Page 3 of Infinite Love Novella

BARRETT

“I want to see Noah!” Colton’s feet swung wildly, kicking the seat as the limousine traveled the short distance from the East Hampton Airport to Ari’s estate.

“Kicking the seat won’t get us there any faster,” I reminded him.

Lourde had a point. There were times when all it took was a sharp tone from me to stop him dead in his tracks.

“Somebody’s feeling rammy today.” Lourde managed to say it with nothing but love hanging in her words. Motherhood fit her like a glove.

She was endlessly patient, which I could admit also helped in our relationship. I wasn’t always the easiest to love, and I knew it, but she made it look effortless.

“Noah will be there,” she explained for maybe the hundredth time. “And your cousins. Don’t forget about them.”

I was barely able to stifle a laugh when Colton sighed dramatically. “You’d think he pays his own bills,” I murmured, making Lourde giggle behind her hand.

“Babies!” Colton insisted. It wasn’t the time to remind him that Magnus and Evelyn’s twin girls weren’t much younger than him. He wouldn’t understand, anyway.

“But they’re still your cousins, so try to play nice,” I reminded him while we passed one mansion after another as we approached the village, after which we would reach the sprawling estate where the wedding would take place.

“It will be good to see Evelyn,” Lourde murmured while scrolling through the list of activities scheduled for the wedding party and select guests in the days before the ceremony. “She’s been so busy lately.”

She dropped the phone into her Birkin before leaning against me. I smiled to myself, thinking back on the years my sister felt directionless, cut off from the world thanks to her injured leg and the years of psychological abuse that had led to the day of her injury. I might have paid for her surgeries and the therapy that followed, but I wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that did the trick of pulling her out of her shell. Not completely. It had been Magnus who’d brought her to life.

When I looked back on how absolutely fucking furious I had been when the two of them got together, it was enough to make me ashamed of myself. Not only had I acted like a hypocrite since Connor was ready to murder me for being with his sister in the beginning, but I’d also underestimated Magnus. He had been nothing but good for Evelyn, and the confidence she’d gained had given her the strength to open a nonprofit aimed at helping women with disabilities find work and a sense of purpose, which she had gone without for so long.

“It will be good to have a chance to catch up with everyone,” I agreed, brushing my lips over the top of her head. She looked up at me and smiled before delivering a brief but loving kiss.

Colton squealed. “Kiss Colton! Kiss Colton!” There was nothing for Lourde to do but helplessly laugh as she obeyed our son’s wishes.

“Just as demanding as your daddy,” she joked before giving him a big, smacking kiss on his cheek.

“I don’t hear you complaining,” I murmured close to her ear when she settled back in, and she responded by swatting playfully at my arm. However, there was nothing playful in her eyes when they met mine. Suddenly, my most pressing priority was to get her alone as quickly as possible after we arrived.

“Oh, it’s already so beautiful.”

I followed the direction of Lourde’s gaze as we approached the estate. The wedding wasn’t scheduled to take place for another two days, but an event like this couldn’t be pulled off overnight. Ari had gone all out, which was no surprise. He would spare nothing when it came to Olivia, a sentiment I could relate to.

As far as I was concerned, Lourde could have anything she wanted. Money was no object when it came to her happiness.

Multiple tents were being set up along the grounds, the longest I assumed was intended for the reception. Lights twinkled away in there, hundreds if not thousands strung overhead. Workers rolled tables inside, pulling them down from a large truck, while another truck full of chairs was being unloaded nearby. From the looks of them, they would be for the wedding ceremony, which was set to take place on a cliff overlooking the water where a large archway was in the process of being constructed.

The driver pulled into the circular courtyard in front of the mansion, narrowly avoiding a panicked-looking young woman holding a tablet in one arm. “One of the wedding planners,” Lourde guessed as the girl ran past. With the windows rolled up, it wasn’t possible to hear what she was shouting, but she seemed fairly frantic as she hurried toward the workers.

A second girl greeted us once we stepped out of the limo. “Welcome,” she said, wearing a bright smile. “You must be the Black family.”

After a wave of her hand, a kid who looked barely old enough to shave jumped to attention and started gathering our bags. “Josh will take your things up to your assigned rooms,” the girl explained in a bright but professional tone. “Mr. Goldsmith asked if you would join him on the back terrace when you arrived.”

“Has anyone else arrived yet?” I asked while Lourde gave instructions to Naomi. As much as he wouldn’t like the idea, it was time for Colton’s nap. He would be a holy terror if he missed it.

“Mr. and Mrs. Miller have arrived,” the girl replied after checking her tablet, referring to Magnus and Evelyn. “We’re only waiting on Mr. Diamond and Ms. Little, but they’re expected shortly.” She then touched a hand to the earpiece she wore, giving us a respectful little nod before darting off to handle another task.

Connor and Pepper had yet to arrive. It didn’t have to mean anything, though the furrowing of Lourde’s brow told me she thought otherwise.

“We should go back and see them.” Lourde took my hand as we climbed the stairs leading up to the sweeping front terrace bordered by an intricately carved stone parapet that had already been hung with lights and adorned with large planters dripping with luscious cream flowers.

“They can wait a minute.” I hadn’t spent almost an entire flight and limo ride ogling my wife’s legs to head straight back to our friends. Rather than allow her to lead me along the flagstone terrace, I pulled her into the house and made a beeline for the closest powder room at the opposite end of the enormous, marble-floored entry hall. There were perks to knowing the mansion’s layout after paying so many visits.

“What are you doing?” Lourde whispered, giggling uncontrollably by the time we reached the lavishly appointed room. I had been in walk-in closets smaller than where I’d retreated with my wife, who locked the door behind us despite her weak, ineffectual protests.

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