Chapter Twenty-Three
Soft chords from the five-string orchestra swirled around the resort. Gold and red-colored leaves painted the trees around the resort, giving the whole scene a majestic feel. As the wedding started, Levi waited near the barn. He had the perfect view of the ceremony below.
“Hey, boss,” Fernando greeted him.
One by one, the bridesmaids and groomsmen worked their way down the aisle to the center of the garden. Later, the reception would be held under the wooden gazebo the construction crew barely finished an hour ago.
“Good news, bad news, or worst?”
“Give me easy, then mosey it on down from there,” Levi told him.
The bridesmaids wore floor-length dresses that showed an inordinate amount of side boob.
“Good news, we’re ready to bury Lucy on your say so.” Fernando began.
“Okay.”
“Yesterday we did those runs for you to the storage facility.”
Cayden stepped out of the back doors. The sleek, silver gown clung to the curves of her body. Levi tried to listen to Fernando but couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
“…and when I couldn’t find you, I told the police that it was a run for the resort.”
“I’m sorry.” He turned to his barn manager. “What?”
Fernando laughed and started over. “The second shift of guys we sent to storage got stopped by the cops. I tried to call you but ended up dealing with it myself.”
“Did they take anything out of that unit?”
“No, they did what you said and just snapped some pictures.”
“Great,” he groaned. “If that was the bad, what was the worst?” The music changed and the bride came out of the double doors. Pretty in an unconventional sort of way, Deny walked down the aisle. Once Teddy handed her over to Wes, even from his vantage point he could tell the couple fit.
“We found Desi. He was a hill mound away from the other pony.”
“Throat cut?”
“Yes, just like Lucy.” Fernando dug in his front pocket and took out a pack of gum. “A lot of weird stuff happening lately, boss.” He offered Levi a stick, but he shook his head before Fernando unwrapped one and popped into his mouth.
“Yeah, a lot,” he confirmed.
“We’re going to bury Lucy, then dig a grave for Desi. I don’t blame you for being distracted … she looks beautiful.” Fernando smacked on his gum. The grating sound set his teeth on edge.
“Yeah, the bride looks nice,” Levi agreed.
The barn manager patted his back on his way past. “We both know that’s not who you’re staring at.”
He could still hear his dry laughter even after it faded.
Not the only one mesmerized by Cayden, he noticed the groomsmen couldn’t take their eyes off of her. With the belief that her dress would be the death of him, he sighed and got to work on the horses.
****
The wedding went off without a hitch. After Teddy surprised Deny by walking her down the aisle, Wes finally introduced the pop princess to his parents. In that moment, Deny became the sweet, humble woman Cayden knew she could be. She imagined the tech guru’s family appreciated their son’s pick for a bride … at least for the time being.
Back in the palatial suite, Cayden helped the Deny out of her dress for her final good-bye. They fought over her choice in clothing. In the end, Cayden won with a pink fifties-style dress. Either that or an obnoxious track suit that had Bought Ass on the back.
Without the happy couple’s knowledge, she had a professional photographer from Vogue take their pictures. Once Wes and Deny were off on their honeymoon, People magazine would publish their private wedding portrait.
“I didn’t think this woodsy scene would work, but I love it.”
Cayden buttoned the lace on the back of her dress.
“Do you think his parents liked me, I mean for real?”
As she moved on to Deny’s hair, she grunted out her response. Wild curls worked loose from her chignon. Cayden slicked back the sides and pinned her hair up. After she got her desired look, Cayden placed the pillbox hat on the bride’s head and pulled the tiny veil down.
“Are you sure? This doesn’t seem like me.”
“Do you feel pretty?”
“Yes, of course.” Deny studied herself in the mirror. “I just look…”
“Like an adult?” Cayden offered.
“Sophisticated.” Deny whipped around and grabbed her by the arms. “For the sake of full disclosure, there’s something I really need to tell you, but you can’t be mad.” The pop star nodded her head quickly to get her consent. “Promise me.”
Exhausted from the wedding week, Cayden doubted she could remember her name let alone make another promise. “Just tell me.”
