by Katie Reus
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Sometimes I wonder if this wedding is more about showing off his money than anything. Then I feel horrible for even having that thought.”
Darcy’d had the exact same thought, but didn’t say it aloud. She was simply here to listen to her sister vent. She had her own issues with Mr. Markov now that had nothing to do with his ostentatiousness. “Well, I might have something that will make you feel better. Cora texted me some pictures of what the final cake will look like. It’s stunning.” Darcy looked in the rearview mirror as she turned onto the ramp to get on the highway. She only had a few exits to go to get to work. No one was behind her and she chastised herself for being so paranoid earlier.
“Forward them to me!”
“I will as soon as I get to work. So, other than the insanity of your soon-to-be father-in-law, how are you really doing?” Darcy had everything well in hand for her sister. The dress, caterer, flowers and every little detail were as under control as possible. There would be some hitches on the actual wedding day, but that was normal, and they would be tiny.
“I’m good, just trying not to stress out. I’ll be glad when this whole thing is over and Peter and I can move on. More than anything, I’m looking forward to the honeymoon.”
Darcy started to respond as she pulled off on the next exit. As she pressed on the brakes, nothing happened.
Oh, God! She pressed again. Nothing. “My brakes aren’t working!”
“What?”
“I’m getting off on exit forty-three and my brakes aren’t working!” Darcy was shouting, couldn’t begin to keep the panic out of her voice. Clutching the wheel tightly, her heart jumped into her throat as she gained speed going downhill.
She was vaguely aware of her sister saying something in her Bluetooth, but couldn’t focus on anything other than staying in control. Two cars were at the stoplight at the end of the exit. The third lane that veered to the right was a yield lane. She hadn’t planned on going that way but it was her only choice unless she wanted to crash into one of the sitting vehicles.
Her palms were damp against the wheel as she veered to the right. Her little car didn’t slow down at all as she merged into the lane. There was an oncoming slew of cars from the other direction, and she had no choice but to cut them off.
Horns blasted as she merged into the new lane. The next light was green at least so she kept up with the flow of traffic and at the next four-way, she made a sharp right turn. Her car fishtailed slightly as she tried to get it under control. And as she passed a Lowe’s parking lot, she made another sharp jerk of her wheel.
“What’s happening?” her sister shouted.
Darcy rattled off the location of where she was—not that her sister could do anything about it. No one could. She was going to have to crash her car. It was the only way to stop and she wasn’t going to risk running into someone else.
“I’m calling the cops!” her sister shouted again before the line went dead.
Thankfully the parking lot wasn’t full, so she steered her car to the very back where it neighbored an abandoned gas station. Her car jerked violently as she ran over a pothole, but it was slowing down second by second. Still gripping the wheel tightly, she made a left turn into the gas station parking lot.
Oh God, the emergency brake!
She yanked on it and couldn’t stop trembling as she jolted to a stop. She was okay.
By the time she finished shaking, two police cars were pulling into the parking lot. Swallowing hard, she tried to shift the gears but it didn’t work. So she stopped the ignition and got out of her car—and couldn’t stop shivering. And it had nothing to do with the cold.
What had happened was a lot less climactic than she’d expected, and for that she was grateful. Her heart was still racing wildly at the thought of what could have happened. What if she’d been on the highway and had to stop? She wouldn’t have been able to, and anything could have happened. A multicar pileup, or she could have flipped over a guardrail… She was going to make herself sick if she kept thinking of all the what-ifs.
Both officers were out of their vehicles and moving toward her at a fast clip. Despite the fact that she wasn’t sure who she could trust in the local police department, she still felt grateful to the man and woman who had just arrived.
“Ma’am, are you okay?” the woman asked.
Darcy nodded as she tried to find her voice. She was definitely in for a long morning. But at least she was alive and unharmed.
For now. What if this hadn’t been an accident? Her stomach dropped but she shook the thought off. No, the emergency brake had worked. If someone had been trying to kill her they would have disabled that too. Right?
