In the far corner are Zander and Van, who look to be having a serious discussion.
Slightly apart from them are a couple of clients who have become friendly with Zander, as well as some lawyers and police officials Zander became friends with after the drama that went down with Ava.
I even spot Imogen, Artie’s mother, who looks nervous. I don’t bother approaching her. We are all a reminder of what she lost when her son died. I’m shocked she even came to the wedding.
Next, I spot Cynthia Park, our new I.T. guru and a fellow bridesmaid. She quickly gained entry into Ava and my click. Actually, as soon as she arrived for her job interview, we kidnapped her and made her late for the interview. Since she has awesome skills and Ava loved her straight away, Zander hired her on the spot. She is now a close friend. I love everything about her, except for her girlfriend.
Cynthia is a kickass woman with the sweetest parents alive. Both are immigrants from South Korea who barely speak a lick of English. Whenever we see them, they ply us with delicious food and warm hugs.
Cynthia was only a baby when she came over here, but she is fluent in both languages and knows a good amount of French from school. Her parents not only gave her bilingual learning abilities, but also perfect Asian features. She could have been a model if she wasn’t so shy whenever a camera became visible.
Her beauty, both inside and out, is part of why I can’t understand why she puts up with Vanessa, who is a total bitch. I hate how she talks to Cynthia. However, Cynthia won’t hear anything we say to her, so Ava and I have decided to wait until the inevitable breakup happens. Then we will be there to support our friend.
I had hoped Zander wouldn’t invite Vanessa. That way, Cynthia and I could be our own couple since we are surrounded by loved up twosomes everywhere. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be, and now Vanessa has her paws gripping Cynthia while glaring daggers at me right this very second.
Who glares at a woman who is holding a sleeping baby?
Then I notice Declan, who is off to the side on his own, his profile facing me so I can’t see the bruise he’s sporting, and his attention directed at Bowen who is talking to my dad in a far corner.
Ava had been so excited to see his beard gone when she first saw him yesterday, only to frown when she noticed his bruise. Of course he didn’t admit how he got it, and I wasn’t going to volunteer to being the one who gave it to him since I knew it would only look worse as the days wore on. Today, it is looking a nasty purple color.
I would feel a little bad about that, except I’m too mad at him right now to feel any sympathy.
I again look over at Bowen, not seeing whatever the hell Declan sees. Bowen might end up being an asshole, but that isn’t Declan’s problem. I have dated plenty of assholes in my past, and he’s never seen fit to step in before.
Besides, this time he’s wrong. Right?
When my father laughs at something Bowen says, I hate that I feel a little disappointed that my parents clearly like him so much. I know it’s childish to act out and date people who your parents would disapprove of, but part of me never wanted to be with someone they would like.
They are workaholics, flighty, and shallow as hell. Why would I want to date someone who would appeal to them?
Either Bowen is just playing them, and there is more to him, or he’s just like them.
Do I want to risk it?
I glance back at Declan to see he has his attention on me now. His arms are crossed, his stance is rigid, and his stare is blank.
I have always hated how he can look at me like that. I don’t often see other emotions from him, yet I have seen them when he looks at the others, especially when he holds Jensen in his arms. I will only ever admit it to myself, but it makes him look ten times hotter. However, for me, he only holds contempt.
Why?
“Thank you so much! I was dying!” Ava jolts me a little as she knocks into me, and I turn my attention back to her. “Stupid shoes,” she mutters, righting herself.
I glance down at baby Jensen and find him still snoozing comfortably.
“He’s going to be the biggest pain tonight,” she tells me as she lightly caresses his head.
“He’s a little angel, and I won’t hear anything else,” I tell her, partly just to annoy her.
I have heard Jensen’s strong lungs firsthand. I’m surprised my ears didn’t bleed.
“Then you have just volunteered to be on the top of my list of overnight babysitters,” Ava threatens.
“Girl, you know I was already on the top of that list!”
With no grandparents for little Jensen, no family on Ava’s side, and only an almost sixteen-year-old Van to be an uncle, there isn’t many easy options for babysitters. I often look after Jensen so Ava and Zander can have a date night, but so far, there has not been a sleepover needed.
I would so totally be up for that because, even if he’s a terror all night, I can still hand him back the next day, then sleep for a week.
I have zero idea how Ava and Zander do this day in and day out. They must be crazy.
“You’re right.” She sighs dramatically. “How am I supposed to scare you when I have nothing to scare you with?”
“You talking about childbirth is scary enough; trust me,” I joke. Actually, not really when I recall her horror-filled story.
“It wasn’t that bad …”
“Seriously? Are you saying it can get worse?” I lift my eyebrow and try to look as alarmed as possible.
Ava continually tries to downplay giving birth to Jensen because, as she has told me many times, she wants me to hurry up and have a kid, too, so we can have children close in age.
I am not in any rush to have kids, and after her story about her twenty-eight-hour labor, which ended up being drug free for the worst parts since the good stuff wore off, I am not so interested. Now she fears that she has tainted me from childbirth.
