In the Crease (Assassins Book 11)

by Toni Aleo

  “Everyone knows that,” Jensen informed him. “Like everyone.”

  “Poor Brie,” Wells teased and Jensen chuckled.

  “Right?” Vaughn added.

  Again, the kitchen was filled with laughter from three guys who grew up together and who had continued to be brothers for the last fifteen years. There was never a dull moment with them. If they weren’t laughing, they were fighting, or they were crying. They were brothers. And while, now, all of them were older, probably not a bit wiser, they were still the best of friends.

  All Jensen could think was that he was living a dream.

  The same best friends?

  And the girl he had loved just as long as he had known them, and a kid on the way?

  Yeah. It was all just too good to be true.

  “Mom, I want to go hang in the room with the guys.” Her mother rolled her eyes, taking a big gold bow from the stack of bows Wren was holding and tying it to the pew. “Isn’t there someone else who can do this?”

  Elaine shot her an evil look. “You think if that were the case, I would have asked you? Everyone is getting the reception ready since everything was late getting here. Wren, please, just help me.”

  “Fine,” she groaned, but her feet were killing her. There was no way she was going to make it in these insanely high heels Wells had insisted she wear with her suit. Which was all a little tighter that morning. She probably should have skipped that packet of Snickers she snuck when Jensen was hanging with the guys this morning. Maybe she should listen and take better care of her body before she turned into a whale. “Mom, these shoes suck,” she complained, kicking them off.

  “I told Wells they weren’t gonna work. You’re damn well pregnant!”

  “This is true,” Wren agreed as she moved with her mom, putting bows everywhere.

  “Just go barefoot, and if he complains, I’ll throw them at him.”

  Wren’s lips quirked as she giggled. “Ah, you’ll inflict pain on your favorite for me?”

  Elaine glared back at her. “I’m not doing that with you, Wren. You’re my favorite.”

  “I know, Mom,” she said sweetly as they continued to hang the bows.

  “Did you talk to Emma?”

  “I did,” Wren said with a grin tugging at her mouth. “Antoine is doing much better today. No fever thus far, but they’re keeping a close eye on him.”

  “Good, that’s what she told me, and Dad texted Ant too, heard the same thing. I know Jensen was worried.”

  Wren nodded. “Worried is one word. I don’t see him freak out often, but when he does, it’s scary.”

  “Oh, I’m sure. He is his daddy’s boy.”

  “And his mom’s.”

  “Right? And mine, hell,” she laughed, and Wren chuckled. “He’s a good boy, really good boy.”

  “The best,” Wren decided.

  “I walked in right on time, eh?”

  Turning, she found Jensen coming toward her dressed in a slick black suit that was tailored to his body and made him completely scrumptious. His hair was smoothed to the side, his face free of stubble while his brown eyes sparkled as he drank her in. She wasn’t sure she was sold on the whole pregnant woman in a suit idea, but she had to admit, she was cute. It didn’t fit her the way it fit Jensen, but she did love that she didn’t have to wear a bow tie, leaving the first couple buttons open to show off her chest. Her hair was in big, beautiful curls down to her shoulders, while her makeup was dramatic and beautiful, capped off by dark red lips.

  She was feeling herself.

  She was feeling Jensen more, but then, he was a hundred shades of gorgeous.

  “What right time? We aren’t talking about you,” she teased as he wrapped her up, smiling down at her belly.

  “Sure, you aren’t.”

  “Nope, we were talking about these bows.”

  He laughed as he kissed the side of her mouth, sending hot waves of lust through her whole body with just the simple motion. “Well, that’s disappointing. I needed an ego boost. Wells said my ass looks big in these pants, and I blame it on you and all the Snickers I eat to keep you from eating them.”

  Laughing out loud, she shook her head. “Your ass is beautiful.”

  “It is,” Elaine added, and Wren sputtered with laughter.

  “Ew! Creepy cougar!”

  Elaine scoffed with laughter. “Please.”

  But Jensen was beet red. “Is your mom hitting on me?”

  Still laughing, Wren shook her head as she handed her mom a bow. “She’s losing her mind.”

