Chapter 7
MAXIM
The struggle is evident on Hollie’s face but she has no choice.
If I want my father to buy that she was my fiancée long before tonight, then this needs to look like a pre-planned ceremony, and part of that includes a different dress.
If what Xena has brought can be classed as a dress.
I can’t work out the shape from the fabric dangling from her fingers.
She looks at me with a question in her eyes, so my lips twitch and I turn back to Hollie.
“Put the dress on.”
“No,” Hollie replies sullenly. “I’m not some toy for you to dress up.”
Snatching the fabric from Xena’s hand, I throw it in Hollie’s face and she catches it on reflex. “If you care about your family’s Thanksgiving not ending in a bloodbath, then you’ll put the damn dress on. Xena? Help her.”
With that, I storm out of the small room, leaving Stu guarding the door, and I don’t stop until I make it outside the chapel.
The cold air swirls around me like fog, icicles forming in my lungs as I breathe deeply, the chill creating an ache in my chest. Hands on my hips, I groan and briefly close my eyes.
“Maxim.” Rex’s voice appears beside me along with the familiar tang of cigarette smoke in the air. “You wanna explain to me what the hell you’re doing?”
Opening my eyes, I fix him with a glare. “I don’t have to explain anything.”
“Hey, I’m on your side!” He raises one hand in mock surrender, then with his cigarette balanced between two fingers, he taps my chest with his thumb. “But you’re spinning one hell of a lie here, and for what?”
The urge to lash out dies quickly, replaced by a numbness that weighs me down and slumps my stature. “I’m making it up as I go along.”
“Why do you want to save her so badly?”
“Do you really think I could continue to do what I do if I let my dad kill her? How can I preach that I do things differently if I let an innocent woman end up on the six o’clock news?
All the women in our clubs would lose trust in me like that.
” I snap my fingers in the brisk air. “And it’s already hanging by a thread after…
” I can’t say their names. I should, but something about it makes my throat close up, so I look away toward the few stars fighting to be seen through the city’s light pollution.
“I get that.” Soft embers from his cigarette drift up into the air as he draws on it, followed by a cloud of smoke. “But marriage? That’s one hell of a way to save a life.”
“It was spur of the moment. I had only just got talking to her and he waltzed in with all these threats, and you know those two fucks he travels with?” I glance sidelong at Rex.
“All I saw was that they now knew her face and no matter where we sent her, there’d be a chance that they found her.
This way, she’s protected not just by us, but by our traditions. No one can hurt her.”
“And she can’t hurt you either.” He inhales deeply, ending his cigarette in a flare of gold. It slips from his fingers, and I watch it drift down onto the icy sidewalk.
“Exactly. Spousal privilege.”
“Listen.” Rex’s hand lands heavily on my shoulder. “We’re on your side, you know that. Even Stu, for all his idiotic actions. But you gotta keep us on the same page because your father will dig.”
“I know. I know. I’m sorry.”
“The world will weep tomorrow waking up to learn a Mafia prince got married at…” He checks his watch. “Five in the morning.”
“Romantic, right?”
Rex snorts out a laugh. “Sure. Alright, give me the details.”
Turning to face him, the corner of my mouth twitches. “You remember the girl from the bar a few months ago? The one in the silver dress?”
Rex frowns as he searches his memories, then he half nods. “Vaguely. From your description more than anything else.”
“That’s her.”
“What?” His brow jumps up to his hairline. “Jesus… Maxim.”
“I know. I know what it looks like. We never run into the same person twice in this line of work without it being a death sentence, but I believe her. This is just a really bad night.”
His eyes narrow and his mouth twists but Rex doesn’t speak. Instead he sighs. “Alright, so that’s what we’re going with? You two met a few months ago at a bar and the love blossomed from there? She’s just very spicy and very angry at you.”
“It’s also only half a lie which means even if he does go digging, Dad will find shit to back it up.”
Rex puffs out his cheeks and rubs one hand up and down his torso. “I hope she understands what you’re doing for her.”
“Nah. Less she knows, the better, for her and her family. She hates me. Understandable. Thinks I’m a murderer.”
“You are.”
I send him a withering glare. “Sure, but what she saw and what actually happened are two different truths.”
“Then tell her.”
“Did you hear what she did at the club? I’m not giving her more information to spout to anyone who will listen.
It’s one thing to have her begging for help when she thinks I’m a killer, but if she started giving out details?
I’d become the Mafia prince with a loud-mouthed wife, and she’d become a bigger target while making me look like a fucking fool. ”
“You’re already a fool.” Rex snorts. “But I understand.”
“Thanks. You have my back on this, right?”
Rex is momentarily offended. “Dude. Did you not hear me?”
“Alright,” I scoff softly, amused. “Just checking.”
“Just checking,” Rex mimics with open mockery. “Fucking hell.”
“Boss?” Toto’s voice joins the fray, and we turn to him in the doorway. “They’re ready for you.”
“Alright!” Rex slings his arm around my neck and drags me back into the chapel. “Let’s get married!”
Inside, there are no fancy seats or pews, no aisle for anyone to walk down. This late at night and on such short notice, there’s only the officiant standing next to his makeshift altar looking half asleep. Next to him stands Stu who has his gaze fixed on Hollie.
Thanks to Xena’s magic, she’s been poured into the costume provided and despite the pain of the situation, she looks absolutely beautiful.
The bra is adorned with diamonds and pearls, featuring a string of diamonds that loops up around her neck to create a sparkling choker.
Strings of pears and diamonds pour down from her breasts and across her abdomen to connect to the absolutely tiny white mini skirt that’s really more of a thick belt than a skirt.
Walking up from behind, I fight to keep my gaze away from the alluring swell of her ass cheeks peeking out from underneath.
