by Debbie Mason
He caught the panicked look Jenna and Mateo exchanged and forced a smile. “Hey, Mateo. How’s it going?”
“Very good, sir. Her Royal Highness asked that I convey her gratitude to Jenna for her kindness today.”
“Yeah, Jenna was incredible today. She handled the situation like a real pro. You’d almost think she’d been expecting it.”
A hint of surprise flickered in Jenna’s eyes, and then her lips flattened before she said to Mateo, “Tell Her Royal Highness that I was happy to be of service, but I did what anyone else would have done.”
He nodded. “Good evening to you both.”
“Thanks, Mateo. You too.” He looked down at Jenna. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
“No.”
He leaned against the doorjamb. “Why’s that?”
“Your comment about me expecting the assassination attempt, for one. You’re not very subtle, Logan. If you really think I had something to do with today, I told you, call my lawyer. I’m tired. I’ve had a really crappy day, and I want to go to bed.”
He’d let Aidan and his suspicions get to him, and he’d overreacted to seeing Mateo in her room. “Yeah, you have, and I’m sorry if I just made it worse. Let me in, Jenna. I won’t ask any more questions about the shooting.”
She hesitated, and he held up the bag from Truly Scrumptious. “I brought you cupcakes. Banana and chocolate marble with buttercream icing.” Peep. “See, Pippa wants me to come in.”
The bird dropped something at his feet that made Jenna gasp. Logan crouched down, brushed off the wet sand from Jenna’s engagement ring, and held it up. “Something you want to tell me?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Afraid she was about to hyperventilate, Jenna put her head between her legs. “I can’t do it. I can’t pull it off.”
The wedding was in two hours. They were in a sitting room off the ballroom. A sitting room in which Shay had discovered a secret door that led to a labyrinth of passageways under the manor. The first call Jenna had made after being grilled by Logan about Lorenzo’s ring was to Shay. Her best friend had taken some convincing, but eventually she’d given in and agreed to help Isabella and Mateo escape. Their other best friend had come along for the ride.
“Jellilicious, you can pull anything off if you just believe,” Cherry said.
“You’ve been on my Pinterest boards, haven’t you?”
“Yes, and they’re all positive and sparkly and sweet just like you usually are, but the past couple days you’ve been negative, glum, and grumpy. What’s up?” Cherry asked.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Jenna said. “How about the fact Logan and Aidan think I’m behind the shooting in the woods? My stepsisters are actually my half sisters and, if possible, hate me even more. Logan thinks I lied about the ring being stolen, and I’m helping the woman he’s sworn to protect and who he might possibly be in love with, but who doesn’t love him, escape. How did I let you all talk me into this?”
“Suck it up, buttercup. You’re the one who talked us into it,” Cherry reminded her.
“And I am the one who is responsible for all of you getting involved. I’m sorry, Jenna,” Princess Isabella said from where she sat on the couch. “Perhaps you don’t have to pretend you’re me for the wedding ceremony. Could we not just sneak out now, Shay?”
Jenna felt bad for saying anything. The other woman looked exhausted and scared, but better than Pilar, who at that moment slumped in the chair next to the couch. The cup of coffee Shay had drugged fell onto the floor.
As she walked over to retrieve the cup, Shay said, “No. The best chance to pull this off is if we leave just before the wedding starts. At the very least, we’ll have an hour head start. The caterer’s truck we’re borrowing will be empty by then. Security will have its hands full with everyone coming for the Fourth of July celebrations, and it’ll be dark out. Not to mention that Logan has doubled up on security in the ballroom, so there will be less on the grounds.”
At the reminder, Jenna sort of forgot that, for Isabella’s sake, she had to watch what she said. “Yes, because if another attempt is going to be made on Isabella’s life, they believe it’ll be then.” Only it wouldn’t be Isabella; it would be Jenna.
Shay nodded. “Makes sense.”
“Bless your heart. I’m glad you’re so calm about the likelihood of me getting shot at.”
“Logan’s prepared for it. He’s not going to let anything happen to you.”
