gaze at her.
Tears glint from Dad’s eyes, and he dabs at them. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was the actual father of thebride. Meanwhile, Nelson turns red. Or at least his black-and-blue complexion is turning more purplish as he glares at Grace and Dad.
