by Lane Hart
“Oh, yes, ma’am, absolutely,” Officer Ramos reassures me. “We don’t take chances with people like him. Your boyfriend, or bodyguard, whoever that fellow was, though, he did a number on Mr. Stanly. His jaw appears to be broken, and the pepper spray…well, I know from experience that a face full of that stuff will leave you in agony for quite some time.”
“We were lucky,” I tell the officers. “Abe, my…friend, he mostly just got sprayed in his beard. We’ve been trying to wash it out,” I tell them lamely, knowing how I look, flushed and disheveled in my bathrobe, and knowing that the room probably smells like an orgy.
“Well, ma’am, we won’t take up much of your time. If you could just answer a few questions for us…” As Officer Price begins going through a list of what seem like form questions, I catch a glimpse of Abe smiling at me from the bathroom. Returning his grin, I do my best to guide the officers through everything that has transpired in the last few weeks, until they finally seem to have all of the details that they need.
“All right, Ms. Daniels,” Officer Ramos finally says. “I think we have everything. We’ll be in touch with you soon to keep you apprised of the charges that will be filed and upcoming court appearances. For now, please relax and enjoy the rest of your stay out here. We’ll make sure that Mr. Stanly, at least, doesn’t cause you any more trouble.”
Once I show the pair of officers out the door, Abe finally emerges from the bathroom. “Didn’t mean to be a creeper through all that,” he says. “But it looked like you were fine, and I don’t much like talking to cops.”
“Ugh, tell me about it. I’m exhausted,” I reply. I shed the bathrobe, dropping it onto a chair by the bed. The sheets seem to be dry for the most part, so I put them back into some semblance of order; then stand up straight with a hand on my hip to look at Abe. “You coming to bed, big man?” I ask him.
“Mercy, I…I,” Abe swallows hard, and I see a look of sadness in his eyes before he continues. “I can’t stay all night. I’ll have to get to my stuff early tomorrow and get cleaned up for the wedding.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me about the early start,” I joke, wondering what’s really on his mind. “If you need to sneak out early, I understand. For now, though…well, today has been insane. Take off your pants and hold me, Abe. I need you.”
Abe just smiles and nods. I climb into bed and snuggle down into the sheets, leaving room for him to join me. Whatever is on his mind we can work out together in the coming days, after the wedding. For now, as I burrow up against his side, smelling our scents mixed together, everything is right with my world.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Abe
I want nothing more than to fall asleep with Mercy in my arms, but Chase has made some special arrangements for his wedding. It’s going to be an outdoor ceremony at Sunset Park, and it starts at eight o’ clock in the morning. The heat out here is oppressive, so he and Sasha decided to do their vows early, take all their photos, then retire to the casino for a big reception. I’m one of Chase’s groomsmen so I have to be ready before daybreak to go out and help get everything set up with the rest of my brothers.
So, after we make love one more time in bed and Mercy drifts off to sleep, I gently tuck her in and find my boots and pants to reluctantly sneak out. I know how well I sleep when I'm in this woman's arms, and Mercy was a little worried she might miss her alarm, too, if she stays wrapped up with me.
Once I’m back in my room, I call downstairs to set up a wake-up call in case my old phone doesn’t do it for me; then take care of getting my suit laid out and do some ironing. Mercy offered to help me with it when I told her I was worried it was going to take me hours, but I assured her I could probably do it myself without burning the hotel down.
As soon as that’s done, I take care of trimming my beard and washing it again. All of the pepper spray residue is gone, but the oil we used to get it off made it clumpy. If any of my brothers saw me grooming myself like this to get ready, I’d be the laughing stock of the MC; but I’m not about to mess up my best friend’s wedding by showing up looking homeless.
Once I’m satisfied that all I need is water and a comb to get myself presentable when I wake up, I finally lie down to get some quick shut-eye. My head has barely dented the pillow when the damned phone starts ringing, and it takes me almost a full minute to figure out it’s not my cell but the room phone. When I pick it up and hear the robocall announce the time, I spring up, wide-awake and ready for the big day. Hell, if I’m excited, I can only imagine how Chase and Sasha are feeling right about now.
