Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
SEAN
Leaning against the door frame, I watch Ryan as he goes against the trainer in a practice fight. His form has improved so much in the last month. He’s lighter on his toes; his breathing and speed are stronger. I always thought he could be a great fighter one day, and he’s proved time and time again that I still underestimated him.
“Mr O’Reilly, sir.” Turning to my head to look over my shoulder, I find the receptionist standing timidly behind me. She hasn’t been here long and is still very nervous around me.
“What’s up?” I ask, returning my attention to the ring where I hear Toby, the trainer, groan in pain. He’s bent over, clutching his stomach as Ryan laughs.
“There is a woman at the desk demanding to see you. I explained that you weren’t to be disturbed when with Mr Donavon, but she isn’t taking no for an answer.”
“What’s her name?” I ask, frowning. I know it can’t be Jasmine, as she’s gone to pick up the dresses for the weekend.
“Mykela, sir.”
“Shit.” Pushing myself from the door frame, I rush towards the reception area, entering the security code. “She can come and go whenever she needs to,” I sigh, rushing for the reception, where I spot Mykela pacing.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Tammy stutters behind me. Usually, I would offer her a smile or something to help put her at ease, but if Mykela wants me, it’s not good. She usually spends the time in the car when I’m here or reading in my office. She would only interrupt if something was wrong.
“What’s happened?” I ask as soon as I’m within earshot.
“Maximus just said to get home,” she tells me before looking me up and down. “Do you have everything?”
“Anything of importance is in the car; let’s go.” I turn to look at Tammy and point to the door we just exited through. “Can you tell them I’ve had to leave and to continue with today's plan. I will contact them tonight to see how it went.” I don’t wait to hear her response, as my priority is getting home.
“Do you know anything?” I ask, pulling my phone from the side of the door where I stashed it before heading into the new gym I’ve set up. I start searching through my messages, looking for anything from Jasmine or my brothers, but the only message I find is from Maximus. For a split second, I wonder if it's another hoax, but I have no choice but to trust it.
Maximus: Get home as soon as possible. Everything has gone to shit, and Shorty needs us all.
I quickly type out a message and wait to see if he gets back to me.
Sean: What’s happened? Is Jaz okay? Has she been hurt?
Maximus: Too much to explain over text. Physically, she’s fine and safe; we all are. But emotionally, she needs us.
Sean: I’m less than five minutes away.
I put my phone on my lap and try to take some calming breaths. No matter what I'm doing, I will always be there if my girl needs me. I don’t have to worry about Ryan, as I have employed the best trainer I could find. I only need to be there to check how he’s getting on and his skill level to know who to pair him with for fights. Today was meant to be the last time I was there when he trained until I get back from our honeymoon anyway.
“Have you heard anything?” Mykela asks as she turns down the road that takes us home.
“Just that there’s too much to explain via text, but everyone is safe.” I pinch the bridge of my nose and try to prepare myself for whatever's happened now.
“Do you think you guys will get a break soon?” Mykela asks next to me.
“I think we have more chance of hell freezing over,” I chuckle under my breath.
“Your dad will be down there, so anything’s possible.”
I laugh, looking at my bodyguard grinning whilst we pull into the property. The two of us have formed a good working relationship, which has developed over time. When Mykela started, she was all business, but slowly, she has begun to relax a little, and when together, the banter is fun.
Looking up at the house, nothing looks any different than when I left it this morning. The two guards outside the front are in full view, and I know two are in the trees. No unrecognisable cars are parked up front, which signifies that whatever has happened may not have happened here.
“Want me to come in with you?” Mykela offers as she pulls around the back of the house, next to a white van. Looking up at the ladder beside the house, I can see where they are fixing Jasmine’s window after last night.
“Nah, you go to the security hub and see if Terry needs you for anything. If I’m going to be here for the rest of the day, I’ll let you know so you can shoot off.” I catch her nodding as I climb out of the car and head to the back door.
“Call me if you need anything, though,” she calls as her window opens. “Even if just to talk.”
“Thanks, will do!” I call back as I let myself in.
The first thing I notice is how quiet the house is. Mrs Brown isn’t in the kitchen, and I don’t see anyone walking through the house. I have no idea where everyone is, but I head to the sitting room first, knowing that’s the most likely place where everyone will gather.
Walking into the room, I’m greeted by four sombre faces. Jason is pacing around with his phone in his hand, Christian is behind Jasmine's desk on the phone, and Jasmine is curled up on Maximus’s lap with her teddy and blanket. It's a sure sign that she’s overwhelmed and struggling with her emotions.
“Are you okay, Princess?” I ask, walking over to her. She shakes her head as Maximus kisses her hair.
“Sit with Sean, Shorty,” he whispers into her hair before looking at me. “I’ll get you a drink.”
