Chapter 31
Ben
It had been forty minutes since Sherry left me hard in the barn.
I should have been stripped down and in the shower with her, her legs wrapped around me, steam coating our skin as I thrust hard and deep into her.
Instead, I was still here on the phone with the rental company for the third time, trying to track down the missing set of gold-trimmed chargers that apparently got “misplaced” in transit.
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it away from my ear to see a message from Sherry.
Sherry: Waiting… also can you grab the seating chart? I want to give it one last look with a glass of wine, fresh eyes, and hopefully recovering from a very relaxing orgasm.
“Alec, I don’t care if they fell off into the Atlantic Ocean,” I said as I thrust my hand through my hair.
“They need to be here no later than nine a.m. tomorrow, or I won’t be able to keep this from Sherry or Murray.
I’m trying to do a solid for you here since I feel bad that I accused you of working for my dad. ”
“And I appreciate it,” Alec said. “Look, it’s late, and I just dropped off my last shipment. I’m still waiting to hear back from the stop I went to before yours. I have a feeling they got mixed in with their order. I’m going to swing by there and check myself.”
“Thank you. Keep me posted.” I hung up and sent up a silent prayer that this man found those chargers.
It felt like such a silly detail, but thanks to Sherry, I was more aware of how every little detail pulled everything together to make those big impactful statement looks. She needed her damn chargers.
I’d been able to keep her off the trail so far, purposely keeping the chargers off the checklist, but come tomorrow, if there were no chargers, she’d definitely notice. After she told me she trusted me. I never wanted to break that trust again, but I also didn’t want to worry her.
She’d been working her ass off for the last month to pull this wedding off while balancing the other events she had planned throughout the month. She was a rockstar, and I didn’t want her to worry.
I slipped my phone into my pocket, locked the barn, checked the locks on all the doors since I wasn’t taking any chances, hopped in my car and got the hell out of there.
The night spread out in front of me, the soft glow of the few streetlights along the road guiding me to Sherry.
My mind drifted, thinking of her naked body, water sluicing down her body, her nipples tight.
My cock pressed against my jeans, and I was about to push harder on the gas when a disappointed sigh came up my throat.
I slammed my hand against the steering wheel and cut the wheel, making a U-turn back to the vineyard.
I was in such a rush to get the fuck out of there I had forgotten the damn seating chart.
It was a custom-made, hand-calligraphy seating chart Sherry had commissioned from a designer in New York.
The one she threatened to frame if it survived the weekend.
Though Domenique already had her own copy that I was sure would be framed.
It was a piece of art and a great detail to the wedding, something Sherry was amazing at.
Though, if this particular seating chart got ruined or smudged, she’d have my head on a pike. Groaning, I hit the gas and sped my way through Vine Valley and back to the vineyard.
I turned into the parking lot and headed straight to the barn. I unlocked all the locks and hurried inside. The seating chart was exactly where she had left it—propped up against a side table, still in its protective wrap. I gently swiped it up, not even hesitating as I pivoted toward the door.
The warm air of summer was finally settling in.
I locked all the locks and turned for my car.
My phone buzzed, and I was about to text Sherry back to let her know I was on my way when movement caught my eye.
Shadows shifted near the tent, just beyond the barn, too large and deliberate to be an animal.
Using the darkness as my shield, I pressed against the barn and moved closer. My eyes landed on two men dressed in all black, baseball caps pulled low over their eyes. One of the men crouched down near the rope tied to an anchoring spike.
He lifted his hand. The silver of a box cutter glinted in the moonlight.
“Hey!” I shouted and lunged out of the darkness toward the bastards, the damn seating chart tucked under my arm. “Get the hell away from that!”
Everything Sherry had worked for was under that tent. If they cut even just one of the ropes, the entire thing would come crashing down. I couldn’t let that happen.
My heart slammed against my chest, gravel and dirt kicked up as I ran as fast as my legs could go. Each step propelling me harder and faster.
The man who was standing turned to me, and I immediately recognized him.
