by L. P. Maxa
“He’s my son.”
Her eyes went wide. “Wyllie? No shit?”
“No shit.”
“Wow.” She pursed her lips. “He does look a lot like you now that you mention it.” She shifted on her feet. “Did you just find out? Cassie told me that she didn’t talk to his father.”
I leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “Yep. Found out a few days ago when I saw her for the first time in two years.”
“Talk about shock, huh?”
“Yes. Complete and total shock.” I didn’t want to dwell on the negative, so I gave her a smile and changed topics. “I’m glad that you two are close though, Cassie doesn’t have many good girlfriends.”
Holland scoffed. “In this town? Who does?”
Too true. I was about to head over and check the bar when a tall busty blonde caught my eye. She looked really familiar. “Holland.” I motioned to the girl carrying a tray of crystal rocks glasses filled with scotch. “How long has she been working here?”
“Who? Sarah? Oh, about three months. Why?”
Where the hell had I seen her before? Oh. That’s right. Scantily dressed and wrapped around my best friend. Dammit. “She’s fucking Brice.”
Holland started to laugh. “I wouldn’t worry about it, boss, she fucked Brice, past tense. Which means he’s now one hundred percent done with her.”
I narrowed my eyes. “How many members of my staff have slept with Brice?”
Holland snorted. “The number of how many haven’t would be smaller.”
I raised an irritated eyebrow. I didn’t find any of this funny.
She sobered. “One. Me. I have never and will never sleep with Brice Huntington.” She let out a rather annoyed sigh. “He’s the worst kind of player.”
“Good girl. Stay far away from Brice.” I put my hands on my hips, slipping comfortably into boss mode. “I want you to call a meeting. This isn’t a brothel and under no circumstances can an employee have relations with a member. Zero tolerance.”
Holland shifted on her feet, a tic she had when she was unsure about something. I’d learned it was her one and only tell in life. “Shouldn’t Cooper call that meeting?” Cooper, my general manager, was a buddy from business school, He’d been at the company since the beginning too; he now oversaw both the Fort Worth and the Dallas locations. I’d never had to worry about those clubs with him behind the wheel. But if he was letting members and staff mingle outside of Cueva, things were going to go south real quick.
My mind was made up in that instant. Seemed my perfect little Holland was the only person on the planet Brice couldn’t sweet-talk. “Nope. You’ve just been promoted. You are now the employee manager. You’ll keep the girls in both DFW area clubs in line. Sound okay?”
Holland looked up, her face full of shock. “We don’t have employee managers, Declan.”
I smiled. “We do now.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Do I get a raise?”
“Of course you do.”
“And a company car since I’ll be driving back and forth between here and our other location?” She put her hands on her hips.
“No car. But I’ll give you a gas card?”
“And a wardrobe allowance? I need to look like I have authority.”
I put my hand out to stop her. “Yes. But that’s it. No more demands until I see how well you do at your new job.” Although I knew she’d be great.
She held out her hand. “Deal.” After I shook it she added, “I won’t let you down, Dec.”
I chuckled. “Just keep Brice off my staff.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Cassie
A day at the spa should have been relaxing, right? Wrong. A whole day of my mom and Mrs. Preston talking about the wedding and how happy they were, and how many more grandkids they wanted. I pretended to fall asleep during my pedicure after they asked me when I next ovulated.
All I wanted to do was love on my little boy and go to bed. Tomorrow was going to be tough. I loved Declan, and I wanted him. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. But he wasn’t there yet, and I didn’t know if he’d ever be. And if he’d ever be able to forgive me for what I’d done. Because even though he said he was ready to move past it, I knew he wasn’t.
“Hey. You’re home.”
I stopped short when I walked into the kitchen and saw Declan drinking a beer at the counter. The house had been so quiet I just figured I was alone. “Yeah. Um, is Wyllie back?”
“He’s at my parents’ house.” He took a step toward me. “Is that okay? I mean, my dad asked and I guess I should have checked with you first. I’m sorry, I’m still new at this.”
