Two years later

It was my wedding day.

Just thinking that seemed surreal. I couldn’t believe the day was finally here. It seemed like just yesterday that Daniel had gotten down on one knee and asked me to make him the happiest man on Earth by agreeing to be his wife.

Saying yes with tears of joy streaming down my face had been the best day of my life. I rode that high for weeks, but once time came for us to start planning, an unsettling knot had formed in the pit of my stomach, and it had only gotten worse and worse throughout our year-long engagement.

It started off small enough that I convinced myself I was overreacting and pushed the unease to the back of my mind.

Standing in front of the dressing mirror in my elaborate gown, I stared unseeing at my reflection as I drew up the memories that had been plaguing me for so many months.

The front door of our house finally opened an hour and a half after Daniel was supposed to be home. He’d been putting in long hours, saying it was for extra money to pay for the wedding, but I was beginning to have a difficult time believing that. Especially when he came home with bloodshot eyes, reeking of bourbon.

He’d started working at his father’s investment firm right out of college and had been on the fast track to promotion, but lately something was going on that he refused to talk to me about. He came home each day more agitated than the one before. And as that agitation grew, so did his tendency to hit the bottle.

He wasn’t sharing with me, but I’d caught a few conversations between him and his dad that led me to believe the company wasn’t doing so well. I’d overheard mention of bad investments and angry board members, and my gut churned with the feeling that what I thought was bad was probably much worse.

“What do you have goin’ on here?” he asked once he hit the threshold of the kitchen. When he leaned in for a kiss, I noticed the ever-present smell of liquor on his breath.

It must’ve been another rough day, and I didn’t want to do anything to make it worse for him, so I chose to ignore it as always and answered, “Your mom called again. She’s added more people to the guest list.” Looking down at the sheets of paper in front of me, I shook my head in frustration. “You have to talk with her, honey. We already have over two hundred people on the list. If she keeps adding, we won’t be able to afford this wedding.”

Loosening his tie, he went into the fridge and pulled out a beer, twisting the cap off and tossing it into the sink. It was something so trivial, but I couldn’t stand when he did that. And yet, no matter how many times I asked him to stop he never did.

“Why can’t you tell her?” he asked before sucking back half his beer. “Or just let her invite who she wants. She’s just excited, babe. Cut her some slack.”

It wasn’t simply that she was excited. I wasn’t stupid, and from the calls he’d take from his father, I knew the Logans weren’t rolling in money like they had been in the past. However, Diana Logan didn’t seem to get the memo and wanted to show all her elite country club buddies that they were still living the high life by inviting them to our extravagant wedding.

Problem was, she was doing it on our dollar—a dollar we didn’t have. The other issue was that I hadn’t wanted a lavish affair to begin with. What had started as a small, intimate wedding was quickly turning into some grand party thanks to Daniel’s parents, and no matter what I said to him, he wouldn’t take my side.

“If we could afford it, I’d let it go, but we can’t pay for all this, Dan. We need to make some serious cuts.”

He sucked back the rest of his beer, going back to the fridge for a second and, once again, tossing the cap in the sink. “If it’s that big a deal, why don’t you just cut from your side?”

Dropping the pen I’d been holding, I looked up at him with wide, bewildered eyes. “My side is only about twenty people. I kept it to close friends and family, you know that. I can’t cut them.”

With a beleaguered sigh, he came to the table and took the seat next to me. “If it’s such a big deal to you, then you know who you can cut.”

My face drooped into a severe frown. This was a conversation we’d had multiple times since we’d started discussing who we were going to invite. The first time he’d seen Mace’s name on my list had been one of the biggest fights we’d ever had. I hadn’t spoken to him for two days. It finally ended with Daniel apologizing and admitting he’d overreacted, but it wasn’t the last time we’d argued about it.

“I’m not having this conversation with you again,” I warned. “Mace isn’t a threat, and you know it. He was a friend for most of my life, and I’m not taking him off the list. The issue is your mother. She’s out of control, Dan.”

Banging his now-empty beer bottle on the table, he shot to his feet, his expression twisted in anger. “You want to tell her that, be my guest. I’m done with this shit. I’m going to bed.”

Then he stormed off, leaving me behind to wonder what the hell had just happened.

In the months that passed, we’d fought countless times about Mace. Nothing like that first big blowup over the invite list, but no matter how much I tried to prove my love for him and convince him that Mace wasn’t even close to being in the picture, he couldn’t seen to let go of his jealousy.

That promise I’d made myself that Mace would never come between us grew more impossible to keep with each passing day, all because Daniel refused to let it go.

I’d started getting an eerie sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, a voice in the back of my head telling me that maybe this wasn’t right. But admitting I’d spent so long working so damn hard to move on from Mace only to settle was something I couldn’t bring myself to do, not to myself or anyone else.

“My God.” Will’s voice drew me out of my thoughts, and when I spun around, he was standing in the doorway staring at me with a look of wonder. “Look at you. My little sister, all grown up and the most beautiful woman in the world.”