“The hot, blond dude, he’s your partner, right?”
“Levi, yeah.”
Cayden grabbed Deny’s flower bouquet and ushered her out of the suite. They hurried into the open elevator.
“Well, remember when you were transferring all of your duties over to Gil maybe four year ago? It was after my second stint in rehab and I was staying in your New York apartment…”
Once they got to the front of the resort, the guest and wedding party waited outside the main entrance to see the couple off.
“Okay?”
“Um … well, Levi came to the apartment looking for you and I may have told him you were spending the night with Gil. I meant to say you were pulling an all-nighter with him, but it came out wrong.” She flashed Cayden her most endearing smile. “You forgive me, right?”
If Cayden remembered correctly Levi had just gotten back stateside from his last tour. Before he returned, he wrote and called her constantly. They never made concrete plans but just assumed they would be together. She’d begun to tie up loose ends with her corporations and relocate to the resort full-time. Of course all of this occurred before their big fight.
As Wes walked toward them, Deny frowned. “Come on, we’re cool, right?”
“No,” Cayden said though gritted teeth, “we’re not.” Controlled on the outside, inside Cayden wanted to rage. She never knew what caused Levi’s feelings for her to flip. After all this time, Deny finally ’fessed up and gave her the final piece to the puzzle.
“But I was high.” The bride’s face twisted into her famous video vixen pout. “You can’t hold me responsible. Besides, I didn’t know you two had a thing. You never told me.”
“What’s going on?” Wes joined them. Probably sensing the tension, he put his hand on his new wife’s back. “Is everything okay?”
“That’s not true, you knew.” Cayden handed him the bouquet. “You guys have a good time.”
“Hey, give me some credit, I could have just stayed quiet!” Deny called out.
Barely resisting the urge to flip off the pop idiot, Cayden abandoned her bridesmaid’s duties and left. Not only were her actions calculating but malicious. For her to imply to anyone she screwed Gil didn’t seem innocent at all.
As she stomped down the hall, a war of words at what she should have said played in her head. Since Deny rarely gave a crap about anyone else, cussing her out would have been wasted.
“The crew almost has the reception area broken down.” Levi caught her in the lobby. “So I came up the back to take you home. Whoa.” He grabbed her arm. Once he saw her face, he said, “What’s up?”
The burn to confront him simmered in her gut. On steady ground with him for first times in years, Cayden didn’t have any fight left. If only he had asked her about Gil back then.
“Tired,” Cayden lied without meeting his eyes. She didn’t want to change their good vibes.
“Pretty sure that’s not it.”
“These shoes hurt like a mutha—”
He spun her around and pinned her to the wall. Face-to-face for the first time in days, he leaned in and kissed her, slowly moving his lips until her body went limp against his. Cayden easily melted into him.
“Your right eyebrow twitches when you’re not telling the truth. It’s been that way forever.”
“Good to know.”
He touched his forehead to hers. “Slide your foot up the wall.”
Always game to see where he wanted to go, she put all her weight on her right foot and moved the left one up. He fumbled with the straps of her shoes.
“Deny and Wes just left and you didn’t say good-bye.” He gazed into her eyes while unbuckling her heel. “Next foot,” he said, slipping it off. Cayden put her bare foot on the floor and gave him the other one. “Anything I should now about?”
“Nope.” Once Levi finished, he held both her shoes in his hand. “Now what? I can’t walk back to the cabin like this.”
He held her by the waist and led her to the east end of the resort.
“Well, in that case”—the sexy man moved his hand down to her ass as he pushed open the side doors—“your chariot awaits.”
Stepping into the cart with his help, she bit back a smile. Before he ran over to the driver’s side, he slipped off his plaid jacket shirt and wrapped it over her bare shoulders.
“Are we good on that dress?” Levi asked, after he came around the front and started the small engine. “Because I want to burn it.”
Form-fitted and slinky, her slit nearly reached her thigh. Underwear didn’t seem to be an option. “Would it kill you to pay me a compliment?” She laughed.
“Yes, yes, it would.” He put the cart in gear and drove onto the gravel road toward the cabins.