“To Isabella,” Jenna corrected.
“Right.” Shay fitted her hands under the arms of the unconscious woman. “I’m going to get rid of Pilar now.” Jenna gasped, and Shay rolled her eyes. “I’m tying her up, taping her mouth shut, and putting her in the closet.”
“Isn’t that dangerous? What if she gets sick?”
“She’ll be fine, but we’ll check on her. And once you’re found out, you can let her out.”
“I really wish you hadn’t mentioned the found-out part.” She looked at Cherry. “Don’t tell me to suck it up again.”
“Logan will understand why you helped us once he watches the tape, Jenna,” Isabella said.
“You’re sure about this, Isabella? You and Mateo haven’t had second thoughts?” Jenna asked.
“We are nervous, yes, but happy, and very grateful for all of your help. We are excited for our new life in America. Shay has found us a place to live, and we have new identities. And, of course, the money you gave us, Jenna. It was very generous. One day, we hope to be able to repay you.”
Shay had pawned Lorenzo’s ring with a reputable dealer. She told him to keep it in his safe and a buyer—the family to whom the ring belonged—would be calling him within twenty-four hours. Shay made an anonymous call to Italy to tell them where the ring could be found and the amount to offer the dealer. It was the same amount as the finder’s fee the family had offered to pay.
Jenna didn’t want to think about money. If she did, she’d have to think about who was going to cover the cost of the fake wedding to the fake princess. If Logan and Aidan didn’t throw her in jail for orchestrating the disappearance of said princess, even if the princess wanted to disappear, the Gallaghers would fire her.
“Um, I think we have a problem,” Cherry said from where she stood in front of the long mirror. She was holding up a wedding gown that looked a lot like Jenna’s original dress, only shorter.
Shay came out of the closet and looked from Jenna to the dress. “Okay, that’s not going to work. If you walk out in this dress, they’ll know it’s not Isabella. Call your sisters.”
“I can’t. They hate me. Besides that, they won’t help with this. And you said yourself, the more people who know, the more likely we are to get caught.”
“We have to risk it. And now that I think about it, tell them to bring a second wedding veil. We’ll layer them one on top of the other so it’s less likely they can see through it.”
“Don’t worry, Shaybae. Once I do her makeup and hair, they’ll think Jenna’s Isabella. They have similar bone structure.”
“There, so we’re good,” Jenna said.
Shay crossed her arms. “Call your sisters.”
Jenna took out her phone. Mateo had returned it yesterday along with everything else he’d stolen the week before. Luis had ordered Mateo to break into Jenna’s room. It had also been his idea to break into the other rooms to avoid suspicion falling on them should anyone recall Mateo being close by when Logan had talked about looking at Jenna’s phone. Mateo had also stolen her ring to make the robbery more realistic, only he’d tripped over Pippa’s sandbox and hadn’t realized it had fallen out of his pocket until he’d gotten back to the tower room.
The bag of stolen goods was currently residing in her room. She hoped no one did a random search or she’d be in bigger trouble than she already was.
She took a deep breath and then scrolled through her contacts and pressed the call button. Her sister picked up. “Serena, I’m in trouble. I need your help.
Yours and Arianna’s.”
* * *
Jenna looked down at the bowed blond heads of her sisters as they knelt at her feet, checking the length of the layer of tulle they’d added. “I really appreciate you coming when I called. Thank you.”
She noticed something was missing when the words came out of her mouth. There was no hesitation, no worry as to how they’d be taken, no desperate eagerness to please. She truly appreciated her sisters dropping everything to come when she called, but she would no longer bend over backward to make them happy or appease them.
In a way, the pages of the Gallagher matriarch’s journal had set Jenna free. Logan’s great-grandmother had poked her nose in Jenna’s family’s business and stirred the pot, but in the end, it was the actions and choices of her mother and father that decided the paths their lives would take. She realized she didn’t need a piece of paper to know her father had loved her. And love was all that mattered.
Serena lifted a shoulder. “We’re your sisters. You said you were in trouble.”
