by James Tate
Madison Kate
"I can't do this," I whispered, my hands balling into fists and bunching the heavy white skirts of the wedding dress I wore. "This is insane. I can't marry Archer." And certainly not in a dress that made me look like a fucking meringue. What the hell had I been thinking when I let him talk me into this ludicrous idea?
Bree snorted a laugh, dragging my attention back to my phone, which I'd propped up on the shelf to my left.
"Uh, newsflash, babe. You're already married to Archer." She was grinning, but her face on the video call was still a mess of yellow-brown bruises as she healed from our crash.
I rolled my eyes, releasing the dress fabric. The last thing I needed was to damage the designer gown and be forced to pay for the ugly thing.
"Not like this, Bree," I replied with a grimace. "This is the real deal. Everyone will know, and it'll be, you know, legit."
She gave me an indulgent smile. "No, the paperwork that was filed with the state registry eighteen months ago was what made it legit. This is just a party and a pretty dress." She paused, wrinkling her nose. "Or it will be a pretty dress if you can find a better one than that. Try the next one."
I reached behind me, tugging the dress clips loose so I could step out of the enormous gown and move it into my rapidly growing reject pile.
"No, not that one," Bree called out from where I'd placed my phone with a full view of the huge fitting room. I'd kicked the attendant out because she'd been driving me nuts with her questions about my fiancé, so Bree and I were doing it via video call instead. She was stuck in the hospital on bedrest for months yet, and had more surgeries coming up to fix her wrist and leg. Not to mention her dodgy placenta placement.
I turned back to her with my hands on my hips. "Which one, then?"
"The lace one on the end. I wanna see that!" She grinned at me, her bruised face filling the whole screen.
Doing as she asked, I wiggled into a dress made almost entirely of lace, only to be met with the sound of Bree booing and giving me a thumbs down from my phone.
Agreed.
"Okay, try the pretty one now," she ordered me with a huge smile.
I groaned. "Seriously? Bree, that looks like something a Disney princess would wear." But still, I pulled out the dress she wanted and hung it on the rack to change into.
"So what?" she challenged me. "If this isn't a real wedding, then why are you stressing so hard over what dress you wear? Just let me choose it, and you pay the lady with your husband's black Amex."
Damn. She had me there. And even I had to admit... the dress was freaking gorgeous.
"Yes!" Bree shrieked when I zipped it up, the sample size fitting me like it was fate or some shit. "Yes, oh my god, if you don't buy that dress, I'm going to discharge myself from this hospital, march down there, and kick your ass."
I laughed, hoping she was joking. "Bree," I groaned, "I don't even look like me in this."
"I know," she sighed. "You look like a fucking fairy princess. And it's a bit slutty, too, with your rack. I'm totally in love. Buy it."
"Fine," I reluctantly agreed. Okay, not so reluctantly... the dress was beyond stunning and I couldn't wait to see what the guys’ reactions would be to me wearing it.
Bree smiled in satisfaction. "Good. Now, I arranged a little something for you, seeing as I couldn't be there in person."
I frowned, crossing back to where I'd propped up my phone. "Bree, you didn't have to do anything. It's way more important that you and the baby are being looked after, and this isn't a real wedding. Right?"
Her smile was tinged with sadness. "Sure. Well... call it a late birthday present. Seeing as your stupid boys didn’t include me in their private celebration the other day. Your surprise should be getting there right about now, so I'm gonna go. Call me later, okay? Happy birthday, bitch, I love your fucking face!"
She ended the call before I could question her any further on this surprise, so I just tossed my phone back in my handbag. I took another moment before taking the dress off, stepping up on the little platform to see the full effect of the gown in the mirrors all around the room.
Bree was right; I looked like a fairy princess. Archer was going to have a coronary. He probably expected me to show up in a black dress or something, to match his soul.
A soft tap on the fitting-room door made me sigh.
"I think I'm done," I called out to the bridal shop assistant, while still admiring the soft waves of the skirt in the mirror. "I'll take this lilac one."
"Holy shit," not-the-bridal-assistant commented, "good choice."
