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Dev blew loud kisses to both of the women who were so quick to claim me as a friend. “Love you, Wrennie. You too, A. Take care of my girl, yeah?”
I made a conscious effort to tamp down the small flock of butterflies that came to life at Dev’s claim, heat flaring in my chest and spreading down my torso. I wasn’t successful, especially when Dev leaned over and brushed his lips along my jawline, there and gone so quickly that I almost wondered if I imagined it.
I might’ve thought that if his lips didn’t brush my ear next, his intimate whisper sending a shiver down my spine, “Bye, Red.”
Alex setme up with a new cell phone, one he reassured me prevented any type of spyware from being downloaded andonly allowed him, Bex, and Dev access to my location. But I barely had time to thank him, too busy watching as Wren scrolled through Pinterest with frightening speed and Ames threw questions in my direction as she texted furiously with my wedding planner. Apparently, my father had hired Fiona during my inadvertent nap.
Bex hadn’t been lying when she said Ames and Wren would love the opportunity to help with the wedding. Both had jumped in with both feet, somehow offering exactly what I needed without me having to ask for it. Wren had me narrow down which of her pre-existing Pinterest boards best fit my “Ideal Wedding Aesthetic” - the way she said it, I knew in her mind it was a proper noun - before going through various floral arrangements, tablescapes, and other decor, only asking for a yes or no as to what I liked.
Within a couple of hours, she’d curated the perfect aesthetic. Winter greenery and white flowers, candles, and wood. It was everything I’d never imagined, but still exactly what I wanted. I had no doubt that between Wren, Ames, and Fiona - whose no-nonsense voice over Ames’s phone speaker more than reassured me of her competence - two weeks would be plenty of time to put together a wedding fit for the daughter of a mob boss. Or the goddaughter of one, considering that would be the familiar role I’d be playing.
“I think we’ve got it,” Ames said as she looked over the board Wren and I had created. “Hell, if Fiona is as good at wedding planning as she seems, I’ll have her plan my wedding.”
“I’ve already started a Pinterest board for that one,” Wren said earnestly, fingers hovering over her computer as if getting ready to pull up the pictures.
“Let’s get this wedding planned before we move onto mine,” Ames said with a laugh, hopping onto the counter next to Wren and facing me. “How are you feeling about all this?”
“It’s a smart plan. We,” I waved between the two of them and myself, “get the protection we need.”
“It is a smart plan,” Ames agreed, “But that’s not what I asked. I asked how you’re feeling about it.”
“I’m a lot better at rationalizing than I am with emotions,” I admitted, avoiding their eyes by keeping my focus on the movement of my fingers as they spun the thin gold band on my right hand. “But I’m surprisingly alright with it. Dev seems nice. And he makes me feel…safe.”
“Devisnice. Despite probably being the most deadly person I know, he’s also the nicest one. We want him to be happy.”
“What Ames is trying to say is that we like you, and we want to be your friend, but if you hurt Dev, we’ll have to kill you.”
A laugh bubbled up my throat at the threat coming from Wren’s mouth. It didn’t fit her small stature, the fuzzy pink sweater she wore with a matching ribbon in her hair, the wedding decor she talked about with such animation. But when I caught her eye and saw the fierce expression on her face when she talked about protecting her friend, I suddenly wondered if she really could kill me.
My laugh died in my throat, voice serious as I told her, “I don’t know if you’ve looked at me, but I’m not exactly the type for physical violence. And if you mean hurting him emotionally, I’m not the type to play games. I understand he didn’t ask for this marriage, and I won’t expect anything beyond our agreement, the safety he’s meant to provide.”
Wren opened her mouth, a slight frown on her face, and I couldn’t tell if she was preparing to warn me of something or if she was unhappy with my answer. But Ames interrupted before Wren could say anything, resting a hand on her shoulder.
“Let’s cut Rory a break, yeah? In the past twenty-four hours, she got attacked, witnessed a man's murder, got brought to astranger's home, learned about Dev stalking her for months, and got engaged.”
“Fair enough,” Wren said, her cheery demeanor back in an instant. “Let’s talk about bridesmaid dresses. And before you say you don’t want me as a bridesmaid, keep in mind that Iwillcry.”
True to his promise,Dev came back for me after a few hours, bringing a late lunch of takeout for everyone. Alex and Dev took turns telling the story of how they started working for my father, the tale sounding almost too ridiculous if I hadn’t heard pieces of it from my father over the years. It also explained why Alex went by two names, which had been a question I’d been holding onto since I heard Bex call him one name and Dev another.
Alex and Ames told the story of how they met, the small, half-smiles Alex kept shooting in his fiancée’s direction enough to make me start feeling comfortable around the man. Wren shared next, describing the taunting and games she and Bex had gone through this past fall.
Bex looked even more self-satisfied than Alex, smiling to herself throughout Wren’s storytelling, even as Wren described Bex pushing her into the pool, dropping her onto a pile of rotten apples, and making her cry. Sitting here, it was easy to see how they’d ended up working with my father, who loved me as fiercely as he defended his territory and his work. It was obvious that Alex and Bex shared the same obsessive fixation on their partners.
It made me wonder how Dev would treat a partner, even one that was forced on him. Would he feel just as possessive? I tried to imagine it but failed when I couldn’t stop picturing the grin on his face, his easygoing demeanor. Then I remembered the lookon his face as he killed the man who’d tried to hurt me, the anger in his eyes as he saw my injuries. I could imaginethatDev being possessive, obsessive, and I had to push down the thrill that arose at the thought.
“Ready to head back to our house?” It was odd, the way he so easily referred to his house as ours, as if we were a couple and I wasn’t a woman who had been shoved into his arms earlier this morning. He must’ve misinterpreted the look on my face, frowning as he told me, “It’s not a far drive. We can stay a little longer.”
“No, I’m ready to go. Sorry.” I attempted a smile, hating the frown on his face. I had a feeling that I’d made this man frown more in the past two days than he had in his entire life, and I was silently relieved when his grin returned in full-force.
We said our goodbyes, Alex and Bex promising to continue to look into the threat against me while Ames and Wren hugged me with a genuine warmth I wasn’t expecting.
“I’ll text you more about wedding details.” Ames told me, holding up her phone as she added, “Alex already gave me your number.”
“And you should come byIn Bloomso we can really narrow down the flower choices,” Wren called out as Dev pulled me through the front door.
“Stop hogging my fiancée,” he yelled as we made our way over to his car, my hand wrapped tightly in his, as if he worried I’d run in the opposite direction. He rolled his eyes at me over his shoulder, though his lips were still smiling as he said, “They’re obsessed with you already. I knew they’d love you.”
The sun was setting as we made our way to Dev’s house, the drive just a handful of minutes away. It was barely enough time to overthink everything as we sat in stilted silence in the car.
