by Ruby Rowe
“Everyone, out into the hallway,” the wedding planner orders as she realigns her headset. One of the bridesmaids opens the door, and I spot Griffin’s eyes searching for mine.
I tilt my head toward my mom, signaling that I need his help, and as soon as everyone’s out of his way, he hurries inside.
“Here, Mrs. Leoni, let me give you a hand. Those chairs are hard to get out of.” Once she’s standing, she pats his hand as it holds her cane.
“I like you, and I like you even more with my daughter.”
“Thank you. I like being with your daughter, so we’re in agreement there.”
She mutters something to him, but I can’t hear her as I pick up my flowers and her sheer shawl. It matches her lavender dress, and even frail, she’s beautiful and elegant, unlike the bridesmaids, who were forced to wear bright purple gowns.
“Thank you,” I whisper to Griffin before the three of us head to the chapel. One of the ushers is waiting with his arm out to walk my mom to her seat, but Griffin refuses to hand her over.
Instead, he positions himself to hold more of her weight, and with patience and finesse, he uses his strength to give the appearance that my mother is walking on her own.
As she moves down the aisle with the dignity and grace she deserves, I brush away the bittersweet tears. I also acknowledge that for the first time in my life, I’m envious of my sister.
Along with seeing our mother’s smile as she walks toward her, Angel gets to stand before her friends, family and God and wed the man she loves. My chest tightens as I long for the same opportunity. I want to marry Griffin.
“Ava,” Mickey whispers as he tries to hand me his handkerchief. Ignoring him, I use my fingers to dab under my eyes and nose.
“I’m sorry your parents are aging. You’ll soon have no one in LA, and it’s one of the reasons you should move back here. You’re trying to resist me, and it’s only because you don’t approve of what we do, but I swear I will leave you out of the business entirely.”
I don’t reply as he forces his arm beneath mine so we can begin our walk down the aisle. I warned Griffin that Mickey and I were paired up, and he understood, but I still feel guilty.
“That could be us standing up there,” Mick adds. Continuing to ignore him, I hold my head high and look straight ahead. Guards are positioned around the chapel, and I’m certain Griffin is watching, which only adds to my anxiety.
Once Mickey and I reach the altar, he kisses my cheek and hesitates to release me. I tense up, knowing what he’s done. Griffin won’t let this one slide, and maybe that’s what Mick wants. If Griffin throws the first punch, my ex has an excuse to retaliate.
Ava
My sister and Victor are pronounced husband and wife, and as they kiss, I’m overjoyed that I no longer have to watch Mickey stare at me like we’re in love and will recite our own vows soon.
I think he truly believed I’d come back to him after the dust settled, and I’d overlook all the cheating since, like most mobsters, he has a sense of entitlement and takes no ownership for his bad decisions. Oh, and let’s not forget the arrogance they possess.
He holds his arm out for me so we can walk back down the aisle, and as we do, I lean into him.
“Don’t ever put your lips on me again. Not even on my cheek.”
“Are you worried your bodyguard’s going to get jealous and catch on to the feelings you still have for me?”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Mick.” We enter the hallway, and I pull away from him as fast as possible. Kellen approaches me, so I look around for Griffin.
“Where is he?” I ask.
“He left. He said he’ll meet us at the reception.” Grabbing Kellen’s arm, I pull him to the side for more privacy.
“What do you mean he’s gone? He wouldn’t leave me here.”
Shaking his head, he looks at me as if he’s dumbfounded by my words. He runs his hand through his sandy-blond hair before he remembers his job and looks around at everyone filing out of the chapel.
“Ava, Griffin can only take so much of seeing you with your ex, especially when the man keeps touching you. He left so he wouldn’t ruin your sister’s wedding, but I have a feeling the reception’s going to be a different story. He’s about to implode. How do you not see that?”
“I do see it, and I’m trying to make the situation better, but Mickey’s not cooperating.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed.”
