Page 1 of Havoc
1
Remy listened as one of Alijah’s bridesmaids, Taila, who he’d been told was her aunt, laid into two guests. He wasn’t sure what their relationship was, but she wasn’t happy to see either of them. She spoke in hushed tones, but the hostility in her voice was unmistakable. From what he could surmise, the couple and the young boy had shown up uninvited, and she was making it very clear that they would not be attending the ceremony.
“You can’t keep us out of—”
“Yes, I can,”Taila spoke, cutting the other woman off. “You weren’t invited, so you’re not going in.”
“It’s our daughter’s wedding. We aren’t missing it,”the man spoke, and Remy furrowed his brows. He didn’t know what had happened between them and Alijah, but he knew it had to be serious if she hadn’t invited them to her wedding.
“The same daughter you claimed wasn’t yours a couple of Thanksgivings ago? The same daughter whose, after today, husband you’re trying to sue because you’re some money-hungry leech?”Taila questioned. “Yeah, I think not, and before you try to cause a scene, please know that I am not above putting hands in your life for her happiness today.”
Remy found himself chuckling softly at that statement because Taila’s body language backed her claim one hundred percent. She was not threatening them; she was promising. Even the man seemed to be contemplating whether or not he wanted to give in orif he wanted to continue and test her. Remy hoped the other man didn’t want to do the latter because he didn’t need it escalating.
He would not leave Taila to handle it, and while he hadn’t had to get physical with someone while wearing a suit in a while, he was sure it was like riding a bike.
“Where do you expect us to go?”the other woman asked. “It’ll take a rideshare at least an hour to arrive.”
“That is your problem, Anya,”Taila responded.
“It’s cold out there? What about Carter?”Anya then questioned.
Remy glanced down at the little boy, who seemed oblivious to the situation. He was holding a superhero action figure, flying it back and forth.
“Your manipulation game is lacking,”Taila responded. “I saw that one coming before you brought it up.”Remy watched her glance down at the little boy. “Go to the reception hall, sit in a corner, and don’t so much as breathe in her direction until the car arrives. But let’s be very clear. If you’re here more than an hour by the time we get up there. I will have you escorted out.”
“Damn,”Remy mumbled as he watched her turn and walk away from them. She’d left no room for argument.
He glanced at the couple and found them looking a bit stuck. He was sure they were surprised they hadn’t gotten their way because it seemed they were used to doing so. Taila’s manipulation comment told him as much, and from that alone, he surmised that the two of them were sisters.
Remy cleared his throat, getting their attention. “It’s that way,”he told them, pointing in the general direction of where the reception would be taking place. With that, he entered the ceremony hall through the guest entrance and sat on Kieran’s side.
While Remy knew Alijah wanted to keep it small, this was not the small she had in mind. However, in retrospect, it was small considering Kieran associated with or had dealings with a significant number of people.
There were almost as many people on Alijah’s side as on Kieran’s, and Remy knew that she’d made quite a few friends and connections through working for Cayman Industries and her art gallery.
Remy took in the decorations as he waited like the others in attendance for things to start. They still had a few minutes and knew they would begin precisely on time. Kieran and Alijah were always on time for everything, and he knew this would be no exception. He hadn’t brought a date and had chosen not to sit with any business associates because it seemed that they always ended up talking shop whenever he was around them, even if the setting was not one of business.
Remy was not like a lot of his counterparts. He believed in a nice work-life balance so that never appealed to him. Therefore, he tended to try to steer clear during personal events. So, he was left to take in the décor.
It wasn’t long before soft music began to play, and the wedding procession started to enter. Once they were all in place, the song gradually shifted to another one, and it was so subtle that it could have been missed if you hadn’t paid attention. The guests stood, and Remy turned to watch Alijah enter. She looked beautiful in her dress. Her entire presence gave off a glow that seemed to wash over the room.
Remy knew that all eyes were on her just as his had been. That was until they drifted to who was walking her down the aisle. He knew that one of her friends would walk her in place of her father. Remy had suspected that maybe her father was deceased. However, he knew now that there was some bad blood between them.
Remy’s eyes roamed over Alijah’s escort. He was wearing a black suit, and his tie and pocket handkerchief matched the colors of Alijah’s bouquet. His hair was cut to short curls. The sides of it were shaved down. His eyes were the brightest shade of hazel, contrasting against his almond skin. He knew he shouldn’t have been, but Remy couldn’t stop himself from checking him out, even once they’d passed him.
The man was a few inches shorter than Remy. His body was lithe, but Remy knew that suit hid the perfect balance of softness and muscle. Because he had a type, and in his years of dating, he’d become a professional at spotting what he liked, even hidden from a mile away.
When everyone was seated, and the ceremony officially began, Remy pulled his attention away, mainly because the other man had taken a seat. He could no longer see him clearly. He made a mental note to ensure he was introduced to him later.
Lawrence could feel eyes on him, had been able to feel them the entire time he’d been in the reception, and he could have sworn he felt them during the ceremony. However, he’d chalked that up to the fact that all eyes had been in his direction but were on Alijah as he walked her down the aisle.
He hadn’t wanted to start looking around randomly and decided to attempt to do it discretely, but nearly two hundred people were in attendance, and finding the pair of eyes on him was harder than he’d thought.
They’d finished eating a few minutes ago, and Alijah and Kieran were preparing to cut the cake. They’d shared their first dance when they’d walked into the reception, and Alijah hadn’t wanted to do a father-daughter dance for apparent reasons. Her wedding planner, Journee, had catered the reception to precisely what Alijah wanted to happen and the order in which they occurred.
Lawrence continued to look around the room, and his eyes soon landed on Cornelius. He found the older man glaring daggers at him, and he was sure it was because Alijah asked him to walk her. Though Lawrence didn’t know what Cornelius had expected with everything he had put Alijah through. Hell, with the shit he was still currently trying to put her through.
Turning his attention away from Cornelius, Lawrence figured those were the eyes he was feeling. However, when that feeling came again, he glanced over to find that Cornelius wasn’t looking at him and was instead watching Taila approach them, and he knew he’d been mistaken.