My eyes grew misty and the image of Will began to blur as tears threatened to fall. “You’re not so bad yourself. Who knew a grease monkey could clean up so damn well.” And he had. My big brother looked model-worthy in his tuxedo.

“Stay just like that, baby girl. I need to capture this moment.” I did as he instructed, not moving a muscle as he pulled his phone from the pocket of his slacks and clicked several pictures of me. “The guys are gonna lose their minds when I send them these. I know how bummed they are that they couldn’t make it.”

At his words, a pang of sorrow pierced through my chest. I’d won the fights with Daniel about inviting them, but in the end it had all been for nothing. It turned out that they were touring out of the country during my special day, and when I informed my fiancé, he didn’t even bother hiding his smug joy that Mace wouldn’t be there. It was a side of him I hadn’t seen until his ring was firmly placed on my finger, and it was a side I definitely didn’t like.

My face fell before I could stop it, and my brother, being the protective type he was, caught it before I could slip my mask back into place.

“Hey now, sweetheart.” Stepping into the room, he closed the door to my bridal suite behind him to give us some privacy. “Don’t be sad. This is supposed to be a happy day.”

“I am happy,” I replied, doing my best to paste on a smile.

“Then what’s with the face, babe? You look like you’re about to burst into tears at any moment.”

A knock on the door interrupted our private moment, and Tate poked her head in. She gave us both a beautiful smile before stating, “The wedding planner insisted I let you know it’s time. Apparently Daniel’s getting impatient.”

“He can wait a few more minutes,” Will informed her, much to my relief. “Can you delay, Tater tot? I’m having a moment with my sister.”

Understanding filtered through her expression and she nodded. “I’ll handle it. Take as much time as you need.” Then she closed the door.

Once we were alone again, Will turned back to me. “I’m just….” I hesitated, trying to come up with a believable lie. “Super emotional. Aren’t all brides supposed to be emotional wrecks on their special day?” I asked in an attempt to lighten the situation. The real truth was I’d begun to think I was making a huge mistake.

“I don’t care about how other chicks act on their wedding day. None of them are my sister. You are.”

God, I loved my big brother something fierce. “I’m good, I swear.” And I was determined that I would be… good, that was. I was going to do this. I was going to give it my all. I loved Daniel, and so what if he wasn’t perfect? No one was. I’d just let the negative aspects cloud my mind. Once we were married and I got over that, things would all work out. He was a good guy. Sure, he had his flaws, but he loved me and never bothered hiding that. Besides, wasn’t that what every girl wanted? Someone to love her unconditionally? I had that in Daniel, and I’d be an idiot to let it go. It was just cold feet, that was all.

Will looked at me with clear skepticism. “All right, baby girl. But you change your mind, just gimme the word.”

“Oh?” I giggled, suddenly feeling lighter, all because of him. “And what word is that, exactly?”

He looked up and to the side, giving that some thought. “You just look at me, whisper, ‘Thundercats are go,’ and I’ll have a car fueled up and ready to take us to Mexico.”

I threw my head back and laughed my first real laugh of the day. “God, I love you,” I said once I got control of myself. “You’re the best big brother in the whole wide world.”

His smile was absolutely beautiful as he came closer. “I love you too, baby girl. Always and forever.”

I repeated the saying we’d been telling each other for as long as I could remember. “Always and forever, Will.”

He hooked my arm through his and turned me to the door. “You ready for this?”

Pulling in a deep breath, I stared at the door and steeled my spine. “Ready. Let’s get me married.”

* * *

Mace

Will: Wish you guys were here. Isn’t she a goddamn vision?

I reread the text that came in from Will only minutes ago before staring at the picture of Lyla.

Christ, my heart nearly busted through my chest at the sight of her. I hadn’t thought it possible that she could get any more beautiful, but standing in that white dress, all that gorgeous blonde hair curled into sleek, shining waves… It was almost too much to bear, like staring into the sun.

Will was right. She was a goddamn vision. A vision that was going to be walking down the aisle to another man at any moment. He was going to get all that beauty and light. My Goldie was going to pledge herself to someone else for the rest of her life. All that was her was supposed to be mine, but now it was lost to me.

I couldn’t stand the thought of it, so I decided to do what I’d been doing for the past two years to cope with the pain.

Sucking back the remaining dregs in my bottle of Jack, I looked at the girl who’d been pressed against me for the past half hour in some random club in Brazil and gave her a smile I knew worked wonders on the opposite sex. I didn’t bother saying a word as I took her hand and led her out of the VIP area the guys and I had been holed up in. I didn’t need to; she knew what was in store, and she was all for it.

I was going to bury my cock is some random bitch’s pussy. I was going to close my eyes and pretend it was my Goldie I was sinking into, that the woman beneath me didn’t fall short of what I really wanted. And when that didn’t work—which it wouldn’t, experience having taught me that much—I was going to drink myself into oblivion.