Madd Hearts, Madd Wedding Vol I (The A-List Rebels #6)

Chapter 1

Ivy

Married. I’m getting married in four days.

I gather fistfuls of ivory skirt in my slightly damp hands. Nerves tumble in my belly like butterflies as I approach the dais.

I’ve done this before at a wedding expo where my best friend was in charge of the catwalk. I was nervous then, but not with this trilling anticipation.

I’ve done this walk in the penthouse apartment I share with my husband-to-be, high above the neon lights of this city. That time, my heart was bursting with love but also with fear; my hands were clammy because of the poison coursing through my system.

Now my heart is full with the life I’m blessed with. Our love is unbreakable. Our future stacked with possibilities.

My psychotic stepbrother has been missing for months. My evil stepmother is behind bars. My life is everything I could have ever dreamed of.

Adira sniffles into a dainty handkerchief he pulled from the pocket of his slouchy white pants. My best friend is dressed modestly today, his queen persona hidden under a stretched out gray singlet that shows off his physique. “Exquisite.”

He offers his hand, and I take it as I lift the skirt to step onto the platform. Ornate mirrors surround me in a semi-circle, giving me an unobstructed view of myself in the dress from all sides.

My breath catches. The dress is beautiful. The woman wearing it is vibrant and glowing with happiness. It’s everything I envisioned when I dreamed it up with the help of my mentor, Danica Garfield, an insanely talented designer.

Somehow my wedding gown is more than a dress. It’s promise, and hope, and happiness all rolled into an outfit that doesn’t hide who I am like so many of my costumes did when I first met Rogue.

“Have you ever seen anything more perfect?” Adira asks as Danica steps up behind me.

“Stunning.” She checks the fit before picking up a pin with a diamond head and slipping it into place so she can make the tiniest of alterations.

“Ouch.” I jump when the pin sticks me.

“So sorry,” Danica says, her eyes glued to the spot.

“What? Is something wrong?” I twist on shaky knees.

“No.” She removes another pin from the cushion around her wrist.

“Everything is fine,” Adira says.

“No, it’s not.” I can see it in the mirror. A small crimson circle. My breath bursts from my lungs in frantic pants that make my head hurt. “It’s going to stain.”

“Love, love, love,” Adira coos soothingly as he steps up onto the platform and inspects the spot. “There’s nothing there.”

“What?” I look again. The material is pristine. I twist around as I try to get a better look. Where did the stain go?

“Honey, you need to breathe,” Adira says. “Before you have a panic attack.”

I search out his face in the mirror, and my heart stops.

Alec walks toward me with unwavering determination.

He’s wearing the same outfit he wore in Narnia the night he attacked me.

Dark pants and long-sleeved shirt. Black gloves.

Something metal glints between his fingers as he eats up the distance, a mask of pure hatred on his face.

Adira grabs my waist to stop me from toppling off the platform. He forces my gaze to his. “You’re freaking out. Everything is fine. Remember what Dr. Keller told you to do. In through the nose.”

It takes all my energy to focus on drawing that one breath.

“One...” he counts, “two...”

“Three.”

“Four.” He squeezes my hands. “And out through the mouth.”

I release the oxygen from between my lips, the clawing fear muted by the focus it takes to box breathe. My body tingles as I work through another. And then another. Until my breathing grows steady and solid and calm.

I scan the room for Alec again, but he’s not here. He was never here at all. Alec’s been missing for months. Nicole is in jail. I will remind myself of that as many times as it takes for it to sink in.

My life is perfect.

Other than the trauma. I hate that it still invades my thoughts and ruins moments like this one.

“Shall I finish up?” Danica asks.

“Yes.” I smooth my hands over the front of the dress and try to calm myself. With only a couple days until the wedding, we don’t have time to schedule extra fittings. As it is, Rogue will be here any minute and then we’re off to the airport to catch our flight to Heart Ranch.

She tucks and pins and checks every inch of the gown before standing back to survey her handiwork with a critical eye. “You can get changed now. I’ll have the adjustments finished and we can double check everything again the night before.”

“It has to be perfect in case our girl ends up on the cover of a magazine.” Adira’s chest puffs up as he helps me down from the platform. “You know the media are desperate to figure out when and where these two are getting hitched.”

I hurry back to the dressing room with Danica in tow. She helps with the fastenings and leaves me to take the dress off.

My phone buzzes as I lower the dress to the floor.

Private: You need to come see me.

