That was what I needed. Even so, I worried it wasn’t enough time for Joss to find out and come up with a plan. I hadn’t heard from her, which was expected, but I also hadn’t seen her while I was getting dressed in the bridal suite at the hotel. Joss had told me she’d know when the wedding would be, but I had no idea how.
While I was getting my hair done, I hoped Joss would come in and tell me she was here. She didn’t. While a makeup artist did my makeup, I constantly looked in the mirror to see if Joss would walk in. She didn’t. And as I slipped on the white dress that looked like something out of a Disney princess movie, I wanted Joss to come in. She didn’t.
“Oh, cariño. You look so beautiful.” Valentina beamed.
I smiled at her through the reflection of the floor length mirror. “Thank you.”
“I can’t believe this happened so fast.”
“Me either,” I admitted.
The day after Sebastian proposed, Valentina and a guard took me to get a dress. It was off the rack, and honestly, I didn’t care. Nothing I planned for this wedding would be what I ultimately wanted. The dress was a halter style princess dress. After it was purchased, I was measured, and the dress was sent to be altered. When we got home, a wedding planner came knocking, and flowers were picked. I chose white roses. I thought it was only going to be my bouquet, but Valentina made sure to order a shitload for the reception tables and the ceremony. When she was told how much it would cost to rush the order, she didn’t bat an eye.
The planner helped me pick a cake, told me she’d get a DJ, and I chose the invitations with her. The one thing I didn’t pick was the location. Sebastian had done that himself because he said someone owed him. I didn’t question him. The next day, the invitations arrived, and Sebastian gave Valentina a list of who he wanted to invite. Because money was no object, she overnighted all the invitations since the wedding was fast approaching. No one from my side was invited, but it had to be that way. My parents knew nothing about what was going on, and the only people I’d want to come were Melony and Sophia, and I couldn’t have them involved.
“And this guy is so handsome.” Valentina bent in front of Colton.
There was a knock on the door, and I held my breath, hoping it was Joss. Mateo entered after Valentina opened the door.
“It’s time.”
Everything stopped, and I wanted to cry.
Joss didn’t come through.
Joss didn’t stop this.
Joss wasn’t here.
A tear slid down my cheek before I realized it and I wiped it away.
“Don’t cry, cariño,” Valentina said. “You’ll mess up your makeup.”
“I know. I’m just so … happy,” I lied.
She hugged me. “This will be the happiest day of your life. Mr. Delarosa is taking you somewhere special for your honeymoon.”
“He is?” I looked into her eyes.
“Si.”
“But …” I looked down at Colton who was playing with a fidget spinner.
“You and Colton of course. He’s made arrangements.”
“He has?”
“Si.”
“Okay.” I smiled. “Can you give me a minute?”
“I’ll stay with her,” Mateo spoke up.
“Okay. I’ll see you down there.” She hugged me again and then turned to leave. Another guard was standing outside the doors and started to escort her toward the elevators.
I expected Mateo to step into the hall and close the door behind him, but he didn’t. “I’ll just be a minute.”
He closed the door with him still inside the room. “We don’t have long.”
“What?” I whispered. I looked at Colton, who had switched from his spinner to his iPad.
Mateo walked toward me, and I took a few steps back. “When you go down there, everything’s going to change.”
“Okay?” I questioned, still retreating.
“I did some digging and learned that the FBI agent who came to visit you a few weeks ago is the wife of your boyfriend’s friend.”
Oh shit! “Does Sebastian know who she is too?”
He stopped walking and shook his head. “No. I’m undercover DEA and sent word to the FBI that I was working the case. Told them about the wedding, and my handler informed me a bust was going down today.”
“You’re DEA?”
“Yes.”
“Wow,” I breathed, trying to wrap my head around who he really was. “And Joss came through?”
“Yes.”
I perked up. “What do we do?”
“In a few minutes, an agent is going to come in for Colton. They will take him, and you will proceed with the wedding. When Sebastian asks where Colton is, tell him he was having a meltdown and was overwhelmed, so a staff member is watching him. He won’t question it because he doesn’t understand the difference between a child with autism and a child without it. He doesn’t realize you can’t just let anyone watch your child because they have to know how to take care of him and communicate with him, so any staff member would be okay in his book.”
I nodded. “Yes, but I have to marry Sebastian?”
Mateo shook his head. “No. Everything will happen before you exchange vows. When it does, an agent will be there to protect you and take you to where Colton is in a safe room.”
“Okay.” I instantly became nervous. My palms were sweaty, my heart was racing, and I was excited. “I’m ready.”
“Let me—” There was a knock on the door, and Mateo went to it. He opened it silently, and I heard him ask, “What are you doing here?”
I couldn’t hear what was said or who was at the door, but then Mateo stepped back and opened it fully.
My world stopped.
“Miss me?” Vinny asked.
I stared at him for a few beats, not able to move my feet. How was he here? Why was he here? “Yes,” I whispered.
“I’ve missed you too,” he admitted as he walked toward me.
