Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Willa
After putting my hair into a ponytail, I grabbed my phone from my purse and noticed five missed calls and five text messages from Matt.
Where are you?
Why aren’t you answering your phone?
Jesus Christ, Willa. James and I are dying here, and now you have us worried.
You’ve either been kidnapped or murdered.
I’m calling the police.
“Shit,” I said.
“What?” Damien said, walking past me.
“My cousin Matt was blowing up my phone. He said he was calling the police. I have to call him.” I dialed his number, and he immediately answered.
“Oh my God. Are you okay? We’ve been so worried.”
“I’m hungover, but I’m fine. Please tell me you didn’t call the police, Matt.”
“I did, but they said you had to be missing for 24 hours before they’d do anything. Thank God you’re okay. What the hell, Willa? Where have you been?”
“Well, I met this guy at the pool yesterday. We hung out, drank, and had a good time. I’ve been with him and didn’t hear my phone.” I didn’t dare tell him about our accidental nuptials, not yet, anyway.
“Okay. Don’t do that again. James and I are still not feeling well. Now that I know you’re safe, I can rest. I’ll call you later.”
“Do you need anything?” I asked.
“No. We’re fine. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Come on,” Damien said. “We have to get to that chapel.” He grabbed his wallet.
“I have to stop at my room to change clothes,” I said.
“Fine. But you better hurry up.”
I furrowed my brows because he didn’t appear to be the same man I had hung out with yesterday. He was rude and cold and acted like he was the only one affected by this situation.
“Listen, buddy. This affects me, too.”
“How does this affect you? You don’t even have a job. I run a multi-billion-dollar company and am skating on thin ice as it is.”
“And why is that?” I cocked my head.
“That doesn’t concern you. By the way. This marriage license is fake,” he said.
“It is? How do you know?” I asked, heading to my room.
“Because you have to apply for a marriage license. We would have remembered doing that.”
“You’re right. We didn’t do that.” I grinned.
“No, we did not.”
We arrived at the Little Chapel of Hearts. When we stepped inside, a young man smiled as he approached us.
“Hello, you two. Are you enjoying your honeymoon?”
I swallowed hard.
“You remember us from last night?” Damien asked.
“Yes. How could I forget such a lovely, fun couple?”
“I love your shirt.” I smiled. “It’s so bright.”
Damien shot me a look.
“Right.” I cleared my throat. “Can you tell us exactly what happened last night. My husband and I can’t seem to remember a thing.”
“I’m not surprised.” He chuckled. “You two seemed very incapacitated.”
“Then why did you marry us?” Damien grabbed his shirt and spoke through gritted teeth.
“Damien, stop it.” I grabbed his arm, and he let go of the nice man.
“Listen, man. You two brought me the marriage license and asked to get married. You didn’t even have an appointment, but you paid me quite well to make it happen and purchased our premium wedding package. I haven’t sent you the link to the pictures yet, but I can show you now if you’d like.”
We followed him to his computer, and he brought up the pictures of us from last night’s ceremony. I was in a short white lace dress, wearing a tiara on my head, holding a bouquet of white roses, while Damien was decked out in a tuxedo. It was highly evident how inebriated we were.
“Where did I get that dress?” I asked.
“We rent them here.” The young man smiled. “Along with the suits and tuxedos.”
“We have no memory of this ever happening,” Damien said. “I don’t even know this woman. We just met yesterday.”
“That’s common here,” he said, nodding. “If you want the marriage annulled, you must get it done here in Nevada. Unfortunately, the courts are closed until Monday.”
“But I’m flying out tomorrow,” I said.
“And so am I. I have to get back to work!” Damien said.
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you. You two have zero memory of last night? There’s nothing that you can remember?”
“Not a thing,” I said. “It’s like a black hole in my brain.”
“Was it possible you two were drugged?” the young man asked. “It kind of sounds like someone might have roofied you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I laughed, even though it wasn’t a laughing matter.
“Unfortunately, that’s a problem here. So, it could be a possibility.”
“Let’s go.” Damien gripped my arm.