Page 22 of 4 Weddings and a Feud

She poured him a glass and handed it to him. Then she tucked the vase of hyacinths against her chest and carried it to the tiny living room. She set her glass of wine on the glass-topped coffee table, then centered the flowers next to it. Tucking one foot under her, she sank into the corner of the sofa.

Like everything else in the house, the sofa was small, with only two cushions. Alex wedged himself into the other corner, giving her as much space as he could. He sipped his wine and found it not terrible, despite the wrong temperature. “Is this a Chianti Classico?”

“It’s my favorite.” A pleased smile curled her lips.

“Have you ever been?”

“To Italy?” She snorted. “Not exactly in my travel budget. I suppose you have?”

“I try to go every couple of years. Most of the hotel’s wine cellar is Italian, and I go for research.”

“Research, huh? Must be nice.” She sipped her wine and regarded him over the rim of her glass.

Right. Groveling time.

“I apologize again for showing Rafe those photos. I…I got carried away.”

“You sure as hell did,” she said. “There were a dozen better ways you could’ve let me know he’d done a shirtless one.”

Any one of the dozen could have brought them closer together instead of pushing them apart. “I’m sorry. Truly.”

“Alex, I’m always going to side with my brothers. They’re the only family I have.”

“I know.” They’d stood together even before their father died. “I shouldn’t have laughed at him.”

“No, you shouldn’t. But it reminded me of my priorities. I need to support my brothers. I can’t be away working some big wedding when they need me. If I’d been there for him at that photo shoot…”

“What would you have done, Mary? He’s an adult. Would you have held him back from that opportunity?”

“Opportunity?” She snorted. “More like exploitation.”

“Is it exploitation if they promised not to use the shirtless one and if they paid him five Gs for the rest?”

“Fivethousand?Are you serious?”

“Check’s in the mail. I told you I know everything that goes on in my hotel.”

She sipped her wine and stared at a spot on the coffee table. Five thousand was probably a lot to a family like theirs. Was she thinking of all the things they could do with it? But a windfall wasn’t in his best interest. Not if he wanted to get her back on the Richardson wedding.

He knew kind-hearted Mary would eventually forgive him. She’d forgiven him for standing her up at prom. But this time, he didn’t have years to wait. It was time to grovel.

“I feel terrible about what I did. How can I make it right?” He splayed his open palms.

“The flowers were a nice touch. And coming here. I can never stay mad at you for long.”

He gusted out a sigh. “Ah, Mary. I don’t deserve you.”

“Deserve me?” She arched her brow. “Of course you don’t.”

His stomach clenched. “I didn’t mean?—”

She laid her hand on his knee for less than a second, but it was enough to send a wave of warmth straight to his belly. “I’m kidding. When did you get so serious?”

That night the investigators came.But he couldn’t say that. “I honestly am sorry. And I’ll personally ensure the modeling agency destroys all copies of that photo. If that’s what Rafe wants.”

“Ask them to give the original to Rafe and let him decide. And destroy all the copies. Including that one on your phone.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket, scrolled to the photo, and showed Mary each step as he deleted it from the device and the cloud backup. “Better?”

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