I take it off the hanger and slip it on as I turn to face the mirror. Courtney comes to stand behind me with a smile on her face. “I wish Marie was here to see you wear that dress,” she says quietly as she starts to tear up. “You look absolutely gorgeous.”
I turn to face her. “Thank you, Court.” She wraps her arm around me as she sniffles a few times.
We pull away, and I look at the tear that falls down her face. “Quit doing that,” I scold her. “I’m going to have to redo your makeup.”
She nods as she lets out a small giggle. “These stupid hormones are always messing with me.” She reaches down and rubs her growing belly. She looks absolutely lovely pregnant.
We walk out of the room and into the reception hall. Holly’s mother chose the largest church in town. She wanted the wedding and reception to all be in one place. She didn’t want her guests to feel inconvenienced by having to drive somewhere else to get to the reception.
I see Slade holding a Bud Light in his hand as he speaks to Mark and Holly’s dad over where the bar is set up. I smile to myself, he looks so handsome in his tux. It fits his broad shoulders and narrow hips perfectly. I can’t wait for our wedding day. The day that I can truly call him mine. I smile as I start to walk toward him. I come up behind him and place my hand on his back. He turns and looks down at me with a smile on his face.
“Will you excuse us?” he says to the guys and takes my hand to lead us to be alone.
He pulls us out into the hallway and turns to face me. “Is everything all right?” I ask wondering why he pulled me out here.
He smiles softly as he pushes his body into mine. “Everything is perfect,” he reassures me. “You look beautiful.” He eyes rake down over my dress. “I love that dress on you.” He runs his hands down my side stopping on my hips.
“It was my mother’s.” I smile as he lifts an eyebrow
“Your mother’s?”
I nod. “My dad bought it for her their first Valentine’s day.” I shrug. “I felt the need to wear it today,” I say quietly.
He places a finger under my chin. “Well it’s beautiful.”
We find our way to our table and sit down. The time goes by too fast as we laugh and shed a few happy tears about how much our lives have changed over the last year.
Slade and I are sitting alone. His hand resting on the side of my face and his nose inches from mine as he tells me once again how beautiful I am tonight when a woman’s voice interrupts us.
“You owe me ten thousand dollars.”
My head snaps over to stare up at Holly’s mother standing in front of our table with a glass of wine in her hand.
Slade pulls back from me, and I speak. “Excuse me?” Did she say I owe her ten thousand dollars?
“I said you owe me ten thousand dollars.” She places a hand on her hip.
“She doesn’t owe you shit,” Slade says calmly.
I look over at him in surprise.
“Yes she does. She ruined my daughter’s wedding.” She looks down to the plate that sits in front of me where the cake I made was thirty minutes ago. I ate it! And I must say it was freaking good.
“On the contrary. She made it fucking awesome,” he says giving her a big fuck you smile.
“Slade,” I hiss.
“No he’s right,” Holly says as she comes up to the table. “I told you to leave her alone, Mother!” She emphasizes the word mother. “I also told you I did not want that cake you bought. Sam saved the day. My day!”
“I ordered a cake that is now just sitting in the back room. What am I supposed to do with it?”
As her mother rambles on, Holly bends down and gives me a wink before she grabs the plate that sits beside me with half a slice of cake on it. She stands up and faces her mother. “You should have a bite.” She then shoves the cake into her mother’s face.
I gasp as I place a hand over my mouth. She did not just do that. “I’m so…” I say quickly as I go to stand up. Slade grabs my arm and pulls me back into my seat roughly. Quieting me.
Her mother wipes the cake off of her face, before flicking it onto the floor, and gives Holly a death glare. “After all I’ve done for you,” she sneers.
Holly sighs. “I didn’t ask you to do anything for me, Mother. All the things I asked for that had to do with my wedding—you did none of them. You did what you wanted. You invited everyone that you wanted. Only because you wanted to show off to your friends. The important people in my life, my friends.” She points over to Slade and myself. “They didn’t care about the dollar amount you spent on my wedding. Hell, Sam made my cake for free. She spent two weeks trying to make it perfect. What did you do for me that took much effort?” she demands.
“How can you say that?” Her mother takes a step toward her with a look of rage on her face.
“It’s easy to state the obvious.” Holly crosses her hands over her chest obviously not affected by her anger.
“What has gotten into you?” her mother asks confused.
“You,” Holly snaps, pointing a finger at her. “You do not attack my friends who helped Micah and me on our special day,” Holly shouts.
I curl up into Slade’s side trying to disappear. People are starting to stare now.
Her mother gives me one last evil look like she wants to rip my head off and then stomps off.
Holly turns to me. “I’m so sorry Sam,” she says leaning over the table and grabbing my hands.
I shake my head at her dazed. “You threw cake in your mother’s face,” I state, still in shock.
“And it felt good.” She smiles. “I just hate that someone didn’t eat all their cake.” She frowns.
Slade chuckles. “That would be Parker. He got distracted by a girl in a bridesmaid dress and took off after her.”
Holly drops my hands. “Oh no, I told my cousin to stay away from him. I gotta go.” She spins around as well in search to find them.
