Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Diego couldn’t have said what he did with the day. It was just getting dark when he once again found himself standing outside Rocco’s door. When his brother opened up, he looked surprised before sliding a look past Diego, clearly looking for something.
“What?” Diego asked.
“Where’s Daisy?”
Already on shaky ground and not really sure why he was there, Diego shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Okay. It’s only the eve of my wedding, and you’ve lost my wedding planner. No big deal.” Rocco met his gaze. “Why do you look like someone just died?”
“Babe, don’t badger him on the doorstep,” Tyler said, coming up behind Rocco. “You invite him in so we can badger him with some privacy.”
They led Diego to the kitchen where Tyler had a full spread of food going. He piled a plate sky-high and handed it to Diego, who shook his head. “No thanks.”
“Shit,” Rocco said, taking the plate meant for Diego. “If he’s not hungry, something’s really wrong. What did you do?”
Diego blew out a breath. “Pissed her off.”
“You could do that by breathing.”
Tyler shook his head at Rocco. “Okay, so you pissed her off, and then you...what? Just let her go?” Tyler asked.
“Well, yeah,” Diego said. “It’s not like I had options. I couldn’t make her stay and talk to me.”
“Oh, honey,” Tyler said in a tone that said he really meant you’re such an idiot as he shook his head.
“I mean, you’re right, you can’t make a woman do anything she doesn’t want to do.
Or anyone for that matter. But you could have tried to make her want to stay and have it out with you.
Women need to feel appreciated and adored.
” He flashed a quick smile at Rocco. “Well, some men do too, but I’m told it’s a non-negotiable requirement for a woman. ”
“What did you do?” Rocco asked.
“I thought she was going back to New York,” Diego said, lifting a shoulder. “Acted like a dick.”
Tyler clucked his tongue. “It runs in the family.”
“I’d say I’m insulted, but…” Rocco reached out for Tyler’s hand. “It’s totally true.” He met Diego’s gaze. “Tell us everything.”
“Things were…good,” Diego said. “I thought we were going to get together and make it work this time. She asked if I was going to move back here—”
“And?” Rocco asked, leaning forward, eyes sharp. “What did you say?”
Diego shrugged.
“What does that mean?” Rocco asked.
“I said I’d stay…for her.”
“But not for me?” Rocco asked.
Tyler gave Rocco a long look.
“Right,” Rocco said. “This isn’t about me. Go on.”
“This morning, I saw an incoming email of hers,” Diego said. “About a job and an apartment waiting for her in New York.”
“Don’t tell me,” Tyler said. “You pulled the asshole card and made assumptions.”
Diego didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. He was sure the answer was all over his face.
Rocco shook his head in disgust. “Rookie.”
“Hey, you don’t get to talk to me about this,” Diego said, pointing at him.
Rocco knocked Diego’s finger away from his face. “And why the fuck not?”
“Are you kidding me?” Diego asked. “You left me. You fucking flew off to a tropical beach and got laid—” He slid Tyler an apologetic look. “No offense.”
“None taken, honey.”
Diego nodded and went back to Rocco. “And you never came back.”
“I apologized for that,” Rocco said quietly, sincerely.
“I know. And I’m over it. I am,” Diego insisted. “But Dad left me. Mom left me. And I just watched the only woman I’ve ever loved walk out the door. And I get it. It’s not the people in my life. It’s me.” He stood up.
Rocco did the same, catching his brother at the door, spinning him back to face him, giving him a shake. “It’s not you.” In a surprise move, he pulled Diego into him for a hard hug. “It’s not you,” he said again fiercely.
Diego let out a rough breath but found he couldn’t draw another one in because of Rocco’s grip.
“Babe, please don’t accidentally suffocate our best man,” Tyler said. “Now, both of you, come back and sit down. Eat.”
And what Tyler wanted, Tyler got. They sat. They ate. And after, Diego looked at Rocco. “Tell me.”
“Tell you what?” Rocco asked innocently.
“Whatever it is you still haven’t told me. It’s got to be big, given that you’ve managed to keep a secret.”