“You’ve always come when I was in trouble, haven’t you?” she murmured, wondering why she’d never seen it before. When she’d fallen off the slide at school and the teacher couldn’t reach her parents, Arianna had come. When her mother died, they were there. They’d taken turns staying with Jenna and her father for two weeks until they were on their feet. When she was away at boarding school and desperately lonely, Arianna’s buying trip somehow took her to Switzerland. They were the ones who talked to her about her period, boys, kissing, and sex. They may not have been the sisters she dreamed of, but they’d always been there when it truly mattered. “But I haven’t been there for either of you, have I?”
“You’re the baby.” Arianna said.
“If you still want me to sign off on Daddy’s estate, I will. We need to move on, and the only way to do that is to get this settled.”
“No. You were right. Arianna called Gwyneth as soon as we left and told her it wasn’t going to happen.”
“How did she handle the news?”
“Exactly how you’d expect, tantrums and threats,” Arianna said, but then she tilted her head as though thinking more on the matter. “Maybe a little desperate and scared too. I have a feeling they’ve bankrupted Southern Belle, Jenna.”
“I’m sure they have. It doesn’t matter. My reputation as a matchmaker is shot. And shortly, my reputation as a wedding planner will be too. I’m sorry. I’d hoped to be able to send more business your way, but now—”
“It’s fine,” Arianna said in a very un-Arianna-like manner.
Serena sighed. “Tell her why it’s fine, Arianna.”
“No. She’ll start believing she really does have a gift, and people will look at her like she’s a Froot Loop.”
And there was more proof of Arianna trying to protect her, and the way she went about it was exactly why Jenna had taken so long to realize it.
Serena rolled her eyes at their sister before saying to Jenna, “Three of Faith Fourburger’s friends have booked their weddings with us because you told Faith the truth and didn’t care about losing business.”
“Our business,” Arianna said, and then gave Jenna the side-eye. “You’ve got a job with us if you want it.”
“It’s Arianna, so you can’t tell, but she really wants you to take the job. We both do. Faith has booked an appointment next week to see you. She’s bringing her new boyfriend to meet you.”
“Wow. I didn’t expect this.” Jenna didn’t get to enjoy the moment with her sisters for long. Cherry slipped back into the room with Isabella. Desperate to find Pilar, Luis had requested an audience with Her Royal Highness. And the Gallagher women, like the rest of the family and friends, had been in a tizzy since learning the wedding was today. Luis put their complaints to bed with one word—baby. Now they couldn’t wait to get the couple married so they could start planning baby showers.
Cherry’s presence hadn’t been questioned, as they’d introduced her yesterday as a hairstylist and makeup artist.
“It’s almost showtime. Shay and Mateo are waiting for us in the tunnels.” Cherry gave her an up-and-down look and nodded. “Once you put on the veil, you’re golden.”
“Cherry is right, Jenna. And I told Luis that Pilar thinks she spotted one of the palace guards on the grounds and will remain outside to ensure the ceremony take places without interference so he will not question her absence, and he will also be anxious and distracted and less likely to pick up that you are you and not me. But don’t speak to him when he escorts you to the ballroom. Just nod and sniff as though you are crying. He will expect me—you—to be upset.”
There were guards outside the door, and Shay had been hired as Isabella’s personal bodyguard for today. To cover for her absence, Shay would approach one of the guards who were stationed outside the manor within the next five minutes. She’d tell him Mateo had burst in on the princess and upset her, and that he’d last been seen heading for the woods.
“Don’t worry. We’ll divert Luis’s attention and anyone else who gets too close,” Arianna said.
“You’ll stay with me?”
“Of course. We’re your official ladies-in-waiting,” Serena said.
“You’re getting your fairy-tale wedding after all, and this time you’re actually marrying a man worthy of being called Prince Charming.” Arianna wasn’t big on apologies, but this felt like one.
