Built for Power (19 page)

“Yes,” she and Mallory said at the same time.

“Elle may not show it, but she’s gone through a lot to find true love, and I’m not going to ruin it. I’m simply going to say Jeff was apprehended and everything is perfect for her perfect day. Except I don’t have a dress.”

Mallory grimaced. “Actually you do.”

“Oh no! That thing is way too small. My breasts were shoved up so much, they were suffocating me.”

Logan and Officer Macey exchanged a look that said that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, and Bree rolled her eyes at them.

“We could let it out as much as possible and then get you some Spanx or something to suck it all in and you’d be fine. Logan will stand nearby with an oxygen tank . . .”

“Thanks, Mallory. You’re a true friend,” Bree said sarcastically. “Unfortunately, I see no other way. They tore my dress to shreds in order to tie and gag me. The only trouble is finding someone who can sew as well as Allegra.” Bree snapped her fingers. “I know!”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Bree stood next to Logan as she rang the doorbell to the funky warehouse condo. Logan seemed unsure as he looked around in the predawn light. Three floors up, a light turned on. Bree rang the bell again and a sleepy voice came over the intercom.

“Hello?”

“Hi. This is Bree Simpson, Allegra’s sister. I need some help.”

“Of course! Come up,” a second voice said a second before the buzzer to the lobby door sounded.

Bree and Logan hurried up the stairs and were met in the hall by two men with sloppy hair. “Thank you so much. I know we haven’t met in person, but I’m Bree and this is Logan Ward.”

The more serious-looking man with the dark brown hair held out his hand. “I’m David Bell.” Turning to the energetic man with the mop of blond hair, “and this is my partner, Josh Rose. What is the emergency?”

“Is Allegra okay?” Josh asked as he practically bounced with energy even this early in the morning.

“She is, but I’ll be dead if I don’t get some help.” Bree held up the bridesmaid dress that had been shredded.

“Goodness,” the men gasped.

“I was sort of attacked and they tied me up with the bridesmaid dress that Allegra stayed up all night making.”

“Honey, they murdered that dress! We can’t fix that,” David said sympathetically.

“We happen to have this dress,” Logan said, holding up the too-small one.

“But it’s a good three sizes too small,” Bree added.

“Come in, come in. When’s the wedding and why can’t Allegra work on it?” Josh asked as they followed him and David into a gorgeous, open condo.

“Allegra hasn’t slept in forty-some hours because she had to remake the dress for me. She'd blow her lid if she saw this second dress destroyed. It’s for Elle and Drake’s wedding today.”

Josh and David cringed. “Eww. We understand. We once saw her lose it behind the scenes of the Milan fashion show. And honey, it wasn’t pretty.“

David took the two dresses and draped them on a table. Both men looked over them for a while and talked.

Bree held her breath and prayed. After what seemed an eternity, they nodded and turned back to her. “We can fix it. Get undressed. We have some tummy sucker-uppers in the fitting room. Suck it all in, honey, and come on out,” Josh ordered as he and David started gathering supplies.

Logan looked around helplessly. “I’ll go get breakfast.”

“Don’t you dare!” Josh’s eyes went wide at the horror of the idea. “She can’t eat a thing or it’ll never fit!”

“Coffee then, I’ll go get coffee,” Logan said, slightly scared of this whole situation.

“That would be lovely, thank you,” David said with a smile.

“Oh, and if you don’t want to see Bree naked and stuffed like a sausage, you may want to take at least forty-five minutes to get that coffee.”

“Well, of course, I want to see her naked.”

“Logan!” Bree shouted from the changing area.

“Oh,” the men said knowingly. “So that’s how it is then.”

Logan sent them a full smile. “That’s exactly how it is. I’ll be back in ten.”

Logan headed out the door with a smile still on his face as he heard the men gushing to Bree about her handsome beau.

* * *

“I’m stuck!” Bree cried from under miles of fabric. Her arms were above her head and David, Josh, and Logan were slowly working the gown over her head.

“Suck it in, honey,” David told her as they gripped the fabric and continued to work it over her breasts and shoulders.

“Do I hear laughing?” Bree shot out. “Oh my gosh! Logan Ward, is that you?”