Jensen chooses that moment to wake up and blink his adorable blue eyes open. His gaze takes me in before he turns to look at his mom. A heart melting smile later, he is back in his mom’s arms.
I feel a wistful jab at how beautiful they look together, especially when Ava kisses his head as she cradles him against her body.
This is what all parents should look like with their children.
How does one go from this to the awful truth of what others have?
My parents were loving, until money became more important to them.
Did they hold me tightly like this when I was a baby? Did they kiss my forehead and whisper how much they loved me every day? Or, were they always distant, and the money and greed made that more obvious? Maybe growing up and becoming more aware helped to see what was right in front of me.
“Sasha, dear, may I have a word?” Mom pulls on my arm, and I wave a quick goodbye with my standard eye roll to Ava, which I seem to do a lot when it comes to my parents.
She smiles at me before making her way over to Zander and Van. Immediately, their huddle opens to include them as Zander kisses them both tenderly.
I have never thought of Zander as being a tender or gentle person before, but he becomes a big marshmallow whenever Ava and Jensen are around.
“They look happy,” Mom comments.
I turn to see she is taking in the happy family, too.
“They are,” I confirm, surprised Mom is taking an interest.
“That’s good. Sad what happened to his parents. They were good people,” she tells me, and I nod, not sure where she is going with this. “If they had listened to Vito about investing in those stocks, they could have changed their life. Never would have been in that car accident …”
And there it is. Money solves everything, and a tragic accident suddenly becomes someone’s fault.
“They got to stay close to their children and raised their sons right. Look at how much love and happiness they have in their lives. And then look at your own child. A complete stranger to you who is single with no interest in marriage or
kids,” I tell her bluntly.
She flinches like I slapped her, which was my intent.
I don’t actually have zero interest in kids or marriage, but I know my mom hopes to one day attend some lavish wedding she can plan to ridiculous proportions, with many overdramatized stories she will tell her society friends for years to come. Add in grandchildren, she would use them like pawns to take any accomplishments and beauty as ways to tear her friends down.
“I think Zander’s parents made the best choice and wouldn’t regret a second. Do you have any regrets, Mom?” I ask, genuinely interested in her answer, already knowing it won’t be what I want to hear.
“Don’t be stupid. I don’t have anything to regret.” She straightens her back, looking offended and upset as she stares down her nose at me. “You might be stubborn and foolish when it comes to men, but that has nothing to do with your father or me. Your decisions are all on you.”
I shake my head, hoping the fury I feel building inside me doesn’t erupt. Usually, I wouldn’t care about screaming at my mother, public or not, but I don’t want to ruin any of this for Ava and Zander.
“Now, please tell me you aren’t dating that thug of a man over there. I now recall him from when you were children. Weren’t his parents criminals?”
The disdain dripping from her voice strokes my anger further. I might not like Declan, but that doesn’t mean I will stand by and let someone else talk trash about him.
“His father was, yes. He’s been in jail many times,” I tell her, sneering at the horror written over her face.
“And what does this … Declan do now, then? When he’s not also in jail or getting beaten up, of course,” she mutters scornfully.
I immediately want to tell her that her thug daughter was actually the one to give him that shiner, but that might give her hope that Declan and I are not serious. And since my anger is now reaching a boiling point, I decide a worse way to torture her.
“He doesn’t have a job. I told him about my trust fund. He likes the idea of living off it with me. We’re going to sit around, get drunk and high, and most definitely get fat together. That’s our plan. Doesn’t it sound marvelous?” I place my best fake smile over my lips.
Mom’s eyes narrow on me, her horror quickly changing to disgust. “I know you’re lying to me and just trying to upset me. I have no idea why God has gifted me with such an ungrateful daughter, but this appears to be my burden to bear. If you are hoping for your father and I to cut you off, then that’s what we will do. Is that what you want?” I know she thinks this is her ace card, having no idea I don’t ever touch that money.
“I would trade every cent I own in this world to have parents who actually cared about me,” I confess, a truth that I already know she won’t hear.
“We do care. Sometimes I care too much. Consider the payment your father gave you last month to be your last. When you’re ready to talk sense and have an apology for me, we’ll talk again.”
When she storms off, I laugh at her words. She clearly expects me to run after her, to panic at the loss of the allowance they give me. One I haven’t used since I left college.
I found odd jobs to keep me afloat, and Zander probably pays me more than what my job title should. Then again, I am his work wife. I deal with a lot more than just phone calls, setting up appointments, and sending out invoices. In my opinion, my wage is earned.
“Another cheery chat with your mother?” Declan surprises me by coming up from behind me.
For a moment, I think he is being sarcastic and noticed the tension and anger between us, but his sneer is genuine. He never even noticed our dislike for each other. I don’t know why he can’t see it. I think he believes I am putting on an act, or perhaps, more than likely, having a disagreement over money or something trivial.
“Always. What do you want? I’m on my own, so who are you trying to cockblock now?” I grumble as I search out Bowen, who is behind me and now surrounded by all my parents’ guests.
