Their Wicked Wedding (17 page)

At one point, he grabs my hand and twines his fingers through mine. I know it’s an attempt to reach me, to connect with me physically even though I won’t talk to him. I almost pull my hand away, but in the end I can’t bear to do it. But that doesn’t change how upset I am. If anything, it makes it worse to be so connected and disconnected at the same time.

Then, just when I think I can’t take it anymore, our tour ends up at the gallery. The tables are already in place for tomorrow’s reception, but most of the décor won’t go up until the morning. Still, our guests seem more than impressed by the room, and as they spread out to take a closer look at some of the details, Calder presses close to me.

“I can’t set foot in this room without thinking about the first time I brought you here,” he says, his voice low and deep. “Remember our little game?”

“Yes,” I whisper. “I remember.”

His hand comes to my waist. “I bet you that you couldn’t find my favorite painting. What were the stakes again?”

He knows very well what the stakes were, and in spite of everything going on in my head, I feel myself blush. “A kiss.” It turned out to be much, much more than a kiss, but I won’t say that out loud.

“Yes,” he murmurs. “A very good kiss.”

Something about his gloating tone brings out the fight in me. “If I recall correctly, you cheated.”

“I did no such thing.”

The look in his eyes is pure wickedness. He captures my hand again and leads me slowly down the length of the room to the spot on the wall where there once hung the painting he claimed was his favorite. It was a horrendously ugly thing, but what happened in front of it was beautiful.

We both stare at the wall, and I wonder if he’s seeing that piece just as clearly as I am. He moves behind me, standing just as he did that night after I lost the game. I lean back against him as his arms come up around me, and I know that if we weren’t in a room full of people, he’d repeat the things he did with his fingers that night. Instead, he slides one arm around my waist and intertwines his other hand once more with mine.

For a moment, it’s like we’re in a bubble all by ourselves. His breath stirs my hair. His warmth completely surrounds me. I want to turn and kiss him, but I’m afraid that will break the spell and bring us back to the present and this room full of people. To the thoughts of Taran Harker and the heartless way Calder seems to have behaved. Right now, I just want to keep staring at this wall.

After a moment, his hand moves. His fingers unlace themselves from mine, but only so that he can take my engagement ring between his thumb and forefinger and swivel it slowly, oh-so-slowly, back and forth on my finger. I can only imagine he’s thinking about the fact that at this time tomorrow, he and I will be man and wife. We’ll be bound together forever.

And all I can think about is Taran Harker, and that if Calder had it his way, we’d be starting this marriage with a big, fat, life-altering secret between us.

Tears burn in my eyes, and I jerk away from him so violently that several of our guests turn to look at us.

“I—I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m not feeling well.”

Calder steps toward me, but I back up a step. I can’t look him in the eyes.

“Something at dinner didn’t sit right with me,” I say. “I think I’m just nervous or something.”

By now most of the room has noticed my odd behavior, and Dad comes forward.

“Are you okay, honey?” he says, taking my arm. “Are you ill?”

“I’ll be okay,” I tell him. “I think I just need to… to lie down. Maybe go to bed early.”

“I’ll take you upstairs,” Calder says, his voice too calm, too controlled.

“That’s not necessary,” I say, still trying to wave off my dad. “You guys finish the tour.”

“Honestly, I’m a little tired myself,” Regina pipes in. “I wouldn’t mind continuing the tour tomorrow.”

Others are quick to voice similar opinions, and I curse inwardly at the fact that all of our friends are such concerned, accommodating people. I was hoping to slip away on my own for a few minutes, just to get my brain sorted out.

Instead, I’m now being escorted upstairs by Calder, whose hand on my arm is just a little too stiff. There’s no denying at this point that something is very much wrong. This conversation is happening now, whether I’m ready for it or not.

He doesn’t say a word when we get to my room. He’s waiting for me to start, to explain why I’ve been acting strangely all evening and just caused a small scene in front of our guests.

There’s no reason to drag this out. I pull out the handkerchief.

“Do you know what this is?” I ask, holding it out to him.

