20. Cale
20
CALE
L uca agrees to go for a late lunch, just the two of us, before I drive out to the wedding. No matter how I tried to persuade him to stay overnight in the city at my place, he preferred to stay at Richie’s house. Since he’s flying out again early tomorrow, I don’t want to miss one last chance to hang out with him.
“You’ve been here before?” Luca says after we place our orders at the deli counter.
I take a seat at a table by the window. “Not in years. Our folks used to bring us here. It’s only five miles from the old house.”
Luca takes a new interest in the surroundings as he drops into a chair. “I guess there are a ton of things I don’t remember.”
“You were really small.” When I look at my fully grown brother sitting across from me it’s tough not to see the little boy who howled with grief the morning our mother died. I picked him up and we stayed in the backyard while our mother’s body was removed. My mind was still echoing with our final conversation.
“Always look after your brother. And Cale, there’s one more thing I want you to know…”
Luca beats me to it when my name is called at the counter. He retrieves our sandwiches. His is chicken salad and mine is corned beef on a poppyseed roll, just like our father used to order.
“What time do you have to drive out to the wedding?” Luca asks while adding two packets of mayo to his sandwich.
“I should start heading out in about an hour. I want to get there in plenty of time in case Sadie needs the moral support.”
Luca takes a huge bite of his sandwich and watches me as he chews. There’s an unmistakable gleam in his eye by the time he’s finished swallowing. “You know what? When you first told me about this whole sudden marriage thing, to Mercedes Wingate no less, I thought there had to be a screwy angle. Running off and marrying on romantic impulse doesn’t seem to fit with you. And I never would have picked our perky former next door neighbor as your type. But I’ve gotten a real kick out of seeing the two of you together. You definitely belong with her.”
Luca chomps down on his sandwich again and gets distracted by the sight of a cute college age girl walking by in tight jeans. Meanwhile, my conscience is putting up a fight on multiple fronts.
My marriage to Sadie is a lie. It occurred to me to tell Luca the truth early on but I didn’t want to involve him in my mess. Now it’s too late to come clean.
There’s also the matter of Sadie herself. We barely knew each other and we made a business deal. Feelings never factored in. Yet every minute I spend with her makes life better. Sadie is like the light to my darkness. She’s sexy and she’s funny and she wouldn’t hurt a fly. If I had any honor I’d pay her enough to keep Bright Hearts running indefinitely and then I’d end this charade.
Unfortunately, my honor was exchanged long ago for a place at Richie Amato’s side. And I’m too selfish to let Sadie go. Even if I’m not quite selfish enough to touch her.
Luca is unaware of the war inside my head. He’s saying how glad he is that he decided to come up for a visit this weekend. Aunt Donna has always treated him like a son, making sure his favorite foods are in the house and making a huge fuss every time he walks into a room. While I’m not too close to Richie and Donna’s two daughters, Luca thinks of them as sisters. He misses being home. He misses the family. If Richie wasn’t salivating over the chance to enroll my brother in his empire, I wouldn’t be so hell bent on chasing my brother back to Florida.
“When does your flight leave in the morning?” I ask.
“It’s an early one. I’ll be going to LaGuardia at six a.m.”
“I can take you.”
“Nah, you ought to hang out with your wife. Richie said he’d drive me personally.”
My jaw tightens. Then I figure Luca will be out of here by this time tomorrow so there’s not much damage Richie can do.
By the time we’re done eating and shooting the shit, I’ve got to move along. Luca is in great spirits when I drop him off at Richie’s house. He tells me to say hello to Sadie and drops the hint that he’d like to fly out west and see the ranch sometime.
I wait in my car as my brother trots up the flagstone path to Richie’s mansion. My uncle knows I’m off the clock tonight. Although I’m expected to walk inside with Luca and pay Richie some respect, I don’t fucking feel like it.
While I’m still watching, Luca fist bumps Vinny Tello right outside the front door. Vinny says something that makes Luca bust out laughing and they go back and forth for a minute before Luca goes to the front door. He takes one last look over his shoulder and surprise registers in his raised eyebrows when he finds me still sitting there with the engine idling. Maybe I looked pissed off. I am kind of pissed off. Luca shouldn’t be hanging around these guys.
I raise my hand in a halfhearted wave. Luca copies the move. Vinny stares at me with his hands in his pockets and his puffy, thick-jawed face unreadable.
The late May weather is perfect for keeping the top down in the Porsche. I zoom down the Long Island Expressway at maximum speed, risking a ticket.
Miraculously, I reach the Hamptons wedding beach house without collecting any fines. Since I dropped Sadie off last night, the place has transformed. Even I’m impressed and I couldn’t give a shit about orchid flower arrangements and twinkling lights. I’m forced to submit to the valet parking or else make a scene. About half the white chairs assembled at the ceremony site are already occupied. I take an aisle seat and hope no one tries to strike up a conversation.
