Page 38 of Tainted Blood

“I suppose that’s true, but you know damn well the plane holds plenty.”

“You’re right. I’m just fucking with you because I’m nervous as shit.”

“What the hell are you nervous for?”

“Let me see… every time I’ve tried to marry Nora, something’s come up. Yes, it hasn’t been that long since we’ve been together, but it doesn’t matter. I feel like something’s going to go wrong.” He slams the coffee pot hard into its slot on the maker.

A loud huff followed by the sound of her icing bag hitting the counter causes us to turn to look at Claudia, who is clearly pissed off. “What is going to go wrong is if you guys don’t get out of my kitchen right now, I’m going to hit you with some cake frosting.”

“We’re going, we’re going. Damn, you’re sexy when you’re angry,” Connor says, smirking as he leaves the kitchen with us.

“She’s going to pay for that shit later, isn’t she?” Jack says, chuckling as he lifts his drink to his lips. I shake my head and then drink from my cup before we enter the living room.

As we take a seat, Connor smirks and then says, “Oh, yes, she is, and it’s going to be so much fun.” He rubs his hands together, biting down on his lip.

“So how much time do we have before we have to be at the church?” I ask.

“We have two hours, and then it’s time for the reception at your house,” Jack says.

My house is the farthest back from the front gates, and it has a large unused ballroom. Hell, most of my house is unused, so we decided it was best to have it there. The caterers and the decorators are heavily at work. This is the last day that I’ll be staying at Connor’s place. My strength is almost back to normal as is my flexibility. Still, I need more time, even though we don’t have it. When it comes to our enemies, we have no idea when they’ll strike.

“Good, then we need to get you ready.”

“Cain,” Claudia shouts from the kitchen.

Connor’s out of his seat and into the kitchen. We follow and see the dog licking a dropped bag of icing.

“Damn it, Cain. Come here.”

“Please tell me you have more,” Jack says.

“Yes, I do, and hopefully it’s enough because I haven’t even gotten ready yet, and making more will cut into my time.”

“Do what you have to. We still have to leave by eleven forty-five.”

“Thanks. Now get him out of here before he sends the cake onto the floor.”

“Come on, boy. Let’s go take a walk.” I led him out back to the yard. “Run amok, now.”

I check my watch and see we have plenty of time before the wedding begins, but just in case, I set a timer. After that’s complete, I take a look at the gallery on my phone and the fifty pictures of my beautiful Calista. She’s perfection.

With each image I scroll past, I relive the moment I first saw her in the club. I didn’t want a soul to breathe around her. Yet, she’s in the largest, most populated city in the world where men can speak to and get near my woman. Her father gave me all the hope I needed. The way she screamed my name plays in my head. Calista moaning my name has kept me going for the past six weeks. I can’t wait to see her again, to hold her, and I’m not letting anyone else get in the way.

“Hey there, Ian. It’s time to get rolling.” I check the time on my phone and am stunned. I’ve been daydreaming about Calista for over forty minutes.

“Thanks,” I sigh, closing the app and then tucking my phone into my suit jacket.

“How are you feeling?” Connor asks.

“I’m good. Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.”

“I’m sure it can’t.” He clasps my shoulder and gives me an understanding nod. There is a team of people to help load the cake into the catering van so that it’s set up for our return. Today should have about two hundred guests. I’m not looking forward to any of it, but it might give us a chance to find out more about my missing target. The second we have a lock on his whereabouts, he is a dead man.

“Sorry I’m late with the food,” Sarah says, hustling into the room. “The caterers are outside and waiting for the cake. They stopped me to ask questions that I don’t have answers to.”

“Thanks for this,” I say, taking the bags from her.

“Not a problem. It’s such a special day.”

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