“Hey, what’s going on?” I shake John’s hand and sit in the chair across from him.
“Trey is handled,” he says, his tone deadpan.
“John, I know you’re not a man of many words, but I’m going to need you to please elaborate.”
“All I can say for now is he had it coming, and soon you’ll find out what I’m talking about. Nonetheless, stay away. I don’t want your name anywhere near that bloke. He’s bad news.”
I nod in agreement. “I will, I swear. After our talk, I realized how much of an idiot I’d been… Acting like a teenager, unable to control my anger. My head got the best of me, so trust me, I won’t go anywhere near him.”
“Good, good,” he says, then looks down and reads something on his phone, back in work mode.
He’s my sister’s driver now, but when he first left the military, he was Wills’s bodyguard and sometimes still helps with security.
“What’s going on, John?”
“I need you to go grab Wills, then meet me back here. Immediately.”
Annabelle
“I’m going to get in so much trouble for that text. I can’t wait.” Nora sighs, anxiously awaiting punishment later tonight.
“You two are fucking kinky, I love it.”
She smirks. “It’s only gotten better over time. You don’t even want to know what we did the other day.”
I pause, contemplating asking her to go on. A part of me wants to know, but when it comes to Nora and Declan, I’m afraid it might scar my image of the two of them.
I am the least prudish person on the planet, but what the two of them get up to is on another level.
“Maybe tell me when I’m drunk later at the reception. This way, when I stand across from Dec at the altar, I won’t be picturing whatever it is you did.”
She bites her lip and smiles around it. “Probably for the best.”
Charlie comes skipping down the long corridor of the suite, holding Chloe’s hand.
“Well, shit, Sadie was right. Maybe the trip was a miracle.”Wait. “What is that dreadful sound she’s making?”
Nora sits back, amused. “You haven’t heard it yet? It’s her new thing and worse than theWoohoos. That sound would be Charlie’s whistle, and you have to tell her she’s doing amazing if she asks. She thinks it’s the best thing in the whole world.”
“I am not lying to my godchild. I’ll teach her the proper way.”
Sadie snorts from behind me as she walks into the room. “Yeah, good luck with that. She thinks she’s God’s gift to the world right now,” she says, then touches my shoulder to get my attention. She smiles softly when I lift my eyes and whispers, “Would you do me the honor of helping me into my dress?”
I roll my lips, trying to hold back my emotions as I stand and interlock our fingers, following her into the bedroom.
“Oh, Sadie.” I sigh, wrapping my arms around her. “It’s beautiful.”
Her watery eyes look up at me. “Do you love it?”
“More than love, darling. It’s classic and timeless, just like you. Now, let’s get you in it.”
I zip up the back of her custom-made dress, then turn her around and shake my head in admiration. “Sadie Marie Peters, you are the most stunning bride I’ve ever seen.” I kiss her cheek. “God, you’re gorgeous.”
Her makeup is light and natural, and her dark hair is pulled back out of her face, which would usually let the brightness of her green eyes steal the show, but not today.
Today, it’s her in this dress. It is one of a kind, and it will have everyone’s jaws hitting the ground.
It’s an ornately patterned lace, hand-stitched with white and iridescent pearls, giving off a slight sparkle as the light hits.
