Page 12 of An Unhinged Wedding

Trevor walks out to his truck, and I follow him. He opens the door for me as always and buckles me in. Some women might think he’s a little over the top. I like it. His never-ending need to take care of me makes my heart swoon. He leans his head in the truck and kisses me softly, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I smile.

This is our new tradition. Every time we go to do dangerous work, he reminds me how he feels about me. We drive to Max’s house, talking shop most of the way. But then he surprises me, “You need to find a wedding gown.”

I bite my lip in an attempt to hold back the emotions. This is not the time to get sappy. It’s hard for me to believe I’m getting married. I never thought I’d have this chance. Little girls that get kidnapped by men like Cardinal Mayrand don’t get happy ever afters. Our entire purpose is sexual servitude. My life now is nothing like I imagined it would be for so many years. The beatings. The rape. Pure evil is now part of my past. At times, I’m overwhelmed with how drastically things changed for me after Max found me.

“I’m going shopping with Willow, Jade and Ivy tomorrow.”

He reaches over and squeezes my knee. I know exactly what he’s thinking. He’s glad I’ve gotten close to both of them. Willow is my sister-in-law, and nothing like us. I know she killed a man to protect Max, but I can’t see her ever doing it again. I tried hard not to like her. But there’s this thing about Willow that makes it impossible. She’s the most loving person I’ve ever met. After everything she’s been through, her heart is pure gold, not tarnished like mine. I haven’t known Jade for nearly as long, but she’s my twin. Or so we joke that she is. Like me, she has been through hell and has turned into a cold-blooded killer. She’s stunning, so men also think she’s harmless. What about small, attractive women make them think we’re defenseless? She’s a little bit psycho, too, although probably not as much as me. Ivy is with Nash, and she’s fucking adorable. I don’t know her very well yet, but I’m sure I will.

When we pull onto my brother’s property and get through the gate, Max, Hunter, Jade, and Nash are all waiting beside the van. We get out quickly and walk over to them. After getting into the van, Max quickly pulls through the gates, and we’re off to our job.

“Everybody clear on how this is going to go?”

All of us echo, “Yes.”

Max has gone over the plan three times in the last twenty-four hours. If I don’t have it by now, I never will.

“Someone explain it to me,” Max says.

Annoyed, I say, “You’re terrible at stepping down, bro. We’re going to the hotel these assholes are staying at. Someone from DeLuca’s team will let us in the back. Give us keys to their adjoining room. Then we rough them up and take them to the safe house.”

He nods as he looks at me in the mirror, “Thank you, Mia. Any questions, anyone?”

Trevor says, “Yeah. Why in the hell are his men letting us in?”

Max turns onto the highway and explains, “Domenic DeLuca owns the hotel. It’s a favor.”

Hunter snorts, “I think you’re losing your touch old man. Favors from a drug lord is a pretty bad fucking plan.”

My brother glares in the mirror at Hunter, “If you don’t like how things are being run, you’re free to leave.”

The tension is palpable in this vehicle. Then Max makes it even worse.

“He’ll be supplying our weapons going forward. The ammo too.”

Nash, who has been quiet, runs a hand through his hair, “Jesus Christ man. Are you trying to get us fucking killed?”

I sit back and fold my arms across my chest, “Enough. Has my brother ever led any of you down the wrong path? If he trusts Mac or Domenic, then so do I. Give him a break. Every fucking one of you owe him your lives.”

Trevor puts his arm around my shoulders, kisses me on the top of my head, and then whispers in my ear, “Good girl, Kitten. Such a fucking good girl.”

He absentmindedly runs his fingers down my arm, and I rest my head on his shoulder. I glance over at Hunter and Jade, instantly spotting the tension. Jade is trying to calm him down, but he’s pissed. Oh well, he’ll get over it. My brother has saved every fucking one of us at some point. Hunter more than the rest of us. He would’ve been totally fucked if it weren’t for Max giving him a place to stay after Jade wrecked his world and him leaving his father’s house. Max gave him a purpose he desperately fucking needed. The fact remains, my brother has never done anything to cause us to not trust him. Other than Trevor, he’s my fucking ride or die. Wherever Max says we need to go, I’ll follow. He rescued me. I owe him for this life I’m living. Without him, that never would have happened. Especially since he was sent to kill me. Had he not been the stand-up man he is, he would’ve simply done his job, and I’d be dead.

TREVOR

The other three are pissed at Max or Mia or what the fuck ever. I did question why DeLuca’s men were letting us in, but not because I don’t trust Max because I do. Max would never put us in the line of fire. If he trusts him after being lied to about his identity, there’s a reason. I don’t question Max. Besides, he gave me Mia. For that, I’ll be eternally grateful. Besides, the decision has already been made. It’s a little late for bitching about it now.

We pull into the hotel and park at the back, where Domenic told Max the cameras would be cut. The only functioning security cameras are in the lobby because his employees can see them. It would cause alarm if they weren’t working. I wonder why he’s doing this for us, but I don’t question it. We have a job to do.

Nash and Max get out first, followed by Jade, Hunter, Mia, and me. Max sends a text on his phone, and we wait.

A few minutes later, a man opens the door for us and lets us in. He’s huge, but I’m not sure who he is until Max says, “Damian, good to see you.”

While I’ve never met him, I know of him—Damian DeLuca, Domenic's brother and second.

He hands Max two room keys, “Eighth floor. Turn left. All the way down, the last two doors on the right. Try to keep it down. We have guests across the hall.”

---