Page 37 of Last Chance Seduction (Montgomery Ink Legacy #9)

Everything was finally coming to fruition, all of our hard work, and all of my hopeful plans.

Life truly couldn’t get better than this.

“Well there’s a familiar face.”

I looked up at that rough, growly voice and rolled my eyes “Hello Reece.” My coworker who I got along with but sometimes couldn’t stand because he was bossier than my dad and uncles stood there with his girlfriend, Anya.

They looked like they’d walked off the runway.

Okay, she did. He was a little too rugged and menacing for that.

“Reece, good to see you,” Duke said as he stood up. “Thanks for your help on that one project by the way.”

“It was no big deal. Haven’t seen you in here in a while.”

My fiancé hugged Reece and I slid out of the booth to hug Anya tightly.

I knew Reece and Anya had been together for a little while, though I didn’t know her well.

It wasn’t as if Reece brought her to work.

And she rarely came to work parties as she had a full-time job that took her out of the country often.

“It’s so good to see you and congratulations!” Anya said as she held up my hand. “You did good, Duke.”

Duke shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips. “I’ll have you know that I asked a Montgomery woman for help on this. I am not going to lie about that.”

“That makes sense. We women know our jewelry,” Anya teased.

Reece blinked at me, then down at my ring finger. “I didn’t know. When did this happen?”

I couldn’t help the bright smile on my face as I wiggled my fingers so the ring caught the light. “Yesterday. I’m surprised it didn’t hit one of your group chats.”

Reece snorted. “I’m only involved in one Montgomery family group chat, and every time I try to leave it, somebody adds me back in. And nobody mentioned it in that one, nor the work one.”

I snorted. “We enjoy teasing you with family things. Just because you growl a lot. And I’m sorry we didn’t tell you.”

“Whatever. Congrats to you both. Seriously. But I have to ask. How many family group chats are there?” Reece asked.

“I’m afraid to know that answer, “Anya teased.

“Would you like to join us?” Duke asked, and I smiled. Because even though we were celebrating our engagement, Duke was never going to let friends walk away without knowing they were welcome.

“We already ate, but congratulations,” Reece said, meeting my gaze. “I’ll be sure to check the group chat later,” he added dryly.

“And just for that I’m adding you to another one. But I’m not going to tell you when. You’ll be surprised.” I beamed, and he snorted. And as we said our goodbyes, Reece wrapped his arm around Anya’s waist, and the two walked away, looking just as in love as ever.

Reece was a few years older than me and had been in the business longer than most of the people on staff, and I was grateful that he was around.

Mostly because it was fun to tease him and his taciturn ways, and because he never complained about the youths, as some other older people in our company often did.

“I hope it was okay that I invited them to dinner. I just know there’re no more reservations for the night.”

I leaned over and kissed Duke softly on the mouth. “I’m glad you did. I would’ve too honestly. This place has great food, and they’re good people.”

“You know, I was jealous of him when I first met him.”

I nearly choked on the wine that the waiter had brought. “What? Why?”

“Because he’s this ruggedly handsome guy who can lift most anything at a construction site and is overprotective with everyone that he works with. I don’t know, I just got jealous.”

“I should feel flattered about that, right?” I asked, confused.

“Maybe. Or maybe I was just a little insecure when we first met.”

“You have nothing to be insecure about. We’re getting married.

And I can’t wait. Reece is…well, he’s way older than me so I never thought of him that way.

You know?” Not quite a lie. A girl could fantasize, but Reece wasn’t in the age range I dated so it wasn’t a problem.

And the old man would never think of me that way.

I held back a grin at calling him an old man and knew I’d have to do it in person later.

Duke leaned forward, kissing me again. “And I can’t wait either.”

* * *

By the end of the night, I was exhausted, rung out by one of the best evenings of my life, and had slept through my alarm the next morning.

Duke had left, leaving behind a little note on my pillow.

Just a Post-it, a J with a heart next to it.

I kissed the note softly and set it on my vanity next to his other sticky notes.

He was always doing that, leaving me little notes.

And one day I was going to collect them all and make some form of art project with it.

More than likely I would ask Riley to help. She was far better at that than I was.

I sent him a quick text to tell him good morning and I loved him and got on my exercise bike to work off any extra energy.

Today my mom and the girls were coming over and we were going to start wedding planning. And I would also invite Duke’s sister and mother for next time. Today though, was just family. And I couldn’t wait for Duke’s family to be mine.

After my workout was finished, I showered and made my way to the kitchen to have an afternoon coffee and lunch.

My timing was a little off for the day, and I was glad I didn’t have to work.

I had been out far too late with Duke, but it was the start of our new lives and I was so freaking blessed.

My doorbell rang at that moment, and I skipped over to it, wondering if my mom was early.

“Chelsea, it’s good to see you,” I said as I wrapped my arms around Duke’s sister. She didn’t hug me back, but then again, I was a little more exuberant than her.

“I’m so excited about the engagement, aren’t you? I mean, we’re going to be sisters,” I said, practically dancing on my toes.

That’s when I finally noticed that Chelsea hadn’t spoken. Hadn’t said a single word.

Instead I looked at her puffy eyes, the way that she stood there, her skin gray, and my smile fell.

“What’s wrong, Chelsea? Is it your mom? Is it Duke?” I asked.

But if it was Duke, I would know. After all, I was his fiancée.

Somebody would’ve called me if something was wrong.

His sister wouldn’t just be at my door. Maybe she didn’t want the wedding to happen.

Oh God. Was this going to be one of those times where Duke’s family finally told me what they truly thought about me, and want me to break up with him?

My chest tightened, and I watched as Chelsea’s lips thinned before she let out a breath.

“He’s... He’s gone, Brooklyn,” Chelsea croaked.

I tilted my head, an odd buzzing sound filling my ears.

“What? Who’s gone? Come in and sit down, Chelsea. You’re scaring me. Let me get you some water.”

But Chelsea flinched as I reached out to her, and I stopped moving.

“Chelsea? Who’s gone?” I asked, the urgency in my tone frantic.

“Duke. He’s dead, Brooklyn. Duke’s dead.”

And I have no idea what she said after that, or even what I did. Because I stood there, the sun glinting off the diamond in my engagement ring, and I watched as the world fell around me.

This was supposed to be my happy ever after. This was supposed to be our everything.

Because there was no way the love of my life was dead.

And it wasn’t until pain radiated up my knees, that I realized that the screaming I heard was me.

And there would be no coming back from this.

Ever.

Next in the Montgomery Ink Legacy series:

Brooklyn gets her HEA in Kiss Me Forever

If you’d like to read a bonus scene:

Check out this special Epilogue!