Chapter 13 #3
Sabine's hand remains inside mine.
I don't look at her.
Not yet.
Kane saves Drew's life.
“Hey, X.”
I focus on him.
His expression is different now.
Warm.
Serious.
“You look happy.”
The joke drains out of the room.
I could dodge.
Normally I would.
Then Sabine's thumb moves once across my wedding ring.
Tiny.
Almost nothing.
I look at her.
She looks back.
Caramel curls.
Cornflower eyes.
My sweater.
My ring.
A woman who once existed only as words on a black screen sitting beside me while my oldest friends stare through another one.
Funny.
Everything important in my life apparently happens through screens first.
“Yeah,” I say.
My voice comes out quieter than expected.
“I am.”
Sabine's expression changes.
Just slightly.
Drew ruins the moment exactly on schedule.
“Still pissed.”
I look back at the phone.
“About?”
“YOU GOT MARRIED WITHOUT US.”
“Yes.”
“We've been through everything.”
“Which is why I knew better.”
“I should have been best man.”
“We covered this.”
“I am bringing it up again.”
“You weren't invited.”
“Exactly. Betrayal.”
“You would've brought Sergei.”
Drew stops.
Then slowly smiles.
“That's actually a fantastic idea.”
“No.”
“I could've had him hold the rings.”
“No.”
“Walk Sabine down the aisle.”
“She walked barefoot through a field.”
The kitchen quiets.
I realize too late that I have given them information.
Hannah puts a hand over her heart.
“She walked barefoot through a field?”
Sabine looks at me.
“Now you've done it.”
Isa appears instantly.
“Tell me everything.”
“No.”
“Flowers?”
“Wildflowers,” Sabine answers.
I look at her.
She shrugs.
“They'll find out eventually.”
Stella sighs dreamily.
“Were there people?”
Sabine smiles.
“One priest.”
“And security,” I add.
“One priest,” she repeats.
“And?”
Sabine looks at me.
I know what's coming.
“A stray dog.”
The entire kitchen loses it again.
Drew looks personally wounded.
“A DOG got invited and I didn't?”
“He wasn't invited.”
“That's worse.”
“He breached the perimeter.”
Drew points at the screen.
“You let a homeless dog attend your wedding before me.”
“Technically, yes.”
“I want that written into my obituary.”
“Can be arranged.”
Sabine nudges me.
“Behave.”
Drew shakes his head.
“I cannot believe this. I create the relationship, I facilitate the first meeting, I prevent a homicide, I counsel you through your emotional breakdown, and a fucking stray dog gets best man.”
“The dog didn't say anything.”
“Low blow.”
Hannah is laughing.
Isa is trying to ask Sabine about the dress.
Jalen wants to know what happened to the dog.
Vale wants to know whether Xavier ran a background check on it.
Leo says quietly, “He absolutely did.”
“I did not.”
Sabine turns toward me.
“You tried.”
“I assessed.”
Drew points.
“He background-checked the dog.”
“I assessed the perimeter.”
“Same thing.”
The dinner behind them is apparently burning again because smoke begins drifting past Kane's shoulder.
Hannah turns.
“Oh no.”
Isa swears.
Stella runs toward the oven.
Drew looks around.
“WHO WAS WATCHING THE ROLLS?”
Everyone immediately blames Jalen.
“I WAS EATING.”
“THAT IS NOT WATCHING.”
“It literally requires visual contact.”
Kane starts laughing.
Leo reaches for something near the stove.
Jade shouts, “Don't touch that.”
The phone swings wildly.
For thirty seconds, all I see is ceiling.
Then Drew returns, slightly breathless.
“Okay. Emergency contained.”
“Your house is smoking.”
“Ambiance.”
Sabine leans against my shoulder.
I feel her laughing.
Drew sees.
His expression softens for half a second.
Then he points at us.
“Christmas. You're both coming.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Sabine says, “Maybe.”
I turn.
She smiles.
Drew cheers.
“No maybes,” I tell her.
“You hate that word.”
“I deeply hate that word.”
“I know.”
She rests her head against my shoulder.
The movement is natural now.
Easy.
My arm goes around her without thought.
The kitchen sees it.
Every one of them.
And for once, nobody makes a joke.
At least for five seconds.
Then Jalen calls from somewhere offscreen.
“Does Blackwell's Bride have any hot hacker friends?”
I end the call.
Sabine bursts out laughing.
My phone immediately starts ringing again.
Drew.
Decline.
Kane.
Decline.
Jade.
I stare at that one.
Sabine looks at the screen.
“Answer her.”
“No.”
“She scares you.”
“No one scares me.”
Jade calls again.
Sabine smiles into her tea.
“Liar.”
I decline it.
Her phone rings next.
Jade.
Sabine answers instantly.
“Hello?”
I stare at her.
She gets up and walks toward the windows.
“Yes, I'd love to tell you about Sergei.”
“Sabine.”
She looks back over her shoulder.
Cornflower eyes sparkling.
My wife smiles.
“I'll call you later, Ghost.”
Then she disappears into the next room with Jade Holt on the phone.
I sit alone for several seconds.
My own phone vibrates.
A message from Drew.
BLACKWELL'S brIDE > MISS LONDON brIDGE
Another follows immediately.
ALSO I EXPECT MATCHMAKER CREDIT IN THE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
Then:
AND YOU ARE SO FUCKED.
I look toward the doorway where Sabine vanished.
Her laughter drifts back through the room.
I glance down at the ring on my hand.
Then type:
I know.