Rules of Entanglement (29 page)

She’d never survive it.

Lucie joined her at the sideboard table and held out the two glasses. Vanessa refilled them and reluctantly set the bottle back in the ice bucket to take the flute thrust at her.

“I know this is going to be difficult, but you can’t leave, Nessie. Stay at least through dinner, okay? And if after that you still don’t want to stay for the dance, I’ll understand if you leave. Okay?”

With as bright a smile as she could muster, Vanessa said, “Okay, let’s go get you hitched.” Then she raised her glass and said, “
Salut
, my friend.”

Joining in on their time-honored drinking tradition, Lucie raised her glass and clinked it against Vanessa’s. “
Salut
, Nessie.”

As they tossed back their last glasses of champagne, Vanessa saw a glimmer of something oddly secretive in Lucie’s smile.

…

“Jax, the groom is typically the nervous one at a wedding. If you don’t stop pacing, you’re going to wear a path to the bottom of the island.”

Jackson threw a dirty look in Reid’s direction but didn’t stop his brisk walk back and forth across the room where they’d gotten dressed. His friend’s placid disposition as he lounged on the couch was enough to aggravate him—he didn’t need his smartass comments, too.

It was driving him insane that mere drywall was all that separated him from Vanessa in the next room. He hated waiting to see her, to tell her the things that had been like bullhorns in his mind for the last thirty-six hours. But he’d promised both Reid and Lucie he’d keep himself in check until after the wedding. That way, if things went badly, it wouldn’t affect the ceremony.

The last thing he wanted to do was ruin his baby sister’s big day. But the
next
to last thing he wanted was to let Vanessa run from what they had together. Because that’s what she was doing. He’d had a lot of time to think about things since she got into that cab and seemingly disappeared off the face of the damn island.

He had no doubt the deception bothered her, but he
did
doubt that it was the main reason for her avoidance. When her sister called, everything from the past—the pain, the fear, the guilt—came rushing back from the dark place she’d buried it. And with the reminder of the past came the reminder of why she’d created her rules and why she needed to keep them.

Jax was certain Vanessa loved him. She’d admitted as much when she told him he’d caused her to break Rule #1. But even without that, he’d never been more sure of anything. They fit together, made sense together. As cliché as it sounded, they completed each other.

So now it was up to him to prove how much he loved her in a way he hoped would speak to her.

Reid stood and stepped in Jackson’s path. His casual wedding attire of white linen pants and shirt matched his composure. Not even a hint of unease marked the man’s face. This was a man who trusted in his love and the love of his bride. As much as Jax loved them both, a pang of jealousy twisted deep in his gut. Jax wished he could be as trusting, but right now things were a mess.

Reid clapped a hand on his shoulder and asked, “Got the rings, bro?”

Jax put his hand in the pocket of his pants and felt the cool metal of both rings. He nodded.

“Good,” Reid said. “And how ’bout your best man speech?”

Sticking his hand in the other pocket, he almost shit himself when he came up empty. Then he remembered he’d moved it. Touching the breast pocket of his aqua shirt, he felt the outline of the folded sheet of paper and told himself to calm the fuck down. “Yeah,” he said, his voice sounding strained. “Got it.”

“Then relax. Everything’ll work out. I got your back, all right?”

Jax inclined his head once.

A knock at the door announced Jilli before she entered, all smiles as usual. “Well, don’t you boys clean up nicely. Looking good, Jackie.”

“Jackie?” Reid said with a hitch of his brow.

Jax cut him a death look. “Don’t even think about it. You can still get married with a black eye.”

“It would totally be worth it, but Luce will kill me if I ruin the pictures, so you’re safe. For now,” he added with a smirk.

“Asshole.”

Jilli held the door open wide. “Come on, children, time to take your places.”

Reid turned to Jax and with nothing more than a look, they said more things in three seconds than most women could say in three hours.

Thanks for always being there for me.

No problem, you’ve done the same for me.

I love your sister, man, I’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy.

I know you do, and I know you will. Plus, if you don’t, I’ll break your fucking legs.

Fair enough.

