Six days later
“I didn’t expect to see you here, Sam.”
I looked over at Nate. I knew what he meant. Here I was in the one place I’d been hoping to avoid all summer: Analise and James’ wedding. More specifically, I was waiting in the back of the church for their rehearsal and dinner.
I snorted, moving down the pew so he could sit next to me. “Trust me. I came under protest.”
He just grinned and patted my leg. The truth was, he probably understood why I was here. It wasn’t about Analise or James, or even their sure to be wedded non-bliss, but about Mason. Since the last attack and his arrest, I hadn’t left his side. I’d even quit the carnival. He never pushed to know why; maybe because he knew I wouldn’t give him the real answer. But it was because I had to be at his side.
If anything happened, I would be there.
If one of those guys died.
If one of them slipped into a coma.
If one of them brought a lawsuit.
I was going to be at his side. I wouldn’t be able to do much, I knew that, but I’d be there. I liked to think that would mean something.
So far, the guys had been recovering. They’d all woken, and most had been released from the hospital. The district attorney said they’d have a hard case since all those guys had gone to that parking lot with the purpose of assault. Mason, Logan, and Nate had been defending themselves.
I was also waiting for the day the incident was picked up and reported by media. Mason’s name was big. That fact that it hadn’t surfaced yet was miraculous. But when that day did come, I’d be there for that, too.
So even though I cringed every two seconds, I was here in the church, and I was watching as the woman who gave birth to me rehearsed how to marry the father who’d helped bring my soulmate to life. It was a whole clusterfuck, but I was here regardless.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Nate. He wasn’t a groomsman.
He pointed at Logan, who was making a crude gesture at us with his hands and tongue. “Our favorite douchebag told me to come. Said there’d be good food and free booze at the dinner.”
I paled. “We have to stay for the dinner?”
Nate grinned. “Logan said we did, but maybe you and Mason can slip out early.” He looked around. “Is Taylor coming?”
“She’ll be here tomorrow for the wedding.”
She’d better be.
“Matteo took off, right?”
I nodded. “He starts training next week. Everything’s going to be okay, so he headed home to see his family for a few days.”
“He’s a good friend to Mason.”
“To you, too.”
Nate smiled. “Same for you.” He nodded toward the front of the church. “And Logan. I know Mason wants to protect him, but Matteo was there for us. He’s kind of become family in a way.”
He gave me a meaningful look, and I knew what he meant. Matteo had made it known that he wanted to be brought into the fold, but he wasn’t out of the fold, even if he felt that way. I placed my hands together on my lap, looking up at Mason’s back as he and Logan joked, standing to their father’s right.
“Mason wants to protect him.”
“Yeah.” Nate shifted, lounging back against the pew and stretching his legs out. “I know what you mean, but it sucks being on the outside.”
I glanced at him.
He didn’t look at me, but he spoke as if feeling my gaze. “It was hard when I first came back in high school. Mason had been my best friend. I came back, and you and Logan had replaced me. It took me a long time to get back in.” The lines around his mouth strained. “I messed up a few times, but I’m in again. I won’t do anything to mess that up. I’m just saying, I feel for Matteo.”
There was nothing I could say. I knew how close Mason and Logan were, but I wasn’t around when it’d been Nate and Mason, not Logan and Mason. And he was right, I remembered the times when Nate hadn’t seemed to like me, when he’d looked at me like I was the enemy. But I knew he didn’t mean it. He came back around. He’d always come back. He loved Mason, just like the rest of us.
I nudged him with my shoulder. “Don’t be leaving us when you find your girl, okay?”
I felt his surprise. “What do you mean?”
I shrugged. “Mason and me. Heather and Channing. Logan and Taylor. Even Becky and Adam. Everyone’s found their person. Don’t leave us when you find yours. Deal?”
There was a hint of a grin on his face. “Deal.” Then he added, “Should we pinkie promise like Logan made me do one time?”
“Logan made you pinkie promise something?”
He nodded. “I can’t tell you what. I made a promise.” He was so solemn.
I cracked a grin. “I understand. I won’t push you.”
“So are we done then?”
Logan’s voice drew our attention to the front of the church, and the pastor turned to him. “Yes, I believe so. We’ve already had you guys practice coming in once. Everything should be set.” He gestured to Analise and James. “If you two could stay behind, we’ll get the marriage certificate signed tonight.”
Mason and Logan came down the side aisle toward us just as a man walked inside. He wore a three-piece suit and had slicked back hair, cologne that threatened to suffocate me, and a whole greasy vibe to him.
He boomed out, “James!”
James looked back and grinned. “Peter.” A transformation took place. Gone was the guy trying to make sense of the pastor’s instructions, the guy who’d been holding Analise’s hand a moment earlier, and even the loving guy who’d kept rubbing her back before they held hands. Instead, a businessman took his place. I felt transported into a conference room.
Mason and Logan paused when they saw the guy, then slowly resumed their trek to us. Logan hopped into the pew in front of us, and Mason went to the back, resting his hands behind my shoulders. If I tipped my head back, I could look right up at him.
