Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
JACE
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Grant grabs my tuxedo’s lapels. “We aren’t Vince and Owen in Wedding Crashers. It’s not gonna be funny when you go in there looking like a madman, hunting for Vivian.”
“Fuck off.” I shuck his hands off me. “Like you wouldn’t rip the world apart for Delphine. For any queen, and this shit is sideways. Something’s wrong.”
He grits out, exasperated. “She texted you. She had too much to drink. She was throwing up yesterday and didn’t feel like playing 1-800-JERK-OFF with you. It’s not the end of the world.”
“No.” I grab the fob to my car. “It’s not like her. Alcohol gives her headaches. Plus, she’s never missed a day of work, despite how shitty she feels. And this is work.” I pocket my phone. “Her, trying to keep that pathetic toddler and his friends on the golf course all day until what?”
Grant throws his glare to the sky. He’s getting it now.
“Yeah,” I keep ranting, turning to stand nose-to-nose with him on the deck of our boat. “Until yesterday, after the night, she didn’t call me, and didn’t get drunk on purpose. You think it was a coincidence he didn’t play golf yesterday? The only day since we’ve been here?”
Vehemently, Grant shakes his head. “Vivian would never cheat on you. Never. I work with her; I know her too. That woman would be too goddamn sweet if she weren’t so sexy.”
I growl.
“No offense,” he adds. “But you know what I mean. She didn’t cheat on you with her ex. She drank too much—okay, not on purpose—and felt like shit for a day. She’s human. And today she has to perform at a wedding, and you’re going to fuck it up for her, going in there, guns hot.”
I cock my head. I’m not listening. “You going with me or not?”
He scoffs, laughing. “Yeah, ’cause we blend. Two—what do the queens call us: big, hot Reacher dudes—crashing a billionaire’s daughter’s wedding. Yeah, we’ll go unnoticed like a fart in church.”
“Then I guess I’m solo.” I shrug. I can handle this.
Either way, death couldn’t keep me from Vivian today. Even my ghost will find her and protect her.
“You’re never solo, you dumbshit.” Grant grabs his keys. “We’re blood, but I swear I got all the fucking brains, and you got the beauty.”
Whatever makes him move his ass faster.
Our yacht is moored at the marina. Tomorrow, we fly home. We’ll land two hours before Vivian’s scheduled to arrive, and I’ll be right there, scooping her up in my arms and never letting her go.
The waiting is over.
“I’ll stay parked outside,” Grant informs me. “I’ll be seconds away from breaking skulls for Vivian: just say the word.”
I scan the famous Circle Ballroom at the oceanfront hotel. With its dome ceiling and arched windows overlooking the Atlantic, the visual opulence demands your focus.
Why the hell does Grant think we wouldn’t blend into this crowd?
It’s nothing but penguin suits, fancy ballgowns, and gold chairs around white linen-covered dining tables with cascading ivory floral centerpieces so tall that I almost can’t sweep the room with my glare.
Where’s Vivian?
My stomach twists. My fists ball up. I have to fight not to clench my jaw, or my rage will be obvious to the security team guarding the perimeter.
Finally, I spot her.
The golden sprout of a ponytail that drives my heartbeat.
She makes the girl-next-door look simple and chic with her elegant periwinkle silk dress. I have to stop and grab a breath. Have to silently adore my soulmate from afar.
A stance I’m familiar with.
Watching Vivian for a year has been like watching the sunrise, but you can’t touch it. You can’t reach out and hold its golden light while it fills you.
You just need to see it to live.
I need to see her to live.
As if she can sense me, she glances up from the older couple she’s chatting with. Not dropping her smile, her sparkling eyes find mine, and I’m spellbound in the crowd.
That’s right, Smokeshow. I’m always here for you.
Politely, she pecks the woman’s cheek, then the man’s before excusing herself. Nonchalantly, sashaying my way.
I step back into the shadows of the room, quickly scanning for the scumbro.
I can’t find him as she silently brushes past me, aiming for the wide hallway. I wait a moment, then turn, following her until she ducks down another hallway in the labyrinth of lavish ballrooms.
Rounding the corner, I bump into her.
Just as Grant did, she grabs my tuxedo’s lapels, but unlike him, she doesn’t try to stop me from following her. She knows she can’t.
She pulls me into a wordless kiss.
A kiss aching with every feeling we’ve had to deny, every word we’ve waited to say, every month, day, and minute that’s kept us apart. But now it’s pulsing with so much anticipation, it leaves us breathless.
“Are you okay?” I sigh over her lips.
“Now that you’re here.”
“Viv.” I angle back, cupping her beautiful face. “I’m serious. Did he hurt you? Do you feel okay? Do you—”
“I’m fine.” She clasps my hands. “I promise. My stomach is still a little squeamish, but if I only eat bread, I’m as good as gold.”
“It’s not like you to get drunk.”
“I know, and I’ve never been that drunk in my life. It hit me so hard, and I felt so bad; my head was splitting yesterday.”
I search her stunning eyes. They sparkle, gazing up at me. Maybe they’re a little puffy from fatigue. But her skin glows as usual. There’s not a mark on her. She’s smiling as always. She seems like herself.
“What happened?”
She sighs resignedly. “It was a cocktail competition, and I drank the liquor like water: rookie mistake. The next thing I barely remember is Deborah and her fiancé lying me on the bed in my villa. Then I woke up, and it was almost noon the next day. I felt like a truck had hit me. I swear, I am never drinking again.”
“Where was the scumbro? And where is he now?”
She blinks, trying to recall. “With his cousins, as usual. I haven’t seen him. He’s left me alone. He was at his sister’s ceremony today, then he snuck out to party with the groomsmen, I’m sure.”
I lower my voice, changing our plan. “Stay in your room tonight. Lock the door and use your necklace if you need me. I’ll be on the other side of the fence outside your villa.
” She nods as I continue. “I don’t want you on a private jet with him and his entourage tomorrow.
I booked you a commercial flight. I’ll fly home before you and wait for you at the airport. ”
Her brows bend at my tone. “Okay, but why the change in plans?”
“Tomorrow, all hell will break loose, and I don’t want you anywhere near it. When the fuckwad and his cousins go home, they’ll find their servers were taken, and it’s done.”
Her jaw falls. “Done?”
“Yeah, done. Ruby stole DJ’s server. She dug around and found that he owns some old bungalow on the Isle of Palms. That’s where it was, not at his house with his wife. The place had a stash of old porn DVDs and condoms. The fucker uses it for his affairs or whatever he’s into with the scumbro.”
Her eyes blink like she can’t believe it. “So… So I’m free? That’s it? We have all the servers? He doesn’t have the video anymore?”
Tears brim in her eyes, making them glow.
God, I love this woman’s tender heart. I know better than to mistake it for a weak spirit.
Vivian aims her emotions like a weapon. She’s attuned and perceptive. It’s how she figured out where her ex was hiding the servers. She saw the deception in his eyes. She sensed it was his cousins.
Gently, I kiss her forehead. “Hopefully, yes. You’re free, but we need to be sure, and there’s only one way.”
“Okay.” She gazes up at me, steeling her jaw. “Name it, and I’ll do it.”
“You need to let me beat the shit out of him.”