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Lexi

Friday morning—one day until the wedding

I’d hoped the day before my wedding would be relatively quiet so I could have time to review my vows and mentally prepare myself, but that wasn’t going to happen.

At least it wasn’t because we were getting shot at or attacked…yet.

After finishing our hack at Secret Service headquarters, we’d flown back by helicopter to the hotel to catch a little sleep and get ready for the arrival of both sets of my grandparents, my aunts and uncles, a few special friends like Wills and Hulk, and, of course, the pope.

The Holy Father would not be staying at the hotel with us. Instead, he’d stay at the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See, located on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, DC. From there he would be transported to our location for the dinner and then to the church for the wedding. He would meet with the President upon his arrival and come to our hotel later in the evening for a private dinner with Slash, me, our parents, and Father Armando. That appealed to me, as much as a dinner party could, because at least it would be a small group of people I knew well.

The helicopter didn’t even turn off its rotors as we exited. We hunched low like in the movies and scuttled into the back of the hotel. I imagined I could hear the click of the paparazzi cameras over the sound of the helicopter.

I could see that there were now Vatican security staff mixed in with the Secret Service and police. I should feel safe, but I didn’t. We were beyond fortified and protected at the hotel, barring someone dropping a bomb from above. Given our recent situation with the drones, I think the Secret Service even had that covered. Though hopefully the capture of the operators had eliminated the biggest part of that risk.

I had one stop to make before I headed back to bed. The hack tonight had been a mixed blessing. We were several steps closer to ending this nightmare—at least we now knew who and why. That knowledge did not reassure us that they were finished trying. I was certain they had our entire wedding plan and were plotting their next steps. How would they come after us next?

It was still early, at least by Mom’s time. Mornings are not kind to the women in our family. I knocked softly on my parents’ door, and when she recognized my voice, she opened the door dressed in a robe, her hair mussed, but still looking gorgeous.

Alarm crossed her face. “Lexi, what happened? It’s seven thirty in the morning, and it’s been hard to sleep with all the helicopters coming and going.” She stared at me. “Wait. Did you stay up all night?”

Unlike her, I must have looked like death warmed over. “Yes, and I’m sorry to wake you, Mom. Slash, Xavier, Elvis, and I were hacking all night at the Secret Service. It’s a long story, but I need to talk to you.”

She quickly ushered me into the room, but we stood near the door and spoke quietly so as not to wake up Dad. “What happened?”

I didn’t know an easy way to say it. “Amanda’s boyfriend has been arrested for providing inside information on our wedding activities.”

“What?” Mom said so loud Dad snorted and rolled over.

“Shhh. I don’t know if Amanda was complicit in any way. Last I heard, she was being questioned by the Secret Service.”

Mom clasped a hand over her mouth. “Good heavens. That’s horrible. She told me all about her new boyfriend. He was so sweet and attentive. Lexi, I think she’s innocent.”

“I hope you’re right, Mom, but that’s not up to us to determine.” I felt a sick ball in the pit of my stomach. “For now, let’s just keep this between you, me, and Basia. Can you fill her in when you have a chance? Right now, I need to get some sleep before the wedding luncheon or I’ll be a zombie for the rest of the day. Can you make sure everything is set up and ready to go for that?”

“Of course I can, sweetheart. Get some sleep.”

She hugged me and I returned to my room, stripped off my clothes, and fell asleep almost immediately. Slash crawled into bed sometime later. I had no idea of the time but had enough presence of mind to ask if he had set an alarm. I don’t even remember his answer. I awoke to the sound of the alarm and found myself snuggled up to his back. The alarm was on his side, yet he made no move to turn it off. I wasn’t sure if he didn’t hear it, or if it was a clever plan on his part to get me out of bed first.

I checked the clock. Slash had left us just enough time to get ready for the special luncheon with the wedding party and a few close friends. Slash and I had agreed to the lunch a month ago so we could thank our friends for standing beside us at the ceremony and present them with specially picked gifts. They hadn’t known at the time they’d be risking their lives to do it. To our great gratitude and relief, none of our wedding party had backed out—despite my own serious misgivings—so I hoped they knew how much we appreciated them, however small our presents were.

We’d also invited Hands, Rock, Beau, and Xavier, who were our ushers, as well as their significant others, including Gwen, Vittoria, Alessa, and Bonnie. Secretly, however, I was looking forward the most to seeing two very special friends, Wills and Hulk, my two SEAL comrades whom we’d also invited to the lunch. Both were still recovering after nearly dying during our mission in Somalia. The last time I’d seen them, they were lying unconscious and gravely wounded in a helicopter still under fire, with medics working in near-impossible conditions, trying frantically to save their lives.

They’d come through. The toughest guys ever.

It meant a lot to me they were both attending the wedding. Wills, Hulk, Hands, and I had formed a unique lifelong bond searingly forged amid the life-threatening conditions of combat, bone-chilling danger, and a heartfelt promise to watch each other’s six no matter what.

We’d done that, and we’d all survived. Barely.

Slash had risen and was moving swiftly and efficiently like he had a full night’s sleep. It just wasn’t fair. I stumbled through my routine and started thinking aboutmySEALs.

That experience with them had taught me more about teamwork, friendship, and commitment than anything else I’d ever experienced. It had also given me a firsthand look into Slash’s life and experiences, and the kind of situations he’d endured. Now I understood what he meant when he talked about making difficult choices, and how the moral messiness of combat and espionage created situations with few or no acceptable outcomes. Before I’d left on the mission with the SEALs, Slash warned me that experiences like that would change me.

I hadn’t wanted to listen at the time, but he was right.

Those experienceshadchanged me, but they had also prepared me for life in ways I’d never imagined. I’d grown up a lot during that time. Through it all, Slash had been there for me even when we disagreed about me going on the mission in the first place. He’dalwaysbeen there for me, and more importantly, I trusted he’d always be there for me in the future.

Ourfuture.