Page 84 of The Texan's Secrets

If she picked up, he’d simply say good morning, carry on a normal conversation, gauge her mood, see if she’d give something away.

If she didn’t answer... Well, if she didn’t answer, she was likely dodging his calls.

He held his breath through the rings, dreading the moment it went to voice mail. When it did, he didn’t bother with a message. Instead, he sat down on the bed. He curled his fist into the pillow and tried to come up with a next move.

The phone rang in his hand.

He flipped his wrist to check the screen, hoping, expecting, praying for it to be Emilia.

It was an unknown number.

His first instinct was to decline the call. But it might be a client.

He accepted. “Nico Law.”

“Nico, hi. It’s Jericho Winters.”

Nico was shocked to hear from the groom. Even though his sister and Maggie were best friends, the two men were barely acquaintances. Was it to do with the wedding or Emilia? “Is something wrong?”

“No, no. The wedding’s right on track. Misha asked me to call.”

Nico’s heart sank further. If it wasn’t the wedding, it had to be Emilia. She must have talked to Misha.

Jericho was calling to uninvite him to the wedding. Nico didn’t blame them for that. The last thing he wanted to do was mar the ceremony or the reception.

“She thought you might be able to pick up the cake,” Jericho continued.

The words didn’t compute inside Nico’s head. “The what?”

“The wedding cake. Mrs. Yeoh’s van broke down and won’t be repaired until Monday. Misha said your car had plenty of room.”

Relief overwhelmed Nico’s confusion. Things hadn’t blown up with Emilia, at least not yet. “Yes,” he told Jericho in an instant. “Yes, it does.”

“Could you pick the cake up early in the morning at the RCW kitchen and take it to the Cattleman’s club?”

“Absolutely. No problem at all.”

“That would be a huge help.”

“Sure. Uh...” Nico wasn’t fishing for bad news, but he was fishing for news. “How’s the bride doing?”

“Great. Harried and busy, but that’s no surprise.”

“And the bridesmaids?” Nico felt ridiculous pressing, but he was desperate to know what was going on with Emilia.

“They’re having a great time in the pool house,” Jericho said absently. “Massages and pedicures or some such. I think they’re serving mimosas.”

“Sounds great.” Nico told himself that bridesmaid duties were a plausible excuse for Emilia blowing off his call, but he didn’t quite believe himself. More likely, she was angry with him but putting on a good show for Maggie’s sake.

“Thanks for helping out,” Jericho said cheerfully. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Not a problem. Goodbye.”

Nico tossed his phone on the bed and groaned.

He couldn’t drop by the Del Rio mansion in search of a bridesmaid today of all days. And he couldn’t keep calling her like some kind of stalker.

It would be thirty-six hours before he saw her in person. Surely, she’d call before then. Surely, if she wasn’t so angry that she never wanted to see him again, she’d reach out and call before the wedding.

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