  “I am,” Elaine decided. “And aren’t you supposed to be helping Wells, Winston, and Vaughn with taking all the boxes into the reception area? Oh, and did someone make sure they grabbed the Céline Dion CD from the counter? Alex wanted it to be authentic from his childhood.”

  “This wedding is so damn cliché,” Wren muttered, and Jensen laughed.

  “Yes, I grabbed it and got it to the DJ. I was doing that, but then I saw my beautiful wife and obviously needed a kiss.”

  “Obviously,” she gushed before pressing her mouth to his. “Take me with you,” she mouthed as they parted, and he smirked back at her.

  “Nope, enjoy the bows,” he teased before kissing her once more and heading back down the aisle and out of the room.

  “That man is smitten with you, Wren. You are a lucky lady.”

  “I know,” she said as an exhale, her lips turning up. “Mom, I’m hungry.”

  “You’re always hungry. We’re done, but listen. Before you run off in the search for whatever you’ll go find to eat, please fill the vases with that gold glitter for the becoming one ceremony.”

  A blank look came over her face. “Do you know how insane this is getting?”

  Elaine just looked at her. “You have no clue, but since you didn’t give me a wedding to plan, here we are.”

  Wren scoffed as Elaine took the empty bow box from her and pointed to the other box with glitter inside before disappearing out the back. Curling her toes into the carpet of the venue, Wren looked up and smiled. The altar was completely insane with big white flowers and glitter adorning it, while a huge W and A—made of glitter, of course—were hung in the middle. It was beautiful, but she didn’t get why her brother wanted so much glitter. He usually wasn’t this sparkly. Or maybe it was Alex? Who knew.

  Nevertheless, her mother had done a beautiful job, and Wren sort of wished she had given her mom a chance to plan her wedding. But the thought made her laugh. She didn’t even want a wedding six months ago. She had just wanted a husband, but she got more than that.

  She got her future.

  Pulling out her phone from her handy pocket, probably the best thing about the suit, she clicked Jensen’s name.

  Wren: We should plan a wedding when Gunner gets here.

  Jensen: I’m sorry, who is this? It says this text is from my hot-ass wife, but my hot-ass wife doesn’t do weddings.

  She laughed, the room filling with the sound, and she almost didn’t believe it.

  Wren: Right? I must be drunk.

  Jensen: Or you have a sugar high since I found your empty bag of miniature Snickers.

  Wren: Those were my mom’s.

  Jensen: That you ate, in the bath.

  Wren: I have no clue what you’re talking about.

  Jensen: Sure you don’t.

  When she sent him the wacky emoji, he sent back a peach with a hand beside it, which meant he was going to get her ass. Within seconds, she was hot as she giggled and texted him back.

  Wren: Promise?

  Jensen: Name the place and time.

  Wren: Here, now

  Jensen: Not fair. I’m unloading packs of glitter with your dad, while your mom yells at us because Vaughn decided to throw some on me and Wells. It’s in my nose and my mouth, Wren. I might kill him today.

  Sputtering with laughter, she shook her head.

  Wren: Fine, rain check?

  Jensen: Yup, like tonight, me and you.

/>   Wren: Sounds like a plan.

  Jensen: Agreed.

  With a smile that took up most of her face, she tucked her phone into her pocket before opening the box and getting out the three bags of glitter that she needed for the tall vases that were under the W&A. When she dropped one of the bags, she complained to herself, bending down and struggling to get back up, but her grin stayed in place.

  Jensen drove her absolutely wild.

  Before she could get to the center table, she heard, “Well, well, there you are.”

  She froze, his voice crawling down her spine as she looked down the aisle before Bradley started up it. He hadn’t changed. Still so big, taking up the room, but she did notice he had put on some weight. His face was a little thicker than she recalled. Once upon a time, she remembered getting that fluttery feeling for him, but she felt nothing now. Not even anger. She just didn’t want to see him. He was nothing to her.

  “You’re a hard one to get ahold of Wren.”

  She was holding her breath, clinging to the packs of glitter as her eyes widened but never left his. “Maybe ’cause I don’t want to be gotten ahold of.”