Maximus leans back, allowing me to scoop her into my arms and sit with her on my lap, holding her close as she leans into me. Running my hand up and down her thigh, I can feel her shaking slightly. Her hold on her teddy is tight, and her breathing is ragged, like she’s on the verge of tears or is recovering from them. Pressing soft kisses to her head, I remind myself that whatever’s happened, she’s here in my arms, where I can protect her from whatever is trying to hurt her. I just wish I was able to protect her psychologically as well.
“Does someone want to tell me what’s going on?” I ask, looking around at my brothers as Maximus walks over with two fingers worth of bourbon for me. “Is it that bad?” I ask, taking it.
“Worse,” Jasmine whispers.
“The wedding’s off.”
As the words leave my eldest brother's mouth, Jasmine shakes in my arms again, and I hold her as she starts to cry silently.
“Wish to elaborate?” I ask, watching Christian and Jason sit on the opposite sofa from me and Maximus sit on the other.
“Today alone, the florist, dress shop and hotel have been attacked,” Maximus answers, sipping his drink.
“What? How?”
“The florist called first to say that their warehouse’s air purifier had been contaminated, which resulted in all the flowers for the wedding being destroyed,” Christian explains, placing his right ankle on his left knee and sitting back on the sofa. He looks exhausted, and so does Jason when I turn my attention to him.
“Jazzy went to the boutique to pick up the dresses with the girls, but Layton had to lock the whole place down. The dresses had been covered in what we believe is blood.”
“What the fuck?” Why would anyone do something like that? It’s one thing to destroy the dresses, but a complete other to cover them in blood.
“It was horrible; the dresses are ruined, and the poor women who work there were traumatised,” Jasmine whispers, her voice wobbling through the tears.
“Did they know it was blood?” I ask, but Jasmine shakes her head.
“I told them it must be dye that looks like blood, but I could tell. I think the others could as well.”
“I’m so sorry, Princess; I know you loved your dress,” I whisper into her hair, kissing the top of her head.
“It was a beautiful choice and I can see why you were so excited because of it,” Jason adds from across the room.
“So, what's happened at the hotel?” I ask, not missing how Christian, Jasmine and Jason all turn their attention to Maximus.
“I went to give them the heads up about extra security and that Logan and Drew would pop in to see what was needed. But when I arrived, there were workmen everywhere. The manager explained there had been a burst pipe overnight. The whole area we have booked for the wedding, blessing and reception has been damaged, and there is no way they can have it ready for the weekend.”
“What about the gardens? They offered them to us before,” I point out, but Maximus shakes his head.
“They are like a swamp. The sprinkler system had been activated, and with all the rain we’ve had the last month, the ground has flooded. There must be at least two inches of water sitting on top of the grass. With more rain forecasted, there is nothing we can do to drain and dry it enough to be useable.”
“And there is nowhere else? Not even a village hall somewhere?” I ask, but Christian shakes his head.
“I’ve been calling around. We all have, and nothing is available at such short notice.” That makes sense, especially with a wedding as big as ours. There are one hundred and sixty guests invited; it was hard enough finding somewhere to house us all in the first place. Finding somewhere else with less than four days to go will be impossible.
“So that’s it then? We aren’t getting married,” I sigh, burying my face into Jasmine’s hair as my brothers remain silent.
Everything has been going perfectly. Sure, there were blips along the way, as is to be expected when planning any normal wedding, let alone one with four grooms. Still, I really believed that even though people were constantly trying to attack us at the moment, there was nothing they could do to stop the wedding. I guess I was wrong.
“It’s not fair,” Jasmine whispers as she leans her head against my chest.
“I know, Princess, but there isn’t much we can do about it,” I point out, tightening my arms around her.
“I’ve tried everything, Sweetheart. Nowhere is available on Saturday,” Christian sighs, not taking his eyes off our girl. He looks as devastated as I feel.
“So, we get married another day instead,” she points out.
“Of course we will, Jazzy. We will marry you as soon as we can. Once things calm down, we know you are safe, and this won’t happen again. We will get everything rebooked and get married.” Jason leans forward, cupping his glass between two hands, as he leans his elbows on his knees.
“Nothing is going to stop us from making you our wife, Shorty,” Maximus adds, watching Jasmine as she sits up on my lap.
“But they are stopping us. We are letting them win,” she argues.
“If they were winning, they would have separated us, Princess. But the five of us are too strong for that. We will be married, and it will be as soon as possible, just not this Saturday.”
“What about Sunday then?” she asks, looking around at us all. I can see from the look of my brothers that they are thinking the same thing as I am.
“Sweetheart, I know you are upset, but you need to be realistic here. Nowhere is going to be able to house all our guests or put together a wedding of that size in such a short space of time,” Christian sighs, shaking his head.