“Hi, are we ready to go?” Holly asks as she pushes back a strand of hair that’s fallen from her French twist. She’s professional as always in a simple pale blue dress you’d wear to the office.
“The sooner the better. I need to find Griffin.”
She and Kellen exchange a quick look before she checks that no one is listening.
“The paparazzi are here. They found out about the wedding, so they’re outside and staked out at the hotel. Kellen said Griffin may confront Mickey there, so I think it’d be wise for us to leave New York early rather than create drama at Angel’s reception. I could say you’re ill.”
“I can talk him down.”
“Not this time,” Kellen says, “and I think you need to reevaluate having him as your primary bodyguard. He can’t be professional where you’re concerned. It’s become too personal, and that’s not safe for anyone.”
“Maybe you’re right, but it’s not a conversation to have here. Let’s go.” I hear Kellen exchanging code words with the other guards, and in seconds, I’m surrounded by security as we start toward the back entrance of the church.
Holly wasn’t joking. The reporters are everywhere, shouting and crowding the car. Griffin must be at his breaking point to leave me behind in this mess.
Holly takes the seat next to me in the back of the limo, and because of the high threat level, two guards sit across from us while Kellen takes the front passenger seat. My phone buzzes, so I hurry and find it in my clutch, hoping it’s Griffin, but it’s a text from Sydney.
Sydney: I ducked out a few minutes early to avoid the paparazzi.
Me: How the hell did they find out we’re here? Maybe I shouldn’t have had you come.
Sydney: Are you blaming me for this?
Me: No, not you personally. I have to go. Griffin and I are having issues because of Mickey.
Sydney: What kind of issues?
Me: Mick won’t stop crossing the line, but I can’t talk about it right now. I’ll see you at the reception.
I push the button for Griffin, but he doesn’t answer, so I type out a text.
Me: I’m surprised you left. I have to change into another dress before the reception, so can we meet at the penthouse to talk?
Griffin: I’m already here, but there’s nothing to discuss. Mickey’s going to pay for touching you again, and I don’t care what shit it stirs up.
I don’t reply. Instead, I put my phone away and lean my head back against the seat.
“Are you OK?” Holly asks.
“No, I’m not, and honestly, I don’t care if Griffin lays Mickey out. The man needs to be put in his place.”
“Ava, there could be serious repercussions if the paparazzi sees that happening. They could drudge up everything about your family, and you’ve managed to keep that quiet for years. Do you want all the negative press?”
“My career wasn’t going the direction I wanted it to when everyone thought I was perfect. I no longer care what the public thinks of me.” I lift my head up, and after glancing at the guards, I move closer to her.
“What I want is a life with Griffin away from Hollywood. I think I’m done working. I want to marry and have a baby before it’s too late. That is if he wants the same. I can’t keep up this charade any longer.”
She sighs. “OK, but this is your sister’s wedding day.”
“Then I’ll tell him to take it outside.”
“Yes, I’m sure your bodyguard/boyfriend and mobster ex will take it outside and handle it like men.”
Ignoring her, I r
est my head back against the seat again. Surely, I can get through to Griffin. Once he calms down and I’m in his arms, he’ll listen to reason.
Griffin
I hear Ava enter the living room where I’m seated on the sofa. I take a sip of my bourbon as she strolls toward me. Getting on her knees, she shoves between my legs and stares up at me.
“I swear I didn’t talk to him other than to tell him to never touch me again.”
“I believe you.” I skim my fingers along her cherry lips, and she closes her eyes, yearning for my touch like always, so why do I let Mickey get inside my head? “I’m on the wrong side of the tracks in this city, and I’m hating it more than I expected.”
Ava opens her eyes, and mine are watery, so I look away.
“I love you,” she says. “I love only you, and we’ll leave for LA as soon as the reception’s over. I’ll make Mickey fly back on Sydney’s plane, and I’ll have Kellan guard me tonight so that you can stay here.”
I loop my fingers around a soft curl hanging by her chin.