Then let’s do this.

Hell yeah.

Reid walked out first. Jax followed but paused when he reached Jilli. He knew she’d seen Vanessa. He wanted to ask her how she was doing, if she was okay, if she said anything about him…but he knew that if he let himself start, it would be a slippery slope.

She seemed to read his thoughts. Rising on her toes, she gave him a big hug that helped to somewhat calm his nerves. Then she kissed his cheek, pulled back, and said, “Good luck, Jackie.”

“Thanks, girl. Let’s hope I don’t need it.”

Jax walked down the hall, his heart tugging in his chest as he passed the bridal suite like a magnet being pulled to its other half. Clenching his fists, he forced himself to keep moving. To distract himself, he counted his steps. Forty-three to the exit. Twenty-two across the outdoor lounge area. And one hundred and seventy-one to the elegant setup for the beach ceremony and reception where the small group of guests mingled.

An aisle of smoothed sand, bordered by lit Tiki torches strung together with more white netting, bisected the two groupings of six chairs. Blue and aqua sea glass pebbles were scattered along the edges in lieu of the typical rose petals that would just blow away in the ocean breeze. Reid stood at the front, speaking with the minister beneath an archway made from aqua and white netting draped among four wooden posts. Beyond them the setting sun was just beginning to inject the sky with pale shades of lavender and coral as the sea lapped lazily at the shore.

This was what his sister deserved: a wedding in paradise.

Just like Vanessa deserved to expect a hell of a lot more from a relationship than following her rules, half of which ensured she didn’t date an asshole and the other half protecting her even if she did.

He understood why she’d created the rules—and he supposed they made sense to an extent and had served her well up to this point. But now she’d outgrown them and it was time she realized that she’d be okay without them.

Jax greeted the few guests he knew and introduced himself to the few he didn’t until finally Robért shooed him into his place next to Reid.

The violinist was cued.

Reid and the minister stood at attention.

A hush fell over the guests as they turned in their seats.

Jax straightened…and lost his breath.

Vanessa.
Her name whispered through his mind like a silent prayer as she glided in slow motion toward him. Words probably existed to describe her beauty but not in his vocabulary. Exquisite, flawless, timeless…none of those even came close.

She smiled at her friends Eric and Kyle—decent guys he’d heard a lot about over the years from his sister—and rolled her eyes when they blew kisses in her direction. Finally, she reached the end, putting her within reaching distance. His body vibrated with the need to touch her, to hold her, but he held firm, doing nothing more than praying she’d look in his direction. But she didn’t. She greeted Reid with a quick hug and kiss on the cheek…then turned and took her place on the other side without ever acknowledging his presence.

He’d expected her rebuff, but that didn’t make it sting any less.

The sound of muffled gasps brought his attention to the back once again as Lucie appeared on the arm of her grizzled father-figure Fritz. She’d originally asked Jax to walk her down the aisle, but he casually suggested she ask Fritz, saying the man was getting on in years and it would probably mean a hell of a lot to him since he thought of Lucie and Vanessa as his second and third daughters.

In reality, Jax knew he’d be a jacked-up mess if he had to be the one to give her away. The moment she asked, he knew what every father in the world must feel like. No matter how much you approve of or like the guy she’s marrying, everything in you wants to throw her over your shoulder and haul her ass back to her bedroom and ground her for life. So for her sake, he was trying to focus on being the best man, because the best man’s main concerns were not losing the rings and getting drunk at the reception.
Way
easier.

Though he tried to keep himself in that juvenile mentality, Jax’s heart swelled with pride and love as his baby sister walked toward her future. He’d never seen her more beautiful or more sure of herself. The moment her gaze collided with Reid’s was almost palpable. The rest of them could disappear in a puff of smoke and neither would notice.

Once they reached the archway, Reid held out his hand to accept his bride’s, only the old man wasn’t giving it up so easily.

Reid quirked a brow. “Fritz?”

Narrowing his eyes, the old man spoke so only those standing at the front could hear. “You ever break this girl’s heart, Andrews, and I’ll serve your balls to my one-eyed bulldog for breakfast.”

