Page 19 of 4 Weddings and a Feud

Alex wished he’d thought of entertainment like that for the Richardson wedding.

Cierra was one of his more dramatic exes, so it was fitting she’d bring pulse-pounding excitement to her wedding. He’d been savvy enough to end their relationship in public, at a very expensive restaurant overlooking the city, after he’d bought her a delicious dinner and the best bottle of cabernet in Vegas. It didn’t stop her from tossing her wine in his face, ruining his suit, and screaming to everyone in the restaurant that Alex was a dog.

Maybe she’d invited him to her wedding to supply additional entertainment.

No way would he let her humiliate him in public. Not with the Paradise deal on the line.

He checked the “will not attend” box on the response card and tossed the whole packet of invitation garbage into his outbox. Then he pressed the intercom button on his desk phone. “Yasmin,” he barked. Silence. Shit, it was after six. He switched to her voicemail. “Send Cierra something nice for her wedding. A case of that pink Prosecco she drinks and a dozen champagne flutes.”

A tentative tap made him look up. A slender, dark-haired man stood in the doorway, his posture ramrod straight, his wide brown eyes slingshotting Alex back to the day he’d looked into the big, brown eyes of a toddler perched on his mother’s hip when she’d come like an avenging fury to their door. But the boy was grown…ish now.

“Joey.” Alex stood and circled his desk to shake his hand.

“Mr. Villa, hi. You wanted to see me?” A drop of sweat trickled from his temple.

“Come sit.” Alex waved his hand at his guest chair.

When they were both seated, Alex leaned back. “How’s your mother?”

Joey blinked. “Sh-she’s fine.”

“You still live with her, yes?” Alex waited for the boy’s nod. “And she’s getting by? Your father’s pension is enough for her to live on?”

“Yes, sir.”

Joey and his mother didn’t know it, but the pension was fiction. Although Alex and his mother had sold everything they had to pay back the principal people had invested in his father’s scheme, he knew that wasn’t enough to sustain Mrs. Campo and her three children long-term. As soon as he’d been able to afford it, Alex had set up the “pension” with enough trusts and shell corporations in between that Mrs. Campo would never know it had come from one of the people she blamed for her husband’s death.

“Excuse me, Mr. Villa,” Joey said, his voice trembling, “are you firing me?”

“Firing you? Why would you think that?”

Joey shrank back at Alex’s outburst. “Be-because you fired my boss?”

“No, no.” Alex tried to chuckle, but tension tightened his throat. “Now that Miss McAlister is gone, I’m promoting you. To chief wedding planner. It even comes with a raise.”

If anything, Joey’s olive skin turned paler. “Ch-chief?”

Shit. Rochelle was going to eat the boy alive. Alex pinched the smooth bridge of his nose. He had no choice. His temper had gotten him into this mess, and with Joey’s help, he was going to blast his way out of it.

“Sure,” he said. “First order of business is the Richardson wedding at the end of July. I’ll need you to take charge of that.”

Joey’s eyes grew impossibly wider. They were going to roll out of his head and onto the silk rug, and then who would coordinate the Richardson wedding?

“It’s going to be fine,” Alex said. Though what was he going to do if it wasn’t? “Evie left a file, plus a playbook of how she plans weddings. Everything is in here.” He passed the boy a tablet.

Joey glanced at it, but Alex could tell he saw nothing but his own fear.

“Spend the weekend familiarizing yourself with it. Ask me questions. In fact, set up a weekly meeting with me, and we’ll work through any issues together.” Ray Richardson would never let him buy the Paradise if his daughter’s wedding was anything less than dazzling. He’d never get his redemption. “In fact, better make it twice a week.”

Joey’s Adam’s apple bobbed, then he let out a small cough. “Yes, sir.”

He scrambled out of his chair and was halfway to the door when Alex called, “Joey?”

Joey froze like a rabbit about to be flattened by a semi.

“You forgot this.” Alex waved the tablet.

Joey scurried back to snatch it from his hand and then disappeared faster than you could say, “You’re screwed, Alex.”

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