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It took me a few seconds to find my voice. “Wow. The imagery of that is breathtaking.”

“This one reminds me of you…of us. To this day, you are the most authentic and genuine person I’ve ever met. Given my past of abandonments and betrayals, finding someone like you has truly been a gift from God. You changedeverythingfor me and gave me a life I never expected—and never thought I deserved.”

I leaned my head on his shoulder. “You always deserved that life, Slash. Your past doesn’t define you, and the better part of your life has been spent trying to help people in one way or the other. What’s amazing to me is that despite all the things that happened to you, that you went through, you never lost your sense of self. You stayed true to yourself. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. And—please don’t get a big head about it—but you’re also the smartest person, too.”

He smiled and kissed the top of my head. “I love that you see it that way.”

“I do.” I put my arms around his neck. “I love you, Slash. The good and the bad. I’m lucky to have you.”

“I’m lucky to have you, too.” We sat there for a moment, just holding each other until I looked over and saw the bartender looking at us. Apparently, he liked the music as well, or he was wondering if we were ever going to order a drink.

Slash stood, taking my hand. “Come on. Let’s get cleaned up and order some room service.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Hand in hand we walked to the elevator, hoping we didn’t run into anyone we knew. We were completely spent.

The elevator dinged, and to my relief, it was empty. We got in and I leaned against Slash after he pushed the button for our floor.

“For us being together pretty much around the clock, we’ve had so little time to talk, just the two of us,” he said. “Can we go back and revisit the topic of Elvis and Gwen’s engagement and Basia being pregnant? I think something got lost in the translation for me.”

“You pretty much know what I know. Elvis asked Gwen to marry him in a truly unique way, and she said yes. I don’t know when they’ll officially announce it.”

“And Basia is pregnant. That’s truly wonderful. Does Xavier know yet?”

“I have no idea if she’s told Xavier. I haven’t had a single minute to talk to her about it. So, don’t let it slip just in case.”

“Sure, no pressure.”

I sighed. “Slash, why is all this happening to us? On our wedding week?”

“Other than your overactive little black cloud?” A smile crossed his face before his expression turned serious. “I wish I knew. I just hope we get some solid leads from these guys we just captured. I’m tired of sitting around and waiting for the next attack to happen.”

“Why are they trying so hard to kill us and who are they after?”

“It’s one of us for sure,” Slash responded. “We’d just better figure out who before it’s too late.”

FORTY-THREE

Slash

The summons came just before midnight, about eight hours after the incident at the church and the arrest of the two suspects. Secret Service agent, Ted Morsey, who currently oversaw our security at the hotel, approached me. Our wedding party had taken over the hotel bar and lounge. Most of our guests were drinking and chatting, but Elvis had set up a little gaming area in one section of the lounge so a few of us could hook up our laptops and blow off some steam.

Lexi, Xavier, Elvis, and I were neck-deep in an impressive final assault on the evil Lord Malgorian’s dark tower when Agent Morsey interrupted us, apologizing profusely.

“Sir, I’m so sorry to interrupt your evening, but you’ve been requested to come to Secret Service headquarters at once.” He put a light hand on my shoulder. “Would you be willing to go? We’ll transport you. There should be a helicopter here in about fifteen minutes.”

Lexi and I exchanged a glance as we set aside our laptops. Elvis and Xavier tried to listen in on the conversation while carrying on the virtual assault in our absence.

“Did they find out something?” I asked. “Did the suspects confess?”

“I don’t know,” the agent replied. “My instructions were simply to request your presence at headquarters as soon as possible. The request comes from the top.”

“It’s okay.” I leaned over and gave Lexi a quick kiss before standing. “I’ll go.

“Check in when you can?”

“Of course.”