“Mario, don’t fucking do it.”
“Walk away, Ben. This doesn’t concern you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. This is all about me.” I stepped around him and glared at the prick, Stanley. “I saw you before I even came out here. Cops are on their way. I already called them, and if I remember correctly, you have a warrant out for your arrest,” I lied.
Stanley’s hand stilled on the rope. “So fucking what?” he spat, but his fingers twitched. He looked at Mario, who didn’t flinch.
I stepped closer, calmer than I ever expected. I wasn’t scared. Not of them. Not anymore. “Unless you’re looking to spend the night in county, wearing zip ties and explaining to a judge why you sabotaged a wedding, I suggest you drop the rope and get the fuck out of here.”
Stanley narrowed his eyes, and for a moment I thought he’d walk away. Then an evil glint consumed his gaze. “Fuck this.” He yanked the box cutter against the rope in one clean slice.
The tension snapped, and the corner of the tent began to sway. I leaped for the rope, grabbing hold of the shredded fibers. The force yanked me forward, but I slammed my foot into the ground, anchoring myself to the earth.
My muscles strained as the weight of the tent fought me.
A boot slammed into my ribs. Pain, hot and sharp, pierced through my side. My biceps burned, but I didn’t let go.
“Let it go!” Stanley shouted as his steel-toe boot slammed into my already throbbing ribs.
White searing pain exploded through my entire body, radiating where his boot focused. My jaw clenched, my body tightened, but my grip held strong.
This was Sherry’s entire life’s work, accumulating into one massive wedding, and I couldn’t let my father take that away from her.
“I’ll break your fucking ribs,” Stanley bellowed.
“Doubt it,” I said matter-of-factly, as if I didn’t feel my bones breaking already. As if the pain wasn’t consuming my entire body. “You were never the strong one.”
An ear-piercing scream ripped from Stanley’s throat. His foot slammed down on mine, his fist uppercutting my gut.
A grunt burst from me as the punch landed, stealing the air from my lungs. A sharp jolt tore through me, and my grip faltered for a second. The world narrowed, the pounding in my ribs almost too much to handle. But for Sherry, I had to.
Another blow crashed into me, and stars burst behind my eyes. My fingers dug in harder, my knuckles scraping the rough fibers.
I tightened my grip on the rope still. My muscles strained against my t-shirt, the burn consuming me, but I held strong.
For Sherry.
Headlights lit up the parking lot. “Fucking cops,” Stanley muttered and took off, leaving Mario.
Mario glanced at me, hunched over, hanging on for dear life to the rope. “Should have walked away, kid.”
“You should have walked away from my dad a long fucking time ago,” I ground through clenched teeth. “Now you’re going to go down with him.”
He stared at me for a beat. Something flickered in his eyes, then he took off into the vines, disappearing into the dark.
“What the fuck was that?” Alec’s voice echoed through the night as he hurried over to me. “Dude, you’re bleeding.”
“No shit,” I mumbled. “I need to anchor this.” I hugged the rope to my chest, ignoring the pain that was consuming my entire body.
Alec dropped to his knees beside me, scanning the structure. “I’ve got it. Just hold on a second.”
“Don’t really have much of a choice.” My jaw tightened, my teeth ached. I inhaled, each breath like a shard of glass cutting deep.
He ran off to his truck and returned with rope, a stake, and a hammer. He got down on his knees again. The sound of the hammer hitting metal echoed through the night. Each smack of the hammer was like a jolt to my already aching head.
He held his hand out to me and took the rope.
I collapsed to the grass, my chest rising and falling in shallow ragged pulls. Stars danced at the edge of my vision, but I needed to make sure the tent was secure. I tried to push up, and Alec’s hand shoved me down.
“I got it.”
“But I need to make sure it’s secure.”
“I think I’m capable.” The sound of metal on metal broke through the quiet over and over. “Let me guess. The same jackasses who fucked up Murray's furniture.”
“Yeah,” I said.
Headlights cut through the parking lot, followed by the slam of a car door.
