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“See, darling.” Patrick kissed me. “Nothing to worry about.”
“You’re forgetting: I haven’t agreed to this. What happened tonight?”
He tugged on his collar. “That lead Drake and I followed tonight was actually kind of a sting.”
“A sting? Like with law enforcement?” I spluttered.
“Yes,” he hesitated to say. “Dave,” he hissed the name, “is trying to extort me.”
I jumped up. “What? When did this happen, and why didn’t you tell me?”
Patrick stood and took my hand. “We didn’t want you to worry.”
“Who’s we?”
“Drake and me.”
“Explain yourself,” I demanded.
“This is cool.” Rory drew nearer. Bridgette followed, just as curious.
“Why doesn’t everyone sit down?” Patrick suggested.
I didn’t feel like sitting down. I needed answers. Now.
“Please,” Patrick begged.
I let out a huffy breath and sat on a side chair by myself. I couldn’t believe he had kept something like this from me. I could only imagine what Charlotte was thinking about all this. Our fiancés doing a real-life sting. Drake wasn’t Kaden Chandler. And Patrick certainly wasn’t his sidekick. Didn’t he know how many of Kaden’s sidekicks died in the movies? All. Of. Them.
Patrick tilted his head, obviously not thrilled with my choice of seating. This did not deter him. He sat on the chair’s arm, which couldn’t be comfortable. But I had to admit it was cute he wanted to be near me, even if I was upset with him.
Rory and Bridgette sat on the couch, leaning toward their dad, eager to hear the exciting tale.
Patrick undid a couple of buttons on his shirt, feeling the heat rolling off me. Either that or he was playing dirty, giving me just a peek of the chest I’d become obsessed with. That dark hair with pops of silver made me feel oh so cozy. Dang him. I sat up straight and averted my eyes. I needed to hear his explanation before I got all doe-eyed.
Patrick took my hand and caressed it. He was playing dirty. “Darling, please don’t be angry. I was trying to protect you and my children. After Dave sent you that threatening text, I couldn’t idly stand by, so I contacted him and told him in no uncertain terms that he was never to approach you again, whether in person or by phone. He obviously did not take that well. The man is desperate.”
“Why?”
Patrick’s eyes lit up like a Hardy Boy’s. “Well, Drake and I were able to make contact with some of, let’s say, Dave’s shadier business associates, and the man is deeply in debt. He needs a big payout. After he found out about the wedding flowers, he was promised such a payday if he could, one, prove Drake and Charlotte’s wedding was happening on Christmas Eve, and two, get anexclusivelook into it.”
“Is that why there have been no other reporters around?”
“Bingo.” Patrick pointed at me. “He needed to keep it to himself.”
“Who’s willing to pay him?”
“A trash media conglomerate, of course. He ran into a problem, though. You, my love, threw a big kink in his plans. You sold him a very real story.”
“Well, you helped.” That grocery store scene seemed like forever ago.
“Gladly.” He squeezed my hand.
“So, if he believes us, then why does he keep coming around?”
“That’s the thing; he’s holding out hope, and obviously there is a spy among us.”
I perked up even more. “Did you find out who?”