I turn to Slade. “Why did you…?”
He interrupts me. “Why were you going to apologize? The woman is a bitch.” He smiles. “I’m proud of Holly for standing up to her.”
“But she didn’t do anything to you. That wasn’t right for you to talk to her that way,” I say seriously.
He smiles and leans back into me. “Yes she did. She insulted you.”
I can’t help but smile. He can be so sweet, even when he’s being a dick.
*****
I roll over and open my eyes to find Slade smiling down at me. “How long have you been watching me sleep?” I mumble as I remove a red rose petal from my hair. Slade had covered our bed in them last night. He ran us a hot bubble bath, and we enjoyed that while drinking a glass of wine before we spent most of night making love. It was the best Valentine’s Day.
“A couple of hours,” he says through his smile.
I close my tired eyes and sigh. “Creepy.”
I feel his hand brush the side of my cheek softly. “I’m so proud of you.”
My eyes spring open, and I stare up at him. “What?” My voice cracks with the emotion I feel from him saying those words. I haven’t heard those words in a long time. My father was the last one to tell me that, and it was for something silly. He always wanted me to know how proud he was.
His face is now serious as his eyes roam mine. “I said I’m so proud of you. You worked so hard for Holly. And not only did it look beautiful, it tasted amazing. Just like I knew it would.”
I swallow trying to keep my tears at bay. “I just did what she asked,” is what I say.
“Seriously?” He shakes his head. “You went above and beyond, Angel. You spent countless hours on it.”
I smile. “I actually loved doing it for her,” I say quietly.
“I know.” He places his hand on my cheek and looks down at me. “I heard you talking to Missy about what your mom wanted you two to do.”
The smile drops off my face. “You were eavesdropping?”
“No. I was on my way to the kitchen and
just happen to stop when I heard you two talking.”
“Same difference.” I pull away from him and throw off the covers.
He sits up in bed. “Don’t be mad at me. I think you should do it. Follow your dream.”
I stand at the end of the bed with my hands on my hips. I don’t really have an argument for that though.
He smiles a slow and cocky smile knowing he has me. “I don’t want you to give up your dream for our relationship, Angel.”
“I’m not,” I argue. “Yes, I had a great time making the cake but I would like it if you wouldn’t push the subject.”
He places his hands up in the air. “No pushing here.” But he says it with a smile. And I can’t help but return it.
*****
Just like any other week it goes by quickly. The bank is its usual boring place. The only excitement that I get up there is Courtney’s mood swings. One minute she’s yelling at Josh over the phone, the next she’s calling him crying. It’s quite comical even if I do feel sorry for the poor guy.
I also feel bad that I haven’t gotten to see Holly yet. They have been back from their honeymoon for two days now. I’ve been so tired by the time I get off work. I go home, cook dinner, and then go to bed.
“Hey baby,” I say answering my phone as I walk out to my car from the bank.
“I had a meeting come up. I won’t be home until later,” Slade says.
I unlock my car and get in. “Okay. Holly called me earlier, and she is back to work now. I’ll run up to Larry’s for a little while,” I say starting up my car before backing out of my spot.
“Sounds good,” he says. “I’ll see you at home later.”
“I love you.”
“Love you too, Angel.”
I make a quick call to Holly letting her know I’m coming before I hit the highway.
I pull up to Larry’s fifteen minutes later and park in the back. I grab my purse and my phone as I get out of my car and start to walk to the back door when I see a black truck pull up out of the corner of my eye.
I jump back when it comes to a quick stop in front of me. “What the hell?” I yell. “Watch where you’re going,” I snap starting to walk around it.
The passenger door opens, and I have an instance of panic when I see Jax jump out of it. He slams the door, and it drives off in front of me, squealing the tires.
“Jax,” I say taking a step back from him. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to get you,” he replies with an evil look in his dark eyes.
Come and get me? I look around quickly. The back door is still ten feet away, and he’s standing between me and said door. I don’t know if I can outrun him. “How did you know I was here?” I decide to ask as I reach around to my phone in my back pocket.
If I can just keep him talking, maybe I can get my phone to redial Slade’s number. Doubtful. But a girl can hope.
He gives an evil laugh as he reaches up and runs a hand down over his ashen face. “Why do you look so terrified?” he asks tilting his head. “Don’t you still love me?”
He can’t be serious. I shake my head.
He takes a step toward me and sighs heavily. “Well, that is unfortunate for you, baby.”
I wrap my hand around the top of my phone.
“Because I still love you, and now that I’m back, I’m not letting you go.”
“Stop, Jax,” I warn, and he smiles.
“Do you know how much Slade has lied to you?”
Not this again. “He doesn’t lie to me,” I snap.
He smiles. “Did he tell you I spoke to him while you were New York? Did he tell you that I warned him I was coming to get you?” He gives a dark laugh. “It’s rather comical. See, this entire time I thought you were dating Tate.” He shakes his head as he continues to laugh at how wrong he was.
How would Jax know that I was in New York? Did Slade…? “No.” I shake my head. “You’re lying.”
“He’s the only one who has been lying to you, Angel.” I cringe when he calls me that.
