“I was just visiting an old friend, but as it turns out, they’re not home.”
“Or maybe they’re sleeping?” I suggest. “Since it’s nearly midnight and all.”
“Maybe.” He nods to Louis. “Either way, we should be getting back.”
I nod. “I imagine you still have a long night ahead of you. With the wedding tomorrow and all,” I add when he gives me a strange look.
“Yes. I’m sure we will. Good luck with your fish. They can be so fragile, can’t they?”
I watch them as they walk back to the elevator, my hands clenched into fists in my pocket. I hold my breath until they walk inside. As the doors begin to close, Alberto looks me right in the eye. I stare right back, until they’re gone, then I walk over to the window and wait.
When I see them walk to their car, I stalk over to my door, opening it without knocking. Darcy looks up, her eyes wide. She smiles, but it quickly fades when she senses my urgency.
“We need to leave. Now.”
“What, Lily too?” Darcy asks, confused.
“Yes.” I keep myself half out in the hallway, my eyes on the elevator. “Fast. We need to get out of here. Where is she?”
“In the room. I’ll get her.”
I wait impatiently, alternating between standing in the doorway and checking out the window to make sure the car is gone.
“Jesus, Lily, hurry up,” I growl.
“I’m going as quickly as I can.”
Her voice trembles. But that’s nothing new. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say something without a lip quiver or a voice tremor.
“Well, go faster,” I snap. “Or I can just leave you here for Alberto to deal with.”
“Alberto is here?” she whispers, her eyes widening.
I sigh. “He was.”
She crosses her arms over her chest.
“Why?” she whispers.
“Why do you think?” I laugh. “Now is not the time to be discussing this.”
“Where’s Julian,” she says. “I’m not going anywhere until I speak with him.”
“He’s downstairs. In my car.”
“I don’t believe you.” Lily narrows her eyes at me.
I laugh, because for once I’m not full of shit.
“He is, Lily,” I say. “Trust me. He came over here to speak with you, like you wanted.”
“Come on,” Darcy snaps. She tries to grasp hold of her arm, but Lily shrugs her off.
“He’s downstairs. I promise you,” I say.
She sighs. “Fine, I’ll go, but if he is not …”
“Well? Where is he?” Lily glares at me, her hand firmly on her hip, refusing to get in the car until I answer her. “You lied to get me down here? That’s low, even for you.”
I stare at the spot where Julian was sitting and laugh, then I glance at Katie, who shrugs.
“He said he had a suit fitting and would call you later,” she says uneasily.
Lily snorts. “At twelve thirty in the morning? Yeah, that sounds legit.”
I glare at her. “He is marrying into the mafia,” I remind her. “It’s not that outrageous, is it?” Lily frowns, my words instilling enough doubt in her mind to coax her into the car. “He’ll be back to talk with you. I promise.”
“Fine,” she frowns. “Where are we going in the meantime, then?”
I think about it for a second. “Back to the hotel.”
Katie’s eyes widen. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“I guess we’ll find out, because it’s the only idea I’ve got.”
It’s after one by the time we arrive back. The parking lot is deserted and there aren’t many people around, which makes me nervous, but I’m clinging to the hope that Alberto is assuming I wouldn’t be stupid enough to bring them back here.
I take them up to my floor, then I quickly check the hallway, before I usher them down to my room. Once we’re inside, I breathe out. Now I just have to hope putting them in such an obvious place won’t backfire on me.
“Wait here.” I speak clearly, so all three of them understand. “Do not, under any circumstances, leave this room. Don’t call anyone, don’t answer your phone or the hotel phone and whatever you do don’t open the door. To anyone. Got it?”
“Are you going to see Julian?” Lily asks.
I nod. “Yes.”
“Can you tell him I need to speak to him?” she asks. “Please?”
“I’ll get him here. Okay?”
I’m still annoyed at Julian when I bang on his door. Not only because he made me look like a liar, but because he left Katie alone in my car. What if something had happened to her?
I shift my feet, nervous about what condition I’m going to find him in. Considering it’s the night before his wedding, which his ex-girlfriend is here to crash, anything is possible. He swings open the door and gives me a sheepish look.
“Suit fitting?” I frown.
“I’m sorry. I panicked.”
“And left Katie sitting alone in that car,” I snap. “I thought you were a better man than that?”
“Says the guy who’s been lying to me for the last week,” he retorts.
“Because I thought I could get her out of here without stressing you out,” I retort.
He sighs and rubs his forehead. “I’m sorry. I’ve got no right taking this out on you. I was just about to have a drink. You can join me if you want?”
“Sure.” I nod.
I walk inside and close the door behind me, watching him prepare our drinks. I don’t want one. I’m just working out the best way to convince him to speak with Lily.
“Lily wants to speak with you.”
Not quite the way I intended to broach the subject…
“Which is exactly what I don’t need right now.” He groans.
“Okay.” I shrug. “Your call, but it’s probably the only way she’s going to agree to leave.”
That gets a reaction.
He frowns. “I’ll think about it. Okay?”
I nod. I don’t need to point out that time is running out.
“Oh, Frederick? I need my car back.”
“Right. About that.”