Sheer white stockings connect to a glittering garter, hugging her shapely legs all the way down to where her feet are covered by white six-inch heels.
Guilt warms my abdomen so as soon as I’m close enough, I shrug my suit jacket off and drape it around her shoulders. She flinches at the contact and fixes me with a venom-filled glance, but she doesn’t refuse the cover-up.
“We’ll only need you in the full thing for the pictures,” I say in a low voice as I stop next to her.
“Whatever,” she hisses out of the corner of her mouth. “Get this over with.”
It’s not how I envisioned my wedding would happen.
I always dreamed of meeting someone who could look past the intimidation of my size, my bulk, my accent, and my family and fall in love with me.
The real me. Then we’d have a small, beautiful wedding at a country house surrounded by color and nature.
Here, the most colorful thing is Xena’s outfit as she stands just behind me with two other girls from the club alongside Rex and Toto.
The officiant is being paid too much to care about any of this and quickly reels through the traditional vows like he’s reading off a shopping list. There’s no romance, there’s no warmth or love in his words or Hollie’s as she flatly repeats what she’s asked to say.
I try to meet her eye, clinging to a small hope that she will understand I’m doing this to help her, but she refuses to look at me.
Her anger burns as hot as embers in her words and at one point, she looks like she’s contemplating making a break for it.
But she doesn’t. By the time I slide a ring onto her finger provided by the officiant, she sounds cold and defeated.
We’re married within fifteen minutes and then whisked off to the picture booth in the next room. Placing one arm around her waist after she shrugs off my jacket, I jerk her against my torso and her hand flies to my chest to push herself away.
“Remember,” I say despite the guilt burrowing deeper in my chest. “These pictures have to sell it. If I’m not happy then—”
“Yeah, yeah,” she cuts in, her voice trembling despite the hatred licking at her words. “You’ll pay my family a visit.”
“Exactly.”
For three minutes, Hollie melts into a completely different person.
Her smile grows warm and full of life, her eyes sparkle with happiness rather than tears, and she presses so close against me, it’s reminiscent of our night together all those months ago.
She caresses my face, molds her body to mine, and even drapes back on my arm for one sexy picture with her leg raised.
It’s equally the longest and the shortest three minutes of my life. As Xena gives a thumbs-up from the camera, Hollie shoves me away with as much force as she can muster but due to my size, I don’t move. She wobbles away from me in those heels and crosses her arms over her body.
“Can I get dressed now?” she snips at me.
“Yes. Xena, can you help her?”
“I don’t need help getting dressed!”
“Girl, I know that skirt is so far up your ass you’re gonna need a hook to extract it yourself, so yeah, I’m helping you,” Xena remarks, amused. With a wink at me, she trails after Hollie with Stu in tow.
“How do they look?” I approach Rex, who flicks through the pictures. Over his shoulder, I glimpse what could be a happy, excited couple who were so in love that they just couldn’t wait for a proper wedding.
“Pretty decent,” Rex says, turning to face me. “I’ll put the word out and make sure these just happen to reach your father.”
“Thanks.”
“You good?” Rex’s face twists as he eyes me, and I nod.
“Tired.”
“It’s been the longest fucking night,” Rex agrees. “You wanna go home?”
“Not yet. We should at least celebrate.”
After Hollie redresses, we head back to Plumme. It’s quieter and emptier than before and as soon as we enter, Hollie is swamped by all the other girls.
“Oh my God!” one squeals, taking Hollie’s hand between both of hers. “I heard about it but I didn’t think it was real!”
“Let me see!” Gasps another. “Oh, it’s so pretty, although Maxim, where the hell is the rock?”
“I was in a hurry,” I say as I reach the bar. “I’ll get a proper rock.”
“You better!”
“Girl, how did you do it?” comes a third voice. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ve been trying to taste that for years and you just swoop in and take him just like that?”
“He’d never look at you,” snaps a fourth voice. “I honestly never thought he’d settle down. Not because of work but I mean, a guy with a heart that big? How do you close yourself off to just one person? You must be quite the catch!”
They all surround her, laughing and giggling while complimenting her and the ring, asking for details of the ceremony and how we met. Xena pops around the bar and uncaps a beer for me but as she places it in my hand, I glimpse Hollie’s reflection in the mirror behind the bar.
She looks tired. Worn down. But there’s a hint of enjoyment on her face as the girls bustle around her like chicks eager for a feed. Maybe this kind of attention is a good thing.
“Your first night as a married man,” Xena says quietly. “How does it feel?”
I drink my beer slowly and wince. “Tell me I’m doing the right thing.”
She frowns and leans toward me. “Honey… I know you have your reasons. When I married my wife, we also did it quick and dirty. In the end, your reasons matter more than the ceremony, more than the guests, more than anything else. So yeah, I think you’re doing the right thing if your reasons are just.”
Our eyes meet. “Thanks.”
“Sure thing. Chick?” she calls over my head. “Bride, you want a drink?”
Hollie’s answer is drowned out by my phone buzzing in my pocket and my heart sinks. The wheel never stops.
“What is it?” Rex appears next to me, hand on my shoulder.
“Trouble,” I sigh. “We gotta go.”
“Dude, when did you last sleep? Can’t it wait?”
“No.” Rising from my stool, I flash Xena a thankful smile then turn to the crowd. “Toto, take Hollie back to the penthouse.”
Whines rise up from the girls as if I’m taking their new toy away and Hollie steps away from them. “Let me call my parents.”
“No.”
She pulls her phone out of her pocket. “You changed the passcode, you fucker. Let me call my parents!”
I meet her angry gaze steadily. “After your display when I first brought you here? I’m not letting you call anyone until I know I can trust you.”