Alex appeared, her hand tucked into Papa Jack’s arm, and everyone rose to their feet. Her smile was breathtaking as she stepped forward, her eyes locked with Drew’s. I glanced back at Drew, who beamed with pride. He looked like he was about to jump out of his skin in anticipation. I wanted that feeling. To love someone so much that waiting even a few more seconds to hold them was pure torture.
Automatically, I looked toward Gwen. She glanced up as if she could feel me watching her. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t look away. I loved her. It was a simple fact, but the damage was done. If I couldn’t trust her before this disaster, how could I ever trust her now?
Alex finally made it to the altar and Papa Jack held out her hand to Drew. He whispered something in Drew’s ear, making his smile widen, then leaned down to kiss Alex on the cheek before he took his seat.
“Dearly beloved,” Sean said. “I’ve always wanted to say that.” The crowd giggled and he continued. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Alexandra McCabe and Andrew Collins, finally. It took years for you two to figure out what we already knew. You’ve shown us what it truly means to love someone completely. Through wasted beer and a string of questionable decisions, your love and devotion to each other has never wavered.”
As the ceremony continued, my gaze wandered to Gwen. She reached up, discreetly wiping a tear from her eye. I smiled. That’s my girl—never one to show weakness. She was my weakness.
“Do you, Drew, take Alex to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both may live?”
I looked up as Drew smiled and squeezed his bride’s hand. “I do.”
“You better,” Alex said with a wink. A low chuckle rumbled through the crowd.
Sean smiled and continued. “And do you, Alex, take Drew to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”
Alex’s smile widened as a tear slid down her cheek. “I do,” she said, barely able to choke out the words. Drew raised his hand and wiped the tear from her cheek with his thumb, looking like the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet.
“By the power vested in me by God and the Internet, I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Sean said, clapping his hands together. “Now comes the good part. Wait for it…wait for it.”
“Fuck this,” Drew said as he reached for his wife. His lips crashed to hers in a long, deep kiss. The crowd erupted in cheers and shot to their feet all at once as Alex and Drew continued their first kiss as husband and wife.
Finally, the kiss broke and Drew smiled at his wife as Sean announced, “Let’s hear it for Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Collins.”
Alex and Drew made their way down the aisle hand in hand, smiling and greeting their cheering guests as they passed.
I got to my feet, grinning as I watched them head back up the aisle toward the reception tent. The crowd began to follow and Madison pushed past me, heading straight toward Sean, who threw his arms around her, lifting her off her feet.
“You did great,” she squealed.
“Not bad, huh?” he asked.
“A little cheesy,” I said. “But it didn’t suck.”
Madison raised her eyebrow and looked at Sean. “High praise.”
I laughed and pushed my hands into my pockets. Sean looked over my shoulder, his eyes wide before a grin spread across his face.
He pulled Madison in tight against his side. “I could use drink, beautiful. How about you?”
Madison smiled. “Absolutely.” She gave my arm a squeeze of support before heading toward the bar.
The chairs had emptied quickly and I tilted my head toward the darkening sky, taking a deep breath and a moment to myself.
“Liam?”
I closed my eyes and sighed. The sound of my name on her lips was equal parts joy and misery.
Trying to find the courage to finally face her, I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. Gwen stood in the center of the aisle. Candles flickered in the tall lanterns that lined either side of the aisle, lighting up her beautiful face, which made my goal of resisting her damn near impossible.
“Can we talk?” she asked.
“About what, Gwen?”
“If you’d just give me a chance to explain—”
“I don’t want to hear it,” I growled.
“Well, that’s too goddamn bad,” she sneered.
I narrowed my eyes. “You know what? Fuck this.” I stomped past her, looking to put her and this whole fucked up week as far behind me as possible. “This is bullshit!”
“No, this is us,” she said, grabbing a hold of my arm. “This is what we do, Liam. I screw up, you get mad and tell me I’m being a bitch, then we work it out. It’s what we do.”
“It’s different this time.” I ripped my arm from her grasp and took a step back.
“No, it’s not. I fucked up. I made a mistake. I trusted someone I shouldn’t have and slipped back into the old me for a fraction of a second and it’s cost me everything.”
I turned away, refusing to look at her, just seconds away from breaking down. She reached up and gripped my chin, turning me to face her and forcing my eyes to meet hers. She stared up at me, eyes pleading as my jaw tensed beneath her fingers.