My jaw dropped, and my gaze locked with a pair of silver-gray eyes in the mirror. "You!"
Steele grinned. "Me."
I whirled around in a storm of silk and tulle, launching myself at him before remembering he'd recently taken a bullet to the chest and should still be in the hospital.
"Fuck," I squeaked, jerking away just before I slammed into his body. "Fuck, sorry, shit."
He just laughed, grabbing my arms as I wobbled off balance. His strong grip pulled me in closer, then he looped his arms around my waist.
"I'm not made of glass, Hellcat. You can touch me." His eyes flared with heat, and I knew he was thinking about more than just hugging me. Hell, I was too. But common sense won out, and I scowled.
"Max Steele, you weren't supposed to be discharged for another week. What the shit do you think you're doing here?" I tried to keep my tone stern, but I was too damn happy to see him. He knew it too, the sly fuck.
He tugged me closer still, and I draped my arms ever so gently around his neck. The need to kiss him was almost overwhelming, but I desperately didn't want to hurt him.
"Bree told me you were trying on wedding dresses, and I had to see for myself," he murmured, dipping his head to brush his lips across mine. "So I discharged myself early, and Dallas drove me over."
"Well, what do you think?" I stepped backward out of his arms and gave a twirl to show off Bree's choice. "Will it do?"
Reaching out to grab my waist again, Steele gave me a dark look. This time he didn't let me dodge away and kissed me until I was dizzy. Only then did he answer my question.
"You're easily the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on, Hellcat. The dress is just garnish. But... do you want to explain to me why we're buying a wedding dress?" He leaned back and gave me a perplexed stare, and my cheeks heated.
Crap. Steele didn't know the plan.
"Let me get changed, and we can fill you in on everything back at the house?" I nervously bit my lip and mentally crossed my fingers that he'd be okay with this... crazy-ass plan.
A small frown creased his brow, but it eased off quickly when I leaned in to kiss him again.
"Trust me?" I whispered, searching his eyes from just an inch away.
He nodded, letting out a breath. "Always, Hellcat. With my whole heart and soul."
Smiling, I let go of his neck and stepped away to undress. "I'll be quick. Is Wade still out front? Maybe let him know to grab the car?"
Steele gave me a nod, then retreated out of the fitting room with a lingering look.
Wade was my heavily armed, highly skilled bodyguard for the day. After my stalker had damn near killed Steele, I’d agreed to never go out alone. Having Wade around—or one of the four other fully vetted security guards—meant that Kody and Archer didn't need to be glued to my ass twenty-four-seven. Not that I'd have minded, seeing as we were on pretty good terms now, but sometimes we needed space. Like when I needed to go shopping for a wedding dress. Fuck me. I’d just chosen my wedding dress.
I quickly slipped out of the gown and tugged my jeans and sweater back on. Steele was waiting for me at the counter, fending off the doe-eyed shop assistant as she giggled and flipped her hair.
Placing the dress on the counter, I gave her a tight smile. "I'll take this, please."
She looked at me in shock, blinking a couple of times like she was trying to remember what her job was. "Oh, yes. Sorry. G
osh, I'm so sorry, I need to take your measurements and place an order with the designer and—"
"No need," I assured her, cutting off her panicked babble with a tight smile. "This size is perfect."
She blinked a few more times. Maybe her job wasn't usually so easy?
"Okay, well, great! I'll get this ordered—"
"Actually," I cut her off with a smile, "the wedding is in six weeks, so can I just take this one?" She'd already mentioned that custom orders could take up to eight months to arrive. I had neither the time nor the patience for that. If we didn't take the offensive soon, I wouldn't be alive in eight months.
The shop assistant hurried to package my gown up in a garment bag, then process it through the register, all while shooting coy glances at Steele. He just leaned on the counter like he had all the time in the world, but the tightness to his eyes betrayed the fact that he was in pain.
After the dress had been charged to Archer's credit card, the girl handed the garment bag across the counter to me, then handed Steele a folded piece of paper.