“No, I’m going. I’m sure he’d like nothing more than for you to be alone so he can have you to himself.”
“He’ll never have me, and if you’re going with me, then I need you to hang on to that fact and keep your cool.”
“I will.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Really?”
“Yep. Cool’s my middle name.”
“How many of those have you had?” she asks, eyeballing my drink.
“Only two, but it’s not nearly enough to get through this weekend.”
“Kellen was right,” she mumbles before rubbing her forehead.
“About what?”
“That you shouldn’t be guarding me. I believe with all my heart that you were the most focused, professional bodyguard before meeting me, but now you care too much.
“Like what you said about me being too close to my career to see the truth, you’ve gotten too close to me to see that our relationship is messing with your ability to work. The lines became blurred early on, and I take partial blame for that. I get now what you were worried about.
“Since you’ve been drinking, Kellen and the rest of the team are going to guard the both of us while you relax and be my date tonight.” Sliding her hands up my thighs, she lowers her chin and tilts her gorgeous green eyes up at me seductively.
“Just love on me at the reception, and forget about Mickey, and once we’re back in LA, I’ll let you tie me to whatever piece of furniture you’d like. You can mark me and fuck me and do what you need to reaffirm that I’m yours, but I won’t need reminding.”
Setting my glass aside, I pull at her to climb on my lap. She curls inward against me in her satin gown, and I remove her heels, tossing them to the floor after.
Her toes wiggle as I wrap my arm around her waist and nuzzle my nose in her hair to breathe in her scent of jasmine.
“I promise,” she utters. “I’ll never need reminding that I’m yours. My heart tells me the instant I see you and my quickening pulse the moment you speak.
“My nerve endings come alive the second you’re near, and god, my body feels branded each time your hands and mouth touch it.”
She glides her fingers along my hair and over the shell of my ear, and I raise my head to stare at her striking beauty. “I believe you were sent to resurrect my wounded soul, and I don’t need to be reminded I’m yours, Griffin, because I feel you everywhere.”
“Baby… Ava…” Cradling her face, I kiss her soft lips, the corners of her mouth, her cheeks, her nose and her forehead before I hold her steady and breathe, “Marry me. Please, will you marry me?”
Blinking away tears, she swallows down the shock of my unexpected question.
“Yes, I want nothing more than to be your wife.”
Ava
Griffin asked me to marry him, and I’m in shock.
“You felt something, too, at the wedding,” I say.
“Yeah, I did, and then I watched that asshole try to ruin it, but now I know he can’t.”
I smile. “That’s right, and are you sure you’re sober enough to ask me such a serious question.”
“I promise I’m sober enough to make decisions and remember them tomorrow.” He gives a crooked grin. “I think I heard that from a stubborn woman once.”
“It’s going to be hard to contain this news, but it’s my sister’s wedding day. Besides, you have to get me a ring first so I can wave it at the paparazzi.”
“A ring… I said I’d give you everything money can’t buy.” We both laugh, and like every time we’re sequestered from the world, time stands still and is perfect.
***
“While Kellen escorts me to the ladies’ room, take this drink and sit right there next to Aunt Lola,” I say pointing as I hand him a new glass of bourbon. “She’s sitting two seats to the right of my mother, and she’s a cougar like no other. The woman could give me lessons.”
“Ten years doesn’t make you a cougar, but I’ll go sit with her to see if she has any valuable dirt on you.” With a hand at my waist, Griffin kisses my lips, and as he pulls back, I see the happiness twinkling in his eyes.
He feels secure now, and I can’t think of a better way to make that happen than by accepting his marriage proposal.
“You don’t move from the outside of that bathroom door,” he says authoritatively as he shoots Kellen a look of warning.
“I’ve been guarding her on your days off you know.” Having no rebuttal, Griffin frowns and strolls away to sit next to my aunt.
While Kellen and I walk to the restroom, I push back locks of my hair that are a touch damp from the humidity. We’re at the rooftop bar of The William Vale hotel. My father reserved it for Angel’s reception, and it figures it’s the hottest summer day in Brooklyn.