“Hey, I can keep a secret.”
Both Diego and Tyler laughed.
“Fine,” Rocco said. “It’s about the prewedding stuff you’ve been handling for us with Daisy…”
“Yeah? You need something else?”
Tyler put a hand to his heart. “That you’d even ask right now is precious. But, no. We’ve got a confession.” He looked at Rocco.
Who grimaced with…guilt?
“We’ve been trying to get you and Daisy speaking again,” Tyler said. “That’s why we kept throwing you two together for all those made-up errands. Because near as we can tell, neither of you have been happy in a long time.”
“Made-up errands? You mean the cake tasting, the suit, the bands?”
“Yeah.” Rocco blew out a breath. “I made those all up. Did you really think we didn’t already have our shit together only a few days before the wedding?”
Diego blinked. “Shit. I don’t know, I know zip about weddings.” He paused, and his gut tightened. “Was Daisy in on it?”
“No,” Rocco said. “She planned a beautiful wedding for us, and then a few months ago, Tyler and I saw an opening, a way to get you home. So, we told her we were scrapping our plans and starting over. We lied to her, saying we were making big, last-minute changes and needed her help.”
Diego stared at him and then Tyler, then he looked back at Rocco. “It was all a ruse?”
“Yeah,” Rocco said. “And you screwed it up.”
Tyler put a hand over Rocco’s and gave a small head shake before turning to Diego. “You didn’t screw it up. At least, not the wedding. The wedding’s all perfectly planned. The Daisy thing, though…”
Diego looked at Rocco. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that she was lonely, and the last person she loved was you. And that I missed you, dammit…”
“He thought he was helping,” Tyler said.
Rocco nodded.
This caused a sigh to escape Diego. “You did,” he admitted.
Rocco met his gaze, his eyes now having some hope in them. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Diego shook his head. “If you hadn’t become a meddling, gossiping, nosy body, I’d never have reconnected with her.”
The look on Rocco’s face was priceless, and Tyler laughed. He laughed so hard he had to sit down. “I’m pretty sure my two-hundred-and-fifty-pound biker badass fiancé has never once in his life been called a meddling, gossiping, nosy body.” Tyler swiped tears of mirth from his face. “Priceless.”
“It’s not fiancé,” Rocco muttered. “After tomorrow at our wedding, it’s husband. I’m going to be your meddling, gossiping, nosy body husband.”
“And I’m looking forward to it, babe,” Tyler said and kissed him.
Diego turned to the door.
“Wait, where are you going?” Rocco asked after breaking off the kiss.
“If you can get your life and shit together,” Diego said, “then so can I.”
He went straight to Daisy’s. She wasn’t there. She wasn’t at her office either. Nor did she answer his embarrassing number of calls and texts. He ended up back at her place and sat outside her door for a few hours before he figured out that she wasn’t coming home.
For a minute, he thought maybe he’d chased her right out of town and back to New York, which would suck and suck hard. But he knew she wouldn’t go anywhere until after the wedding.
Daisy had done what she always did when the going got tough. She buried herself in work. Even though she felt as if she’d been run over by a freight train, she headed to the office. Carol took one look at her and said, “You got dumped.”
Daisy supposed Carol must know the feeling in order to recognize it, but she shrugged. “I’m fine.” Actually, she was pissed-off. She’d lost the love of her life for the second time, which was devastating.
But she’d survived before, and she’d survive now.
So, she sucked it up. She reapplied mascara and then went offsite to visit two of Carol’s important, high-profile clients, which had thankfully taken her the rest of the day.
The next morning, she woke up knowing that she should be excited about Rocco and Tyler’s wedding in a few hours. She lay in bed and tried not to remember how much more fun it was when Diego was in it with her.
And for at least the thousandth time since yesterday, Daisy reminded herself that she was no longer thinking about him.
Except, she was.
A lot.
All the time.
She’d been hasty to run out on him. She knew his past, knew that he had abandonment issues. She could have tried talking to him about things instead of acting like the rash teenager she’d once been.