“You have?” I faintly heard the door close, but all I could focus on was the man in front of me. The man I thought I’d never see again.
“Like fucking crazy.”
A happy tear slid down my cheek. “You have no idea how much I need to hear that.”
“What if I tell you I’m here to help get you out?”
“I’d say I better not be dreaming. Because if it’s a dream, I hope I never wake up from it.”
He grinned, and my heart melted. “It’s not a dream.”
“How?”
“How about you kiss me, and then I tell you?”
I didn’t hesitate any longer. I rushed into his arms and planted my mouth on his. The kiss was demanding.
Like our lives depended on it.
Like it had been years since our lips had last met.
Like our mouths were starving for one another.
His tongue slipped into my mouth and I melted. I liquefied into a puddle of mush because no kiss I’d ever had with Sebastian could or would compare to the way Vinny was kissing me now.
My fingers gripped the back of his head, pulling him closer. I had never wanted anyone as much as I wanted Vinny and I needed him closer to me. So close that no air could come between us. So close that we were breathing the same oxygen to live. We didn’t break apart until someone cleared his throat. I’d been too wrapped up in this man to hear the door open.
We pulled apart, and I looked over Vinny’s shoulder to see Mateo was back. “We need to go before Sebastian wonders what’s going on.”
I looked up into Vinny’s brown eyes. “I have to go pretend to marry another guy.”
He smiled tightly. “I know, but I’m going to be waiting with Colt for you. I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
We gazed at each other, and something told me to tell him, tell him how I felt about him. Because even though there was a plan, anything could happen. What if I was shot? What if Sebastian grabbed me and held me like a hostage and the nightmare didn’t end? What if I
never got to tell Vinny I loved him? I couldn’t let this moment pass.
“Vin—”
“Before you say anything, I want to tell you I’ve never loved anyone except you, sweets. I don’t care that we haven’t been together in the last few months, I’ve loved you every minute of every day since the night your Giants beat my Dodgers and we almost kissed. I knew then that I never wanted to let you go.”
Tears started to stream down my face again, and Vinny brushed them away with his thumbs, leaving both of his hands cupping my cheeks. He kissed me softly.
“I’ve loved you since the first time I watched you carry Colton to your car.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded slightly. “And I haven’t stopped.”
“Good. Let’s get this situation over with so I can show you how much I love you.”
I hesitated for a moment. “I’m pregnant.”
He smiled tightly. “I know.”
“I don’t know whose it is.”
“We can figure it out later.”
“What if it’s his?”
“No matter what, sweets, I will love you and both of your children until the day I die. It doesn’t matter if my blood runs through their veins or not. What matters is that I’m not going anywhere.”
“Okay.” I nodded.
Mateo cleared his throat again. “We really need to go.”
I stepped out of Vinny’s embrace and turned to Colton, who was still engrossed in his iPad. I compressed his ears so he’d look into my eyes. “Vinny’s going to take you to get some juice. Do you want some juice?”
He started to flap his little hands.
“Come on, little man.” Vinny scooped him up and then kissed my lips briefly.
Before he stepped away, I kissed Colton on the cheek and then watched the two people who held my heart in their hands walk out of the suite.
“You need to make sure you don’t let on that you know what’s going to happen,” Mateo stated as we rode the elevator down to the main floor.
“I know. Will there be a sign or something?”
“No, but when the agents move in, you need to get behind the priest.”
“Really?”
“Have you seen the area where you’re getting married?”
“No.” I shook my head.
“Sebastian set it up so there’s a square stage in the center where you will be so everyone can see you. The chairs are in a circle.”
“But why do I need to get behind the priest?”
“He’s an agent.”
“Really?”
“All the staff have been replaced with either FBI or DEA.”
“Wow,” I breathed.
“You can do this, Tessa. I’ve watched you be strong for months. Just hang in there for a few more minutes.”
“I will,” I assured him. “There’s nothing I would like to see more than Sebastian behind bars.”
The doors opened after the elevator stopped on the main floor. I felt different, more confident, more aware of what the future held. Sebastian no longer held all the cards. I was about to fuck his life up.
Just before Mateo and I were about to step outside, I stopped and looked up at him. “Maybe you should walk me down the aisle?”
He grinned. “I would love to.”
I hooked my arm in his, and he gave a nod to someone. Music started to play in the courtyard, and we began walking. I smiled as we walked, and it was the first one in over three and a half months that was real. When my gaze met Sebastian’s at the other end of the aisle, it didn’t falter. Things were finally going my way. I’d finally outsmarted him.
When Mateo and I got to the end of the aisle, Sebastian took my arm. “You look stunning,” he stated.
“Thank you,” I replied with another huge grin on my face.
“Where’s Colton?”
“He was having a moment and needed to stay in the room.”
“Oh, okay.”