Chapter 11
—Some days there comes a time that no matter what the question is, the answer is wine.—
Though she felt as if she might come apart at the seams, Darcy thought she was pulling off her “polished and together” look pretty damn well, all things considered. After talking to the police and filing a report—fun times!—riding with the tow truck driver to her mechanic’s, then catching a ride to the car rental place with her sister, she’d still managed to make it to her meeting with Mr. Markov and Mr. Singh, the owner of Eat Pray Love Catering.
They were mostly done going over the last few things—which should have been settled months ago. Mr. Singh was a saint, because Darcy knew he had to be annoyed with Mr. Markov but he hadn’t said a thing. It was actually the whole reason she was here. Technically she didn’t need to be here, but for this particular wedding, she’d been basically running interference with Mr. Markov and…everyone.
Peter had ended up having to pass on coming to this meeting and Darcy had convinced Emma that just dropping her off at the car rental place would be fine—though Emma had wanted to follow her to this meeting. Peter had work today—and Darcy was certain he didn’t care enough about the menu anyway—and Emma had been called into work for a last-minute emergency. Since her sister had already picked her up and driven her around earlier, Darcy knew she could use the time to catch up with all the last-minute stuff before the honeymoon.
“I didn’t see your little car outside,” Mr. Markov said as he approached her where she was sitting at a high-top table by the window.
Though it was cold outside, it was a beautiful day, with a clear blue sky and only a smattering of white clouds. Darcy blinked at his observation, surprised he’d even noticed. Setting her phone down, she said, “Oh, I was in a little fender bender this morning.” She decided to downplay it. There was no need to tell him that her brakes had stopped working. Because of the nature of her accident, the police were actually going to do an investigation once they got a report from her mechanic. She wondered if…he’d had anything to do with it. But that seemed insane. Or maybe she was giving him too much credit? She swallowed hard, tried to keep on a pleasant smile.
“Fender bender?”
“Well, I had an issue with my car. I didn’t get in an actual accident, but the roads were icy and I had to have it towed.” There, that was vague enough. “But luckily that’s why I have insurance. I got a rental.” She shrugged.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Brooks entering the restaurant with Zac and Olivia. He looked good enough to eat, as always. But what the heck was he doing here? After the morning she’d had, she was feeling raw and unsteady. And seeing him after last night, and all that weird tension between them, was a punch to all of her senses. With him around, she always felt safer, and she had the most absurd thought that she missed his hugs. Because whenever he’d had his arms around her, the world had seemed sane.
“Is everything okay?” Mr. Markov asked, concern in his voice as she slid off her stool.
She was having a hard time reconciling who Markov was with the way he treated her and her sister. When she thought of someone as a “bad guy,” like from the movies, it was so obvious they were a villain. But he cared about his son, and he’d been so welcoming t
o her sister and even her. It was disconcerting to think that he might be involved with bombing someplace, hurting people, hurting children.
“Oh yes,” she said, nodding once toward the door so that he turned to see Zac and Olivia entering. “This is a new couple I’m working with. They’re having a rushed wedding. They’re just a little earlier than I expected.” A big fat lie. They’d showed up right on time.
“It’s no problem at all. I’m basically done here anyway, so I’ll leave you to it. If you have any issues with your new car, just let me know. I have extras you can use.”
“Ah, thank you.” Before he could leave, she smiled politely as Zac, Olivia and Brooks approached. To her surprise, Brooks moved in next to her and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close, as if he had every right in the world. What the heck was he doing?
He kissed the top of her forehead. “I hope you don’t mind me tagging along, sweetheart,” Brooks said, all cowboy charm. “Zac said the tasting was today and I insisted on coming.”
Okay, she couldn’t elbow him in the ribs without it being obvious, but the thought did cross her mind. “Of course I don’t mind.” There, that sounded real enough. “Brooks, Zac, Olivia, this is Mr. Markov. He’s the father of Peter, who you both met the other day.”