To appear even less approachable, I become engrossed in my phone. Being in the middle of this wedding atmosphere reminds me that I too had a wedding. All the photos are saved to my phone, just in case I need to show them off to prove a point. And then there are times when I break them out for a good long look just for the hell of it, like I’m doing right now.
As usual, I linger on the kiss photo. Sadie’s eyes are closed and my hands are all over her. Last night when we were saying our goodbyes, her tipsy stepmother wanted to see us kiss. I didn’t hesitate to capitalize. When I finally returned to my own place in the city I took the liberty of jerking off like the future of my cock was at stake.
Better that than the alternative. No matter what kind of thoughts about Sadie are simmering in my brain, a deal is a deal.
More guests are filling the chairs. A woman tries to squeeze past and her heel stabs my foot. She introduces herself as the groom’s cousin. I tell her I’m part of the cleanup crew. She leaves me alone.
A string quartet has begun playing soft music to yawn over and the sun is just about to touch the horizon. Before I throw my phone back in the pocket of my blazer, I take a peek at my last text from Sadie. This morning she sent a selfie with no comment. In the photo, Sadie has a wide-eyed ‘Help Me Please’ look on her face and Hadley can be seen yelling in the background.
With a smile, I put the phone away and then I look up in time to catch Baylor, three rows up, giving me a death glare over his shoulder. Ordinarily I’d flip him off but this is a wedding and he’s (sort of) my brother-in-law.
Instead, I widen my grin and stare back at him. He’s the first to flinch, turning around and openly whining to his wife, sitting right beside him. I wish I’d grabbed one of the wedding programs on the way in here so I’d have a way to make spitballs.
The music changes and people take this as a cue to look behind them and stand up. I follow the trend because otherwise I can’t see a thing. A wide aisle made of distressed wooden planks stretches between the chairs. Since I’m on the end I have a decent view of the first members of the bridal party.
The girl wears a peach-colored gown and looks plastic and forgettable, a close replica of the bride herself. Cameras snap and she stares straight ahead, not blinking, showing a terrifying number of teeth in her smile. Her arm is linked with a dude who missed his calling as a tech bro avatar. Together, they could make a convincing horror movie poster.
Three more similarly dull couple sets follow. None of them include Sadie. An unusual amount of time has passed since the last couple took mincing steps down the aisle and I’m starting to wonder if Sadie pulled off a daring last minute escape.
Nope, there she is. I don’t know why she was complaining about the dress. She looks adorably hot in it, although I prefer seeing her wild red hair loose and free rather than squished into a knot and pinned to her head.
I’m so busy admiring Sadie that it takes me a few seconds to see who she’s paired with. Once recognition clicks in, I’m instantly ready to tackle him on the plank aisle and then drop kick him into the Atlantic surf.
Sadie wouldn’t elaborate on what happened between her and the Gallant Steakhouse heir. Their relationship must have been doomed from the start since she’s a vegetarian but whenever I asked for details she just rolled her eyes and said it was unimportant. If she’d told me differently I wouldn’t have hesitated to deal with the weasel myself.
In any case, the sight of Grant Gallant’s weak arm holding onto Sadie provokes a special kind of rage. It’s partly explained by the fact that he’s her ex and seems shady as fuck so I don’t want him touching her.
And the rest of the explanation is that I don’t want any man touching her.
While I’m in the middle of wishing for Gallant’s eyeballs to melt, Sadie yanks her arm free. There are a few hushed gasps. Keeping her chin up and her personal space intact, Sadie lifts her chin and marches the rest of the way alone.
That’s my girl.
Gallant is stuck trailing after her like an abandoned dog. Perfect.
When Sadie ends her walk just outside the wedding canopy, one of the bridesmaids leans over and whispers something in her ear. The comment must not have been too nice because Sadie promptly sticks her tongue out at the annoying bridesmaid and then turns back with a bland expression as if nothing happened. I think I’m in love.
My eyes stay on Sadie as she begins to scan the crowd. There’s a wrinkle of worry between her brows and she even lifts up on her tiptoes to see better. She’s looking for me. When our eyes meet she smiles. I wink at her and smile back.
The ceremony is boring. I spend it watching Sadie. Three times she stifles a yawn. I know nothing of the groom and I barely knew Hadley even when I was best buddies with her brother. On the rare occasion when she was home she strutted around like a queen and abused everyone who crossed her path.
Once, however, she tried to suck my dick. It was the night of Baylor’s high school graduation party at the country club and she found me alone at the lake beside the golf course. Over the years I’ve grown used to murderous looks. To this day none compares to the lethal expression on Hadley Wingate’s face when I told her to fuck right off in the twilight. We haven’t spoken since. I sure hope that doesn’t need to change today.