“Ben?”
Sherry.
I glanced at Alec, realizing how bad this looked. I had accused him of working for my dad, and now the two of us were here in the middle of the night at the scene of the crime—a crime that would have completely destroyed the wedding and ultimately Sherry’s career.
I was ready to spew out my innocence. Tell her it wasn’t what it looked liked, but as she neared, her hair wet from a shower that she had probably hoped I would join her in, she tripped on the grass, then dropped down beside me. Her hand cupping my cheek.
“What the hell happened?” Her gaze flicked to Alec and the loose rope he was still securing.
“It’s not what it looks like,” I said. “We aren’t trying to destroy the tent, we’re trying to fix it.”
Alec’s one hand rose in front of him. “I stumbled upon this disaster. Had nothing to do with it.”
“I didn’t even think that,” Sherry said, and every ounce of my broken, beaten-down body relaxed. She did trust me, even when I looked guilty as hell.
“You’re bleeding,” she said.
“It’s nothing.”
“How come when I told you, you snapped at me?” Alec asked, and I laughed, causing pain to rip through me. I winced, body pulling into itself.
“You’re hurt.”
“I’ll live.” I tried to smile, but I flinched instead. “They tried to cut down the tent. I stopped them.”
“Alone?”
“Yeah, and he got the shit kicked out of him,” Alec said. “And done.” Alec slowly let go of the rope I had clung to as if my life depended on it. He took one step back, two. The silence spread between us, and on the third step, we collectively exhaled.
“Ow. Fuck,” I muttered as the breath cut deep.
“He needs a hospital,” Alec said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a few broken ribs.”
“Oh my God,” Sherry said. Her hands fumbled, and she grabbed her phone. “Hi, I need an ambulance at Vine Valley Vineyards. Possible broken ribs. Thank you and hurry. Please.”
Her eyebrows pinched together as she touched my ribs. I shuddered at her touch. “Sorry.”
I forced a smile, even though it hurt like hell. “It’s okay.”
“You idiot,” she whispered, eyes filling with tears. “You held up an entire tent for me?”
“I wasn’t going to let them destroy it. My father destroyed too much, and I wouldn’t let him destroy you, too.”
She leaned in, brushing her lips against mine. “Thank you.”
“So uh, I found those chargers,” Alec said.
Sherry pulled back, her eyes darting between Alec and me. “What chargers?”
I let out a low groan, but not from the pain, from the death glare Sherry had me in.
“Oh shit.” Alec’s hand went to the back of his neck.
Sherry’s gaze narrowed on me. “Ben, what aren’t you telling me?”
“There was a transit issue with the chargers. I didn’t want to stress you out, so I took care of it.”
“How did I not know about this?”
“I purposely left them off the checklist.” I shifted, but fuck, it hurt. “I was going to tell you after I found them. Promise.”
“You got jumped, saved the day, and lied about the chargers.”
“Lying would entail me saying something that wasn’t true. I prefer withholding information.”
“Whatever it is, don’t do it again. We’re a team. We’re in this together. Okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“I’m just glad you’re okay. You could have gotten seriously hurt.”
“I’m not a doctor,” Alec said. “But I’d say he’s seriously hurt.”
We both glared at him, and he held his hands up, backing away. “I’m going to go wave the ambulance down. Let you two have a minute.” Alec hurried off toward where his truck was.
Her eyes met mine again, and I expected a swirl of anger, but all that was there was love and tenderness. “You could have gotten yourself killed.”
“Don’t you get it, Sher? I’ll do anything for you.”
She kissed me, laughing against my mouth as the laugh broke into a sob. “I love you, but if you ever put yourself in danger again, I’ll kill you myself.”
“Talk dirty to me; I love it.”
“And I love you.”
Sirens echoed in the distance, and Sherry kissed my forehead as Alec flagged down the ambulance.
The tent was secure, Sherry was okay, and with that knowledge I sunk into the grass, every damn inch of me aching, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.
For her. For us. Because I finally had something worth fighting for.