Mr. Markov smiled and shook hands with the two men, and nodded politely at Olivia. “You can stop calling me Mr. Markov. We’re going to be family soon,” he said. “And is this a new boyfriend?” he asked, curious.
Before she could answer, Brooks said, “I’m an old boyfriend who is now a boyfriend again. She finally forgave me for making the biggest mistake of my life.”
Darcy resisted the urge to snort. “Mr.… Ah, Semyon, Brooks owns Alexander Ranch. It’s where Olivia and Zac will be getting married.”
His eyebrows raised slightly and he nodded. “Yes, I’ve met your father. Just ran into him yesterday, in fact.”
Brooks smiled neutrally. “He’s just moved back from Florida. He’s not sure if he wants to retire or not.”
Semyon laughed good-naturedly. “I think he’ll say he’ll retire, then never actually do it. He’d be too bored, if he’s anything like me.”
Brooks turned on the cowboy charm then, laughing lightly. “Too true. Are you leaving now or were you staying for a bit? I just stopped in to see my girl, but was planning to head next door for coffee while they do the tasting. Join me?”
Semyon glanced at his watch, then nodded. “Coffee sounds good.”
Well, that was easy enough. She wasn’t certain what they had planned, just that Olivia had requested Mr. Markov be here when they arrived. She’d assumed they’d wanted to search his car or whatever. She wasn’t sure why Brooks would want to talk to him and couldn’t ask now. But she was going to ask later.
Before she could say anything, Brooks completely surprised her and brushed his lips over hers. She barely got a taste of him—not that she wanted one—before he pulled back, taking every delicious inch of himself away. Her heart raced out of control even as he left the restaurant, and she turned to the couple. “I didn’t realize he was coming.”
“Brooks is just full of surprises lately,” Zac said mildly.
“Is there anything I need to do?” she whispered.
Zac shook his head. “Other than help us go over our menu options…no.”
Well that was…disappointing. But what did she expect? “Okay, I know I’m your wedding planner, but I’m going to need an update soon. Brooks came over last night and…did his thing. But I’m having a hard time sleeping or thinking of anything else other than…” No need to say it out loud.
“We planned to update you tonight,” Zac said.
“Oh.”
“I realize we’ve been…quiet with communication, but only two days have passed. I promise we’re looking into everything. And it’s likely the Feds will have to get involved.” Zac said the last part so low she almost didn’t hear him.
The Feds? That sounded…serious. Which she knew it was, but it still scared her. She was supposed to not tell her sister about any of this and act normal around Mr. Markov—or Semyon. Gah. “That’s a lot to take in.”
Olivia nodded understandingly. “I think you’ll feel better after tonight. Brooks is going to talk to you about everything.”
“Okay…then are you guys ready to move on to the fun part of wedding planning?” Anything that involved food was always welcome, and she needed the distraction.
Olivia’s eyes lit up. “Yes. I promised my daughter I’d bring her to the cake tasting. I didn’t want to bring her today because of…” Yeah, Darcy could guess why. She likely didn’t want her daughter anywhere around Semyon Markov. “Anyway, will it be okay if I bring her?”
“Of course. I’m excited to meet her. Is she excited about being the flower girl?”
“Ah, yes. And she’s insisting on having her hair sprayed pink for the big day. She wants it to match her dress—which will also be pink. I let her do it once for Halloween and she thinks our wedding is somehow similar to Halloween since everyone is getting dressed up.”
“That sounds fun,” Darcy said, laughing lightly.
“Really? Not too over the top?”
She shrugged. “She’s six.”
“That’s what I said,” Zac said, wrapping his arm around Olivia’s shoulders. He kissed the top of her head. “If it makes her happy, I say we let her do it.”
Olivia lightly elbowed him. “You’re going to spoil her.”
“So what?”
