by Carla Luna
Martin rubbed his chin. He had the calculating look he often got when he was working through a tricky staffing situation. “You really think Victoria’s going to find another caterer? The wedding’s the day after tomorrow, and it’s less than a week before Christmas. Who the hell is going to be able to cater a sit-down dinner for two hundred people on such short notice?”
“I’m sure Victoria will find someone.” Rafael’s brothers hadn’t seen her in full organization mode. By now, she would have pulled off a last-minute save.
And moved on completely.
“I’m not so sure,” Martin said. “For now, we keep going as if the wedding’s still on.”
Rafael shook his head. They had hours of work left. “But…”
“Trust me,” Martin said. “Because if Ben comes crawling back, we want to be ready. The guy might be an asshole, but I’d rather not take the financial hit.”
Rafael had no desire to help Ben out, but he’d do whatever his brothers asked, pride be damned. This was what family was about. They loved and supported you, no matter what.
“Thanks. I owe you one,” he said.
“You’ll repay me eventually,” Martin said. “Now, let’s get to work.”
Chapter 27
Victoria woke on Thursday to a pounding head, a queasy stomach, and a feeling of existential dread. She didn’t want it to be morning. Not if it meant she’d have to face the day.
Last night had been a disaster of epic proportions. She’d ruined things with Rafael. She let Ben push her around. And then, after she returned home from Blackwood Manor, she compounded her misery by drinking half a bottle of red wine and sobbing until her eyes were raw. By the time she fell asleep, she was a woozy, miserable mess.
As she sat up in bed, the horrible incident with Ben played on a loop, filling her with a tangled mix of emotions. Fury at Ben. Guilt at the way she’d treated Rafael. Sorrow at the thought of losing him. And sheer panic when she contemplated the reality of finding a decent caterer with two days to go.
A few times last night, she’d been tempted to call Rafael and apologize profusely. But what good was an apology if she couldn’t back it up?
When her phone pinged on the nightstand, she lunged for it, hoping Rafael was checking in on her.
Instead, Missy had sent her a message filled with heart-eye emojis. The trees look amazing!!!
If Victoria had to guess, she’d assume Ben hadn’t informed Missy of the catering issue. He’d probably gone back to his condo and slept off the booze.
She needed to call Missy and tell her what had happened. Any goodwill she’d built up with the demanding bride-to-be would instantly evaporate.
But before dealing with Missy, she had to clear her head. She changed into her running gear and hit the road, putting in six grueling, sweaty miles. An extra one to make up for the pepperoni pizza she’d eaten at the tree-decorating party. After she showered and dressed, she forced herself to call Missy.
The call went straight to voicemail.
She was about to try again until she remembered their last conversation. Missy had mentioned something about spending the day at Glen Ivy Hot Springs. Which gave Victoria a little breathing room. On the chance she could find another caterer before Missy’s spa day ended, she might be able to avoid a huge blowup. She ended the call without leaving a message.
After filling a tumbler with coffee, she drove to Blackwood Manor and sequestered herself inside her office. The first caterer she called responded with enthusiasm.
“I’d love to do it,” the woman said. “A Christmas wedding at the manor sounds delightful. But can I wait until January to meet with the couple? We’re slammed.”
“Actually, I meant December 22 of this year,” Victoria said.
“As in, this Saturday? Is this a joke?”
The woman was still laughing when Victoria hung up.
By one thirty, she’d worked her way through five more names, all of whom were too busy with other events or too understaffed to prepare for a wedding of this size. When Ben sent her a text, demanding an update, she ignored it. Same with his next two texts. Arguing with him would only waste time.
But when her phone pinged a half hour later, she forced herself to look at the screen. Her father had messaged her.
My office. Now.
Ben must have alerted him. She could only hope he hadn’t told her father everything.
She grabbed the wedding binder and headed for her father’s office. Though her nerves were jittery from too much caffeine and too little food, she slowed her pace and took a few calming breaths. Under no circumstances could she break down and cry in front of her father. He’d respect her even less if she lost her composure.