Sebastian walked me up the stairs, and I briefly wondered as I looked at the priest how the Feds were able to put an agent undercover as the officiant. Surely Sebastian had to know who he’d hired to marry us, especially since he was supposed to be Catholic. But maybe he didn’t because we weren’t getting married in a church. In fact, since the wedding was planned on such short notice, we hadn’t met with a priest beforehand.
It didn’t matter because the wedding was about to be canceled.
Sebastian and I turned toward each other and held hands. A moment of panic went through me as I realized he was going to hold my hands for the ceremony. We never had a rehearsal, never did any of the traditional things to get prepared for the wedding, and his friends, I assumed, were in the crowd because neither one of us had bridesmaids or groomsmen.
“Heavenly father, we’re gathered here today …” I tuned the priest out as he said a prayer. I wondered when everything was going to go down. The minutes felt like hours as I waited and waited and waited some more. When Mateo told me the plan, I expected everything to happen quickly. Maybe they were waiting to get Sebastian’s guard down? I didn’t know, but finally, just when I thought nothing was going to happen, all hell broke loose.
“Freeze, FBI!”
I turned in the direction of the voice to see that it was Joss. The sound of people moving and weapons being drawn echoed in the air, and I moved. I moved so fast, breaking my grasp from Sebastian, and running behind the priest, his weapon drawn on Sebastian. Sebastian had his hands up, and so did the other people who had guns pointed at them too. Hands grabbed my waist from behind, and I turned and screamed before realizing it was Paul. I didn’t know where he had come from or how he had gotten up onto the raised stage.
“Come with me,” he ordered. Paul stepped off the stage and turned to help me down. Just before we ran to the door, I turned to see Sebastian looking at me. I lifted my left hand and wished him goodbye with my middle finger.
Checkmate, asshole.
Kissing Tessa again was like a weight being lifted off my shoulders. Telling Tessa I loved her was a weight off my heart. But having Tessa tell me that she loved me was everything.
Colton and I waited in a hotel room that Joss gave me a key for. I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take for everything to go down, but I’d wait forever. For so long I had been angry Joss didn’t tell me what was going on. I thought nothing would ever happen. It made sense she couldn’t tell me everything because it was an open investigation; I just wished she would have let me know something.
About twenty-five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. I moved to it, looked in the peephole and smiled as I opened the door.
“That was amazing!” Paul boomed from behind Tessa.
I didn’t pay him any mind as I grabbed Tessa’s hand and pulled her to me, bringing her against my body in a hug. “Are you okay?”
She nodded against my chest. “Better than okay.”
Paul closed the door behind him. “Joss said to stay here until she comes.”
Tessa and I broke apart. She moved to Colton, who was sitting in the center of the bed with his iPad. “Hey, Slugger. Did you have fun with Vinny?”
While Tessa made sure Colton was fine, I turned to Paul. “How were you even involved today? You’re FBI now?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Plan was for me to get Colton, remember?”
“But you got Tessa,” I countered. “That was part of the mission?”
“Not originally, but since you took care of Colton, Joss figured it would be better if Tessa went with someone she knew.”
“Makes sense.”
“I wish I could get out of this dress,” Tessa muttered as she walked toward the closet near the bathroom. She opened the door. “Yes! They have a robe. I’m going to slip into that, okay?”
I grinned. “Need help?”
“Actually, I do.” She winked.
I didn’t hesitate to follow her into the bathroom. Once the door was closed, I pulled her into my arms and pressed my
lips to hers. I’d gone too many days without her. There was a lot of catching up to do.
When we’d first met, I’d felt as though she was looking into my soul. Maybe it was because I was looking into the eyes of the woman who I’d fall in love with. “I really missed you, more than you can imagine. I was going crazy.”
“I’ve missed you so much. You have no idea,” she replied.
“We can talk about all that later. Let’s get you out of this dress.”
“Please.” She turned around, and I unzipped it. She started to step out of the poofy thing.
“I never thought I’d be taking you out of a wedding dress you were going to marry another guy in.”
“I was never going to marry him.”
“I’m glad it all worked out.”
“Me too. Since that night, I kept trying to figure out how to leave.”
“I kept trying to figure out how to get you back.”
“I’m sorry.” She sighed and hung her head.
I spun her to face me and lifted her chin with my finger. “It’s not your fault.”
“It is.”
“How?” I furrowed my brows.
“Because I went to check out his bathroom to compare it to Mark’s and …” She paused and looked off to the side. “It was stupid, a silly idea that made my life a nightmare. I walked in on him killing a guy.”
“You saw him kill a guy?” I asked, my eyes wide.
She nodded.
“We really don’t need to talk about this until you’re ready.”
“Okay,” Tessa whispered.
I pulled her against me, wrapping my arms around her, and inhaled her cotton candy scent. “Still smell fucking delicious.”
She chuckled against my chest. “So do you.”
After a few moments more, we broke apart, and I handed her the white terry cloth robe that was sitting on the counter, and she slipped it on. We kissed once more before I opened the door and we went back into the room. Paul was looking at his phone in a chair by the window, and Colt was still watching his cartoon on the bed.
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