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‘Then let’s just go,’ Ari said, just as Margot gave a dainty little cough. Then another. Then a wheezy sort of inhale, followed by an alarming clutch at her pearls.

Nancy and Ari exchanged a horrified glance.

‘Er…’ Ari said. ‘Are you…’

‘Fine!’ Margot gasped. ‘Just…a little…tightness in the chest.’

Nancy’s entire body tensed. ‘Tightness?’

‘Nothing to fuss over!’ She gave another, more rattling breath. ‘Just drop me home, there’s a dear.’

Ari was already turning the car off. ‘Nope. Absolutely not. Not on my watch. You need to see a medical professional. Now.’

Nancy sighed. Ari was glad there was at least no argument from that side of the car.

‘You’re overreacting,’ Margot said, but her voice was weaker now, and she was pressing a hand to her chest.

Ari got the car started and took it jaggedly back into the grounds, parking up at the main entrance. The moment she came to a crunchy stop, Nancy leapt out of the car, yanking open the back door. ‘Out. You’re going back inside.’

‘I don’t—’

‘You arenotdying in this car,’ Ari said firmly. ‘I cannot stress that enough. I have enough problems without addinghomicide via kidnappingto the list.’

‘I would hardly—’

‘OUT!’

Between the two of them, they managed to coax, drag, and half-carry Margot inside.

As they stumbled back inside, past confused-looking waitstaff and gaping guests, Paris herself turned, mid-conversation, and spotted them.

She looked from Ari to Nancy. ‘How in thehelldid you…’ It was only then that she took in the full situation. ‘Why are you carrying my great-aunt?’

Ari, panting, hoisted Margot a little higher. ‘She’s had abitof a health situation.’

Nancy’s voice was tight with forced calm. ‘We need somewhere for her to sit down. And possibly a medic.’

Cal, now at Paris’s side, paled. ‘Oh god, she’s notdying, is she?’

‘Notifsomeone fetches a doctor,’ Ari said, shooting a look at the frozen, scandalised guests.

At that, people finally sprang into action. Someone fetched a doctor, who was apparently a guest. Someone else fetched a chair. Margot, now looking both peeved and slightly amused, was gently deposited through the double doors and onto a velvet-upholstered armchair back in the great hall.

Ari turned to Nancy. ‘I think we should probably…’ she began quietly with a nod to the doors. But she didn’t reach the end of the sentence.

‘Lock those doors!’ Paris told security. ‘I can’t have criminals running loose.’

They did as told, locking the heaving doors with a loud clunk.

Ari couldn’t believe it. They’d been so close. But fate had bounced them straight back into the wedding from hell.

Fifty-Five

The lights were up, and the DJ had cut the music. He was fiddling with his decks, looking like a spare part.

The doctor, an older man with an air of weary patience, knelt beside the chaise lounge in the hall where Margot was fanning herself.

‘I’m fine,’ Margot murmured, irritated. But her colour was funny.