I get a quick shower, suit up, and then I head downstairs to meet my brothers in the rental van. Dalton, Maddox, Sax, Cooper and War have already gotten all the gear we rented loaded up, so I hop in the back to wait for Torin and Chase. And before the sun peeks over the horizon, we’re at the park getting everything arranged.
The area that Sasha had picked out is a huge, open air, picnic setting covered entirely by a giant white umbrella shaped canvas. The grounds were kept in pristine condition, so when we pile out of the van, we get straight to work on the decorations. We have hundreds of yards of white silk flowers to string around, along with dozens of more conventional floral arrangements that arrive as the sun began to rise.
The caterer arrives at about six-thirty to set up a breakfast spread for everyone as well as something they called a mimosa bar. I’m not much on champagne, but the juice is welcome even in the relatively cool morning light. By the time we have the gazebo and podium all set up and the chairs arranged, the guests start to arrive.
Sasha has her own special limo to bring her to the park when it’s time. Chase is busy entertaining the guests spread around the picnic tables eating, so in the final few minutes before the ceremony, I walk the grounds, just keeping an eye out for trouble. I had seen Mercy when she arrived in her long, elegant, black dress, and we had exchanged a wave, but I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her yet this morning. I won't get to until the reception most likely, as she's the maid-of-honor and will be walking down the aisle with Torin, the best man. We’ll have to be in a bunch of photos afterwards, so hopefully I can get close to her then.
When the small orchestra we hired gets done tuning up and begins to play something that I vaguely recognize as wedding music, I walk over to stand with Chase.
“How’s everything look, man? You think she’ll like it?” I ask him.
“You guys really came through for us out here, Abe. It looks damned good,” Chase replies as he glances around the scene. “I heard you had some excitement last night. You doing all right today?”
“Yeah, brother. Mercy and I finally got that dude that was stalking her nailed down. Crazy bastard goes to her mother’s church and followed her out here. He tried to confront her down in the lobby last night.”
“He didn’t hurt her, did he?” Chase asks, his face alarmed.
“Nah, man, nothing like that. He never got to lay a hand on her. She called me, and I ran in on him, busted him up some. He was a chubby, little prick, but he could have been real dangerous for her.”
“War said he heard you got hit with mace or something,” Chase said.
“Pepper spray, yeah. Dumbass shot me in the beard with it.”
Chase starts laughing, drawing everyone’s eyes over to us. “Oh, god, man, I would have paid to have been there when he hosed you down and realized that rug on your face was armor. I bet his expression was priceless.”
“I don’t think he even had a chance to realize it didn’t work on me,” I grin. “I put him on his ass before he could figure out what was going on. After that, I got Mercy out of there, and…”
“Ah, man, hear that?” Chase interrupts me. “That song’s my cue. I have to go up with the chaplain. Take your places everyone!” Chase calls as he walks away.
Mercy is at the end of the aisle with Torin, who looks decidedly uncomfortable in his tuxedo standing next to my fiery red-headed angel. She flashes me a grin as I walk past them, d
own towards the gazebo where Chase had asked me to stand, and Torin gives me a single grave nod.
When we’re all in position, the orchestra strikes up the bridal procession, and Torin walks arm in arm with Mercy down to join us. He goes over and stands next to Chase, while I stay a little off to the side.
A moment later, all eyes are drawn to the back as Sasha makes her appearance. She’s radiant in the early morning light, glowing in a sleeveless ivory gown with a short train trailing behind her. The bouquet of white roses she holds matches the decorations we hung all around the enclosure. As she marches slowly down the aisle, she and Chase don’t take their eyes off of each other. I spare a glance at Mercy standing on the other side of the gazebo and catch her glancing at me with a broad grin as her eyes sparkle with unshed tears. God help me, but in my eyes, she outshines the bride today, and I can't look away from her as the bride and groom take their places and the ceremony commences.