She showered, dressed, and told herself that the goal for the day was simple: keep herself as busy as possible so she wouldn’t have to look at Diego. Shouldn’t be a problem with the huge wedding they’d decided upon, in a massive ballroom of their favorite San Fran hotel.
Daisy was just about to leave to get herself to the venue—two hours early to make sure things were playing out as they should—when she got a text from Rocco that said: change of plans.
She stared at the message as a new one came in with an address and the following cryptic words: come here instead.
Okaaaaay. She tried calling Rocco, but he didn’t answer. Nor did Tyler. So, she went to the new address. The Lyft let her off in the beach parking lot.
The. Beach. Parking. Lot.
What the actual hell? Since neither groom was answering his phone, she walked to the lookout and stopped at the top of the stairs.
Below and off to the right in a natural alcove between the water and the rocks stood a wooden archway lined with flowers.
In front of it was a small aisle, delineated with stones.
No chairs.
She could see three men. Rocco, Tyler, and Harris, a dear friend of the grooms’ who’d married several of their friends. The backdrop was the Golden Gate Bridge, gorgeous enough to steal her breath.
Not understanding—what had happened to the big wedding they said they wanted?—she started to go down the stairs when a hand settled on her arm and gently turned her around.
Diego.
He was in a suit, but in no way had it tamed him. He still looked as wild as ever.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Damn heart.
He spoke first. “It’s Rocco and Tyler. It was all a ruse,” he said.
“To get us back together.” He shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Daisy. I screwed up. You are the most important thing in my life.
You always have been. I just haven’t shown you that.
Let me show you now. I get that it’s probably ten years too late, but I have to try.
” He gave her a small smile. “I quit my job in San Diego. I’ve got two choices now.
I can go to work for Jake, running and managing his fleet, or I sell my boat and buy a bigger one. In New York.”
She gasped. “What?”
“Wherever you land, wherever you decide you want to be, that’s where I want to be, as well. Because I pick you. I will always pick you. You have my word on that. I love you, Daisy.”
She felt the breath stutter in her chest, and she was pretty sure the bones in her legs had just melted.
“I’m not going to New York. Poppy and I are going to start our own company, but we’re going the bi-coastal route.
Her there, and me here.” Daisy drew in a deep breath.
“I want to be with you,” she said, never having meant anything more.
Except for maybe one thing. “I love you too, Diego.”
Tyler came jogging up the stairs to them, looking wonderful in his tux. “Oh, baby,” he said, looking at Daisy’s dress. “It’s perfect. I need you to be my bridesmaid.”
Rocco was right behind Tyler, looking like he was afraid to be too happy. “And I need my brother at my side. Are we all okay?”
Daisy pulled Rocco in for a hug. “More than. Thank you,” she whispered fiercely. “For being such a sneaky bastard.”
Rocco kissed her and looked at Diego over her head, clearly needing his brother’s reaction.
Diego nodded. “You are a sneaky bastard. But…you’re the best sneaky bastard I know. We’re also all okay.”
Rocco let out a breath, and with suspiciously shiny eyes, turned to Tyler. “Ready to make an honest man out of me?”
Tyler’s smile lit up the day around them.
They all headed down to the beach, but Diego pulled Daisy back, waiting until she looked up at him before he cupped her face to look at her very seriously. “I know I’ve made mistakes. Disappointed you. And I’d like to say I won’t ever do it again, but—”
“But you’re only human.” She smiled. “Neither of us is perfect, Diego. It’s a safe bet to say we’re both going to make lots more mistakes.”
“Maybe, but one I’ll never make again is hurting you,” Diego said fiercely.
“You’re it for me, Daisy. You always were.
” He turned to look at the waiting grooms, the glorious day behind them, the waves lapping at the shore, and then back at Daisy.
“There are times, like now, when all I have to do is look at you…” He sank his fingers into her hair.
“And it feels like the only reason my heart is beating in my chest is because yours is beating. The only reason I can breathe is because you’re breathing. ”
She pulled his head down to hers and kissed him softly. “So, let’s keep breathing. Together.”
“Now there’s a pact.”