No sooner had she entered his dark, miserable cave than her father pointed to the chair facing his desk. He didn’t mince words. “Ben called. He told me he fired the caterer last night for insubordination.”
Her shoulders tensed as she sat down. Deep breaths. “Insubordination? Is that what he’s calling it?”
“What else would you call it? The bastard threatened him. He’ll be lucky if Ben doesn’t sue.” Her father scowled. “You were there, weren’t you?”
Fury pooled inside of her, waiting to be unleashed, but she responded calmly. “I witnessed the whole thing. Ben’s full of shit.”
Her father raised his eyebrows but didn’t reprimand her.
She clasped her hands together to stop them from shaking. “You want to know what really happened? Ben showed up at the manor last night around ten thirty, and he was plastered. When he got handsy and tried to kiss me, Rafael told him to leave me alone. That’s all. He didn’t threaten Ben.”
“You’d stand up for Rafael, wouldn’t you?” His lip curled with distaste. “Ben told me about your little affair.”
A chill crept over her, prickling her arms with goose bumps. Her father knew. Even though she’d done exactly what Ben had asked of her, it wasn’t enough. He wanted to dig the knife in deeper.
“I’m extremely disappointed in your behavior,” her father said. “I thought you’d learned your lesson after Paris.”
Bringing up Paris was a low blow, but the reminder lit a fire inside of her. Her shame ebbed away, replaced by a slow-burning fury. “I’m a grown woman. Whom I spend my time with is none of your business.”
“It is my business. Especially when it costs me a hundred thousand dollars.”
Did it really come down to the money? Or was it about control?
She blinked back tears of rage. “You’re the one who insisted on paying off Henri. Not me. I was willing to let the photos go public, but you were too worried about our family’s reputation.”
“This is the gratitude I get for saving you from humiliation? You’re no better than your brother.”
Not this again. If her father started ranting about Connor’s betrayal, she’d never get him back on track. She softened her tone. “I’m sorry if I sound ungrateful. I appreciate what you did for me. But I’d appreciate it more if you stopped reminding me how much I owe you.”
“I don’t want you to make the same mistake again.” He huffed out a breath. “Which you obviously did. How could you jump into bed with the caterer, for God’s sake? The man’s beneath you.”
There it was. Her father wasn’t angry because she’d had a fling. Only because she’d done it with someone beneath her.
“We don’t have time for this.” He waved her away as if she were an irritating fly. “You need to find a new caterer.”
She stayed put, refusing to let him dismiss her. “There’s no one available. Trust me, I’ve checked. Unless Ben changes his mind, we’re screwed.”
“That’s unacceptable. This is the highest-profile wedding of the holiday season.”
“I’m aware of that. What do you want me to do?”
He let out a grunt of frustration. “Call Ben and beg for his forgiveness. And tell Rafael he needs to apologize, too. That might do it.”
She stare
d at him in stunned silence. A normal father might feel sympathy or ask if she was all right, considering her ex had physically harassed her. Instead, Brian Blackwood, contender for asshole-father-of-the-decade, had asked her to debase herself by begging for her ex’s forgiveness. Even though she’d done nothing wrong.
“What are you waiting for?” he asked. “The clock’s ticking.”
Why was she letting him treat her like this? For years, he’d fed her a load of shit, and she’d been taking it.
No more. She was done.
She stood up. “Screw Ben. I quit.”
“What?”
Even though she was trembling in her heels, the horrified look on her father’s face was one hundred percent worth it.
“I said, I quit. I’m sick of the way you treat me. You’ve spent five years making me feel guilty because of a bad judgment call. You insisted I marry Ben even after he cheated on me, and you took his side during our breakup. Then you forced me to coordinate his wedding. Who does that? It’s toxic as hell, and you know it. You can find yourself another event coordinator.”