"My number," she told him with a suggestive smile. Under any normal circumstances, that'd be pretty appalling behavior in a bridal shop. But seeing as Archer had been with me when I arrived and had kissed me possessively before leaving me in Wade's care? Yeah, I could understand why she assumed Steele was single.
Steele just frowned at the paper, though, then handed it back to her. "Thank you, but I'm taken." Before I could say anything—even if I had something to say—he slipped his arm around my waist and kissed my hair. "Ready to go, beautiful?"
I bit my lip to hold back my laugh, because the shop assistant looked like her brain was mid-explosion. "You bet." I tipped my head back, pressing a kiss to his lips, then leaving the store with his arm still tight around my waist.
Once outside, I groaned and shook my head. "That was mean; it takes a lot of confidence to give a guy your number." A stab of guilt hit me, and I glanced back at the bridal shop.
"Except I’d already told her three times in the five minutes you were taking the dress off that I wasn't interested. She just didn't want to hear it." He gave me a small shrug, but I was distracted by the bead of sweat on his temple.
"Max Steele," I said in a stern voice, "you're overdoing it. Is Wade getting the car?" I glanced around, not seeing my bodyguard anywhere nearby.
Steele sighed and nodded. "Yeah. Here he is now." His eyes shifted past me to where our blacked-out SUV was coming around the corner.
The vehicle pulled up right beside us, and my bodyguard hopped out of the driver's seat to open the back door for us. Not that I was incapable of doing this myself, but it was one of those things that the security guys insisted on.
"Oh shit," I cursed, pausing halfway into the car. "Sorry, I left my jacket in the fitting room. Two seconds?" I gave Wade an apologetic smile, but he just nodded.
"I'll come with you," Steele murmured, taking the dress bag from my hand as I hurried back into the store. It was standard Steele protectiveness, but in his current condition I'd be the one saving his ass if someone attacked us in the bridal store.
I was glad he did follow me, though. We’d barely made it two steps back inside the shop when an explosion rocked the ground beneath our feet. Steele threw himself at me, knocking me to the ground and covering my body with his as glass from the shattered storefront windows rained down all around us.
The whole thing was over in seconds, but my ears rang as Steele cautiously eased off me.
Several car sirens went off in the street, and I already knew what I was going to find before crawling to my knees to look.
"Fuck," I breathed, staring wide-eyed at the flaming shell of our SUV. The charred, mutilated remains of my bodyguard lay several feet away from the wreckage, and my stomach knotted up with guilt and anxiety.
"We need to get out of here," Steele told me, then grimaced as he pushed to his feet.
He offered me a hand to help me up, but I batted it aside and yanked his T-shirt up to check on his still-healing wound. It was seeping blood, like I expected, and fear travelled through me. He shouldn't be back in the middle of this already. He'd just taken a bullet to the chest two and a half weeks ago, thanks to my fucked-up life.
Steele pushed my hands away and smoothed his shirt back down. "Hellcat, I'm fine. But we need to go before someone realizes that you weren't in the car." He wrapped his hand around mine, stooped to grab my dress bag from where he'd dropped it, then led me quickly out of the shattered storefront.
We didn't hesitate even a second as we passed Wade's remains. Death was becoming all too familiar, these days, and Steele was my priority. I couldn't risk his life again so soon. I just fucking couldn't. So we hurried away from the burning car without a backward glance.
One thing was for sure, my killers were still out there. Even if my stalker had been mysteriously quiet these past few weeks, he wasn't my only problem.
Not by a long shot.
3
Kody and Archer were in the gym when we got back to the house and seemed just as shocked as I was to see Steele out of the hospital.
"Guys, give it a rest!" Steele exclaimed after they’d badgered him for a solid five minutes about the risks of early discharge. "My doctors cleared me, and I'm a grown-ass adult. I think I can make these choices myself." He glared at them both, then softened his gaze as he looked at me. "Besides, if I had to suffer through one more of those uncomfortable visits with nurses watching our every movement, I was going to lose my damn mind."
I bit my lip to hold back a smile, but I knew what he meant. We hadn't had a moment truly alone the whole time he was in hospital. There was always a nurse hovering around or a doctor needing to check notes, probably because fucking everyone in Shadow Grove seemed to be on the payroll of one gang or another. Undoubtedly, someone had seen the opportunity to listen for valuable information.
