AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I control my expression, but inside, I’m relieved as fuck.
I nod. “Then let’s go.”I’ve never been so happy to find someone completely trashing a chapel.
Katie hurries up the aisle and grabs hold of her cousin’s arm, while I try not to laugh at the sight of Lily hurling eggs against the wall. It’s hard though, when Darcy is on her knees next to me, laughing herself so hard she’s in tears.
“Where did she get eggs from?” Darcy gasps, wiping her eyes. “Oh my God, this is epic. Julian is going to blow his lid.”
“No, I imagine the lovely little Swedish couple getting married here on Saturday will be blowing their lids,” I say with a wry smile.
I spot the broken window to the side of the arch and stiffen. Anyone could have heard that smash and called the cops. Katie looks up at me and follows my gaze to the window.
“We need to get her out of here now,” I mutter. “Or we can add the police to the list of people she’s running from.”
“I’m trying,” she says hotly. “What do you want me to do? Throw her over my shoulder and haul her to your car?”
“It’s a step up from this,” I say, nodding at Lily, who is hunched over, sobbing loudly.
Katie wraps her arm around her and tries to calm her down. She’s so unsteady on her feet that it doesn’t take much for Katie to lower her down onto the ground and disarm her. I catch sight of an empty bottle of vodka discarded under the first row of seats and I groan.
Fuck. Just what we need. I catch Darcy’s eye and point at the bottle.
“Shh, you’re okay,” Katie whispers.
“Okay?” Darcy laughs. “She drank a whole bottle of Vodka. She’s lucky she’s not dead.” Katie eyes the bottle, alarmed. “We really do need to get her to the car,” Darcy adds. “And probably the hospital.”
“No. I’m fine,” Lily mumbles. “Half of it is coating the walls.”
“Coat …” I shake my head. “What were you planning on doing, setting it alight?” Katie gives me a look.
Oh Lord. That’s exactly what she was planning.
“For Christ’s sake, hurry up,” I snap at Lily, losing what little patience I have left.
Lily stops wailing long enough to glance at Katie, who looks over at me in annoyance. I laugh. How am I the bad guy? I stalk outside to unlock the car, then pace the front of the chapel, waiting for them. If I go back in there, I’ll say or do something that I’ll regret. Lily’s a handful at the best of times, but right now, she’s a fucking nightmare.
I turn around when the door swings open to see Katie and Darcy walking Lily out. It’s a slow process, because every few steps, Lily stops and wobbles, turns green, then starts walking again.
“Here,” I mutter, walking over to help.
I take most of her weight and when we’re close enough to the car, I nod at Katie to open the door. Grunting, I sprawl Lily out on the back seat. Darcy dives in next to her and slams the door shut, then grins at Lily through the window.
“Guess I’m sitting in the front.”
“If the radio cuts out, you can be the entertainment,” I quip, smirking at Katie.
“Glad you’re finding this funny.” She gives me a death stare. “Now can we please just get out of here?”
She gets in the front and slams the door shut. I shake my head and smile. That last comment might have been unnecessarily cruel, but she’s so much fun to wind up. I glance around, stiffening when I see Marco approaching me out of nowhere. I turn around and wave at him, pasting a smile onto my face.
“Frederick,” he says, giving me a smile. “You’re out and about early.”
“One of the downfalls of always being on call are the drunk pickup requests I get from my friends the morning after,” I say with a laugh. “What about you? Early riser or jetlag?” Considering how chatty his is, I’m going with the former.
“Both?” he says, chuckling. “Anyway, Alberto is waiting for me.” He glances at the car. “Good luck with that. It sounds like you might need it.”
My heart thumps as he walks away. I rest my palms against the doorframe and wait until he’s out of sight. Then I take a deep breath, composing myself before I even think about getting in the car. If they heard him call me Frederick, I’ll need to diffuse the situation and fast. The only thing is, I’m not sure how.
One thing I do know is that was way too close.Chapter SevenKatie“Frederick?” I hiss at Darcy.
“Huh?”
“You didn’t hear that guy just call Adam, Frederick?”
“Nope.” Darcy giggles and nudges Lily. “But then again, I can’t hear much at all over chainsaw here.”
I look at Lily and I smother a laugh. At least she’s asleep so we don’t have to worry about her trying to climb out through the window. I tense when Adam slides into the driver’s seat and clicks in his seatbelt. I spin back around and hunt through my bag for nothing in particular—except maybe my dignity, because God knows I’ve misplaced that somewhere.