He snorted. “You’re not going anywhere. You owe me a hundred thousand dollars.”
Her stomach dropped. If she quit, she’d still owe him the money.
But she couldn’t let the debt control her life.
“I gave you a chance to clear the slate,” he said. “Hell, I gave you two chances. But I’m done being generous. It’s time for you to buckle down and take responsibility for your actions. If you weren’t so frivolous, you might have saved up some of the money by now. But you haven’t, have you? You’ve just frittered it away, like a spoiled princess.” His tone was mocking, meant to put her in her place.
So that was how he was going to play it? Then she was done holding anything back. “As it happens, as of August, I’d saved up forty thousand dollars. But I invested it all in Connor’s winery.” When her father’s mouth dropped open, she couldn’t help but smile.
See how it feels to be blindsided, Dad?
“You…you betrayed me?”
“I did nothing of the sort. I made a solid business decision.” She hadn’t squandered the money on clothes or trips or jewelry. She’d invested it in something she cared about. “If you want me to pay off my debt, then have your lawyers draw up a plan. I’ll pay you back in full, no matter how long it takes. But I’m done working for you.”
“Victoria…”
She dropped the binder on his desk with a thud. “Have fun with the wedding.”
With that, she turned and left, slamming the door behind her. As she heard something crash to the floor—one of his framed awards?—she thrilled in the momentary rush of victory.
Until she retreated to her office and realized what she’d done. She didn’t just work for her father. She lived with him. If she was truly going to quit, she couldn’t stay at home. Otherwise she’d be at his mercy. He’d hound her nonstop and remind her of everything she owed him.
But she didn’t have anywhere else to go. Though she’d started looking at apartments, she hadn’t picked one or signed a lease.
Shit.
Grabbing her laptop and blazer, she left the office. She’d retrieve the rest of her personal items later, assuming her father didn’t lock her out of Blackwood Manor. Or ban her from the Blackwood Cellars Estate entirely, like he’d done with Connor. Though she wanted to stalk out in a blaze of glory, she needed to apologize to June for dumping this steaming mess in her lap.
But June wasn’t at her desk. On top of her calendar was a sticky note written in perfect cursive: At the dentist. Back tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.
Victoria groaned as she recalled June’s dental emergency. Though June had mentioned it on Wednesday afternoon, so much had transpired since then it seemed like a lifetime ago. She grabbed a Post-it from the desk and added her own note.
Wedding emergency! Call me first thing tomorrow.
As she left the building, she tried to figure out her next move. After the way she’d blown up her life, she couldn’t imagine who’d be willing to help her out.
Certainly not Rafael or anyone from his family. Not the friends who’d flocked to Ben’s side after he dumped her. Even her mother couldn’t offer assistance, since she was still in New York. But Victoria could always depend on her brother.
Her whole body tensed up as she called Connor. Please let him be there. When he answered the phone, she unleashed her tale of woe. He listened without interruption, other than occasionally cursing out their father.
“Fucking bastard,” he muttered. “I can’t believe he’d treat you this way.”
She wiped her eyes, frustrated at her inability to stop weeping. By now, her makeup had to be a mess. “I don’t know what to do. If I go back home, I’ll be at Dad’s mercy.”
“Come stay with me,” Connor said. “My guest room’s kind of cluttered, but it has a futon couch that turns into a bed.”
She unlocked her car and set her laptop on the passenger seat. “But that’s your office.”
“I can work anywhere. Pack a bag and come over. You can stay as long as you need to.”
His generosity brought a fresh round of tears to her eyes. “Thanks. I’m going to grab some stuff from the house, and I’ll stop by in a bit. Do I need a code to get in?”
“The codes for the gate and the front door are the same—2248. I’ll be home by six. Jess might show up before that, so I’ll let her know you’re there. Feel free to watch TV, take a nap, make us a gourmet meal, whatever you want.”
Victoria couldn’t help but smile. She’d never made a gourmet meal in her life. “I appreciate it.”
