CHAPTER 41
JAGGER
If she thought we were going to go somewhere and have a sit-down chat about everything . . . she had another thing coming.
There was only one thought in my head as we made our way out of the building—we were getting married.
Today. Right now. Exactly as we were.
The warm night air hit my face as we stepped outside, joining the heat still burning through my veins. Gravel crunched under our boots as we crossed the lot toward the line of black SUVs waiting under the security lights.
I didn’t slow down.
Eden was still in my arms. Her body felt small against mine, light in a way that made something vicious twist inside my chest. Her blouse hung in torn pieces around her shoulders, the fabric split down the front where it had been cut it open. Every time I looked at it, my vision darkened.
Mine.
Someone had tried to take what was mine.
My arms tightened around her without thinking.
She hadn’t said a word since she’d told me she loved me, and her fingers were still curled weakly in the front of my shirt, gripping the blood-soaked fabric. Her breathing was shallow and uneven, and every once in a while, I could feel a tremor pass through her body.
Too close.
Everything had been too fucking close.
I opened the back door of the nearest SUV and climbed inside, pulling her with me. The moment I sat down, I dragged her fully into my lap, one arm wrapping around her waist while the other came up to cradle the back of her head against my shoulder.
Maddox slid behind the wheel, and Lawson climbed into the passenger seat beside him. For a few seconds, the only sound in the SUV was the engine rumbling to life.
I looked down at Eden. Her eyes were open but distant, like she was still half stuck in that room. “We’re getting married,” I announced.
The words dropped into the silence like a bomb. Maddox’s head snapped toward the rearview mirror, and Lawson slowly turned around in his seat.
“You’re what?” Maddox said flatly.
“We’re getting married.”
Maddox stared at me, waiting for the punch line. “You just stabbed a man to death like a hundred times,” he said. “And before that, you nearly died.”
“Yes.”
“And your next logical thought,” Lawson added carefully, “is marriage?”
“Yes.”
I looked down at Eden again. “Eden,” I said quietly. Her gaze lifted to mine. “We’re getting married tonight.”
She blinked up at me.
“You don’t get a vote,” I added calmly. “I’m tying you to me in every possible way. Legally. Permanently. I’m dragging you there whether you like it or not.”
Maddox made a strangled sound, and Lawson rubbed a hand over his face. Eden still hadn’t said anything; she just stared at me as if her brain hadn’t caught up with the conversation.
Maddox started the SUV rolling toward the road. “Where exactly am I driving during this…impromptu kidnapping wedding?” he asked dryly.
“The Little Vegas Chapel.”
Maddox slammed on the brakes, and we all pitched forward. “You are not serious.”
“Drive.”
He stared at me in the mirror for another second before scoffing and accelerating onto the highway.
Lawson twisted around and held out a packet of wipes. “You could at least clean the blood off your face,” he said dryly. “And I’d take off some of that bloody tactical gear or you’ll have Elvis fainting at the sight of you before he can officiate.”
I took the packet and dragged one of the wipes across my cheek without looking away from Eden.
She was still sitting stiffly in my lap, her hands resting against my chest. After a moment, I grabbed another wipe and brushed it gently across her face, too, wiping the damp tracks from her cheeks and beneath her eyes.
She didn’t resist or even seem to notice what I was doing—she simply sat there and let me, her gaze fixed somewhere over my shoulder, distant and unfocused.
I tightened my arms around her and buried my face against her neck. She smelled like smoke and fear and something softer underneath that made my chest loosen just enough to breathe again. “Faster,” I snarled at Maddox.
He muttered under his breath about at least having a “fucking proper suit on” but pressed the accelerator down harder.
Lawson had already pulled his laptop onto his knees. “You know,” he said irritably while typing, “after everything I’ve done tonight, I think I deserve a considerable amount of appreciation.”
His fingers flew across the keyboard.
“I’ll shut the cameras off at the chapel,” he continued. “And since you’ll probably want them watching for this extremely stable decision, I’ll get Gage and Cruz on FaceTime from the hospital.”
He paused, then sighed. “Which, incidentally,” he added, “I also arranged—if anyone wants to thank me for saving everyone’s lives.”
Maddox snorted. “I helped,” he mused.
Lawson kept typing. “Yeah, but they already bring you along for things. I’m the one fighting for respect. Honestly,” he muttered, “the things I do for you people.”
Eden finally came to in the parking lot of the chapel.
She sat straight up in my lap like someone had yanked her awake with a defibrillator. Her eyes were wide, pupils blown, and she stared at me as if she was seeing me for the first time. “You were serious,” she gasped.
I met her gaze. “Deadly.”