Logan smiled from his view as they peeled her out of the dress. “I’d never laugh at you, sweetheart. You know undressing you is my favorite activity.”

“Swoon,” Josh sighed as he and David laughed.

“I’m going to kill all of you when you get me out of this thing!”

“No, you’re not. You’re going to love and adore us,” David said as they inched the dress up.

Bree let out an annoyed breath and the dress popped over her shoulders. The men pulled it over her head as her lungs expanded for the first time in the past hour.

“We can fix it. Now, I would advise not bending over or sitting down, but you’ll be able to mostly breathe.”

“Mostly?” Bree asked.

David sent her a wink and hurried to start taking the dress apart. Bree stood on the pedestal stuffed into the tightest corset the men had while Logan stood in front of her and just smiled at her breasts.

“Have I told you recently that I love you,” Logan said with a boyish grin on his face.

Bree rolled her eyes and looked at the clock at the wall. “Oh shit!” She had twenty minutes to get to breakfast, and the only thing she had with her was the bloodstained outfit from last night.

“Take anything you want from the rack,” Josh told her as he joined David. They fluidly worked as a pair, removing stitching and handing each other the tools they needed without saying a word.

“So, Logan, you’re an architect? Have you ever designed a fashion boutique?”

“Can’t say I have, though I would be up for it. I’m opening my own firm here in Atlanta.”

Josh and David looked at each other and smiled. “Gee, I wonder why? When are you going to make an honest woman out of her?”

Logan didn’t even mind the question. He’d thought about it since he discovered she wasn’t married as he held her naked in his arms at the hospital. He’d known from that moment on this wasn’t just a fling. It only took one taste of Bree to know she was the forever kind of woman. He’d had his one taste and now he wanted more.

“Soon. But it’s our secret.”

“We’ll do your tuxedo. Our gift,” Josh winked before they set back to work. Their hands flew over the material, and before Logan knew it, the dress was in pieces.

Bree ran out of the changing room in the most gorgeous sundress he’d ever seen. The large white straps emphasized her bust, the tailored navy blue top made him want to put his hands on the curve of her waist where another white strip was calling to him.

He didn’t have time to really look at the rest as she ran to Josh and David and gave them a kiss. “Meet me in the alley next to the church at five. Can you do that?”

“I have just the outfit for an incognito assignment,” Josh teased. “Now shoo, let us work.”

“You’re the best!” Bree called out as she took Logan’s hand and ran out the door.

* * *

Bree and Mallory looked nervously at the clock. Bree had five minutes until Josh and David were to arrive and everyone else was dressed and ready for pictures. Mallory, bless her heart, was doing everything she could to delay. She had just asked Bree for the third time to describe her heroics last night. Finally she got the text from Josh and David.

“Oh! It’s Marcus, I’d better take this,” Bree smiled and hurried from the room.

“Would you look at that?” Mallory said. “I left my dress in the car. You all get started on pictures. We’ll just slip into our dresses and be right there.”

Elle narrowed her eyes but didn’t argue. Instead she ran a hand down her lace column dress and shook her head as the others left the room.

“Mallory, is this about my brother?” Elle asked once the room cleared.

“Reid? Why would you say that?” Mallory looked surprised as she had one foot out the door.

“It’s just that you two seem odd. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen you in the same room together since high school.”

“Oh, please. He’s your brother! You all are family,” Mallory smiled and hoped Elle couldn’t see her gritting her teeth.

“Phew, that makes me feel better,” Elle smiled and held out her hands. “You are my third sister. You know that, right?”

“I do. You look breathtaking. Drake is one lucky man.”

“I’m pretty lucky, too. Now, hurry and help Bree with whatever she’s hiding and get your butt in the pictures.”

Mallory raced from the dressing room out into the alley and froze. Bree was mostly naked in front of a van with one man holding her arms and another pulling hard on some strings.

“What on earth?”

“Corset,” Bree said in a whoosh of air as the corset tightened. “Only way the dress will fit.” She grunted as the man with the dark hair tied the strings.

“Well, hello! I’m Josh and that’s David, and you should model for us.”