"Okay, if you're such a grown-ass adult," Kody challenged him, folding his arms over his bare chest, "explain why there's blood on your T-shirt. Huh? You couldn't even make it from the hospital to home without ripping stitches?"
Heading through to the kitchen, Steele rolled his eyes and flipped Kody off. "I got my stitches out a week ago, dickhead."
"Also, that wasn't his fault," I added, handing my dress bag to Steinwick, who’d appeared out of the dining room. The elderly butler took it silently, and I knew he'd see it safely stored in my closet.
"Why do I get the feeling you two have been causing trouble today?" Archer muttered, taking one of the beers that Steele pulled from the fridge. "And where's Wade? The security detail is supposed to check in when you get back."
Steele grimaced, then twisted the top off his own beer and took a long sip. "Wade's dead."
Kody and Archer both shifted their gazes to me, like I was somehow to blame for this mess. Okay, sure, I was in a way. But come on.
"Someone blew up the car," I told them with a wince.
Archer blew out a long sigh, scrubbing his hand over his face. "Someone blew up the armored vehicle I assigned to your bodyguard?"
I jerked a nod and accepted the bottle of pear cider that Steele handed me from the fridge. They'd appeared about a week ago, and I wasn't the only one drinking them.
"So the hit is definitely still active," Kody pondered aloud, leaning his elbows on the island countertop. "I think you were right on this plan, Arch."
Archer just grunted. "Of course I'm right."
"Yeah, about that," Steele said, leaning his hands on the counter across from Kody. "Anyone want to explain why my girl was trying on wedding dresses today?"
My face heated, and I gave Archer a pointed glare. I’d told him we needed to discuss the plan with Steele first, but he’d insisted the hospital wasn't a safe place to talk openly. He was probably right, but still...
Kody snorted a laugh and sipped his beer. He had no intention of helping out on that one.
Archer just smirked, that fucking prick. "You mean my wife?" he replied
, smug as fuck. "Maybe we're just making things official in the public eye."
I glowered. "Don't be an asshole, D'Ath, or I'll replace you in the wedding announcement. If it's a fake wedding, then what does it matter who I marry, hmm?"
Kody grinned. "Oh, I like that idea. Pick me, babe. I'll look so fucking good in a tux."
Archer's response was to smack Kody in the chest, making him groan in pain. "No one's replacing me. We're legally married already, remember?"
Steele exhaled heavily. "Why did I want to come home so badly, again? It was so nice and quiet in the hospital."
"Bullshit," Kody replied with a snicker. "You had Bree forcing you to watch Real Housewives with her every day 'cause she was bored out of her damn mind."
Steele grimaced. "Yeah, good point. Okay, I'm just going to put two and two together here. We're going on the offensive to lure out anyone who might have taken the hit on Hellcat? This wedding is an ambush to eliminate three or four birds with one stone?"
My brows lifted. "Uh, yeah. Pretty much. Too obvious?"
He drummed his fingers on the counter a couple of times, thinking, then shrugged. "No. I think that sounds like a good idea. Fuck waiting around for them to keep taking shots at us; let's draw them onto our turf. I assume we’re working on cancelling the hit—even temporarily—so this is a hell of a lot better than sitting around and waiting for them to strike.”
"Exactly," Archer agreed, but his gaze flickered at me too fast for me to calculate his mood. He took a long drink from his beer, then placed it down with a sigh. "I need to go deal with this Wade situation; Kody and Princess can fill you in on the details." He disappeared out of the kitchen again before anyone could respond, and Kody rolled his eyes.
"Fucking pussy," he commented with a laugh. "Totally just bolted before Steele could poke holes in his bullshit plan."
I wrinkled my nose. "You think it's a bad plan?"
Kody shrugged, his green eyes holding my gaze steadily. "Not really. But I do think he's got a pretty strong ulterior motive at play here."
My pulse raced, and my stomach knotted up. "Why didn't you say so the other day when we first discussed this idea?"