She didn’t know what her next step would be.
But at least she was free of her father’s control.
Chapter 28
One Day Until the Wedding
Victoria stared down Connor’s high-end coffee maker. Why couldn’t he own a Keurig? Or a Nespresso, like the one in the Blackwood Cellars break room? Instead, he possessed a fancy model he’d ordered from Italy back when he still had money.
Though she’d scoured his kitchen for a set of instructions, she’d come up short. She didn’t want to damage his precious machine, but if she didn’t get some caffeine into her system, she’d have a raging headache. It was bad enough she’d woken up criminally late, feeling groggy and hungover after indulging in brandy-laden eggnog with Jess and Connor the night before.
They’d left for work an hour ago, but she’d been too lethargic to get out of bed. Why should she? She didn’t have a job or anywhere else she needed to be. And she couldn’t summon the energy to go for a run. It had taken all her willpower to sit up, fling back the covers, and drag her sorry ass over to the shower.
Given how miserable she felt, she was incredibly grateful for her brother’s support. When she’d first arrived at his apartment the previous afternoon, she was so exhausted she crashed out on the futon in his guest room and slept for three hours. Though she’d planned to spend the evening wallowing in misery, Connor wouldn’t hear of it. Instead, he and Jess ordered Chinese takeout and coerced her into sharing funny holiday stories. After dinner, they started in on the eggnog while watching Elf—one of their favorite Christmas movies.
But now, she was alone with no one to pull her from the brink of despair. After another attempt at deciphering the coffee maker, she looked up the model online and found a PDF of the manual. Success. She fired it up, made an Americano, and sipped it slowly.
Now what?
She was tempted to call Missy to see if Ben had filled her in on the catering debacle. No matter how relaxing her spa day had been, she was bound to explode once she heard the news.
It’s not your problem. You quit, remember?
Even so, her sense of professionalism nagged at her. She’d put so much work into the wedding that she hated the thought of it falling apart at the last minute. And she truly regretted the way she’d let Rafael down.
It pained her to think how much she’d hurt him. Sh
e’d let Ben fire him, even though he’d done nothing wrong. Not only had she been too weak to fight for Rafael, she’d put his family’s business in jeopardy. She was selfish beyond measure, caring only about her pathetic desire to please her father. She let her fear of his disapproval dictate her actions, and in doing so, she betrayed the man she loved.
You need to make this right.
But how?
She could apologize to Ben, like her father had asked. But she knew how her ex’s mind worked. Though he might enjoy seeing her beg, he wouldn’t give in. He wanted to punish her for sleeping with Rafael.
But Missy didn’t care about Victoria’s love life. All she cared about was having the perfect wedding.
If Victoria called her, she might be able to salvage things. She was about to pick up her phone when it rang abruptly, causing her heart to skip a beat. But when she answered it, June’s name showed up on the caller ID. She cringed at the sound of the older woman’s voice.
“Victoria?” June said. “What the hell is going on? I saw your note, and then your father came by with the wedding binder. He told me you quit. Now I’m in charge and have to find a new caterer?”
Yet another reason to feel guilty. In the war between Victoria and her father, June had ended up as collateral damage. “I’m sorry. My father and I had a big blowup yesterday.”
“I get it. The man’s a bear. But I don’t know what to do. No one’s available and the wedding’s tomorrow!” June’s voice cracked. “Is there any way you could convince Ben to rehire Tres Hermanos? Like, plead, beg, grovel. Anything?”
“I’ve been thinking about it. If I approach Missy and get her on board, she could probably persuade Ben to change his mind.”
“That might do it,” June said. “She wants her wedding to be perfect, and it won’t be anywhere near that if she doesn’t get her extra-fancy, sit-down dinner.”
“Exactly. Give me until noon to fix this. Okay?”
“Thank you. If you can’t pull it off, I’m going back to the break room and eating more brittle. I’d rather have another cracked tooth than deal with your father when he’s like this.”
