Page 7 of Forking the Billionaire

He said, “Layana and I have decided to marry.”

My chest felt light. I grabbed Gabriel with both arms and pulled him in for a hug. “Congratulations, man. I’m so happy for you.”

As a general rule, there was no such thing as lasting love or happily ever after. Marriage trapped people together as they slowly grew apart. Still, I hoped Gabriel and Layana would be an exception. They were both good people who brought out the best in each other.

I sincerely hoped it lasted.

Aside from my brother Oscar and his future wife Morgan, I couldn’t think of any other times I’d seen two people fit so well together. If anyone could defy the natural order of things, it was Gabriel and Oscar.

The universe must have reached its love quota for the city for the next century.

Gabriel gave me a pat on the back as I released him. “We’ve decided to have the ceremony as soon as possible.”

That was very unlike Gabriel. “Wow.”

His jaw clenched. “Do you oppose our decision?”

“Of course not. It’s just not like you to do anythingas soon as possible.”

“I want to commit my life to her,” he said. “I don’t want to stress over the details for the next twelve to twenty-four months. I simply want her to be mine.”

“All right,” I said. “So, Vegas? I better be your best man.”

“I’d like nothing more than for you to be my best man. But not Vegas. Calypso Caribella, a small island in the Caribbean. March tenth. We fly out on the fourth. What do you say?”

That really was soon. Only a week away.

“Obviously I’m in,” I said. There would be a lot of work required to reschedule any deliveries and specialists that myassistant Marc couldn’t be here for. But Gabriel didn’t need to know that. Supporting him was worth any inconvenience.

“Great. Esme will be my second groomsman. She currently resides on the island.”

Tightness crept across my shoulders. A month or so ago, Gabriel had mentioned in passing that his little sister was overseas. I’d assumed she was vacationing, not that she’d moved to an entirely different country.

It’d been years since I’d seen Esme, but she’d always had a way of getting under my skin. She turned everything into a competition. Worse, she had an absurd memory capacity, which meant she never let anyone live anything down.

“Hello.” Gabriel flicked his attention past me.

I turned, confused as to who he was speaking to.

There stood Jules from Knot Your Average Rug, who had apparently not let herself out yet.

“Hi. I’m Julienne, like the knife cut. But you can call me Jules like the gemmed rings on my toes.” She chuckled softly and offered him her hand.

Gemmed rings? Why would she say that? With the flush of color in her cheeks…was she trying to flirt with him?

“Nice to meet you.” Gabriel shook her hand then looked back and forth between us. “You two are….”

She grinned like the Cheshire cat.

“You must join us in Calypso Caribella for an all-expense-paid trip for my wedding.” Gabriel smiled in a way that said he’d done a good thing. He thought he was helping me out by inviting my fuck buddy along. “The more the merrier.”

“I couldn’t impose,” Jules said.

I cleared my throat to set the record straight, to fix this before the situation spiraled out of my control.

“I insist,” Gabriel said with an air of finality. “It will be great.”

A knot formed in the center of my chest. I needed to say no. A destination wedding meant more than two nights in a row with the same woman. It meant extended conversations and shared meals.

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