Maddox twisted in the driver’s seat, looking back at us. Lawson did the same from the passenger side. Maddox cleared his throat. “We’ll just . . . be waiting outside,” he said lightly.
Lawson nodded once awkwardly. “Yeah. Take your time. Or don’t. Whatever.” They both climbed out fast, and the doors slammed behind them.
She continued to stare at me incredulously. “I can’t marry you,” she said finally as she scooted off my lap and into the seat next to me.
I frowned as though she’d said something slightly inconvenient, not completely ridiculous. “Why not?”
“‘Why not’?” she repeated incredulously. “Jagger—”
I raised one brow and leaned in closer. “You said you still love me. You already promised you’re not leaving me. This is just the follow-up.”
Her lips parted, then pressed shut, then parted again as she struggled to decide which words to let out first. “That’s not—” She dragged both hands through her hair. “We haven’t even discussed that you’re in the mafia,” she whispered.
I sighed. “Rule number one of the group, Eden . . . you don’t say mafia.”
Before she could argue, I reached into the center console, pulled out the cuffs we kept in these vehicles, and snapped one bracelet around her left wrist. The other went around my right.
Click. Locked.
Slowly, very slowly, she lifted her hand, staring at the metal linking us together. Her expression was pure disbelief. “You just handcuffed me again.”
I grinned. “I’ve found in my line of work that it’s efficient for problem-solving.”
“You—” She gestured helplessly at the cuff, like the correct words might appear if she stared at it long enough. “You cannot just handcuff someone and drag them into a chapel!”
“Sure I can,” I said pleasantly. “Watch.”
Her jaw dropped. “Jagger.”
“Hmm?”
“This is kidnapping.”
“Technically,” I said thoughtfully, opening my door, “it’s a romantic gesture. Shall we go?”
She made a strangled noise. “You are insane.”
“Probably.”
Her eyes were doing a rapid blinking thing. She was definitely still in shock. “I’ve clearly lost my mind,” she said flatly. “I need to see a therapist.”
I tilted my head. “Why?”
“Because I’m actually considering marrying you.”
“You can go after we’re married,” I told her, my grin widening as I reached for the door handle, then paused. Eden was halfway across the seat, clearly expecting me to drag her out with the cuff, but her blouse was still hanging open from earlier, and the lace of her bra was completely visible.
I sighed.
“What?” she asked warily.
“Hold still.”
Before she could argue, I reached across her and pulled the edges of her blouse together.
Her eyes widened immediately. “Jagger—”
“Relax,” I said calmly.
I quickly threaded the loose ties through the buttons that had come undone, tugging the fabric closed so it covered her properly. My knuckles brushed her ribs as I worked, and she went very still.
“There,” I said, smoothing the front once to make sure nothing was gaping. “Now we can go.”
I opened my door and stepped out. Before she could protest, I slid one arm under her knees and lifted her out of the seat. She let out a small yelp as her free arm flew around my neck.
“Jagger!”
“You can’t walk on the gravel barefoot,” I told her.
The cuff clinked between us as I adjusted her against my chest.
“Let’s go, Future Mrs. Thatcher,” I said as I walked toward the chapel where the doors were already open and waiting.
Lawson had done his job well; there was no one inside but him and Maddox.
And . . . fucking hell. I stopped in the doorway. The entire place looked like a flamingo had exploded.
Pink carpet. Pink velvet pews. Pink ribbons tied around the backs of chairs. Pink flowers everywhere—fake ones, obviously—arranged in towering bouquets.
Even the arch at the front was wrapped in pink tulle that puffed out in dramatic clouds . . . a sort of cotton-candy avalanche.
There were heart-shaped balloons floating near the ceiling. Pink ones, of course, and tiny plastic cupids were stuck to the walls like decorative surveillance cameras, each one aiming a glittery arrow at the aisle.
I slowly turned my head toward Lawson. He spread his hands innocently. “What?” he said. “The couple before you had ordered the deluxe package, so I told them just to keep it up.”
Eden lifted her head from my shoulder and took one look around and just shook her head. Oh good, we’d just gotten to the acceptance part of the evening.
An Elvis impersonator was waiting at the end of the short aisle—white jumpsuit, pompadour, sideburns, the whole package.
He stared for a moment, taking in the blood still splattered across me, the cuffs linking our wrists, Eden’s torn clothes, her wild hair .
. . and then he simply nodded like this was nothing new.
Which, even in Vegas, I knew was not the truth. I’m sure Lawson had blackmailed him to within an inch of his life to pull this off.
“Evening, folks,” he said in that practiced drawl. “Ready to make it official?”
I looked down at Eden. She stared back at me, her eyes still dazed, but she didn’t pull away or try to object again. She just nodded once, shakily, but certain.
I walked us forward. “Let’s do this.”