The handkerchief unfolds as he takes it, the fabric falling open to reveal his father’s initials. His brow creases in confusion.

“What is this?” he asks. “Where did you get it?”

“A man named Taran Harker gave it to me.”

At the mention of that name, his eyes snap up to mine. His gaze is so sharp that I almost stumble back a step.

“How—when—” He looks like someone just punched him. “When did you see that man?”

“When were
you
going to tell me about him?” I demand. “Is it true, then? You’ve known about him for a
week
?”

He runs his hand through his hair. “Yes, but it’s complicated.”

“Complicated! When were you going to tell me that you have a brother?”

“That’s exactly the problem. I’m not certain he is my brother.”

“Are you certain he’s not?”

His silence is my answer.

“How are you supposed to figure out the truth if you refuse to speak to him?” I ask.

“Why are you arguing for his side? He approached me out of nowhere, and when you come from a family like mine, when you’ve been through some of the shit I’ve been through, you know better than to trust anyone who comes forward making outrageous claims. I put Joe Osborne on it.”

“And you just weren’t going to tell me?”

“My intention wasn’t to hide anything,” he says. “But we’re about to get married, damn it! What was I supposed to do—spend the whole week dealing with this when I wanted to spend it with you?”

“You were dealing with this anyway. This is what’s been bothering you this whole time. I
knew
it was more than just work. I
knew
you were upset. But I decided to trust you. Silly me expected you to actually say something to me about something this fucking life-altering!” I shake my head. “Is this how you’re going to treat our relationship, Calder? We’re promising our lives to each other, and a marriage is about more than just agreeing never to sleep with anyone else. It’s about opening up to each other, sharing the worries that shape our lives. Because like it or not, our lives won’t be our own anymore. They belong to each other.” I realize I’ve started crying, but I can’t seem to stop the tears.

Calder is silent for a long time. Too long. I wait for him to argue, to make some new excuse for why he’d keep this from me, but instead he steps forward. His fingers touch my cheek, and he slowly lifts my face.

“You’re right,” he says softly. “You’re right, I should have told you everything from the start. But I was… confused. Frankly, I still am. I was convinced he was lying to me, and I convinced myself that this would all go away if I ignored it long enough. But it didn’t. And I wasn’t as good at ignoring the matter as I intended to be.”

His eyes search mine, and I don’t know whether he’s looking for forgiveness or understanding.

“Forgive me,” he says. “I was wrong. I should have been open with you all along. That’s how things should work in a marriage. At least the sort of marriage I want.” His thumbs brush against my cheeks, wiping the tears away.

And there’s something in his voice—the slightest of quavers, maybe—that tells me he means every word. In his eyes I see all of his guilt and confusion and even some fear. He holds my face like he’s afraid I might tear away from him, might turn my back on him when I can tell he needs me the most.

I can’t find any words to express what I’m feeling, to express how relieved and how tired I am and how much I still love him in spite of everything. So I just nod.

That wins me a small smile.

“I love you,” he says.

“I love you, too.” My voice is a croak.

His eyes stay on mine for a moment longer, and then they drift down to the right, toward where I now see he’s dropped the handkerchief I handed him. When he looks at me again, there’s something very strange in his expression.

“You never told me when you saw him,” he says. “Or where. When did he give you that handkerchief?”

“This afternoon,” I say. “I needed some fresh air and went out for a walk. He’s been—well, I first saw him yesterday, but only from far away. I thought he was you. He’s been out on the grounds. In the maze. I don’t know if he’s sleeping there, or if he just sneaks onto the grounds every morning, or—I mean, the other night after we argued I was out there and thought I heard footsteps. But I’m still not convinced that wasn’t just my imagination.” The more I talk, the more I’m aware of how serious this situation is, how creepy this man’s behavior has been. It’s possible he’s been on the estate for days, hiding and watching us. Watching
me.
How many times have I been out to the maze since we arrived here? And what would have happened if I hadn’t gone out there today? If I hadn’t threatened to call the police? Would he still be lurking in the shadows of the hedges? What was he planning to do?

