Page 32 of The Bad Wedding Date

Wade growled, and I imagined him pacing the place we called our headquarters—a decent-sized flat in the Soho region of London—with one hand running through his hair while the other rested on his hip. Wade was always handsfree, talking into his headset like some militant force. I teased him relentlessly, saying he looked more like a kid playing Xbox.

“I assume Mayor Williamson has seen you already,” he finally said with a sigh of his own.

“Hard for him not to.”

“Another reason Dean should have gone. He didn’t know him.”

“There’s no point focusing on that now. I’m the one here. I’m in the thick of it.”

“Fine.” He sighed. “Fill me in on what happened with Williamson.”

“Charlotte had gone to the bathroom. Williamson marched over and asked me what the fuck I was doing at his son’s wedding. I told him I had a date and that my being here was purely coincidental.”

“Did he buy it?”

“He couldn’t argue it, seeing how I’m actually here with none other than Charlotte Grant, but he also didn’t believe me enough to stop himself from giving me the warning that if there was something going down, and I hadn’t told him about it, he’d find a way to make me pay.”

“He threatened you?”

“He told me it was a promise.” I smirked, unable to help myself when I remembered Mayor Williamson trying to intimidate me. “He reminded me that this was his son’s wedding, and nothing, not even I could ruin it without there being consequences involved.”

“The guy finally found his balls.”

“Not really. He shook like a virgin in a whore house the whole time.”

“We all know he likes his whore houses—”

“Let’s stay on track.” I glanced around, making sure no one could hear me. “I can’t blame the guy for being pissed. I’m not exactly his favourite person.”

“You should be. His daughter is alive because of you.”

One of them, I thought, quickly cutting myself off that train of thought. I couldn’t go there tonight.

“A long time has passed since then. Ten years.”

“Which is why I’m confused as to why you stepped in and took over from Dean’s mission at the last minute. Surely you wanted to avoid him as much as he wanted to avoid seeing you.”

“I just needed to. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

“Try and think of something. Dean and Joey think something big is going down that you haven’t told any of us about. Ray is loading up his rifles as we speak.”

“Jesus, tell Ray to calm the fuck down, will you?”

“You try that and tell me how far you get. That man is like a pit bull on cocaine on his calm days.”

“Fucking John Wick wannabe freak.” I rubbed my free hand over my forehead and closed my eyes.

Silence hung over the call before Wade cleared his throat and said, “Have you seen him yet?”

The mention ofhimin any capacity made my blood boil. “No,” I pushed out. “But he’s here. I can feel it.”

“I don’t like this. It’s too risky. All it’s going to take is for Williamson’s tongue to get loose after too much whiskey and for him to tell the wrong person who you are, what you do, and that you’re there. Once that’s done, everything we’ve built up over time could be ruined. That fucker we’re after could run.”

Wade wasn’t wrong.

The firm I’d built thrived on secrecy and hidden identities. It was the main reason I typically remained behind the scenes, sealing the deals, running the coordinates, making sure everything was in place, and letting the four guys I trusted with my life be the ones to get their hands dirty. On the occasion I did insist on getting my hands dirty with them, though, I enjoyed every second of it. Making men pray for my mercy could become a treacherous thrill, and I had the strength to become a weapon if I didn’t keep myself in check.

I’d put us all in danger here. I’d put Charlotte in danger, too.

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