New at this because of me. Because I’d lied to him. “Of course that’s okay, Dec.”
“Cassie, look I really wanted to—”
“All right, kiddos. Time to separate.” Mrs. Preston came into the kitchen with my mother following close behind her. “It’s tradition.”
Declan stood his ground when his mom tried to pull him toward the door. “Mom, that’s a little silly, don’t you think?”
His mom smacked his arm. “It’s tradition. And since the two of you have broken every other one, we’re doing this.” She tried pushing this time. “Now let’s go. You’re having a sleepover with Brice at our house.”
He didn’t move. “I want to spend the night with my fiancée, not Brice.” Mrs. Preston put her back against his, using her whole body to try to get him out the door.
Why was he doing this? Why was he acting like he loved me, like he wanted to be with me. Was he doing this to apologize for hurting my feelings? Was he once again pitying me? Well, I didn’t need his sympathy.
“Declan, sweetheart, do what your mom says. Stop being a pill.” I walked over to him and kissed his cheek lightly. “Keep Wyllie with you too. It’ll be a fun boys’ night.”
Declan smiled. “Really?”
I knew that would get him out of here. “Yes. Give him a kiss for me.” And with that I left.
I couldn’t stand there and pretend like everything was fine for another minute.
The past few days, all the shit I’d piled on myself had caught up with me. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted.
And to make matters worse, tomorrow I got to fake-marry the real man of my dreams.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Declan
Wyllie was asleep between Brice and me on a pallet on the floor. Apparently my mom still thought I was twelve. She’d made a pile of pillows and blankets and rented us all the Die Hard movies. We had to keep it turned down real low so we didn’t wake up the sleeping Wild Man, who didn’t want to sleep anywhere but next to his daddy.
Did I mention this was one of the best nights of my life?
Brice threw a piece of popcorn at me. “Did you get a chance to talk to Cassie today?”
I ate that piece of popcorn. I’d run out ten minutes ago. “No. We kept missing each other. Think she still hates me?”
“No. I don’t think she is capable of hating you.” He took a pull off his beer.
“Speaking of assholes. I went and checked on Cueva today, both locations.”
“That’s five dollars in your swear jar, bro.” Brice chuckled. “What happened? One of your clients piss you off?”
I nodded. “Yeah actually one did. You.”
“Me? What did I do?”
I reached across Wyllie and frogged Brice in the leg. “Stop nailing my staff.”
“Ouch.” Brice whisper yelled so he didn’t wake up Wyllie. “Why?”
“Why? Because I run a business club, not a brothel.”
Brice winked. “It’s kinda like a brothel.”
I hit him again. “It is not.”
“It is to me.”
I took a deep breath. “Please tell me you aren’t paying my staff to bang you. Because that would be illegal. That would get me shut down.”
He scoffed. “Of course I’m not paying them. Geeze, Dec, give me some credit here. They
come willingly, and usually more than once.” He winked and I barely resisted the urge to punch him again.
“Not anymore they don’t.”
He suddenly lost all his swagger. He looked pale and panicked. “Wait. What? Why?”
“New company policy. Sleep with Brice, get the boot.”
Brice cocked his head. “You’re bluffing. Cooper would never enforce that rule. He’s one of my best friends.”
I smirked. “I know. That’s why I gave the job to Holland.”
Brice’s face fell even further. “Holland hates me.”
“Good.”
Eventually Brice fell asleep and it was just me, lying on the floor in my childhood home staring at the ceiling. As much as I’d enjoyed hanging with the wild man, I wished I could have talked to Cassie. Clear the air, smooth things over. Apologize.
How was tomorrow going to go? How were we supposed to stand up there and pull this thing off if we weren’t even friends? I’d hurt her. I’d been hurting her for the last week. And I’d justified it, over and over.
True, she was the one who had lied. She was the one who had gotten us into this mess. She was the one who kept my son from me. But lying here, listening to both Wyllie and Brice snore, I realized something. I was at fault too.