I don’t pay much attention to the vows or the exchanging of the rings as I keep my eyes on the crowd and the spectators in the park who had gathered on the outskirts to watch the show. Chase had stationed me up here not just as his best friend, but also as a guard. A week ago, when they were finalizing the arrangements, they had gone ahead and shipped a few pistols out here to the hotel, so the package would be waiting on us. I have one of them securely strapped under my suit jacket and am vigilant throughout the ceremony.
I didn’t need to worry, thank God. After Chase and Sasha seal their vows with a deep, passionate kiss, they walk back down the aisle to cheers and applause. The photographer sweeps in and starts ordering us all into positions for the wedding shoot. It takes longer than I could have ever imagined, as he drags us all over the park, looking for the perfect shot.
During what I hope is our final photo, Mercy’s cell phone begins to loudly vibrate non-stop in the little clutch she's carrying.
“Excuse me, everyone,” she apologizes as she walks away from the group photo. I glance over at Chase and Sasha, who both give me the nod to follow her.
Mercy doesn’t notice me as I walk over to check on her.
“Now wait, Ryan. What happened? A tabloid story?” Mercy asks nervously.
I remember that Ryan was the name of the producer on her show, Queen of Hearts, and so I keep quiet so I won’t interrupt a call that must be important.
“Pictures and a video of when the stalker attacked me? God, I hate that it’s out there already. I told you I didn’t want that getting publicized. He’s been arrested, thankfully, so that’s no longer a problem,” she says, then pauses.
“Another problem?” Mercy asks after listening to Ryan for a moment. “My boyfriend? No, that’s not…oh, okay,” she adds, pausing again for a long time. “Yes, I can do that, sure. We can go ahead and get in front of this. I’ll catch the flight and see you on set tomorrow. Uh-huh, thanks, Ryan.” Mercy says, hanging up the phone and then turning to see me standing nearby.
“Abe!” she gasps. “Thank God. I need to talk to you. I’ve got to catch a flight back to Wilmington in a few hours so that I can finish filming the show.”
“That’s what the call was about?” I ask her, disappointment obvious in my voice. I had hoped…well, if I’m being honest I had secretly hoped that she would just quit the damned show.
“Someone was filming and took photos of Joseph confronting me yesterday. Apparently when I told security that you were my boyfriend, it got recorded. Ryan’s worried that if it gets out there before we’ve got the show wrapped up, it will tank the whole production. He wants to get the final ceremony done as soon as possible so they can start airing promos,” Mercy explains.
“The final ceremony where you pick the man who has ‘won your heart’?” I ask, sarcasm heavy in my voice. “Why did you say that then, Mercy? Why did you tell security that I was your boyfriend and not your bodyguard?”
“It just popped out of my mouth, Abe. I didn’t have a lot of time in the moment to think it over, did I?” Mercy says, matching my sarcasm and glare with her own.
“So that’s it then? Your stalker is caught, and you’re just gonna jet off back to your show to pick the man of your dreams?” I yell, wounded beyond words that she is going through with the stupid fucking show. I’m irrationally angry, knowing full well I never asked her to quit the damned thing, but hoped that she would make the decision on her own. “You’ve used me for what you needed. And now that you’ve gotten dirty in the gutter for a bit, you’re just going to leave me behind? Women never stick around in my life, so why should you, right?”
“No, Abe,” Mercy says through gritted teeth, as tears began to slide down her beautiful cheeks. “That was not what I was going to do. You’re not the only one who's been heartbroken before. Don't you understand that? I’ve given everything to a man, and he humiliated me and threw me away. You know that, and yet here you are, expecting me to be the one to lay myself out there for you when you won’t even meet me halfway. I told you I can’t break this contract, because it will ruin me financially. It’s just a show, an act. I was starting to think that maybe you had what it takes to win my heart. But the way you act, Abe, when you won’t open up to me, I’m not sure that you have what it takes either.”