They are keeping to themselves for now. While we are all standing in the courtyard, waiting for the rehearsal, they are waiting to go to the off-site restaurant for their dinner plans.
“That asshole keeps looking at you,” Declan growls, glancing over my hair to stare down Bowen. “He needs to know you’re off limits to him.”
“Actually,” I snap, my anger from my mother still with me, “the only asshole I have seen watching me is you. And as for announcing I am off limits, how about I decide that for myself? I own my body, so I can decide that. I don’t need you to make a claim over something you yourself do not own. If Bowen can only respect your claim over me rather than my own words, then he’s just as big of an asshole as you are, and you can both go fuck yourselves.” I storm off, likely playing into the overdramatic person Declan believes me to be.
I want so badly to slam something down, to throw something, or hell, give someone deserving a beating. But, as is my kryptonite, I get no farther than Ava stepping in my way, handing me Jensen while the officiant, a local man found online, asks everyone to get into place.
Jensen babbles in my arms, pulling at my hair and slobbering over my dress. I smile down at him and stand behind Ava as we make our way down the short aisle, Cynthia behind me.
There only really needs to be eight of us for this part. Zander has three groomsmen: Van, Declan, and Joey. Ava has two bridesmaids: Cynthia and me. Then there is the officiant. That’s it.
However, since we are all going to dinner together afterward, everyone mills about, and since I am obviously Jensen’s favorite, I am holding him. During the wedding, he will be in the capable hands of Kay. She might not be the one for Joey, but she’s a nurse, and he assured us she can be trusted with a baby for a short while.
And so, we go through the motions of the wedding, standing aside while Zander and Ava talk shop with the officiant to iron out any last-minute changes. I lose perhaps half my hair while Jensen systematically pulls it out, strand by strand.
I avoid my mother and father, who keep to the edges of the courtyard, discussing business with their friends, before I watch them finally move inside.
Our group is going into town and have four SUVs ready and waiting to drive us in.
I begin to smell something unpleasant just as Declan makes his way over to me again.
What else he has to say, I don’t care. I am over him for today. I have reached my quota. If I have to interact with him more, I am likely to turn to violence, baby in my arms or not.
“Sash—”
“Your turn,” I interrupt, shoving Jensen at him and not letting go until he’s safely propped up in his arms. I ignore the warmth seeing them together automatically brings me and quickly deliver my final stinger. “He needs changing.” Then I leave them, grinning cruelly at the mess, quite literally, I have left with Declan.
Jensen might be an angel, but his butt is a demon, and his poo sure as hell doesn’t smell like roses.
I jump into the nearest van, pull out my phone, and check my emails as I wait for us to leave.
I wish I could say that was the end of my Declan encounters for the night, but I am never that lucky. In fact, I am about to see more of Declan than I have ever seen before.
Chapter 3
Dinner is fun, and I get some Jensen cuddles in before Ava takes him back to the villa before he begins his transformation from angel to demon. Van and Zander leave with her, while the rest of us stay behind.
The restaurant has a club upstairs, so we all make our way up to see what the night life is like in Saratoga. Turns out, it’s loud.
I hang out with Cynthia and Vanessa, although I’m still getting the stink eye from Vanessa. The only time I leave is to hang out with Joey and Kay, which is only made less boring from Kay getting progressively drunker. She is moderately more interesting when she’s had a few drinks. And she is also far grosser.
“And then he pulled out his urinary catheter, and you should have seen—”
“Babe,�
� Joey interrupts her, giving his head a shake. He isn’t impressed with her story.
Besides a weird fascination to know what happened next, I know this isn’t exactly the right place to be regaling this story. Although, where would be an appropriate place?
“Sorry. Sometimes I … Sorry,” she stutters, her cheeks heating, looking down to her lap where her fingers clench.
I give Joey a look that I hope says he should try to engage her again to get her out of her sudden funk, but his slight shrug tells me he doesn’t care to.
I glance around the busy balcony we are seated on, the view overlooking what was the stunning image of the sun setting earlier. Now it is pitch black, apart from random lights in the distance. It is at least a little quieter out here, meaning you don’t have to strain your vocal cords by screaming to make any sort of conversation.
“So, you guys are hanging around after the wedding for a few days, right?” I ask, already knowing they plan to spend a few days here alone after the wedding party is gone.
Lucky for Kay, even if I think this gave her the wrong idea about their potential future, Joey isn’t likely to turn down a getaway with a willing partner in a beautiful place like this. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t plan to dump her once they are home.
“I need to get back the day after, actually,” Joey tells us, which is apparently news for Kay, too.
“You do? But I thought you said we would hang out after for a mini vacation,” she whines, meaning Joey winces at her tone before he covers it up. Not before I notice it, though.
She is so not the one for him.
“I know, but work stuff has come up. It’s important.” He shrugs at her. His smile is charming, yet it isn’t enough to pull Kay out of her disappointed fog.
“But, can’t you—”
I Knocked Him Out (Love at First Crime Book 2) Page 3