“Nothing happened,” she said, eyes locked with mine, making sure that I heard every word. “I could never hurt you like that. You make me better. You inspire me to better myself. I love you more with every breath that I take and I will not give up without a fight.”
“What the fuck do you want from me, Gwen?” I growled through clenched teeth. “I trusted you. I gave you everything and you spit it back in my face.”
“If you trusted me, you would’ve given me a chance to explain before flying off the handle. You’ve never trusted me, Liam.”
“Maybe not, but it turns out I was right not to.”
Anger flashed in her eyes. “Nothing happened,” she repeated.
“You keep saying that like it somehow erases the fact that you had sex with another man!” She flinched. “I gave you a chance. I let you in even though I knew what a selfish, entitled brat you were, but I was stupid enough to believe that you’d changed, that the girl I fell in love with was the real Gwen. I made that mistake once. Forgive me if I’m not willing to do it again.”
I moved past her and headed toward the reception tent. She stepped in front me again and I stopped, rolling my eyes as she jabbed her finger into my chest. “Nothing about us was fake, Liam, and you know it. For all the times you told me I’ve been playing the victim, you do the same fucking thing. Your parents wronged you, I wronged you. You act like you’ve got everything figured out, that your life is a puzzle with simple pieces that fit easily together and when one of those perfect little pieces doesn’t fit easily, you use it as an excuse to throw in the towel. Well I’m not going to let you throw us away.”
“You broke my heart!”
“I told you…”
I threw up my hands, cutting her off. “I know nothing happened. Nothing except you drunk and throwing yourself at some guy in a bar, and I suppose you’re going to tell me it was nothing when I saw him kiss you. When I saw him pull you into his arms and shove his tongue down your throat.”
Tears fell down her face, but her eyes were hard.
“You expect me to believe it was nothing when you show up at my house the next day in another man’s clothes,” I said. “It wasn’t nothing, it was the death of us. Pure and simple.”
I stepped around her again, but the next words that came out of her mouth stopped me dead in my tracks. “I was drugged.”
I turned back to face her. “What?”
“Dalia slipped something into my drink. She drugged me.”
I shook my head. “That’s low, Gwen. Even for you.”
She pulled out her phone. Her fingers flew across the screen. She sighed when she found what she was lo
oking for and turned the phone toward me, shoving the screen in my face. I scanned the email, not really sure what I was looking at until I read the word Rohypnol.
It was a lab report dated the day after she left. I read it a few times trying to make sense of what I was looking at. Could she have faked this? Would she? The email came from someone at Labcorp. It seemed to be legit, but one thing I’ve learned from being with Gwen is that appearances could be deceiving.
I looked up at her, shock and confusion warring inside me as I watched a tear slide down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away and squared her shoulders.
“What is this?”
“Drug test results.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
“But I saw—”
“What you saw was one of Dalia’s douchebag friends taking advantage of me. I couldn’t even stand, Liam. I passed out. If it hadn’t been for Max getting me out of there, there’s no telling what could’ve happened. Max didn’t know where I was staying and Dalia was nowhere to be seen, so he took me back to his hotel room. I was so out of it I didn’t know what happened until Max showed up at my Dad’s the other day. He said he went by the bar, but some old guy sucker punched him.”
“Floyd.”
Gwen smiled and nodded her head. “That night, I was so sick that by the time Max got me back to his hotel, I’d ruined my dress and his clothes. He said I was so out of it, it was all he could do to get me cleaned up and into the bed. He stayed with me just to make sure I was okay, but when I woke up I couldn’t remember anything. I just saw Max in the bed beside me and jumped to the same conclusions you did. I panicked and bolted. After he explained what happened, I knew you wouldn’t believe me unless I had proof, so I had him take me to get tested.”
I was stunned into silence. She took a deep breath. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes, Liam, and I’m probably going to make a whole lot more, but I’ve never lied to you. I’ve never betrayed you. I love you. I love you so much.” Her voice broke as the tears began to flood down her face. “I’m so…sorry I…I hurt you.”
A sob tore from her throat as she buried her head in her hands. I couldn’t take it anymore. My resolve broke. I pulled her tight against my chest and wrapped my arms around her as she sobbed.