I can tell by the look in Calder’s eyes that he’s having the same thoughts. His fingers have tightened slightly on my face, and I hurry to reassure him.

“He never did anything to make me feel unsafe,” I tell him. “And I don’t even know if it was him I heard the other night. It was windy and I was upset.”

“We know that he was here today,” Calder says. “We know that he came onto this estate without permission and hid until he had you by yourself.”

“He didn’t hurt me,” I assure him.

“But he might have!” he says. “He might be a complete psychopath. I don’t care if he’s my brother or not. If he’s been hiding on the grounds, he’s up to no good.”

I close my hands over his. “Then we’ll call the police. After the other night Lou said she and Ward were already considering reactivating the security system. We can—”

“Wait—they know about this?”

“I told Lou that I thought I heard someone that night in the maze, that’s all. She said she’d talk to Ward about taking extra precautions this—wait! Where are you going?”

Calder has torn away from me and is marching toward the door.

He doesn’t look back. “
Someone
has to do something about this, don’t they?”

And I don’t even have to see his face to know that this is not going to end well.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CALDER

I can’t believe that fucker has been on the estate. That he followed me all the way out here. That he’s been breaking onto the property. That he’s been in contact with Lily.

I want to kill him for that last part alone. I don’t even care that he caused a fight between us on the night before our wedding—I blame myself for that anyway. But I don’t trust this man, and he could have done something to her—if not out of malice, then out of anger at me, or out of fear that she’d discovered him. She was alone, and she was vulnerable. And all of us in the house were too far away to have even known, let alone stop it.

I don’t know what Taran Harker intended to do by coming here, but I intend to end this once and for all.

Lily is right behind me as I march down the hall.

“Calder,” she says. “We need to handle this calmly.”

Calm
is the last thing I feel right now. That man was on the estate. That man tried to infiltrate this family. That man
might have hurt Lily.
It doesn’t matter what she says to me now. She doesn’t see the danger the way I do. If something happened to her, I’d never forgive myself. And nothing can stop me from wringing his neck with my bare hands.

But first, I have another stop to make.

Lily’s still protesting, but I ignore her words. Just hearing her voice makes me acutely aware of everything that’s at stake here. Of everything I almost lost. My fists clench, and it’s all I can do not to put one of them through the wall.

I march through the hallways until I get to the room Louisa and Ward share. And then I bang on the door. I don’t stop banging until the door is opened by Ward.

It’s clear he’s already started changing for bed, and he looks more than a little annoyed, but I don’t care if I’m disturbing him.

“Where’s the security team?” I say.

He stares at me. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You two had reporters and paparazzi chasing after you for months. Why the hell wouldn’t you at least have the security cameras up and running? Or do you care so little about the safety of this place?”

“Calder.” Lily tugs at my arm. “Let’s not do this.”

But I shake her off. This is important.

“I asked you a question,” I tell Ward.

“So we’re going to do this now, then?” Ward says, crossing his arms. “The night before your wedding?”

“Yes, we’re doing this now. You’re in charge of this estate now, and I want to know how you’re keeping it safe.”

“Because if I haven’t hired a full security team, it’s obviously because I don’t care about this place. Is that what I’m hearing?”

Louisa appears then, right behind Ward.

“What’s going on?” she says. Her eyes move to me. “Is something wrong?”

“Apparently your brother has some issues with the way I’m running this place,” Ward says.

“Well when you allow madmen to spend days slinking around your property, then yes, I have a problem.”

“
Calder.
” Lily says. “This is not the time.”

“No, let him talk,” Ward says. His eyes have never left my face. “But let’s stop with all this shit about the security. We all know what this is really about.”

“And what is that?” I growl.

“You don’t like me,” Ward says, spreading his arms as if daring me to punch him. “You’ve never liked me. And you don’t think I’m good enough for your sister.”

Oh, this is rich.

“Well, whatever I think of you, you certainly aren’t helping your case,” I say. “But since you brought it up, then yes—I have a problem with the fact that she’s carrying your child and you refuse to marry her.”