A piece of Sadie’s hair springs free of its tether. She tries to pat it back into place but juggling the flowered forest in her hands makes the task impossible. After getting nowhere, she shrugs and pulls all the pins out of her hair, letting it fall past her shoulders. Much better.
After a series of dull speeches, the bride and groom suck face. The crowd goes ‘AWWWW’, then applauds as the newlyweds take their first walk together. For a while I lose track of Sadie as all the guests compete to see who can run out of their seats and get to the huge reception tent first.
By now the sun has completely set. Beneath the vast tent there’s a sea of candlelit tables and lots of people I don’t care to talk to. Asher Wingate pauses his conversation when he notices my presence. He frowns, excuses himself, and walks my way. Awesome. Just what I’m in the mood for.
“Cale.” He extends a hand.
I choose to be a good sport and return his handshake. He applies too much pressure, like he’s trying to be intimidating. I want to laugh. Seriously, who the fuck does he think he’s dealing with?
“Asher,” I reply. “Or would you prefer that I call you Dad now that I’m married to your daughter?”
His jaw flexes. His eyes narrow. “I doubt either one of us would enjoy that.”
“I’m sure you’re right. But I need to cut this little talk short. I’m looking for my wife.”
Asher, to his credit, has big enough balls to stand in my way. He sizes me up with aristocratic distaste. “You know, it was quite a shock the way you and Mercedes were married so hastily. I wasn’t aware you even knew each other well.”
“I’m sure there are a hell of a lot of things you’re unaware of.”
The look in his eyes grows more calculating. “Must be hard on two people so in love and yet living a few thousand miles apart. I’ve heard you’re still based in New York. And still working for your uncle, correct?”
I don’t like where he’s going with this. He can’t be dumb enough to have had me trailed. Unless he thinks that being the great Asher Wingate means never facing any consequences. On the other hand, if he’s latched on to any suspicions about my marriage to Sadie, he might get loud. Loud enough for Richie Amato to hear.
“That’s correct,” I say, getting in his face until I’m nearly stepping on his shiny shoes. “I work for my uncle. And he’s very happy about the union between our two families. He also likes hockey so maybe we’ll all start showing up at Dukes games on a regular basis. I’m sure you’d welcome us to your owner’s suite, considering our close personal ties and the contributions made to your son’s political campaign.”
Translation: Fuck with me and I’ll fuck with you.
All it would take is a phone call or two to make the story of Wingate family ties to organized crime erupt into a huge scandal. With the way news spreads on social media these days, facts are less important than perception. And a whole lot of people enjoy seeing the rich and powerful get knocked on their asses.
Asher Wingate mulls that over and responds with a thin smile. “Enjoy the reception, Cale.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“There you are.” Sadie’s soft arms hug me from behind. She moves to my side and I swing one arm around her shoulders.
“Your dad just came over to say hello,” I say. “Isn’t that nice?”
“Hi, Dad,” she says. “I’m so glad to see you getting along with my husband.”
“Mercedes.” He glares at his daughter. “You made quite the scene during the ceremony.”
“Did I? Forgive me. After being blindsided by the last minute best man replacement, I felt like I ought to be spontaneous too.”
Asher Wingate is a man who hates to lose. He must realize that he cannot win right now. It’s me and Sadie against him. He tips his head to us and says, “Excuse me.”
Sadie watches him go from the shelter of my arm. She playfully pokes me in the stomach. “Mad respect. You shut my father up. That takes skills.”
“Actually, you got the last word on him. Now tell me about how you got stuck with the steakhouse demon.”
She groans. “Griffin’s real best man fell into a city manhole yesterday. One compound fracture later, he’s not exactly up for the job. Griffin and Grant have been friends for ages. Their families are extremely tight. But I suspect it was my darling, always rational, never vindictive sister who suggested using Grant as a stand in. Honestly, I don’t know why I put myself through this.”
“Neither do I. Let’s leave. I’ll buy you dinner at the vegetarian eatery of your choice and we can go hang out in the city.”
“That sounds amazing. But I’ll finish what I started.” She looks up at me and bats flirty eyelashes. “Can I have a raincheck on that offer?”
“Absolutely. You look beautiful.”
“I look like a dessert glass of orange sherbert.”
“You look beautiful, Sadie.”
The pleasant moment is broken by the sound of Hadley screeching Sadie’s name and waving frantically from the other side of the reception tent where the bridal party is assembled for some photos.
“Yuck,” says Sadie. “Maybe I’ll cross my eyes for the pictures.”
“And maybe I’ll choke Grant with his own tuxedo bowtie.”
Sadie squeezes me around the waist. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Then she’s off and running to join the photo shoot while I’m left thinking that might just be the best thing anyone has ever said to me.