I had left her all alone in Seaside. I took her out, I flirted, I fucked her on every surface I could. I whispered in her ear, and told her how much she’d meant to me.
But then, I’d left.
She had woken up alone. Scared and confused. She’d had to face our friends, our family, Steven…all by herself.
She’d tried to call off her wedding. When she’d found out she was pregnant, she’d been so stressed, she’d ended up in the hospital. Then she’d moved her whole life to Seaside, and lived there all by herself.
At no point did she feel like she could turn to me. Could trust me with her fragile heart. Whether she was wrong or not, as much landed on me as on her.
And just like that night in Seaside, I needed to stop throwing things in her face. I needed to take her by the hand and be her friend.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Cassie
Well, today was the big day. The big freaking fake day. Brice and Declan were staying over at the Prestons’ until it was time for the pretend ceremony. Brice took care of counterfeiting all the legal documents and hired an actor for our officiant. He was a damn good best man and an even better brother.
Luckily Mrs. Preston brought Wyllie back to me first thing this morning. I’d missed him like crazy yesterday and was having withdrawals. He and I had stayed upstairs in his playroom for a while. The house had been buzzing with activity since sun-up. Florist, caterers, pyrotechnic people, bartenders, party planners…it was chaotic. And my mother was thriving on it. It was what she lived for. Tons of people running around doing her perfectly timed and stylish bidding.
“Cassandra darling, what are you doing down here? Guests will begin to arrive any minute.”
My mother wanted me to make this grand entrance down the staircase in my wedding dress. She was nothing if not dramatic.
I’d started to get bored, and lonely. My dad came up a couple hours ago to take Wyllie to the kitchen for lunch. I headed down the stairs, smiling at the beautiful red and white roses that were climbing the railing. I could see my son through the floor-to-ceiling windows. He was with my parents running around on their perfectly manicured lawn wearing so many layers of clothes he looked like a marshmallow.
I stepped out onto the patio, wrapping a blanket I’d grabbed off the couch around me. I curled up in a plush chair and watched my dad chase Wild Man around the yard while they both laughed. Wyllie was such a lucky little guy.
“Cassandra, is everything all right? You look, well, stricken. You should be glowing. It’s your wedding day.” My mother came and started rubbing my back.
I gave her a small smile. “Just last-minute jitters, I guess.”
“You do love him, don’t you?” I could hear the fear in her voice, the concern. She’d failed to ask me that question when it came to Steven, but she was asking it now and it meant the world to me.
“I love him with my whole heart. I love him in that amazing no-matter-what kind of way. I’ve loved him since I was a little girl, and I will love him for the rest of my life.”
Every word I’d said was true. And that was the saddest part of all.
“Well, good, dear. Guests will be arriving any moment. Please go upstairs and take some time to relax. You need to start getting dressed at five o’clock sharp.” She put her hands on my shoulders and turned me toward the door. “I’ll send someone up with champagne and a fruit plate in a bit.”
There was no arguing with her today. Besides, I really didn’t want to stand down here and greet guests for an hour. That would be more torturous than sitting upstairs staring at my wedding dress and sobbing because the man I loved didn’t love me back.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Declan
Brice and I were sitting on the balcony in my room, drinking expensive whiskey to stay warm. Yes, I grew up with a balcony in my room. And yes, I used it to my full advantage.
I looked over at my best friend and had to chuckle. “I’m fake-marrying your little sister.”
Brice nodded his head, slowly. “Yeah. I know.”
I grinned wider. “I got her pregnant. I have a son with your little sister.”
Brice narrowed his eyes to slits. “Why is all of this suddenly funny to you? Are you having a mental breakdown?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. I mean, I’m marrying Cassie in a fake ceremony because she lied to her shitty former friends. She lied to me too, you know. She kept my son from me.” I got quiet. I guess it wasn’t all that funny after all. “I hurt her too though. In Florida, and more than a few times since.”
