Page 111 of Ungodly Rich

Julia was done making enemies. All she wanted, now, was to lay down her weapons and stop fighting.

“You’re right about one thing,” she said slowly, “this big wedding weekend was never very us. And now it’s not happening, given the weather. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still get married.”

“Here?”

“This weekend. Tomorrow!” Julia exclaimed, her voice gaining momentum. “We can do it in the hotel ballroom by candlelight, I don’t care! I just want to start my life with you. Your family will be there, and Abby. I wish my aunt and uncle had made it, but they’ll understand. What else do we need?”

As he realized what she meant, Harry smiled. “My cousin Paul is a licensed minister. He could perform the marriage ceremony?”

“Perfect.” Julia wrapped her arms around Harry, pressing her face into his chest. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” Harry murmured. “Should we go tell my mother?”

Tara was nowhere to be found, but they did run into Nicole in the hotel’s grand dining room. Julia couldn’t help but notice that Hector and Valentine were there, too, seated at a table with their toddler as he ate cut-up squares of toast.

Julia felt Valentine staring in their direction but refused to meet her gaze. Oddly, she no longer hated Harry’s sister-in-law. She just pitied her.

And she refused to repeat Valentine’s mistakes.

“We want to move forward with the wedding,” Harry was saying to Nicole. “Do you think we could set up in the ballroom tomorrow?”

The hotel manager stared at him. “You still want to get married?” she repeated. “In the middle of an unprecedented storm? Without all your guests?”

“We can’t wait another day to start our lives together,” Harry explained.

Julia smiled. Her yearning, her love for him, must have lit up her face, because Nicole took one look at her and threw up her hands, laughing. “A wedding without power! I don’t know how we’ll manage! Your mother isn’t going to be happy,” she warned Harry, eyes dancing, “But let’s do it.”

Julia heard a clatter from one of the nearby tables and looked over to see that Valentine had dropped her knife. Had she been eavesdropping on them?

And wait—when Julia last looked that way, hadn’t the toddler’s bib been navy and white? Now it was red.

She was distracted, she decided, turning aside. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered, except that she and Harry were about to begin their lives together.

• • •

Julia woke in the middle of the night to hear someone breaking into her room.

At first she thought it was a dream. But the longer she lay in bed, listening to the determined scrabbling at her door, the more she became aware that it was real.

Julia rolled out of bed in a single motion. She fumbled through the room in the dark, trying to find something that could be used for self-defense. The glass lamp on the bedside table was too heavy to lift. She ran to the minibar, her heart pounding through the sounds from her door. Could she smash a glass bottle on her attacker? Then she saw the corkscrew, its silver point gleaming in the darkness. It was sharp enough.

Julia grabbed the corkscrew in her right hand, ready to stab with it like it was a dagger. Air rushed into her lungs as she flung open the door—

There was no one there.

She blinked and stepped forward, staring in both directions. Was she imagining it, or were footsteps receding down the hallway?

Julia glanced back into her room, trembling from the adrenaline that still pounded through her body. Outside, the wind howled like a wild thing. In the darkness, her bed felt even emptier than before. No way would she be able to fall back asleep—at least, not alone. She was far too shaken, her whole body jolted brutally awake.

She wanted Harry.

Julia slid her feet into flip-flops, then dug through her purse for the key card to Harry’s room. Thankfully, key card readers worked on individual batteries rather than electricity; otherwise the whole hotel would be at a standstill right now. Harry had slipped the key card to her at check-in, with a wicked grin and a murmured,In case you want to break the rules.This seemed like the perfect time for rule-breaking.

If Harry’s mother caught her, she could call Julia a harlot all she wanted, but what difference did seven hours make? By noon tomorrow, they would have said their vows, and it would be official.

She just wanted to make sure she slipped out the door tomorrow morning in the early hours. In deference to traditional wedding protocol, Harry and Julia had decided not to see each other until the doors opened and she processed down the aisle.

Julia was surprised to find that she was looking forward to this moment, to catching the expression on Harry’s face when she faced him as his bride. Maybe Tara’s old-fashioned romanticism was contagious.