Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
“She was a hope yesterday,” a deep voice said. “She was the reason I made guacamole for nine months straight.” Her father was still devastatingly handsome in his tux. Sean Taggart had been the male authority figure in her world, and she adored him. He’d managed to build a restaurant empire without ever making his children feel like they were second place. “You look gorgeous, sweetheart. You look like your mom.”
Her brother stood beside him, and there was a reason all the girls loved Luke Taggart. He was following in their father’s footsteps career wise. Luke was an up-and-coming figure in the culinary world. In the dating world he was mostly the stud du jour among the younger D/s groups. “You look great, sis, but couldn’t you have, like, brought in some hot bridesmaids?”
Her dad shook his head and ignored her brother. “I’m serious, Carys. You look stunning, and I’m so proud of you and Aidan. This is all going to be all right because the two of you… Well, let’s just say I’ve watched him for years, and he’s loved you since he was a child. You two are going to be fine.”
Nope. She wasn’t going to cry. She wasn’t going to think about the fact that once there had been three of them. “Thanks, Dad.”
He stared for a moment as though taking it all in and then held out an arm. “Ready?”
Not in any way. But she smiled and took her dad’s arm. “Ready.”
* * * *
Aidan O’Donnell stepped out on the balcony. The rest of the groomsmen were getting ready inside, joking and farting around, but he needed some quiet.
Just a few minutes more and he would be Carys’s husband.
He loved her so much, but there was an ache in his soul because Tristan wouldn’t be standing beside them.
He stared over the green fields. They’d selected a venue in the country. It was beautiful, with rolling hills, and the stars would light up the night when they danced their first dance as man and wife.
We have to figure out how to tango as a threesome. Carys likes to dance. It could get our wife all hot and bothered and ready for the honeymoon.
Aidan forced the thoughts away. He wasn’t giving Tris headspace today. He was doing what the fucker wanted. He was marrying her to throw off the bad guys Tris had gotten involved with. That was all the space Tris got today.
Damn. Should he be this angry on his wedding day?
You can’t tell her. Promise me. If you tell her, she’ll never stay away. It won’t be long. I promise.
Promises. Fucking promises.
Somehow he’d thought Tristan would show up today. He’d thought he would ride in on a white horse or something and tell him everything was okay and they could finally get on with their lives.
Years they’d spent perfecting their roles, and Tristan had blown it all up for a job.
He’d thought Tristan would tell him he was done pretending to be some arms dealer and ready to get back to real life.
All he’d gotten was a single text.
Take care of our girl.
She wasn’t going to be their girl after today. He had to pray she never found out he’d been talking to Tristan all this time. He’d played a part in keeping Tris’s secrets. If she did, she might never forgive him.
At this point he had to think it wouldn’t matter because she would never come back from Tristan’s distance. This was the rest of his life. Life without his best friend. Without the family he’d wanted to build.
It would be enough. It had to be.
At least he would have Carys when they eventually heard Tristan was dead. He was certain this ended in one way. He knew it in his soul.
He glanced down and saw a shadow moving through the building across the large patio where everything was set up for the party they would have after the elegant dinner. There were tables and a bar and a stage where the band would play. Seth Taggart was taking care of the music this evening, with some of his friends coming in to back him up.
They would dance under the stars and then go on their honeymoon.
His gorgeous wife was perfectly fine with her honeymoon being in Montreal where he would be attending a special symposium on cutting-edge surgical techniques.
But then neither of them had a lot of enthusiasm for a week at the beach. A luxurious week at the beach had been the plan in the beginning. Hole up on an island with a staff to take care of them and lay out in the sun and fuck their wife.
It was better this way. After all, it wasn’t like he could afford to rent a villa in Barbados like Tristan had planned.
He watched the shadow move across the dining hall. Likely one of the venue’s workers making sure everything was perfect since Chef Taggart was here. Boy, all the kitchen workers had freaked out when they’d realized who would be planning the menu and overseeing the dinner. Not Sean, of course, but his longtime partner Eric Vail was somewhere in the back of the reception hall braising a shit ton of meat.