  His eyes narrowed to slits. “I figured that. But then, surely that wasn’t the case for the father of that baby inside of you. A boy, I hear.”

  “Bradley,” she breathed because she didn’t want him to know that. She didn’t want anything from him.

  “Wren, gorgeous as ever.” Coming up to her, he reached for her, but she moved out of his reach. “How’s my guy doing?”

  She swallowed hard. “He’s not yours.”

  “Oh, he is,” he said, looking up at her. She was disgusted. She’d cared for this fucker at one point, but why? He did look like a douche, an unhappy one. “At least that was the claim before. Were you wrong?”

  She stepped back from him. “What do you want?”

  “To talk.”

  “You said we have nothing to talk about, multiple times, and I think you were right.”

  “I think I was wrong.”

  Her brows shot up to the damn ceiling. “Excuse me?”

  “I was wrong,” he admitted. “We obviously have a lot to talk about since I talked to your husband, Jensen Monroe, and found out a whole bunch of fun stuff.”

  Her eyes narrowed. She didn’t like the way he said Jensen’s name. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nothing has changed.”

  “Oh, sweetheart, a lot has changed,” he said, his voice deep and sinister. She used to be turned on by his dark parts of his voice, but that wasn’t the case any longer. Now, fear built up inside of her. “I shouldn’t have done what I did.”

  “While that is true, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

  “Sure, it does. Because I want to make this work.”

  Her brows came together as her face twisted in repulsion. “Now? Out of the blue? Aren’t you married?” she spat back, not believing a single word he was saying.

  “I mean seeing you, being near you, is doing things to me, something that Misty doesn’t do.”

  She felt filthy, and when he tried to touch her, she moved out of his reach once more. “Don’t touch me. I’m married, and Jensen is way more of a man than you’ll ever be.”

  He snorted, his eyes narrowing in a way that had fear settling deep inside of her. “So you have him thinking he’s the father. Jesus, Wren, that is dirty.”

  She was shaking. “Jensen knows the truth. He didn’t run, he stood by my side.”

  Bradley rolled his eyes. “Ha, no, baby girl, he heard you needed someone to be your baby daddy. And he knows darn well around that inheritance you’ll get for being married and with child. So of course, he’s in. For the money. Don’t be dumb.”

  “Oh, fuck off, that’s not true,” she said sternly, shaking her head. She wouldn’t let him get in her head. Try to put that fucking doubt that liked to peek its ugly head into hers. Because even though she didn’t realize it from the beginning, she knew it now. The truth was that Jensen loved her. “He loves me, and I know that.”

  “No one loves you, Wren, be real. You know that. You’ve always complained that your family doesn’t pay you any mind. Why do you think that? They use you. Everyone does—for a damn good time. Because they don’t care. But, sweetheart, I care.”

  She glared, her chest hurting as she shook her head. “No. The hell you don’t.”

  “Yes, and you know it. Look at me. You know I love you, sweetheart.”

  As he took another step toward her, she held her hands up. He made the term sweetheart disgusting, and she found herself hating the word. Her stomach hurt, not where her son was, but behind him. It hurt; Bradley was making her ill. “You’re delusional. So I’m going to ask you one more time. What the fuck do you want?”

  Giving her a hard look, he pointed to her belly. “I want to be the father I need to be for my son. Jensen isn’t the father. I am.”

  “No. Not even no, but fuck no. Jensen is the father. More so than you. Even if he has your fucking blood, it’s all he’ll ever get from you.”

  “Wren, be real. Jensen is nothing, except someone trying to get some money. He doesn’t care about you or our—”

  “He is our son, mine and Jensen’s. Not yours. You were just the sperm donor,” she reiterated firmly. “You walked out on us, you didn’t want us, and by the grace of God, he gave me a man who wants us—”

  “I’m not listening to that because we can both get quick divorces and then be together. I want you back.”

  When he reached for her, she smacked his hand away as her heart pounded in her chest. “Again, not even no could cover my answer here. It’s fuck no again.”

  His face filled with anger as he glared down at her, reaching for her once more, taking ahold of her waist. “I’m his father.”