He glares at me. “Where the fuck is my car?”
“You, uh, you might want to try tracking down a guy named Hamish.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he thunders.
“We picked up a hitchhiker—”
“In my car?” he interrupts, his eyes blazing.
“Well, yes. He turned out to be a little mentally unstable.”
“Unstable how?”
“Enough that he took off in your car. After masturbating in the back, while talking to me about shit like the weather.” I pause. “He also sucker punched me.”
Julian laughs. “Well this is fucking perfect. Then hand over the keys to your car.”
I silently reach into my pocket and hand them to him.
“Is there anything else I should know that I’m going to want to kill you for?” he grumbles, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Not that I can think of?” I ignore the uneasy feeling in my gut and pat him on the back.
“Don’t stress,” I say. “We’ll sort it out.”
He laughs. “Don’t stress? I’m getting married today. Why the fuck would I be stressed?”
I think that went well.
Chapter Seventeen
Katie
“So, do you want to talk about it?”
I sit down on the edge of the bed next to Lily, while Darcy sits on the floor.
Lily stares at the same spot, not saying a word. Eventually, Darcy goes to stand up.
“Maybe I should—”
“No,” Lily cuts in. “It’s fine.” She even manages a smile, an embarrassed look on her face.
“Tell me what’s going on with you,” I say, frowning at her.
“If I tell you, will you leave me alone?” she mutters sullenly.
“Probably not,” I admit.
&nb
sp; I reach for her hand. She lets me take it, wiping her eyes with her other hand. I glance at Darcy, not sure how hard to push for information, or even whether this is serious. What if this is just another one of her attempts to seek attention? Maybe I do help her too much, but I’m not going to turn my back on her if she really needs me. There’s something wrong. I’m sure of it. It’s not just the usual trivial Lily stuff, either.
“I’m not going to force you to tell me, but just know I’m here.” I say to her. “You know I’m not going to judge you, right?”
“Me neither,” Darcy pipes up. “God knows I’ve done enough to ensure I never judge anyone.”
Lily smiles. She breaks her hand away from mine and leans forward, covering her face with her hands. The tears that roll down her cheeks aren’t an act. I’m sure of that much.
“I appreciate everything you do, Katie,” she mumbles through her tears. “I know I don’t always show it, but I do. This time even you can’t help me, though.”
“Still, talking about it might help,” I gently coax her.
She’s quiet for a moment, then she starts to speak.
I didn’t mean for it to happen.” She looks up at the ceiling, fixated on one spot. “I ran into him at a hotel, where I was staying at with a friend. We’d been to see a show and—” She laughs and shakes her head. “That’s not really the important bit, huh? Anyway, on the way back to our rooms, I ran into Julian.” She smiles, her cheeks glowing as she speaks about him. “I hadn’t seen him in years, Katie. He looked so good. We got to talking, he asked me to come back to his room for a drink.”
She stands up and walks over to the sink and pours herself a glass of water. I watch her as she takes a sip, then sets the glass down. Her arms crossed over herself, she walks back over to me and sits down.
“We had a drink and caught up with each other’s lives. He told me that he and his girlfriend had gotten into a major fight and split up …” She laughs and shakes her head. “I thought he was single, so I spent the night in his room. The next morning when I woke up, he was gone.”
“Wow.” I’m shocked. “I had no idea. When was this?”
“About three months ago.” she says. She smiles through her tears. “I don’t know what I thought was going to happen, but getting up and finding him gone, like it meant nothing to him?” She laughs. “There was no note or anything. He was just gone. Then two weeks later, I find out he’s getting married.”
“Shit,” I mutter.
I’m so annoyed at Julian. Even if he regretted it, he didn’t have to treat her like something he stepped in. Leaving without so much as a goodbye? That’s weak.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” I say honestly. “Is that what coming here was about?”
“God, no.” She laughs. “I’d have just as happily moved on from that as fast as he did. But then I started feeling sick.”
My eyes widen. “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”
Darcy snorts. “With the amount she drinks?” Her eyes dart to Lily and she winces. “Sorry.” She shakes her head. “No judgment.”
Lily doesn’t reply. Instead she just lies back on the bed and continues her story.
“I kept refusing to believe it. I pushed it to the back of my mind, even when I was throwing up every morning. Then it got to the point where I couldn’t deny it any longer. I knew before I even took the test that it was going to be positive …”
“And?” I press.
“It was.” She smiles at me through the fear and sadness. “That’s why I had to see him. I tried calling him, but he wouldn’t answer.” She laughs. “He probably thought I was still hung up on that night, or something. The last thing I wanted to do was come here and interrupt his wedding, but it was the only way I could think of where he had to talk to me.”
“Holy shit.” I shake my head. All this time I thought this was about Lily being Lily, and she was dealing with something as big as this. Alone. How could I not have seen the signs? They had to have been there. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I still don’t know what to say,” she admits with a laugh.
“Neither do I,” Darcy mutters.
Lily lets out a loud laugh.
“For the record, I haven’t drunk anything since I found out,” she smiles at Darcy. “Everything you guys saw me drink? Alcohol free. Even that cocktail had no alcohol in it.” She pauses. “Well, mine, anyway.”