Olivia looked at Darcy and raised her eyebrows. “How do I argue with that?”
Smiling at the two of them, Darcy was somehow able to get into work mode and focus for the next hour. Now that she knew they would update her this evening, the band of tension around her chest had loosened somewhat. Even if the Feds were involved, that was probably a good thing. If Mr. Markov and those men were planning something, they had to be stopped.
And despite her issues with Brooks, she still felt better knowing he was directly involved—where her safety was concerned, she did trust him.
* * *
“I think we should bring Nova into this,” Savage said as Gage pulled up one of his fake IDs on screen.
Gage eyed the ID critically. He liked to enlarge his handiwork a thousandfold to really get a look at it. And not to be full of himself, but the damn thing was amazing. Savage had asked Gage how he managed to make such perfect copies. Hacking into the DMV—often—was a good start. But he couldn’t really explain it. He just had a knack for some things. Well, a knack and a whole lot of practice. The whole crew had fake IDs courtesy of Gage, including Nova. And all of them were stored offsite as part of their escape plan—if they ever needed to run at a moment’s notice. It was unlikely, but life could change on a dime. He knew that firsthand. A year ago, he’d been working a cushy—boring as fuck—job in Seattle. Now he was back in his hometown working in shades of gray. And loving every second of it.
“Bring me into what?” Nova asked, stepping into the conference room. She looked like Gage’s personal fantasy come to life, as always. Today she had on a pencil skirt and heels that he’d fantasized about. Okay, he hadn’t fantasized about the heels, but about her digging them into his back as he buried his face between her legs. And he felt like a total douche for even thinking about that right now. Or ever. She worked with them. She was an employee. He couldn’t hit on her. Couldn’t have anything with her. Not that it would matter. The woman was light years out of his league. “Nothing,” Gage said.
She lifted an eyebrow. “I know I heard my name.”
Savage cleared his throat. “We’re looking into something that’s a little dangerous—”
“I’m in.” She grinned, and just her smile transformed her from beautiful to out of this world gorgeous.
Gage looked away from her because it hurt to watch her sometimes. He focused on what he was doing instead. “You want to be involved in something dangerous?”
“Skye hi
red me because I wouldn’t balk at the gray-area stuff you guys do. Of all people, I understand why it’s needed.” She did, and she was right. At one time she’d worked for the CIA but had gotten burned out. He wasn’t sure what happened at the private company she’d worked for after that, but only because he hadn’t wanted to violate her privacy. Still, he was curious. One day he hoped she opened up to him and told him what had happened.
“Your help is not needed.” Okay, even he could admit that had come out wrong.
Her eyebrow hiked higher. “And why is that?”
“You’re not qualified.” He couldn’t back down now.
“What exactly am I not qualified for? If you’re going to shoot me down, at least tell me what I’m getting shot down for.” Of course she wasn’t backing down either.
Gage glanced at Savage, who was looking at him strangely. He turned back to Nova. “Savage and I need to discuss it further.”
She stared at him for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Finally she nodded at him briskly. Then she smiled warmly at Savage. “I just stopped in here to tell you that I found a place that teaches ASL classes. It’s supposed to be really good. You’d mentioned that some of the guys were looking to take extra classes in an actual classroom as opposed to online. I’m signing myself up now. I’ve emailed you the information but since I knew you were here, I thought I’d let you know.”
Savage’s soon-to-be daughter was Deaf. She had cochlear implants but didn’t always wear her processors and was bilingual. Everyone who worked for Redemption Harbor Consulting—plus their friends Mercer and Mary Grace—was learning ASL. Skye and Savage already knew it, and Gage was learning but wanted to be fully immersed.
“That’s great, thanks,” Savage said. “Olivia has looked into some local places as well. But there aren’t many.” His tone was frustrated.
Nova smiled. “I copied her on the email too. Oh, she said you guys had to leave the tasting early because Valencia had an earache. Is everything okay?”