“And then there’s that secret he’s keeping from you regarding Tate.”
“What’s wrong with Tate?” I ask worried.
He chuckles. “You have always been a stupid bitch.” He takes another few steps toward me.
I take in a deep breath and pray that I make it to the back door, but he lunges for me, knocking us both to the ground. My phone is knocked out of my hand, and I scramble to grab it.
“Get off me!” I scream.
I feel a fist hit my back, and I scream out from the pain.
He climbs off me, grabs my leg, and jerks. My shirt tears and my skin rips against the pavement, but I’m able to take my other foot and kick him in the stomach.
He recovers quickly, bends down, and yanks me to stand by a handful of my hair before I can get up off the ground. “Stop,” I manage to yell before he places his hand over my mouth. I kick, push away, and throw my arms around. I try everything my body is capable of doing to get away, but he’s too strong. His hand is too tightly wrapped around in my hair and my scalp burns from the motion.
He drags me over to my car and throws me into the driver side. After he shoves me into the passenger seat, he reaches over, grabs my purse, and throws it out the window where it lands beside my phone.
“Leave me alone.” I reach out and slap him, letting my ring cut him once again. I go to reach for the passenger door to get out and run but he returns the slap much more forcefully. I cry out from the sting as he grabs my left wrist and growls. “Give me this,” he demands breathing heavy.
“No.” I scream and fist my hand into a ball. He can’t take my ring. He’ll have to kill me.
He grabs my hair once again and yanks my head back before he shoves me forward. Then I see nothing but blackness.
*****
SLADE
I feel bad that I had to cancel our date night because of work. I check my watch and see I still have thirty minutes before my meeting, so I pull out my phone to tell her I’ll make it up to her.
It rings a few times and then goes to voicemail. I pull up the bar’s number and call it.
“Larry’s.” I hear Holly answer.
“Hey Holly. May I talk to Angel?”
“She’s not here.”
She did say she was going to go and see Holly. “Did you speak to her earlier? She told me she was going up there to see you since I had a meeting come up.”
“Yeah. She called me an hour ago but she never showed up. I figured she went home.”
I know how much she wanted to see Holly. There’s no way she wouldn’t have gone up there. “Let me try calling her again.”
“Okay. I’ll run out and see if she’s sitting in her car on the phone. You know how loud it can get in here, and she said she was going to call Vivian later about wedding stuff.”
We hang up, and I press send on Angel’s number again.
“Hello?” I hear Holly’s voice again after a few rings. And I can’t help but notice the shake in her voice.
“Holly?” I pull the phone away from my ear. Did I call the bar again? “Why are you answering her phone?”
“Slade. You need to call Parker. Tell him to get up to Larry’s right now.” Her voice shakes, and I can hear the panic in her voice.
“What’s going on Holly?” I ask grabbing my keys and heading out of my office.
“Sam’s phone is in the parking lot, along with her purse and her…” She trails off as she begins to cry.
“Her what?” I demand.
She’s silent for a few seconds. “Her engagement ring.”
I come to a stop and stand in front of the elevators. “What the fuck do you mean, Holly?” I snap.
“I think…I think someone took her.”
Someone took her? No, she must be mistaken. But what else would explain what Holly is describing? “You guys have a surveillance system, correct?” I remember Angel mentioning something about it a while back.
“Yes
.” Her voice cracks, and it takes everything I have to try to think straight.
“Listen. Look up at the camera. Does it look like it might have taped what happened?” She should be able to tell by where her stuff is on the ground.
“Yes,” she says now crying.
“Okay. Don’t call the police. I want to watch it before you call them.” They will take it, and I won’t be able to see what’s on it.
“But Slade. She’s not here and all of her stuff…”
“Holly,” I bark. I only have one chance at this. “Promise me you won’t call them just yet,” I demand.
She lets out a small cry and then sniffs a few times. “Okay,” she whispers.
“I’m on my way,” I shout hanging up on her. I turn left and slam the door open to the staircase with my shoulder. I don’t have time to wait on the elevator. I dial Parker’s number as I run down floor after floor. My legs can’t move fast enough, and I almost trip several times.
“What’s up?” Parker asks sleepily.
“Get to Larry’s. Right now,” I shout out of breath. Ten more floors to go.
“Not tonight, Man,” he yawns ignoring my urgency. “I just got off of a double shift.”
“It’s Angel,” I hiss. “She’s missing. Holly found her purse, her phone, and her engagement ring in the parking lot, and her car wasn’t there.”
I hear commotion and then the sound of a door hitting a wall. “Tate!” I hear him yell. He must be home. “Where are you?” he asks me.
“I’m leaving work.” Fifth floor.
“Did you already call the police?” he asks sounding muffled as if he’s trying to put a shirt on over his head.
“No. I wanna watch the video tape before it goes into police custody.” Third floor.
“Slade,” he says in warning. “Tate!” he yells once again before I can respond. “Hang on,” he growls to me. I hear him pounding on a door. “Fuck it,” he mumbles to himself. Then I hear him a woman scream in the background. “Get your ass out of bed and get dressed. We gotta go,” Parker demands.
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