“I’m so sorry,” she repeated over and over, the words muffled by the fabric of my shirt, but I didn’t care. I was such a fucking idiot. Anger and fear warred within me as I held her close. I was supposed to keep her safe. I was supposed to protect her, but when she really needed me, I pushed her away because of my own fucking insecurities.
I pulled her tighter against me and pressed a kiss into her hair. Her sweet honey scent surrounded me again. My heart swelled in my chest. “I’m sorry, Princess,” I whispered. “If anything had happened to you…”
She turned her face up to look at me. Dark streaks of make-up were smudged beneath her red swollen eyes, but she had never looked more beautiful than she did in that moment.
I tucked a stray piece of her hair behind her ear. “I should’ve been there. I should’ve trusted you, I should’ve believed you, but the truth is I was scared. Scared that I’m never going to be enough for you. I can’t give you the life you’re accustomed to, the life you deserve. It’s not who I am, not anymore.”
“I don’t want the money, or the cars, or the big fancy house full of designer crap. None of that means anything to me anymore. You are what I want, Liam. I don’t care if we spend the rest of our lives in that cramped loft above the bar. As long as I have you, nothing else matters.”
“You love me that much?” I asked with a grin.
“I love you more,” she said, her eyes and her voice full of sincerity.
I leaned forward. “Good answer.” I smiled, my lips brushing against hers as I spoke. The smallest touch of my lips against hers was all it took. Our mouths crashed together, frantic and desperate to make up for the time we’d lost.
My fingers bit into her hips as she wrapped her arms tight around my neck. The kiss deepened and we devoured each other. Letting all the anger and the hurt be swept away with every stroke of our tongues.
Gwen was a pain in my ass. She was stubborn as hell and got under my skin like no woman ever had, but all of that made me love her that much more. Only God knew what the future held for us, but it was going to be one hell of a ride, that’s for damn sure.
We’d come so far and still had so far to go, but no matter how many mistakes we made, or how much we hurt each other, we’d make it through, because where there’s love there’s always a chance at redemption.
BEFORE YOU GO…
DON’T MISS OUT!
Would you like to be a part of our FREEBIE FRIDAY LIST and get 5 FREE E-books sent to your inbox each week? Every week we send out different e-books including ALL different genres such as Romance, Suspense, Thriller, Westerns, Paranormal, New Adult, and much more! If you’d like to join over 9,500+ subscribers and growing, click below to be a part of FREEBIE FRIDAY…
Join FREEBIE FRIDAY!
Acknowledgements
I want to thank my family and my friends for their love and support. I am truly grateful for your faith in me and for allowing me the time and the confidence to finish this series.
To the Limitless family: I will be forever grateful that you took a chance on me and allowed me to share the stories of Madison Square with the world.
To the bloggers and readers who have been so welcoming and supportive through every release: It is truly a blessing to have met you all. Your passion and enthusiasm is what keeps me writing when my doubt is all consuming.
To my beta readers, Carolyn LaRoach, Kaylee Ryan, and Allison Hale: You are all inspirations to me as fellow authors and treasured friends. Without your guidance and honesty, this series never would have been completed.
Thank you to the incredibly talented folks at Wicked by Designs for the amazing covers that brought this series to life.
To my dear friend, Kate: Thank you for your unwavering support. You always know what to say to talk me down off the ledge.
Thank you to my editor, Rosa Sophia, for jumping in at the end of a series and helping me to finish with a bang.
The characters and stories of Madison Square will always be close to my heart. It was an honor to be able to share them with you all.
Kisses,
Sam
About the Author
Samatha “Sam” Harris lives near Baltimore, Maryland with her husband and daughter Ava. Born in Florida, she migrated north which most people agree was a little backwards. She has been an artist all of her life, a Tattoo Artist for more than ten years, and a storyteller since she was a kid.
Sam has a slightly unhealthy love for Frank Sinatra, classic movies, and Jazz and Blues music, but her first love will always be reading. From Romance, to Thrillers, to Historical Fiction and everything in between, she loves to become a part of the story. As a writer she tells the stories that she would want to read.
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Samathaharrisauthor
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/samathaharris08
Website:
http://www.samathaharrisbooks.com/
Instagram:
http://www.instagram.com/samathaharrisbooks
Pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/sharrisprocessi/
A Chance At Redemption (Madison Square Book 3) Page 21