I stand there stunned as Mercy breaks down in tears, unable to think of what to say as she starts to walk away. “Mercy, wait, don’t go…” I belatedly start.
“Goodbye, Abe. Tell Sasha I’m sorry I have to leave,” she sobs before lifting her long, black dress and breaking into a run for the parking lot.
I’m at a complete loss after hearing what she said. She's going to go finish the show, but she said it wasn’t real. Deep down I fucking know that. I was there every damn day, and there was no chemistry between her and any of the men.
And she’s right, all I’ve been there to do for her is fuck and fight when she needed me. I’ve never even offered to give her more than that or let down my guard enough for her to see the feelings I have for her. How the hell could she know that she’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me if the words never got past my lips?
While I’m still standing there staring off into the distance, Chase walks over to me, tugging at the knot of his tie in aggravation. “Mercy leaving?” he asks.
“I love her,” I say out loud, to no one in particular while shoving my hand in my suit pocket to run my fingertips over the dime I’ve kept on me since the first day we met. Fuck, I’m pretty sure I loved Mercy from the moment I saw her.
“Yeah,” Chase agrees good-naturedly. “Sasha told me.”
“What?” I ask in shock, turning to face my best friend. “Did Mercy say something to her?”
“Nah, nothing like that,” he replies. “She’s good at spotting this sort of thing. Sasha saw how you two acted around each other. She was worried that you and Mercy are both kind of damaged, though. You know, you’ve got your shit with your mom, and you’ve never had a real relationship with a woman because you don’t think you deserve it. And Mercy, well, she had that bad break-up and shit after the last reality show. Sasha thought that you both might be too hard-headed to let shit just happen and give each other a chance.”
“Well why the hell didn’t she tell me that?” I demand.
“She told me I should talk to you about it,” Chase says with a grin. “But let’s face it, I’ve been a little busy.”
“So what the hell am I supposed to do now? I mean, how do I let her know that I…how do I let her know how I feel and shit without getting shot down, especially if she’s off to go finish that fucking show?”
“Damn, Abe, didn’t you learn anything from all my years of pining after Sasha? You can’t just leave shit unsaid, man. You gotta speak up and put yourself out there. Yeah, you might get shot down, but maybe you won’t. It’s all about making the grand gesture and taking the chance. You know, the boom-box outside the window, the ridiculous, cheesy-as-fuck proclamation of love? Women need to hear it, man. You can’t just take that shit for granted. If
you really want her, then you’ve got to bust in and proclaim that shit for the world to hear. Especially with a woman like Mercy, who tried to do it herself and got burned so badly in the past. You’ve got to take the leap on this one if you’re really serious about her. You understand what I’m saying?”
“Yeah, Chase. I never really thought about it. But with what happened with you and Sasha, with the shit that you didn’t get to say, and all that happened…I know what I have to do. Grand gestures even if I look like a fool, right?”
“That’s right. Now get the hell out of here.”
“I can’t,” I tell him. “I’m supposed to have your back.”
“I’ll be fine. Dalton, Sax and Maddox can stick around for a little longer while War and Cooper help Torin take care of business. I can spare you for a while, man, especially for something this important.”
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“Go fucking get her, Abe.”
Chase didn’t have to tell me twice. With a nod of determination, I take off across the parking lot, looking for a taxi to drive me back to the hotel. I briefly think about calling Mercy; but after what Chase said about grand gestures, a much better plan quickly starts to take form in my head.
It’s time to go big or go home.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mercy
The last twenty-four hours were such a whirlwind that I’m only able to finally relax even the slightest bit when I’m inside my trailer that's outside the mansion where we'll be filming the final episode of Queen of Hearts. After rushing back to the Hard Rock in Vegas and grabbing my things, I had to hustle to the airport, try to get a little bit of sleep, and then get here to film. We’ve spent the day doing the final “dates” with the remaining three bachelors. And tonight, as the sun sets, we’ll do the final ceremony where I’m supposed to make my choice.