“How many guests do we have?” she asks, standing up from my lap and walking over to her desk.
“One hundred and sixty-three,” Jason and Christian answer in unison as we watch Jasmine sit in her chair and pull forward her laptop.
“How many of them actually matter?” she asks, pulling a pad of paper and pen beside the laptop.
“What do you mean?” I ask, confused.
“I mean, if you could only invite those who matter, how many would it be?”
“I don’t know, why?” Jason answers, looking at the rest of us as we shrug.
“Sweetheart, what are you thinking?” Christian asks, standing from the sofa and walking over to her. She notices him coming and taps a few keys before I hear the printer spring to life.
“Just humour me for a minute, please, Daddy.” When she looks up at him, I can see he’s going to. If there’s one thing we all know about Christian, it’s that he may be Jasmine’s Daddy, but she is the one with the real control. If there is a way he can make her happy, he will do it.
“Okay, Sweetheart. But please think about everything logically,” he says, running a hand over her head. “You could have been kidnapped only last night. People are targeting us and the wedding, so the likelihood of us being able to hold it anywhere any time soon is improbable.”
“What about if we had it here?”
“What? As in the house?” Maximus asks, leaning further forward.
“Yes, or even one of your clubs,” Jasmine starts before standing from her chair and walking around the front of the desk. “Just hear me out before you tell me no,” she adds, looking at each of us.
“We’re listening,” Christian says, walking back over to the sofa giving her the floor. She smiles, thanking him without words before turning her attention to the rest of us.
“What if we send out emails to all guests and tell them that the wedding has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances and will be rearranged at a later date.”
I look at my brothers and can tell they are all hanging on her every word like I am. She pushes herself away from the desk and picks up the papers which have finished printing. Carrying them over to us, she separates them into piles and places one in front of each of us, keeping one herself.
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t care if most of these people come or not. Other than our close friends and family, i.e. Terry, Layton, Calvin and his family, Verity and the guys, Abbi, Danielle and, of course, Mrs Brown. The rest I wouldn’t miss.”
Looking down at the list in front of me, I realise I feel the same way.
“We only invited most of these people because we felt we had to,” Jason points out as the rest of us nod.
“So, what are you suggesting? We cancel the big wedding and have a smaller one here?” Christian asks. Jasmine nods before sitting next to me.
“What’s the most important thing about this weekend?” she asks.
“That we will all be your husbands,” I answer, running a hand down her back. She turns to me and smiles.
“Exactly. I don’t need a fancy dress or thousands of pounds worth of flowers; I just need you four.”
“And we only need you, Jazzy. But hosting a wedding here is a lot of work, and there is still the chance of someone finding out and trying to get to you,” Jason points out. He looks to Christian as if to provide a backup, but he’s looking at our girl.
“That’s why we tell everyone it's off, so we only invite those we trust to a ceremony on a different day,” he answers, as Jasmine nods. “It might just work.” He stands from the sofa and starts pacing, rubbing his chin as he thinks it all through. “Jason’s right, though, Sweetheart. It’s a lot of work, and I’m not sure how much help the four of us would be,” he adds, looking at Jasmine.
“Daddy, you do realise I have spent the majority of my life in the world of production, don’t you? Danielle, Verity and I could organise this in our sleep. The only thing the four of you will have to worry about is doing as you are told for once,” she grins, causing Maximus, Jason and I to laugh, and Christian’s brow disappears under his hairline.
“Baby girl,” he sighs without the usual warning tone.
“I know. Don’t top from the bottom,” she sighs, smiling at him. “But you know I can do this. Plus, with the girls’ help and Mrs Brown’s, we could have a small intermate ceremony, which we would probably enjoy more than the one we had already organised.”
All eyes are on Christian now as we wait for him to agree or not.
“You really think we can keep it quiet?” he asks; Jasmine nods quickly. “And you will be safe?” Again, Jasmine nods.
“I will have Terry and Calvin included in everything so they can determine what security is needed and when.”
“What will you need from us?” he asks as Jasmine smiles further, knowing she has got him where she wanted him, on her side.
“Your bank card,” she smiles whilst fluttering her eyelashes, “and for you to go through the list and cross out anyone who doesn’t need to be here.”
Christian smirks as he reaches over, picks up the sheets and rips them in half.
“All I need are those in this room and those you have already mentioned.”
“Does that mean we can do it?” she asks, bouncing in her seat. Christian looks to Jason, who is smiling.
“I’m happy to try, at least, if you are.”
Christian looks back at Jasmine and sighs.
“Fine, you can try to rearrange everything for Sunday.”
Jasmine squeals, jumps up from the sofa and throws herself at him.
“Thank you, Daddy.” Kissing him on the cheek as his face becomes serious.
“But, if I think you are in danger at any point, I will pull the plug, even if it’s right before the ceremony,” he warns, and Jasmine's face becomes serious again.