“Really?” Darcy’s eyes widen. “The empty bottle of vodka at the chapel?”
“Was there when I got there.” She shrugs. “You, guys thought it was mine. I just played along.”
“What about the fact that you’ve had the world’s longest hangover?” Darcy challenges.
“The throwing up, the fatigue the generally being unable to function like a person? It’s all just really bad morning sickness.” She makes a face. “Well, in my case, all fucking day sickness.”
“Why pretend you’d been drinking?” I ask.
“Because without, you both would’ve picked up on it. I thought if I got you to drink enough, you might not figure it out,” she says to me. “I knew Darcy would take care of herself.”
“Thanks.” Darcy smirks.
I giggle, because I don’t think it was a compliment. In spite of everything, she was pretty clever to pull it all off.
“And running off? Twice?” I add.
“I know that was sneaky of me, but I needed to speak to him. If I told you, you would’ve tried to stop me,” she says. “I needed to tell him before the wedding. I don’t care if he marries her, but he deserves to know.”
“And was part of your plan to use me as bait?” I ask, narrowing my eyes as I remember her text fail.
Her face goes red. “Julian was the only one who was supposed to get that,” she whispers. She leans over and grabs my hand. “Just to show him we were here. I’m so sorry, Katie. About everything. I really am. I didn’t mean to drag you into this. And then everything got even messier.”
“It’s okay,” I say. I’m still trying to piece everything together in my mind, but she has enough on her mind without me adding to it. “I just wish you trusted me enough to tell me.”
“I wanted to tell you …” she admits.
I look up when the door cracks open. Adam pokes his head in. He raises his eyebrows at me, then his gaze moves to Lily.
“Julian’s here. He wants to speak with Lily,” he says.
Lily glances at me, a look of terror in her eyes. I give her a hug.
“Call me if you need me, okay?”
Then she stands up and walks over to the door. Julian says something to her and then they both leave. I frown at Adam as he shuts the door.
“Is it a good idea for the two of them to be out there?” I ask.
“They’re going to his room, which is just a few doors down.”
“Still, what happens if Lola or Alberto go to visit him?” Darcy says.
Adam smirks at her as he sits down next to me.
“Alberto doesn’t visit people. He orders them to visit him. And it’s the night before the wedding. I can’t imagine Lola breaking tradition and wanting to see him.”
I nod. “Okay.”
I lean forward, tucking my hands beneath me as I study the floor. My quiet, somber mood doesn’t go unnoticed with Adam. He studies me for a moment, just like the tension between him and I is obvious to Darcy. The three of us, sitting there, in silence… Talk about awkward.
“You’re awfully quiet,” he comments.
“Sorry. I’m just thinking …” I sigh.
“About Lily?” he asks. I nod. “She’ll be okay.”
“As okay as Lily gets, anyway,” Darcy comments.
“He’s talking to her. Hopefully she gets what she needs from that to move on,” I reason.
She snorts loudly. Adam glances at me curiously.
I hesitate. “Lily’s pregnant.”
“Fuck,” he mutters, shaking his head. “Is it Julian’s?” I nod
. “I can’t believe it,” he says.
His phone interrupts him. He digs it out of his pocket and frowns.
“It’s Julian.”
“Wow. That was fast,” I mumble.
“Which is either good, or really fucking bad,” Darcy concludes.
Chapter Eighteen
Adam
“You, uh, might wanna see this,” Julian says when I answer the phone.
I frown, barely able to hear him over the noise in the background.
“Where are you?”
“Alberto’s suite.” He says with a laugh. “Hurry up, or you’ll miss it.”
“Why are you in Alberto’s suite?” I ask, confused. It’s nearly three in the morning, but it sounds like the party of the decade is going on there. “I thought you were talking to Lily?”
“I was, but then Lola called m—” He sighs. “It’s a long story. Just get up here, or you’re going to miss it.”
I stare at my phone, no idea what’s going on. Katie and Darcy both look at me expectantly. Darcy raises her eyebrows.
“Well?”
“What’s going on?” Katie adds.
I shake my head. “I don’t know … Julian is up in Alberto’s suite.”
“Where’s Lily?” Katie asks.
“I don’t know. Maybe in his room still?” I suggest.
She frowns, like she’s annoyed at me for not knowing more than I do.
“I better check on her.”
“I’ll go up and see what’s going on with Julian,” I say.
I wait until Katie and Darcy confirm that Lily is still in Julian’s room, before I go up to Alberto’s penthouse. I hear sirens blaring in the distance, but I don’t get the connection until the elevator doors open. I step out, taking in the scene in front of me. I’m confused as all hell.
“What the fuck …” I whisper to myself.
Shit is happening everywhere. I don’t even know where to look first. Louis is sprawled out, naked, on a bus. A hefty woman, who is also naked, straddles him, screaming in what I’m pretty sure is Russian. Right in the middle of it is Alberto, screaming obscene words at Louis, while repeatedly hitting him over the head. Police swarm around them, notebooks poised, asking questions. Alberto turns around and glares at the officer who is attempting to cuff him, then he turns back to Louis.
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