Nate half-turned to face Mason and me, but he was also able to see Logan. “Who’s that guy? Do you know?” he asked.
Logan spared the guy a second look, disgust coming to his face. “It’s the mayor,” he sneered.
“The mayor?” Nate looked to Mason.
Mason watched the mayor shake James’ hand, then be introduced to Analise. “That’s the one thing our dad wanted,” he said. “And he came out on top.” He shot Logan a look, talking to the rest of us. “He wanted back in.”
“He got back in,” Logan confirmed. “Sure is helpful that Steven Quinn’s been removed from his CEO position.”
Nate asked. “Does that mean Adam took his place?”
Mason shrugged, folding his arms over his chest. “The hotel’s opening was postponed. Adam and I are off the project, so I don’t know. I’d assume, unless someone else moved in.” He touched the back of my shoulder. “Come on. We don’t have to stick around for the dinner.”
I stood.
Nate did as well. “I thought that was the whole reason you called me here,” he said to Logan, who smirked.
“Yeah, it’s all set up,” Logan assured him. “We’re going to stop there on the way home.”
We headed toward the doors.
Logan and Nate went out first. Mason held the door for me and was waiting outside when I heard my name called.
I looked back. Maybe I’d expected my mother, and when I saw she wasn’t standing there, I felt a pang of disappointment. I frowned, shoving that away. I looked out to the parking lot and saw Becky. She was standing to the side, her hands twisted together in front of her. She eyed Logan and Nate, who had paused on the sidewalk as they waited for us.
Mason let go of the door behind me, and her gaze jumped to his face. Her mouth opened in a silent gasp. Most of his bruising had faded, but I understood. It was still shocking. She looked back to Logan and Nate. I could only imagine how all three of them looked to someone else.
“Becky?”
She turned to me. “Yeah. Um…” She bit her lip. “Can we talk?”
“Sure.”
Logan stepped toward us, a dark look coming over him.
Becky took a step back.
“Uh…” I gestured to a bench in front of the church. “We can talk over there.”
She seemed relieved until Logan called her name. “Hey, Sullivan.”
She tensed, stiffening as she turned around. “Yeah?”
“Your fiancé. Is he the new CEO of his dad’s company?”
Her eyebrows pinched together, and she glanced quickly to me before nodding. “Yeah. He is.”
“So the two of you have to stick around here? He’s not going to law school yet?”
“Uh. Yeah. I mean, he is, but not right away.”
“When?”
I frowned. Why did Logan want to know?
“I don’t know. I think he’ll wait a year.”
“He’s still going to graduate this year, right? So he’ll be going in three years?”
“I guess.” She shook her head. “Why?”
He ignored her. “What school is he going to?”
“He got into to Harvard Law.”
“Good.” Logan clipped his head in a nod.
“Why?” she asked again.
A cold look came over his face. “Because where he goes, I’m going. That fuck sent Caldron after my brother and Sam. I’m going to make his life miserable from here on out.”
Her mouth fell open and stayed that way. She didn’t seem capable of closing it.
Nate shot Mason a look, but Mason only shook his head. Adam Quinn hadn’t sent Caldron after us. That was his father, and Logan knew that. Whatever he was saying, he had a reason.
Becky looked at me imploringly, but she wouldn’t see any sympathy from me. “Did you still want to talk to me?” I asked.
“I…” She closed her mouth, swallowing. “Maybe not now.” She turned back to her car, took a couple steps, then pivoted back to us. “We’re never going to be friends again, are we?”
Remorse swept through me, but I couldn’t let that show either. There might’ve been a fight between the fathers, and I didn’t know how things were between Mason and Adam, but it didn’t matter. Logan just threw a gauntlet down. Becky would be the messenger for it. Adam would know within the next five minutes that Logan Kade was his enemy now. That meant we all were.
All I could say was, “I think it’s best if we’re not.”
I saw her swallow again. Pure frustration pulled on her features, and she looked down to the ground for a moment. When she looked back up, she just seemed defeated.
“I guess so.” She headed to her car and swiped at something by her eye.
I couldn’t help but wonder if it’d been a tear.
Once she left the parking lot, I rounded on Logan. “Did you do that on purpose?”
“What?” But there was a guarded mask on his face. He knew exactly what he’d just done.
“You said that to her on purpose because she’ll be the one to tell him, and that’ll make her have to take his side.”
Logan shrugged. “So what?”
“So that means I can’t be friends with her,” I snapped.
“Like you would’ve been able to anyway,” he shot back. His eyes were heated as they flicked to Mason’s before coming back to me. He softened his tone. “I just did what you couldn’t. If you tried to be friends with her, you would’ve betrayed her again eventually. You know it. I just did it so Mason didn’t have to. Lines are drawn, Sam. The Quinns are our enemies, no matter who holds that name.”
Becky Sullivan would eventually be Becky Quinn.
He was right.
But it still hurt.