Page 6

The wedding was going to be a small ceremony in a room in the town hall, the only guests were some of the employees plus Will and Trent. In a way, it seemed sadder than just doing it in Reacher’s office with witnesses. But Reacher insisted, so the least I could do was try to make the room look nice. Which was how I now found myself fixing a couple rows of chairs to line up around a makeshift aisle and trying to arrange flowers.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Trent asked me.

“What do you mean?” I replied.

He gestured all around us. “This. You agreeing to stop investigating for some woman. Do you realize how absurd that is? Declan’s going to be furious. You know there’s something going on here—”

“Keep your voice down,” I snarled. Glancing around to make sure no one was listening, I leaned forward. “Yes, I know there’s something fishy going on. But you saw what she looked like, how she acted. I couldn’t just let her stay here.”

“She’s a random girl, though,” Trent argued. “That’s what I don’t get.”

I looked around again. “She’s Mira’s friend. I’m just trying to help her out for my sister’s sake.”

“You’re putting a lot of stuff on the line for your sister’s old friend, especially considering neither of you have seen her for ten years,” Trent commented. “On top of that, agreeing to marry her? That’s a pretty drastic step.”

I knew what I was doing had wide-reaching consequences. I was tearing Audrey and her daughter out of the life they had known here, and I had made a deal that scuttled the entire mission. I knew what I had done was incredibly selfish on multiple levels. But I couldn’t help myself. The instant I had seen her, all common sense and rationality had gone out the window. All I cared about was Audrey, protecting her and making sure she was all right. Completing a mission seemed pretty trivial compared to that.

The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if this decision was selfish, purely for my own gain, when I should have put the mission first. Honestly? Most likely. But that still didn’t seem to matter, so long as Audrey was safe.

“It was the right thing to do,” I said, trying to remain evasive.

“I’ll believe it if you can convince Declan,” Trent retorted. He glanced around. “Where’s Will? If you’re going to make me help with all these ridiculous decorations, the least you could do is make him do the same.”

My eyes darted from side to side, making sure the coast was clear before leaning over and whispering. “He’s setting up cameras so we can keep tabs on them after we leave.”

Trent raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure that’s going to work? What if they find them?”

Shooting him an exasperated look, I said, “It’s Will. You know how perfectly he does things. There’s no way in hell anyone will find them if Will doesn’t want them to.”

“Fair point,” Trent mumbled.

The rest of the decorations didn’t take long. It wasn’t as though there was going to be a massive ceremony, and Reacher had insisted on a fast turnaround. I hadn’t even seen Audrey since she left town hall the day before. I had tried to, but Reacher had blocked me, saying it was bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony. So I’d spent as much time as I could decorating the small room the ceremony would be in. I’d bought all the flowers I could get my hands on and other vaguely wedding-related items. It only looked marginally better than it had before, but at least I had done something.

Reacher emerged into the room, strutting forward. He beamed as he approached, clapping me on the back.

“Are you excited?” he asked. “You should be. Audrey’s a great woman. I’m not surprised she caught your eye.”

“She seems like a nice woman. I hope she likes her new pack,” I said. I had decided to conceal that I knew her from all those years ago. I felt the less Reacher and his pack knew, the less leverage they would have. Keeping our past in the dark was beneficial for everyone.

“I’m just glad that we were able to come to a mutually beneficial arrangement,” Reacher declared. He gave me a pointed look.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten our deal,” I said. “We’ll be out of your hair in no time.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” he said, giving a brief nod. Something dark flashed in his eyes. “And let me be clear: if I get a whiff of you reneging, you and I are going to have a serious problem.”

I gave him a steady look. “Are you implying I’m a liar?”

“Just making sure we understand one another,” Reacher said, giving that same oily smile that made me want to take a shower.

“We do,” I said.

The truth was, I planned on keeping up my end of the bargain. I wasn’t about to give Reacher an excuse to retaliate against Audrey or anyone else. However, I knew I could find some loopholes. Reacher had been a bit hasty to agree to the arrangement, to the point I had some flexibility in terms of its interpretation. I had seen enough of this town to know that he was bad news and needed to be stopped. I planned on still doing that, but protecting Audrey took precedence. At the moment, that was all I cared about. I’d worry about the consequences later.

