Page 75 of Magnetic God

“Every night.”

I snort as I take a drink of coffee.

“Well, lucky for you, I’m free.”

“You’re the best.”

“No, you are.”

By the time I leave the coffee shop, I’m full of hope.

Renee smiles when I enter my building.

“You’re in a good mood today.”

“I am,” I agree.

“Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we have a problem.”

I groan and motion for her to follow me to my office so I can put down my bag and to-go cup of coffee.

“Lay it on me.”

“I heard from both venues about the Minty-Smith Henderson wedding. They’re both claiming they don’t have dates available, which is odd because both were willing to work with us. I’m not sure what happened.”

I work my bottom lip as I think. Part of me feels bad for not telling her that the wedding might not take place, but since it’s not really up to me, I’m not going to say anything.

“I’ll call them directly.”

“Perfect.” She looks at her tablet. “We also received an odd call from New York City from the Bruno. He said your dress would be hand delivered to the shop tomorrow. I told him there must be some kind of mistake, since we haven’t ordered from him, but he insisted that it wasn’t an error.”

My eyes widen. “Bruno? It has to be an error. As much as I’d love to order a gown from him, he’s a bit out of our price range.”

“That’s what I thought, too, but he hung up before I could reiterate that it was a mistake. And he hasn’t answered any of my calls.”

“Well, we’ll figure it out once the dress gets here.” I grin. “I can’t wait to see what it looks like, though. His career has really taken off since he dressed Ellie Jafar a few years ago.”

“I’m still jealous of that gown she wore after having her baby. Serious goals.” She snorts to herself. “There are rumors that Mr. Jafar is in the Mafia. Maybe we should try to get a Made Man and his fiancée as a client.”

I’m silent because Mr. Jafar might actually be in the Mafia. It’s not any more farfetched than Brooks being in a secret society.

Renee doesn’t notice my silence and says, “Well, I’m going to take care of the emails. Since the Prince and his fiancée were seen at the gala, we’ve been getting a ton of emails from that side of the pond.”

“We’re going international, baby.”

She does a fist pump in the air. “Yes, we are.”

She leaves, but it’s hard for me to concentrate. Jess’ words keep dancing around my mind. I do trust Brooks, but it worries me that there are other things at play, like the Brotherhood. What if they make him marry Jacqueline? I won’t be the other woman again, even if they’re both unhappy. That’s just not the kind of person I am. But will I be able to sit by and watch him, knowing he’ll never be mine? I guess the answer is simple. I’ve done it once. I can do it again.

The rest of the day goes by in a blur. I’m about to leave when my office phone rings. The name on the caller ID has me pausing.

“Hannah Lee Bridal. This is Hannah. How may I help you?”

“Hannah, this is Senator Ryans. We met at your gala a few days ago.”

“I remember, Senator. You and your wife were considering using me for your daughter’s upcoming wedding, right?”

“That’s correct.” There’s a long pause. Long enough that I wonder if the call dropped.

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