Reid leaned in slightly. “If I ever break her heart, I’ll serve them to Willy myself.”

Fritz nodded with a satisfied grunt before turning to face Lucie. His weathered skin melted into a mask of wrinkles as he beamed with pride. She returned his smile, kissed him on the cheek, and let him place her hand in Reid’s with a firm pat of approval.

Jax drank in the sight of his sister, overflowing with happiness and love for the man who was a friend by blood but a brother by bond. When their parents died, Jax had doubted more often than not that he’d see this day. A day when he no longer had to worry about failing her. That despite the fact he’d had no idea how to raise a teenage girl, she’d managed to come through the other side a well-adjusted, amazing woman. And if anyone could continue to love and take care of her as he’d done, it was Reid. She was in good hands.

Knowing that, it left Jax free to think about his own future. As the minister talked about the usual wedding stuff in the background, Jax studied the maid of honor.

Her eyes were trained on the minister. She appeared to be listening intently with a sweet grin on her face. But Jax knew better. Her eyes were unfocused. Her body was tense, grasping her bouquet in front of her like a shield, and the lines of her smile were tight, forced.

Someone said something about rings and Jackson retrieved them from his pocket and dutifully placed them in Reid’s hand before his attention swung back to Vanessa again.

He could see the thoughts kicking up a storm in her mind, creating more pain, more doubt. Knowing he had any part of that felt like a hot knife twisting in his gut. He wanted more than anything in the world to kiss the tension away in that smile. To do whatever it took to make her happy, today and every day, for the rest of her life.

Hearing Lucie start her vows pulled Jax out of his ruminations.

“Reid,” she said, her eyes already brimming with unshed tears as she pushed the ring onto his finger. “I promise to continue trying to see myself as you see me, no matter how blinded by love I think you are.”

“I’ve got better than twenty-twenty vision when it comes to you, sweetheart.”

“Reid, you can’t interrupt my vows!”

“Sorry, Lu. Go on.” He winked and gave her a smile that said he wasn’t sorry at all.

The guests chuckled and Lucie did a horrible job of looking stern. A moment later she gave up, smiled, and continued.

“I promise to always rub the kinks out of your hands when you spend too many hours on a new drawing or sculpture. I promise to never let you forget how talented you are and to always support your dreams. Whether it’s just to create things for our home or to sell pieces in your own gallery someday. But most of all…I promise to cherish, honor, and love you with all that I am, from this day forward, until my very last breath.”

“Luce,” Reid began as he slowly slid her ring on. “I promise to stop cracking jokes about rubbing kinks out of other places when you’re trying to help with my cramped hands.” Lucie turned about ten shades of red and this time everyone straight-up laughed. “I promise to never let you flirt with another waiter for as long as I live.”

“You
made
me—”

He shushed her and pressed a finger against her lips. “No interrupting, remember?” Lucie released an exasperated sigh. Jax was finding the whole thing amusing as hell. He’d only seen their unique and playful relationship as a couple for a short time before this. If Lucie had thought Reid would forgo the teasing during their wedding, she’d been sadly mistaken. Though, from the twinkle in his sister’s eyes, he didn’t think she’d expected anything less than business as usual.

But then Reid sobered and lifted her right hand, placing it over his heart. The onlookers quieted and even the sea breeze felt more serious as it tousled Lucie’s curls.

“I promise that someday you will shed every last one of your insecurities and finally see yourself as not only
I
see you but as the entire world sees you. I promise to never take your love for granted and to show you every day how very thankful I am to have you in my life. But most of all…I promise to cherish, honor, and love you with all that I am, from this day forward, until my very last breath.”

Tears flowed unchecked over Lucie’s cheeks, and as soon as they were announced as husband and wife, Reid gathered his bride up and kissed her like she was the breath of life, which was probably how his friend felt.

He could relate.

Now more than ever, Jackson knew how much he truly loved Vanessa. He wanted with her what Reid had with Lucie. A life together. A forever.

He couldn’t tell her any of that now. But soon he would. Very soon.