Chapter Seven
It was the big day. The day that Jarrod would bridenap Regina right out of Greenwood Park…if his uncle was to be believed, anyway.
Jarrod had kept his word after all. He’d been polite, if not warm, to Regina, and he had showed up to every single “accidental” meeting arranged by Matched and Mated. He had ignored Mary as if she didn’t exist.
Mary doubted Regina cared about his obvious lack of enthusiasm for her. What women like her wanted was the prestige that came with being married to the Alpha. She’d be the Alpha Queen. She’d have a lady in waiting. She’d have maidservants. Pack members would genuflect. It was as close to royalty as one could get, for an American.
Working on this bridenapping had set a constant dull ache in Mary’s heart. They had two other bridenappings scheduled, and Mary had offered to work on them instead, but Hilda had insisted that she finish Regina’s bridenapping first.
“You’re the one who royally screwed this up, so you’re going to see it through to the end. This is for your own good. For once, you’re going to do something right,” was the way Hilda had put it.
Mary could have pointed out that she wasn’t a screw-up, that she showed up on time and kept the agency running like clockwork for half the salary of an executive secretary, but she was too depressed these days. The fight had gone out of her. Jarrod was getting married to Regina, Hilda spent every day reminding Mary that she had no useable skills and she was lucky Hilda had hired her, and even though she and Angela had scrapped all day long while she was there, now that she was gone Mary missed her fiercely.
She glanced over at Regina.
Funny, Regina didn’t look as happy as she should have. She’d won. She was getting bridenapped, and Mary would have to stand there and watch. She wasn’t smiling, or smirking, though; she was pacing, looking anxious and distracted.
Of course, Regina looked fabulous, as always. She was styled to perfection. Her hair was flat-ironed and shiny and swung like a sheet of shimmering gold silk. She’d chosen a pink silk pantsuit in case Jarrod grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder, which was popular in bridenappings these days. Of course, some particularly naughty brides anticipated this and chose to wear short skirts and thongs – some even went without underwear – but Regina came from a family who liked to think of themselves as respectable.
The paparrazi were standing at a distance, cameras trained on the scene. Mary had to agree with Angela’s original assessment; this kind of pre-arranged bridenapping really sucked the joy out of it. Or maybe it was just her.
Regina’s parents were standing nearby, cameras clenched, talking to several of their staff members. One of them looked vaguely familiar to Mary, and she kept staring at him until he caught her eye, turned, and walked away. And then it hit her.
It was the man who’d attacked her. Hired by Regina’
“What isshedoing here?” Hilda’s voice raked through the air, and Mary flinched. Now what?
A taxi had just pulled up and Angela was climbing out. She headed towards Mary with a determined look on her face. Her hair was dyed mermaid blue and she had a new lip ring. Not surprising. Whenever she was forced to spend time with her parents, she got more and more rebellious.
“Typical,” Hilda said to Mary, with a look of disgust. “Our biggest day, and you can’t go an hour without screwing up. She looks ridiculous, and I don’t want the photographers to associate her with our firm.Get rid of her.”
“You know what?” Mary said with a sudden flash of heat as Angela reached them. “You can jab at me all day long, but do not insult Angela. I happen to think her hair looks lovely.”
Hilda reared back, her eyes widening in shock and anger. “You’re lucky I ever hired you, with your complete lack of skills. You know what? I should—”
“Look for someone else? Do it.” Mary returned Hilda’s glare. She’d be better off flipping burgers, she realized. Of course, that wouldn’t even begin to cover her expenses and student loans, but…
Hilda looked like she was about to respond, but then she realized that the paparazzi were starting to look at her with interest, so she turned and hurried off.
“Angela! I missed you, you enormous pain in the ass.” Mary threw her arms around her and hugged her, hard. Then she stepped back. “What brings you here to this sad circus?”
“I missed you too, you uptight, list-making gramma. I came here because I wanted to tell you something. I’ve figured out something important.”
“Alarm clocks are not meant to be used as projectiles?”
Angela waved her hand impatiently. “Ha ha ha. Of course they are. No, something about Hilda.”
“I’m listening,” Mary said, although she was also scanning the street. Jarrod should be arriving soon. He was supposed to come in his pickup truck, spot Regina strolling in the park, grab her, and carry her away.
She felt her breakfast rising into her throat, and swallowed hard.
“Go on,” she said, returning her attention to Angela.
“Hilda knew how much you and Jarrod liked each other in high school, right?”
Mary winced. “I guess.”
“And she keeps saying that she wants everything to go off without a hitch, but she kept you on as coordinator even though she knew how much Jarrod likes you and knew it would risk the whole bridenapping. She’s not stupid. She may be an angry, uptight bitch, but she’s not stupid. She knows Jarrod likes you. She knew that it wasn’t you pursuing him, it was the other way around. You know why she made you do this bridenapping?”