“Oh, geez,” Louisa says with exasperation. “Calder, this is ridiculous—”

“Let him speak,” Ward says. “I want to hear what he has to say.”

Lily is trying to drag me away again, and though I know this is getting out of hand, I refuse to be goaded by this man. He asked for my answer, and I intend to give it to him.

“Louisa is my sister,” I say. “And just because she makes her own choices doesn’t mean I have to approve of them. A baby needs a father.”

“Our baby
has
a father, whether or not we’re married. Lou knows that.”

“And if you change your mind? If you wake up one day and decide you’re not ready? Or that you don’t want a child after all? You could kick her out of here without a moment’s notice. You could take all of this away from her again.”

“Away from her? Or away from you?” Ward’s voice is louder now, matching my own. “
That
’s what this is about, isn’t it? You’re angry because this place doesn’t belong to you anymore.”

That’s it. He’s taken it one step too far.

My arm is moving before I’ve even realized I’ve made a fist again. Ward’s quick—he sees me coming—but he’s not quite fast enough to get completely out of the way. I clip him on the jaw.

And then there’s no turning back.

Ward dives toward me, and I only just manage to get out of the way. Lily leaps back and curses at both of us, but I don’t think either of us has the presence of mind to stop now. Ward’s already swinging at me, and I block his blows and return a few of my own. He might be bigger than me, but I’m quicker, and I’m more than a little angry. Anger can be an asset in a fight if you know how to harness it.

Ward’s fist hits me on the shoulder at the same time I get him in the stomach. We both crash into the wall, knocking a painting from its hooks. Neither of us even pauses. I grab his shirt. He hooks his leg around mine and swipes me off my feet. But I’m still holding on to him. He falls with a grunt.

Part of him hits me in the chest. I swing and hit him in the shoulder with my elbow. He strikes me on the cheek. I get him in the side.

At one point, he tries to get to his feet, but I knock him over again.

He lands on me, and my vision flashes black for a moment.

And then everything goes cold. Cold and
wet.

Both of us freeze in shock.

Another wave of water hits us. I sputter as it runs down my face. Beside me, Ward coughs.

And Lily and Louisa are standing over us, empty glasses in their hands. Both look ready to kill.

“What the
fuck
is your problem?” Lily says. “Are you fucking insane?”

My sister has similar words for Ward, but I hardly hear them. I’m too focused on that look in Lily’s eyes. If I thought I was in trouble when she found out about Taran Harker, that’s nothing compared to this.

I don’t even look at Ward as I drag myself to my feet. I know he’s in bad shape. I’m in bad shape, too. My head throbs. And now that we’ve stilled, I can feel every place I’ve been hit. My body will be covered in bruises by morning.

But though I know this fight is over—for now—I haven’t forgotten why I showed up at this door in the first place. I haven’t forgotten that Mr. Harker might still be on the grounds somewhere.

Lily grabs my arm, but her touch isn’t reassuring or even the least bit gentle.

“Come on,” she says, her voice cold. “We’re getting you cleaned up.”

“Not yet.” I pull my arm free.

She spins and glares at me, and the cold fire in her eyes almost paralyzes me on the spot. But any bandages or cold compresses will have to wait.

“He’s still out there,” I say. “I’m not going anywhere until I find that bastard.”

She shakes her head. “Calder, that’s not—”

“I’m going,” I say. “I don’t care where he’s hiding. I’m going to find him.”

“We’ll call the police and let them handle it. Calder—”

“I’m going.”

I sidestep her and stride down the hall. Fighting Ward should have quelled some of my anger, but if anything, it’s only made it worse.

“Calder!” Lily calls after me. She’s angry—beyond angry—but I need to do this.

I don’t even remember going down the stairs. But I’m outside, and I’m marching across the grounds toward the maze. The air is crisp tonight, and my damp hair and clothes only magnify the sensation, but it would take a lot worse to keep me from Taran Harker right now.

“Taran!” I yell when I reach the labyrinth. “Come out here, you bastard!”

