The Billionaire Takes a Bride

by Jessica Clare

  The video had never made it to the Internet. The man in custody had confessed to the crime, then recanted, but the video was clear and Sebastian’s lawyers were very good. The case was proceeding and Chelsea was involved in the thick of it, and the odds were good it’d rule in her favor. Some days it was hard, and sometimes the memories it brought up were ones she wanted to forget more than anything. But Sebastian was at her side, supporting her, and she never felt alone.

  And that was everything, really.

  Lisa’s sex tape had never emerged, either, though the Internet still speculated mightily on that one. Lisa, of course, ate up the attention. She did interviews whenever possible and was all over the tabloids, looking tearful and beautiful. The new season of The Cabral Empire had very, very little Sebastian (to his intense relief, Chelsea knew) and focused heavily on Lisa and her issues. Lisa had even scored a gig on Ice Dancing with the Stars.

  As for Sebastian’s family, Chelsea had a wary truce with his mother. She no longer called Chelsea “whore” and Chelsea tolerated her. She did like her new sisters, Amber and Cassie, who both looked so much like Sebastian they could have been triplets. And Dolph was hilarious, though she questioned his taste in women since he was still dating Lisa.

  “So I hate to be a downer,” Gretchen said, reaching out and stroking her naked-looking cat Igor as he wandered past the couch she was sprawled on. “But what’s with the bruises, Chel? That’s quite a shiner you’ve got.”

  Sebastian snorted. “You should see the other girl.”

  Chelsea beamed at Sebastian’s defense of her and lightly nipped his shoulder with her teeth. “I was playing in the Austin Wreck League with Pisa and took a flying elbow to the face. So I made sure the other girl ate some serious track in revenge.”

  “So vicious,” Gretchen said. “I love it.”

  “You should try some derby with me,” Chelsea encouraged once again. “It’s good for getting out your aggressions.” Not that she had any lately, but she also wouldn’t take a pushy player laying down. She still played, though since she’d left the Rag Queens, her spot had been filled by a girl on the alternate team. When she’d returned, she was now the one on the alternate team. Which was fine, really. She’d try out again in a few months and make it back on the team . . . or she wouldn’t. She’d still play. She loved the sport too much to give it up.

  And she enjoyed the Austin leagues, too. Their version of derby was wilder than the derby she was used to, with more costumes and silliness. She and Sebastian had bought a place in Austin and visited about once a month so Chelsea could hang out with Pisa, skate with the Austin casual players, and scout around for business. Her soaps were now appearing in Austin shops, and Sebastian had purchased a chain of indoor climbing gyms that were expanding locations. Austin was a good place to grow the business, and they were looking for the perfect derby venue, as well, because Chelsea wanted a derby gym for regular skating. It still felt weird to her to talk about buying up buildings and houses as if they were nothing, but Sebastian was happy to take her direction with his money. Her soap business was expanding, too—now that Chelsea’d shown up briefly on the show, Amber Cabral had gushed about how awesome Chelsea’s soaps were, and her tiny Etsy shop was suddenly in demand, with profiles in Cosmo and online beauty magazines. She’d hired out employees and a small building for soap making, and now she mostly stuck to making formulas and ideas on her end.

  That was fine. It gave her more time to spend with Sebastian.

  “I’m still gonna pass on the skating,” Gretchen said, rubbing Igor’s back. “I don’t like pain. Just try not to get all bruised up for the wedding, ’kay?”

  “I have a month yet,” Chelsea said. “I promise not to get bruised up at least a week prior to the wedding.”

  “Good,” Gretchen said. “Because those backless gowns will look like hell with a bunch of yellow and purple bruises.

  She had a point.

  It had taken Gretchen the better part of a year and three different changes in wedding colors before she’d decided on an ultra pale bluish-lavender that she referred to as “Blue Girl.” She told Chelsea it was the same color as the roses Hunter had given her once upon a time, and had squealed like a little girl at the sight of the bridesmaids dresses in the color she’d chosen.

  They’d gone with different types of gowns for the bridesmaids, all with a similar hem length. As soon as Audrey had started to lose her baby weight, Greer had swelled up with her own baby. So now Greer was in an empire-waisted dress, Audrey was in a corseted one to cinch her post-baby body, Taylor was in an asymmetric Grecian-style dress, Kat had a boatneck with a low waist, Bronte was in a strapless gown with a sweetheart neckline, and Chelsea’s gown had a scoop top and sheer lace back. She wasn’t the most girly of girls, but even she thought the dress was beautiful and princessy. And she’d seen Gretchen’s dress, and it was utterly stunning. She couldn’t wait for the groom to see his bride on the wedding day.

  “Sooo, did you hear?” Gretchen asked Chelsea. “I made another match in the wedding party.” She looked smug.

