Page 75 of The Bad Wedding Date

“What difference would it have made? Would we have made it if I’d been faithful?”

“Not a damn chance.”

His grin came freely, showing off that charming smile that usually won over any woman he wanted. “Deny it all you want, but you and I had fun together.”

I stared up at him and pointed to the exit. “Leave, Penn. Now.”

He blew out a breath, looking down the corridor to the care home residents before he turned back to me and raised a brow. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Lottie. Something’s wrong, and you’re slap bang in the middle of it.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

With that, he left, and all I could do was try to tame that racing heart of mine that had suddenly got out of control.

What the hell was happening with my life lately?

24

Fraser

Wade stared at me from across the room, his arms folded.

I glanced at Dean and Joey, who were sitting on the sofa opposite the one I was on in our Soho apartment, both with their arms resting on their thighs, hands clasped together.

After a few moments, I turned to look at the other man in the room.

The one now awake from his long sleep.

Jonah Cannon.

It had been an order from the start that the guys were to treat him with as much respect as possible, considering that we had, in fact, held him against his will. Jonah had been given the freedom to move around the apartment, eat what he wanted, and do what he wanted. Instead, he’d simply sat in that chair, glaring at everyone in the room, only taking a drink of water when it was offered to him because he’d become desperate.

His eyes were on mine, narrowed. His nostrils flared.

The guy hated me.

I couldn’t blame him. If I were in his position, I’d hate me, too.

“I need you to know that everything we did was to protect your friend,” I said after already explaining who we were and how he’d ended up losing a day of his life to a deep sleep he’d never remember entering. “There’s a lot that goes on in the world that you don’t know about. That Charlotte doesn’t know about.”

Jonah had barely spoken a word since I’d arrived. Despite his obvious anger, he also couldn’t hide the small trickle of fear that made his neck damp with sweat as four big guys stared him down.

“Using you to get to Charlotte was the only way we could get into the wedding as official guests without being thrown out or turned away.” I turned my palms over. “I made sure you weren’t harmed in any of this. It was a matter of letting you sleep it out while we did what we had to do.”

“You make it all sound so polite,” he finally croaked. “But the guy who forced me to sleep wasn’t so pleasant.”

“Unfortunately, that’s just Ray’s way. He gets the job done, but he’d never hurt anyone who wasn’t a threat.”

“And now you insult me by implying I’m not man enough to take him out.”

I made a sound, barely a laugh. “Nobody can take Ray out when he’s on the job.”

Jonah’s eyes narrowed even more. “How long am I here for?”

“That depends.”

“On?”

“Whether you plan on telling Charlotte everything or not.”

---