  Pushing into his chest, she yelled, “I don’t—”

  “Get the fuck away from her.”

  Wren froze.

  She knew that voice. It was Vaughn’s. And as she turned slowly, Bradley finally letting her go, to look to the end of the room, she prayed Jensen wasn’t there with his best friend.

  Please, God, please.

  But God must have been saving someone else at that moment because not only was Jensen standing beside Vaughn, but so was her brother.

  And her mom.

  And her dad.

  Fucking. Awesome.

  Wren found it hard to breathe as her eyes met Jensen’s, and all she could see was the pure betrayal on his beautiful, stony face.

  “This isn’t what it looks like,” she tried to say as she held up her hands. “Jensen, I didn’t—”

  But Jensen wasn’t talking, he was moving, with Vaughn and Wells flanking him while her parents looked on with their eyes wide and their mouths hanging open. As they came down the aisle, Bradley took a step back, holding his hands up. “Now, guys, this wasn’t something new. I’ve been fucking her for years.”

  “Watch your mouth,” Jensen said very slowly and very softly. “Not only am I married to her, but her parents are in the room. So have some respect, you low-life piece of shit.”

  “Yeah, douche,” Wells added, shaking his head. “You were like family. Really, guy?”

  “Who leaves her high and dry like that? Douches, that’s who. You,” Vaughn quipped, glaring, his fists bunched up as his face matched those of Wells and Jensen.

  Pure and utter fury.

  “You don’t know the circumstances. I thought I didn’t want this—”

  “So you tell her to get an abortion? Throw her out on her ass, stressing her to the point that she shuts down and doesn’t reach out to any of us? She has a family who loves her, you piece of shit. We don’t need you, so at least let her go with some decency and respect. I mean, really? Your mom didn’t raise you like that, I know that for sure,” Wells said, his eyes filling with tears. “And who are you to say we don’t love her and don’t care about her? That’s you, you bastard, and if I weren't getting married in this spot in a matter of hours,
I would pound your fucking face in.”

  “I’m not getting married, and I’d love the chance, you fucking pathetic loser.”

  When Jensen’s hand came to his chest, and then Vaughn’s, Wells looked down at it before meeting Jensen’s gaze. “He isn’t worth it.”

  “I beg to differ. He needs his ass whooped, and I don’t mind catching a charge for it,” Vaughn announced, rolling up his sleeves. But Jensen stopped him once more.

  “Guys, relax. He’s gonna piss his pants.”

  “I am not, Monroe. You think you’re so fucking high and mighty. You’re nothing but a bottom dweller who lived off their family,” Bradley spat at him, and Wren glared.

  “He is more of a man than you’ll ever be, you son of a bitch.”

  “Shut up, you know nothing other than what your pussy tells you you like,” he shot back at her. When Wells made a noise, she knew Bradley was dead, but before her brother could swing on him, Jensen gripped Bradley’s neck, his face coming so close his nose touched the other man’s.

  “I am two seconds from killing you. Watch it.”

  “Hey, asshole, watch your mouth because if they get ahold of you, I won’t stop them. And when they’re done, I’ll kick your ass too,” Winston called from the back of the hall as Jensen let Bradley go, his body shaking with fierceness.

  “And then I’ll kick you too, in the shin,” her mother added, and Wren wanted to laugh, but her eyes were trained on Jensen. He wouldn’t even look at her. “You’re a bastard, Bradley, and I’ll be sure never to donate to your firm again.”

  When Bradley rolled his eyes, Wren couldn’t believe she had ever wanted to be with someone like him. But that didn’t matter now. Her eyes went back to Jensen, who appeared calm, but she could see his shoulders, taut as all hell, and his eyes wide with anger. She was fucked. Like really fucked and she knew that damn well. She should have told him, she knew that, but her reasoning for not doing so, she had felt was right. Obviously, she was wrong. She could see the hurt in his eyes.

  Damn it.

  “Let me handle this,” Wren heard Jensen say in a hushed tone, and her heart couldn’t take it.

  “I’m going to kill him.”

  “He isn’t fucking worth it.”