  “No! Who’s left?” Chelsea grinned. Greer was pregnant by one of the groomsmen. Edie and Magnus were together. She’d even heard that Kat Geary was dating Coop, which was a weird pairing to her—the aggressive sales-oriented agent and easygoing Cooper—but they were happy.

  “Remember Levi? Magnus’s brother? He dropped out of the wedding and was being a snot about things, so Hunter pulled in a cousin of Griffin’s. You know Griffin, right? The Belissime royalty guy that’s one of Hunter’s friends?”

  Chelsea blinked. “Vaguely?” Not really, but the story was too interesting to interrupt. She waved a hand, indicating Gretchen should continue.

  “So Griffin’s cousin—apparently his name is Loch and he’s from Europe or some shit. Titled. It’s nuts. He needs to be in the states for a bit and so Hunter’s doing this as a favor to Griffin. Go figure. I told my boo I didn’t care as long as Loch looked good in a tux.”

  “And does he?”

  “Boy, howdy. He’s a total stud. I met him. Taylor’s been licking all over him for months now.”

  “Huh.” Chelsea never talked with Taylor much. It seemed like she was missing out. “I should meet the guy.”

  “Oh, he’s fine,” Gretchen said enthusiastically. “Big arms and big, uh, heart.” She snort-giggled. “He’s no Hunter, but I’m happy for her.”

  “Me, too,” Chelsea said. If everyone was half as happy as she was, that’d be just wonderful.

  Gretchen was eyeing Sebastian curiously, though. “There’s not a jealous bone in his body, is there? He didn’t bat an eye when I started talking about Loch and his equipment.”

  “I won’t worry unless she brings out her skates,” Sebastian said easily, shading a bit of Gretchen’s chin on paper.

  Chelsea’s face went red and she batted at his shoulder. “Now, now.” They were mostly past the skates. Mostly. Now she just wore them for fun.

  “So that’s how you roll, eh?”

  “That is a terrible pun.”

  “Not gonna let me skate by with it?”

  Chelsea groaned again. “Stop. Just stop.”

  She thought for a minute, then shrugged. “I think I’m tapped out anyhow.”

  To Chelsea’s surprise, Sebastian shut his notebook and put away his graphite pencils. “We should probably get going anyhow.”

  “We should?” Chelsea looked surprised.

  “Dinner,” he agreed.

  “Dinner?”

  “For our anniversary. Didn’t you remember?”

  She gasped. She was terrible with details. “Is that today?”

  “Someone’s in the dog house,” Gretchen singsonged, sitting up and clutching the sheet to her. “You two kids have fun. Happy anniversary and stuff.”

  She murmured her good-byes to Gretchen as Sebastian took her hand and they left the house. Had it really been a year since they’d been married in the shotgun wedding down in New Orleans
?

  It seemed like a dream.

  Chelsea curled up in the backseat of the sedan with Sebastian as they drove back into downtown Manhattan. “So where are we going for dinner?”

  “You’ll see,” he said mysteriously, and pressed a kiss on her brow.

  When the car stopped in front of the derby arena, she was doubly confused. “Why are we here?”

  “We’re meeting someone.” Sebastian got out of the car and offered her his hand. “Coming?”

  Of course she was coming with him. Puzzled and intrigued, she followed after him, hands joined.

  It wasn’t until they got into the derby arena that she started to get an inkling of what was going on. The Rag Queens were there, completely in uniforms and pads. They began to cheer as she and Sebastian entered the arena, and she saw the skate pads were down on the flooring, the skate lanes marked off. The other local teams were there, too, and they all cheered and yelled as they approached. Someone shoved a pair of skates into her hands as she passed, and then someone else put a veil on her head. When she turned to look at Sebastian, he was slipping on a jacket and a top hat had been jammed over his head.

  As they strode forward, she saw one of the referees standing at the center of the rink. In his hands was a Bible. On roller skates, Pisa stood next to him, clutching a bouquet that she held out to Chelsea.

  “What is this?” she asked, laughing and crying at the same time. “Sebastian, what—”

  “We didn’t have a real wedding last time,” he said, kneeling in front of her and taking one of the skates in his hand. He gently slipped it on her foot and began to do up the laces. “So I thought this time, we’d do it right. We’d get married in front of your family.”

  “Your derby family,” Pisa hollered, and a cheer went up from the girls.

  Chelsea couldn’t help it. She blubbered and wept like a baby. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her. She put on her skates and the veil, and Sebastian put on a pair of skates, and they held hands in front of the derby ref and got married all over again.

  Now this, she thought as he leaned in for a kiss, was a happy ending.

  FIND YOUR HEART’S DESIRE. . .

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