Mallory just smiled and shook her head. Only Bree would go from steel-toed boots during the day surrounded by sweaty men, to a corset and a gown surrounded by two fashion designers who looked perfect enough to be cake toppers.

“Thanks, but no thanks. Don’t worry, Bree. I have a knife to cut you out of that contraption.”

Suddenly three pairs of eyes were on her. “Really? Where?” Josh asked as he gave the last tug on the corset.

“A lady never tells,” Mallory grinned. “Well, since you’ve got this, can I borrow the van to put my dress on?”

“Sure. We’ll just be a moment more. Bree, no screaming this time,” David lectured as he came at her with the dress.

* * *

Bree and Mallory hurried into the church where the ladies where having their pictures taken. Bree smiled and walked confidently in as she pretended she wasn’t wearing a dress that was too small. The Bellerose men had done a number on it. While it was still too tight, they added some room to the bust and waist in the form of hidden panels or something like that. Bree didn’t understand and she didn’t care. Her boobs were perky, not mushed. And while she was corseted within an inch of her life, she could still take a breath. Sitting down was another matter.

“Sorry we’re late! Marcus sends his love,” Bree made up. She’d talked to Marcus on her way to the spa and was just now telling her family. He had cried when he heard the news that his mother was safe. He’d also tried to insist he needed to turn himself into the police. Instead, Bree had sent Agent Delmont over with Bree’s personal attorney and made sure Marcus cleared his conscience, helped Delmont’s case, and stayed out of jail. The result had been just that.

“Oh, send him our love,” Margaret smiled. “I’ll go see him tomorrow.”

Allegra’s eyes narrowed as she scanned Bree’s dress. “Something isn’t right.”

Bree smiled and gave a little spin. “You worry too much. The dress is beautiful! Pictures?”

Soon the dress was the last thing on anyone’s mind as Mary and Margaret helped fluff gowns and move people around as the photographer snapped pictures. Elle’s excitement flowed all around the room. Bree was caught up in it as they made their way back into their dressing room to wait for the wedding. Bree fell behind the group and snuck out to find Logan sitting on a bench in the courtyard of the church.

“Wow. You look beautiful,” Logan smiled as he stood up and gave her a soft lingering kiss on the lips.

“I only have a minute, but I just had to see you and make sure you were real.”

“Real?”

“Logan, you’re the best thing to ever happen to me. I saw how happy Elle is marrying Drake and it’s the same happiness I feel when I’m with you. Thank you for everything—for loving me, for moving to Atlanta, for supporting me. Did I mention loving me?” Bree laughed lightly. Standing on her tiptoes she placed another kiss on his lips before hurrying back inside.

Logan watched his sunshine dart back inside the church and looked down at what he was working on in the shaded courtyard. It was coming together and soon he hoped he could present it as an engagement gift to his bride. There was no doubt he wanted to marry her. He loved all of her, from her mischievous plots to how she cared for each person she worked with. Life with Bree would never be dull, that’s for sure. They would challenge each other to love more every day. Could there be anything better? Logan didn’t think so as he got back to work on his surprise.

* * *

Mallory refused to look at the man walking her up the aisle. Reid Simpson had been dead to her for almost sixteen years. He was a stranger now . . . a stranger with large muscles that were straining to escape from under his tuxedo jacket, that is. They had smiled when Elle and Drake hurried up the aisle. And smiled as Bree and Phillip followed, both sending winks to their significant others. And they’d smiled as Allegra looped her arm through Drake’s cousin’s. They even smiled as Reid offered her his arm and Mallory took it. They just didn’t smile at each other.

“Let’s just get through this so we don’t ruin my sister’s day,” Reid said as they walked up the aisle together.

“I would never do anything to hurt anyone in your family. I love them more than my own,” Mallory shot back through her dazzling smile.

“We both know that’s not true,” Reid grunted before sending a wink to some bimbo in the crowd.

“Grow up, Reid. There’s enough hurt and blame for everyone. It’s time to move on.”

“Say that if it makes you feel better, but after today I hope I never have to see you again.”

Mallory felt the words like a million knives as they walked through the arched doors, and Reid dropped her hand, moving to congratulate his sister. So this was how it was going to be between them.