The alpha nodded, clapping me on the back again. My wolf snarled, wanting to tear into him. Before I could do anything reckless, Will and Trent came in, followed by a handful of bored-looking guests.

“In that case, why don’t we get started?” Reacher said.

I nodded, going to stand near the makeshift altar, Will and Trent coming to stand next to me.

Music began to play. A young girl, maybe ten or so, walked down the aisle with a basket of flowers. She threw them in the air sporadically. Even as she did, she kept her eyes on me, as if she was studying me. She had light brown hair that went to her shoulders, and the same blue eyes and face shape as Audrey. It didn’t take a genius to realize this had to be Claire.

As she continued to walk and toss the petals, she tilted her head at me, unsmiling as she regarded me. I got the sneaking suspicion she was assessing as much as possible about me in her short stint down the aisle. She didn’t look particularly happy to be here, but she didn’t seem angry, either. More curious than anything else, as if waiting to see how everything would unfold.

I admired that. It wasn’t patience, exactly. More like trying to assess all the facts that had been thrown at her before passing her final judgment. It was a skill I didn’t think too many kids had. Something about the way she studied me felt eerily familiar, though I couldn’t explain why. Most likely it was Audrey’s influence. She probably had given me similar looks countless times since I had known her. That had to be it.

Claire finished her promenade and scurried over to a chair, hopping on it so her feet dangled, not touching the ground. Either she hadn’t hit her growth spurt yet, or she had inherited Audrey’s petite height.

I wonder what she inherited from her father , I mused. I wonder who her father is .

Just the thought of Audrey being with someone else, anyone else, made me wolf snarl with rage, his claws flexing. The jealousy that slammed into me right then took me by surprise, and I had to force myself to keep my composure. Clearly, this guy wasn’t in the picture anymore. Otherwise, Audrey would have said something, wouldn’t she? Some male would have stepped forward by now and protested Claire leaving without the pack consulting him first.

Before I could think any more about it, the door opened again, and this time Audrey appeared, her father next to her.

She wore an elegant white dress, lacy and strapless with a small train. The way the fabric clung to her body emphasized both her petite frame and her curves. It looked worn around the edges, as if it was used, maybe by her mother. But that didn’t change the fact that she looked absolutely stunning, as if the dress had been custom-made just for her.

Saul had her arm locked around his. If I didn’t know any better, it looked like he was pulling her up the aisle. Audrey kept her eyes on the floor. She kept her gaze there as they moved toward us. It wasn’t until Saul positioned her in front of me and moved back that she finally raised her head to look at me.

I was so used to a fire blazing in her eyes that seeing the almost blank, hollow look there took me by surprise. If I didn’t remember her so well, if her scent wasn’t already ingrained in my brain, I might have thought this was an entirely different woman from the one I had known all those years ago.

“Are you okay?” I whispered, keeping my voice low enough so it wouldn’t carry.

She hesitated, and I didn’t miss the brief glance she shot toward Reacher, hovering nearby. “I’m fine,” she muttered.

“She’s just shy and a little overwhelmed,” Reacher said, giving his politician’s smile. “I promise she’ll warm up once all of the excitement dies down. Won’t you, Audrey?”

I saw her jaw set, but she just gave a brief jerk of her head in affirmation. Her eyes darted first to Reacher, then to me, then back to the floor.

“Yes,” she said.

Reacher nodded in satisfaction. He began speaking, talking so rapidly that I could tell he was trying to rush everything, as if worried I would change my mind. I kept my eyes on Audrey, who kept staring at the floor. Something about the way she hunched made my stomach writhe with anger. She used to be so lively and vivacious. What happened to her?

“You may kiss the bride,” Reacher announced, startling me and pulling me out of my thoughts.

I pulled Audrey toward me, bending down to kiss her. I meant for it to be tender and gentle. But the moment our lips met, some primal urge flared inside me, craving more of her. My grip on her tightened, the kiss deepening as a craving for her and her alone washed over me.

She stepped away, breaking whatever spell had taken hold of me. Her expression remained unreadable. Before I could say anything, Reacher stepped forward.

“You got what you wanted,” he hissed in my ear. “Now get the hell out of here.”