Page 44 of On A Manhunt: Complete Series

MAVERICK

I couldn’t keep my mother away. The service was being held in the Presidential Suite of the James Hotel in Denver and she was seated in a leather chair in the suite’s large living room.

The furniture had been pushed back to make space for the bride and…

bride to stand before the Justice of the Peace.

There were about thirty people present, all invited by Farrah.

I’d had no involvement in any of it besides being the pretend groom.

An event planner had been hired to tackle the details: a harpist playing Pachelbel from the corner, a waiter circulating with glasses of champagne, floral arrangements dotting the suite.

While to me this was all a ruse, it was Farrah’s big day.

Regardless of her father, she wanted it to be memorable.

I had a feeling it was going to that in more ways than one.

She was in one of the bedrooms–the suite had three–with her fiancée and two bridesmaids.

I also couldn’t keep my brothers away. At least Theo and Silas.

I had no clue where Dex was. The last time I talked to him, he was still in Hunter Valley.

My brothers stood at my side, silent and stoic.

I had a feeling if I really was going to marry Farrah, if I got up there ready to say my vows, they might just beat me up and drag me out of here. I hoped they would.

They knew something was up but couldn’t figure it out. Especially since Scout was sitting at my feet.

“You brought your dog to your wedding?” Silas asked. He leaned down and gave Scout a pat on the head.

“Dogs are ring bearers all the time,” Theo reminded.

“He’s not the fucking ring bearer.”

When I’d left the house, he’d wanted to come along. So I brought him. He was easy to like, especially this week. He didn’t talk. He didn’t annoy the shit out of me.

More guests entered the suite, including Farrah’s parents, who were smiling and looked as pleased as any mother and father of the bride could be. They settled onto a love seat beside my mother, who was a decades old friend.

I sighed with relief, knowing that with them here, my job here was done. There was no way her father could change the legalese for her inheritance now. Farrah would marry Elise and live happily ever after.

And me?

I had no idea, but it was finally… FINALLY… time to find out.

“Time to go,” I said, leaning toward Silas.

He looked at me like I was drunk. Or crazy. Or both. “What?”

“Go?” Theo added, glancing around.

Scout hopped to his short feet.

I headed toward the door, not stopping until I was in the hallway and Theo grabbed my arm.

“What the fuck is going on?” he asked, running his hand through his fair hair.

I looked to Silas. “I told you. I’m not marrying Farrah.”

He pointed over his shoulder to the now-closed door to the suite. “Then who is?”

“Elise Faraday.”

They stared at me. And stared some more.

“You’re shitting me,” Theo said.

I shook my head and strode down the hallway to the bank of elevators. I pushed the down button, then again.

“Farrah is gay?” Silas whispered.

“Obviously, you knew,” Theo added.

“Yes.”

“Why all this?” Theo asked, waving his arm in the air, indicating the wedding, the suite, the tuxedo.

The elevator doors finally opened, and Scout dashed in first. I wasn’t far behind. On our way to the lobby I explained to them about her inheritance and how she’d be cheated out of it solely because her father was a homophobic asshole.

“What are you going to do now?” Silas asked.

The doors slid open. “I’m going to get my girl.”

I stepped out into the lobby and had to pause for a group of hotel guests walking past. Once they cleared, I lifted my head, then froze.

Because standing twenty feet away was Bridget.

She looked fucking insane in a red dress with a low neckline and a front slit that hinted at inches of toned thigh.

“Holy fuck,” I murmured and went instantly hard.

The second she saw me, her eyes widened. I watched as her shoulders slumped, then she rolled them back and lifted her chin. As if she was ready to face me. To confront me and show me every fucking thing I’d been missing for the past five days.

I was so fucking proud of her that my breath caught.

Several feet behind her, I saw Dex. Hands tucked into his pockets, he glared, but didn’t approach. Now I knew why he had the plane. I didn’t want to kill him after all. He brought my girl to me.

She gave a small, barely-sure smile, then said hi.

I couldn’t hear her, she was too far away, but I could read that one word on her fuck-me red painted lips.

“Hi,” I said back.

Silas whistled and I elbowed him in the gut.

“Groveling’s best done on your knees,” Theo leaned in and murmured.

“So’s eating her pussy,” Silas added and that earned him another elbow.

“If she stabs you with that stiletto, don’t come to my ER.”

“We can’t just leave Mom up there. I’ll go and explain. Take her home,” Silas offered.

“Thanks,” I told him, not looking away from Bridget.

“I’ll take the dog,” Theo offered.

With that, they peeled off, Silas back to the elevators, Theo toward the exit with Scout happily trotting at his heels.

I took a step toward Bridget. She took a step toward me.

Closer and closer we got until she was right there in front of me.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hi,” she whispered back.

I had no idea what to fucking say. I had too much that I was afraid to fuck it all up. Finally, I asked, “What are you doing here?”

Maybe that was the dumbest thing of all because she flinched, then pasted on a smile.

“I came to tell you I believe in us. That, well, maybe there’s more here than it seems.”

I wanted to reach out. To touch her. To stroke her hair that was long down her back.

My heart thumped, then skipped a beat. She hadn’t told me I was an asshole. Or to fuck off and die. Or any of the possibilities I considered all week.

“I called. Texted. Emailed.”

With a nod, she said, “I know. I didn’t… couldn’t listen or read any of it.”

“You didn’t?” She didn’t know the truth, what I’d tried to tell her so many times. “Yet you still came?”

She looked me over in my tuxedo, then stared at my bow tie. “I, um… guess I was wrong and I should congratulate you. On your marriage.”

And with that, I melted. My heart literally seeped from my chest.

She came all the way to Denver to tell me that she believed in us and didn’t even know the truth. The truth that had been right there for her to read or listen to at any time.

“Oh, baby. You… fuck. So fucking brave.”

I pulled my cell from my pocket and pulled up the last thing I sent her. An email. A one question quiz.

“Here. Read this. A one question quiz.”