Was I losing my mind? Or maybe it was a tad too much whiskey.
Brice turned his chair to face mine, a serious look on his face. “I know what Cassie did was wrong. But you know why she did it. What I did? That was worse. I should have told you about Wyllie. I knew Cassie was scared, I knew that she was uncertain about what you would say, what you would do. But I know you better than that. I knew you wouldn’t have broken her heart. I knew you loved her. And I’m so sorry, Dec. I promise I’ll make it right. I’ll make it up to you, to both of you.”
He was right, he did know me. Brice knew me better than I knew myself, just like I did with him. Brice knew I loved his little sister, he knew it even when I was too chickenshit to admit it. I dropped my elbows on my knees and hung my head. “You know what? Everything happens for a reason, man. You’re right. I loved her.” I took a deep breath. “But I love her more now.” I looked up. “Who’s to say what would’ve happened if you’d told me about Wyllie? I would’ve come back, sure. But then what? Cassie wasn’t ready for me. And I wasn’t ready for her.”
But I was ready now. I was ready for her and for Wyllie. I was ready to be a family. As soon as our wedding was over, I was going to ask her out on a date. A real one. And when we got home, back to Florida, I was moving them into my house. No if, ands, or buts about it.
I couldn’t be away from them; it would be torture. Even now, I missed them both. I wanted to stand up and sprint the five miles to the Huntingtons’.
I was in my tux, and we needed to leave in about an hour anyway. I’d just go early, I’d go and tell her I was sorry. For everything.
I started to stand. “Brice, look man, I’ve got to—”
“When Cassie first told me she was pregnant, I was so mad at her. I told her she was irresponsible and she’d ruined her life.”
I sat back down. I guess story time wasn’t over, but I wanted to leave. Now.
“As much as I’d love to hear all this, I really need to…”
He shook his head, sadly. “But then when she fell and we thought she’d—”
“Brice, I need to…” I held my hand up to stop him. “What? What do you mean she fell?”
Brice looked over his shoulder, confused. “Didn’t Cassie tell you she was in the hospital? That they thought she would lose the baby?”
I nodded, suddenly terrified of where this was going. “Yeah. But she said it was stress related.”
“No. She was leaving Steven’s apartment. She fractured her cheekbone on the stair railing and landed on her stomach.”
I stood up abruptly, knocking over my chair and shattering my mom’s expensive glassware in the process. “What in the fuck was she doing at Steven’s by herself?” My heart was beating wildly.
“I don’t know, man, she went over there to tell him about the baby. To call off the wedding.” Brice took a step toward me. “Dude, what’s going on?”
I was shaking with rage. “She didn’t fucking fall. Steven hit her.” I knew it the second Brice said she fell. I knew it in my bones. He’d hurt her before, why wouldn’t he do it again?
Brice reared back like I’d slapped him. “What?”
I started pacing the long length of the balcony, my blood boiling and my hands itching to pound something. “When Cassie got back from Seaside, she tried to call off the wedding. She told Steven she cheated on him and he slapped her. How do you think he reacted when she told him she’d gotten pregnant?”
Brice scrubbed his hands down his face. “Oh my God. Shit. He hit her? I never… I just… She never told me, man.”
I knew he was reeling. He had to be going over every detail from that day in his head. I stopped pacing, my mind made up. “I’m going to kill him.”
Brice headed toward the door. “Get in line.”
“Where are you going?” I followed him through my room and down the stairs.
“To my parents’ house. You wanna kick that motherfucker’s ass?
I shut the front door behind me. “More than almost anything. But I’m getting married in forty-five minutes.”
“Yeah? Well, Steven is on the guest list.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Cassie
I’d drunk a few glasses of champagne, fixed up my hair, and done my makeup. I’d refused when my mother offered to hire hair and makeup people. I wanted as little fanfare as possible. Airbrushed makeup and perfectly curled hair, that wasn’t who I was anymore. The only thing left to do was put on my wedding dress, which was simple and classic.