“I know; that’s what I expected.”
“I mean it, Jasmine,” the fact he uses her name shows his seriousness. “No matter how much I want to marry you, I will put your safety before a piece of paper.”
“I know, Christian, same as I will put yours over it as well.” They stare at each other for a moment, but Christian's face is the first to relax.
“Okay, get the girls here and see what you can get sorted while I send the emails.”
Jasmine grins from ear to ear and kisses his cheek before rushing from the room.
“Was this the right move?” I ask, sitting back in my seat. Christian sighs deeply as he downs the rest of his drink.
“I don’t know. It could work if we manage to do it right, but we still don’t know who is giving out all our secrets, so it might all blow up in our faces.” He looks at the picture we have on the far wall of the five of us, taken the night we asked her to marry us, and I can see the worry on his face. “I had to give her the chance to have what she wants more than anything, though,” he says to no one in particular. “She wants to be ours, but she also wants to get rid of the name her mother chose for her. It's not her birth name, and it’s a constant reminder of her bitch of a mother and what she put her through. I think marrying us and becoming O’Reilly by law is a way for her to shed the pain of the past and start afresh with us.”
The four of us sit silently as we let that sink in. To us, O’Reilly is just a name we share, but to Jasmine, it’s her future; it will be her children's surname, and more importantly, it will be a way of putting the past far behind her and moving forward.
“Hey, where is she?”
We all turn to see Terry and Layton standing at the door, looking around.
“Jasmine? No idea why, what’s up?” Christian asks, the worry back on his face.
“Not a clue. She just messaged me asking the two of us to come and talk to her about something before she calls the girls,” Layton shrugs as he looks at each of us.
“We are cancelling the wedding on Saturday and holding a very private one here, if possible, on Sunday. We don’t want many people to know,” Jason explains quickly.
“I want your help deciding who knows what,” we hear Jasmine call from somewhere outside the room. “I’ll be in Daddy’s office.”
“I need my office, Sweetheart,” Christian calls out.
“Fine. I will be in Daddy Jason’s then,” she sighs dramatically.
“What if I need my office?” Jason laughs. We hear her huff before she storms into the sitting room and stops in front of us with her hands on her hips.
“Then, as that is my desk, this is technically my office, and you can all get out!” she orders, pointing to the door forcibly.
“Why have we got to get out?” Maximus laughs.
“Because this is top secret, and I don’t trust you to keep your big trap shut!” she snaps. We all turn to Maximus slowly and wait to see if he blows up. He stares at her momentarily, his mouth gaping open, and his eyebrows lifted so high we can't see them. Slowly, he closes his mouth and stands from the sofa.
He walks up to Jasmine, who refuses to back down, with a stern look on his face.
“I think a brat may be pushing her luck,” I hear Jason mutter under his breath as Christian and I try desperately not to laugh.
Maximus stops in front of her and looks down, forcing her to tip her head back to look him in the eye.
“Because you have had a bad couple of days, I will let that one slide. However,” he warns, holding his finger up for emphasis. “Just remember which one of us risked their lives and climbed up the side of a building to get to you last night.” Jasmine's eyes widen for a moment before her face softens ever so slightly. “You can use this as your office, but only because I am saying you can. If you backchat me again, I don’t care what you have been through; you will find yourself over my knee. Is that understood, Shorty?”
“Yes, Daddy,” she replies sheepishly, giving him the biggest puppy dog eyes I have ever seen from her. “Sorry,” she whispers before lifting on her toes to kiss his cheek. “And thank you for rescuing me,” she adds for good measure. Maximus looks down at her and hums deep in his throat before leaving the room. The rest of us take that as our cue to go as well.
“Let us know if you need anything,” I smile, leaning in and kissing her cheek.
“Use this for anything you need,” Christian adds behind me as he holds out a bank card.
“Thank you,” she replies, smiling at all three of us.
“We love you so much,” Jason smiles at her. She kisses him on the lips before stepping back.
“I love you all more. Now out, times ticking, and I have things to do.”
The three of us laugh as we walk out of the sitting room and head to where Maximus is leaning against the wall, smirking.
“You were calmer than I thought you would be,” Christian laughs as Maximus grins triumphantly.
“I know for a fact she will now be soaking wet and desperate for me by the time she goes to bed,” he winks as we all laugh.
“Let’s head to my office and see if we can make a start on these phone calls and emails,” Christian sighs as we all start following him.
“Anyone else think she’s going to throw us the best wedding ever?” Maximus asks, smiling at us all.
“I have no doubt. I also know if Danielle King is involved, I need to consider re-mortgaging the house,” Christian sighs, rubbing his face as the rest of us laugh, all trying to push back the worry that something may still come along and ruin this for our girl.