It’s probably one of the wedding vendors or maybe a wrong number, but if that’s the case why does all the air get squeezed from my lungs? Why is my hand trembling?

Everything is fine. The adrenaline is a leftover remnant from the panic attack earlier. That’s what my body is responding to.

Ivy: Who is this?

Private: You dreadful brat, you owe me.

Nicole? How is she texting from jail?

Ivy: Where are you?

Private: You know where I am.

She is still in jail then. Locked up where she can’t get to me.

“Your man is here,” Adira calls out.

My fingers shake as I delete the text string and shut my phone down without reading any further. There’s no way I’m visiting Nicole. Ever.

After everything she did to keep her claws in my dad and his money... after what her family did to mine. She can rot behind those bars for all I care.

But I don’t like the timing. She’s been quiet. Now days before our wedding she chooses to make contact. She couldn’t know. How could she possibly?

Tossing my phone in my bag I pull on the simple sundress I wore to the fitting, gather my belongings, and hurry out to meet Rogue.

Adira is already outside. His luggage is packed into the trunk. He disappears into the passenger seat as I rush into Rogue’s arms. Wrapping my hands around his neck, I press my lips to his. I feel instantly better.

“Everything went well?” He strokes my jaw, smiling down at me.

“Perfect.” I slip past him and into the back seat.

I rub at the aching scars on my wrist as he settles in beside me. They sometimes hurt like they’re fresh wounds, even though they’ve had months to heal.

“Adira said you had another panic attack.” He takes my wrist between his hands and applies firm pressure to take the edge off the pain from the nerve damage.

“I overreacted.”

“No. You didn’t. What you went through...” He lifts my fingers to his lips and kisses them. “You’re safe, baby. I promise. I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”

“He’s gone. I’m safe. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. But not knowing where Alec is haunts me.”

It bothers Rogue too. He consistently checks in with the detective on Alec’s case. He hired his own PI. There’s been no sign of my stepbrother anywhere. No fan sightings. Nothing. It troubles me more than I care to admit.

“We’ll find him.” He lowers my hand to rest on his lap. “And he will be locked up for the rest of his natural life.”

“I hope so.” I’m afraid that locking him up isn’t enough when he can hire someone like Jackson to get close to us.

“In the meantime, I want to focus on you and me. On our wedding. On starting our family.”

“I want that too.” I push away thoughts of Alec and Nicole. I’m not going to let her get to me. “Heart Ranch is perfect. Summer has been sending me pictures for the last few days while they’ve been setting up.”

Rogue curls his arm around my back and pulls me in close. “I hope Rebel can find an in with Summer’s brothers. They don’t seem too fond of him.”

“I’m sure he’ll win them over.” I watch the exit signs on the freeway as we get closer to the airport. Rebel’s a good guy and a great brother. It’s hard to believe that someone like Alec could ever be related to them.

The fear rushes back in... not just for myself, but for everyone I hold dear. He hates them as much as he hates me. As long as he’s out there, we’re all living under his shadow.

I could have agreed with my sister that night at the doll house when she said we should kill him.

Regretting something like that... wanting something like that so I can be free of these fears.

.. it’s wrong. But I can’t seem to stop myself from thinking about it.

Deep in my heart there must be a monster too.

Surely a good person wouldn’t wish someone dead.

My only redemption is in the fact I could never act on it.

The car pulls up to the drop off and Rogue adjusts his shades and cap to obscure his face so we might have some hope of catching our plane without being spotted. “Let’s go get married.”

The boys take care of our luggage while I make a call to my sister.

Her voice comes through loud and clear, but she doesn’t turn the camera on like she normally would. She’s panting like she’s been doing something strenuous, and there’s a lilt of happiness I’ve missed. Dizzy is always full of sunshine.

“You sound... out of breath.”

“I was running,” she says.

“You run?” Dizzy hasn’t run once in the time I’ve known her. But it hasn’t been long. Not long enough to know everything about her.

“When there’s something worth chasing.” She giggles. A weird squelching sound follows. “Oof, well, that’s disgusting.”

I press my hand to my mouth and swallow. Whatever it was sounded awful. “I wanted to make sure—”

“Everything is under control. I’m going to finish up here and then pack my bags. West already packed his, and our flight is early tomorrow so we’ll be there before the events start. I can’t wait to be your bridesmaid, sis.”

Rogue wraps his hand around mine. “We better get to our gate.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning then,” I tell Dizzy. Before we kick off three days of festivities that will culminate in our wedding day.

“Can’t wait.” She makes a kissy sound and hangs up.