The maze is dark. The moon is hiding behind clouds, but I march down the path between the hedges. I don’t care if I have to search all night. I’m going to find him.

“I thought you wanted to talk?” I shout. “Well, I’m ready to talk! Or would you rather just keep skulking?”

In the distance, I hear Lily calling for me, but there’s no turning around now. Hearing her voice only reminds me of everything I need to protect. I keep going, but I see no sign of anyone else.

“What is it, Mr. Harker?” I yell into the night. A twisted laugh escapes my throat. “You clearly want to talk to me. Why are you suddenly so shy?”

And there, finally, I see the shape of a man up ahead. He steps out from the shadows of the hedge and stands in the middle of the path.

“I know you’re upset, Calder,” he says. “I know I must seem crazy—”

Damn right he’s crazy, but I don’t give him the chance to finish that thought. I tackle him.

Both of us crash into the nearest hedge before dropping to the ground.

We’re more evenly matched than even Ward and I were. We have nearly the same height and reach, and for every hit I get on him, he gets one on me as well. I curse as he clips me on the cheek, but my next punch hits him the gut. We wrestle on the ground, fighting until we’re both panting for breath. I can hardly see him in the darkness, but I keep swinging at him.

This one is for my father.

This one is for my mother.

For Louisa.

For Lily.

For me.

My last jab gets him in the chest, and he flies back, stunned. I take the opportunity to flip him over and pin him against the ground, effectively ending the fight.

“Now,” I say, panting, “I want to know exactly why you’re here.”

“I just wanted to reach you,” he says. “To talk to you.”

“I made it very clear I didn’t want to talk to you,” I said.

“What was I supposed to do? You’re my brother!”

He sounds so distressed that I almost feel sorry for him. I loosen my hold on him slightly.

“You seem to have done your homework on me,” I say. “You knew where I worked. You knew my cell number. You knew I’d be here. What else do you know? Why should I trust a word out of your mouth when you’re effectively stalking me and my family?”

“Because I’m your family, too,” he says. “Fuck, man, don’t you get it?” He makes a sound that’s half frustration, half distress. “I’ll admit it—I went a little too far. I know I shouldn’t have come here, okay? But I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t get you to talk to me.”

He sounds so upset that I don’t know what to think. Part of me still hates this man. But another part of me sees that picture of the baby. It’s not his fault his father abandoned him.

The next time I speak, I try to be calmer. To keep my emotions out of it.

“You gave Lily a handkerchief,” I say evenly. “Where did you get it? Is that the ‘proof’ you spoke of?”

“Part of it,” he says. “My mom gave it to me. She said he gave it to her. There are some other things too. And photos. They’re back in my car.”

“And where is that?”

“On the service road back behind the estate.”

Exactly how long has this fucker been here?

“Why now?” I demand. “Why did you wait until now to try and contact us?”

“I didn’t know about you before,” he says. He squirms slightly in my grasp. “I mean, I knew who you were from the tabloids, but I didn’t know we were related. My mom always told me my father was a one-night stand. That she didn’t even remember his name. And then a couple of months ago, she…” His voice tightens. “She passed away. But before she died she told me the truth. She said she’d lied to me because my father wanted nothing to do with me after I was born. She didn’t want me to know he was a cold-hearted bastard who left us to struggle while his
real
family was swimming in money.”

Again, I see that wide-eyed baby in the photo. I think of Louisa’s child kicking its tiny foot against her belly. How could my father be so heartless? That wasn’t the man I knew. And it’s slightly sickening to hear how close I came to guessing why he’s shown up now, after all this time.

“I… don’t know what you want from me,” I say, feeling hollow. “I’m not my father. He’s dead. I can’t undo what he’s done. I can’t change the way he treated you and your mother.”

He snorts. “You’re not even trying.”

I’m so taken aback by the bitterness in his tone that I don’t know how to reply. But it turns out he has more to say.

“You people think you own the world,” he says. “That it’s all about what you want. I’m your brother, and you couldn’t spare a fucking minute to talk to me. Not even a minute. Not even to hear what I had to say. You just blew me off because that was easier.”