Cherry’s phone chimed, and she glanced at it. “Okay, Shay’s just alerted the guard, and she and Mateo are headed for the van. Good luck, Cinderella,” she said, and gave Jenna a hug. “See you on the flip side. Come on, Isabella.”
The princess thanked them profusely and then hugged Jenna goodbye.
As the secret panel closed behind them, someone knocked on the door. “We need to check on the princess and confirm she’s all right,” a guard called in.
“One moment, please,” Serena said as they quickly put on Jenna’s veil.
While Serena went to open the door, Arianna attached the second veil to the first. “Stop shaking. You’ll give yourself away.”
“I’m getting into character. Isabella would be shaking.”
Arianna snorted a laugh. “Sure you are.”
Her sister was right. The shaking hadn’t been an act, and now the bouquet of pale yellow roses and light blue hydrangeas trembled in her hands.
As the guards gave a cursory look around the sitting room, Luis entered. He wore a military uniform and a gentle smile on his face. “You will see it’s for the best, my princess. Logan is a good man. He will keep you safe. Mateo is just a boy,” he whispered as he guided her toward the ballroom.
Jenna nodded and sniffed, nearly letting out a panicked shriek when they reached the entrance to the ballroom and he went to lift her veil.
Arianna leaned in and slapped his hand away, whispering, “Leave it. You’ll ruin the effect. The groom will lift the veil when he kisses the bride.”
Mesmerized by the man standing at the front of the ballroom beneath gauzy fabric lit up with tiny lights resembling twinkling stars, Jenna didn’t hear Luis’s response. White upholstered chairs with yellow and blue sashes tied at the back lined either side of the gold runner. Pots dripping with flowers circled the dais and lined the stairs to resemble an enchanted garden.
Logan stood alone on a raised dais wearing a black tux. He looked more regal and powerful than any prince and more ruggedly handsome than any man she had ever seen. And for one moment as she walked up the aisle toward him, she let herself believe it was real. The tremors stopped, and she glided gracefully toward him as if she were truly a princess. She heard the murmurs to her left and right, but her focus remined on the man who stepped down to offer her his hand.
“Your Highness,” he murmured, snapping her out of the fantasy.
She put her gloved hand in his and ascended the dais. Turning to face him, she saw his mother and father, his grandmother, his brothers, uncles, cousins, and their wives and children. His m
other glowed with happiness. The woman Jenna had grown fond of would hate her after this. They all would. She moved her gaze back to Logan and started when she noticed his brows drawing inward as he scrutinized her face. There was no way he could see her well enough through the veil to know it wasn’t her. Yet somehow he knew something wasn’t right. She lowered her gaze, looking to where her sisters told her they’d be sitting. They weren’t there. Her heart began beating like a caged canary, drowning out the priest’s words.
Logan gently squeezed her fingers. She looked up, and he nudged his head at the priest. I do. It was her turn to say I do. She whispered the words. Again Logan’s eyes narrowed, but it was his turn to speak, and in his deep voice, he said the words she now knew she wished he’d say to her someday. But he never would, not after he learned of her betrayal.
The frantic pounding of her heart caused a rushing sound in her head and the voices were odd and muffled. She looked over so she wouldn’t miss the next part of their vows. The longer she could keep them from discovering who she was, the more time Shay had to get Mateo and Isabella to safety. But as she went to turn her head, she noticed something wasn’t right. The fabric that created the backdrop wasn’t lying flat. It was…
From outside came the sound of fireworks exploding, and the priest smiled and raised his voice to say, “I now pronounce you—”
“Logan,” Jenna yelled when she spotted a gun poking out through the backdrop. She threw herself at him, bringing him down just as a bullet whizzed past.
Logan rolled her under him. “Jenna?”
“Shooter! Everyone down!” a man yelled. There was the sound of running feet as security swarmed the dais.
“Behind the curtain. To the right,” Jenna said.
Logan told security where to go as he lifted the veil from her face. He looked like he was struggling with the urge to either kiss her or put her in handcuffs. Instead, he rolled agilely to his feet as he pulled out a gun. “Aidan, get Jenna out of here.”