After I use the restroom, I reapply my rouge lipstick and grab a paper towel to dab at the sweat on my chest. With this heat, I’m thankful the chiffon material of the long dove-grey dress I changed into is thin.
Once I’ve freshened up, I head back to the party with Kellen. We’re almost there when he freezes and holds his fingers to his earpiece.
“We need to pick up the pace,” he says to me. “Mickey’s talking to Griffin at your parents’ table.” Yanking off my heels, I take off running, knowing Kellen will keep up. Mickey … I’m about to find my gangster roots and shoot his ass.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Griffin
“I shouldn’t have to repeat myself. Walk. The fuck. Away,” I say to Mickey after he makes his presence known at the table where I’m minding my own damn business. I’ve had it with his shit, and I only promised Ava I would try to behave.
“Not until you agree to stop seeing Ava.” His hands are in fists, and his body’s swaying as he stares down at me. Alcohol, which has turned his skin crimson, is responsible for his stupid decision to walk over here. Shaking my head, I stand up and move away from the table.
“That’s never happening. As a matter of fact, she agreed to be mine for a lifetime if you can guess what that means.”
My head slings back after I take a fist to the nose. He threw the first punch, so game on. He rears back to hit me again, so I jerk my left elbow up to deflect his fist before I bring my right elbow around and strike him horizontally in the jaw.
I hear the gasps from the crowd as Mickey falls to the right and lands on the concrete of the rooftop. His head bounces up before smacking the ground with a loud thud.
I start to grab him to pull him back up, but someone gets hold of me from behind and won’t let me go. I fight them with the fury Mickey finally unleashed, but they fight back, clutching my biceps.
Suddenly, Ava’s panicked face is in my line of sight, but Kellen moves her in a flash as Victor storms toward me.
Once a couple of guys on my team step between Victor and me, I discover they were the ones holding me back, so now that I’m free, I fight to break through their barricade.
“Get off me
!” Ava shouts as Kellen and one of the other guards try to usher her off the rooftop. My eyes dart between her and Victor, and she won’t stop putting up a fight. “I’m not leaving him, so you let me go this instant!”
At once, I hear the simultaneous sounds of guns breaking from their holsters. Not only does fear choke out the noise on the rooftop, and cement everyone in their places, but it’s as if New York froze, as well, and the Manhattan skyline in the distance is holding its breath, waiting for the next move.
Before me stands Teddy and Victor’s goons with their guns drawn in front of a hundred people, and I don’t think they’d hesitate to shoot if my guys did the same.
“That’s enough,” Teddy says sternly as he walks toward us. He’s not the old, easygoing father of Ava’s I’ve grown to know. This man has stepped right back into his role as the Leoni family’s boss.
His gait depicts dominance, his stance taller, and his serious expression commands everyone’s attention, much like Ava’s do. “For Christ’s sake, this is a wedding reception.”
His cold gaze falls on Victor and the six suited men holding their weapons. “Put them away–now. Mr. Scott’s not a threat to the family.” His eyes flit to mine. “Isn’t that right?”
I look for Ava, but she’s shielded behind security. I think of the danger she’d be in if guns were fired, so I nod at Teddy. I got my shot in, and Mickey better have received the message loud and clear.
I hear Sydney arguing with her bodyguards before she rushes to Mickey’s side and squats next to him. As he stares up at her in a daze, she cries, seeming genuinely concerned.
Remembering Ava, I jerk free from my men and wipe the blood from my nose as I head right for her. She buries her face against my chest, but then she turns her head, and as it rests on me, she stares right at her ex and close friend. Sydney touches his face as tears roll down her cheeks.
Ah, shit.
Ava looks up at me. “What the hell am I watching?”
“Baby, if I tell you, Sydney’s going to out me to Mickey and the family,” I whisper. “She overheard Teddy and I talking last night.”
