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"You aren't gonna tell me why you're so hell-bent on today?"
"No." She shook her head and slouchedover again.
I could guess enough from what I was seeing. She was in trouble, and Gavin had promised her that getting married would solve it, whateveritwas. This was his mess. Not mine.
He was the one who caused her to be crying in the rain, desperate and alone. I hated that for her. She probably had big ideas of what her wedding day was going to be like, and Gavin came along and lied to her.
I would make him pay for this when I caught up to him, but right now, something needed to be done. That was what Special Forces was all about. You see the need and you do it. My brother needed me to clean up another one of his messes, and I was going to do it. No doubt. Like I always did.
"I'll stand in." The words came out shaky at first.
"What?" Her head came up a little and she froze.
"I'll stand in for him," I said more firmly. "We gotta go now. Your time is up. I'll stand in for him." We needed to get this done quickly before I changed my mind.
"But you don't even like me." She sniffled and wiped her cheeks, now turning to fully face me for the first time. Aww, man. Her dress was pretty in the front. Embroidered lace up to her collar bones, nothing provocative. Very classy.
Gavin was a total idiot.
"You aren't marrying me. You're already married to him. You said it. You just need the ceremony part. I'll stand in for him, and you deal with him later. I'll sign his name."
"That's crazy. They'll know you're not him."
"Worth a shot." I shrugged.
"Why would you do that?"
To protect you. To give me time to find out what kind of trouble my brother dragged you into with his crypto. Ileaned in closer so we could make eye contact. She sure had pretty eyes, and she looked beautiful in her wedding dress, even all disheveled and wet.
"I don't know why he's not here. I'm sure he has a good reason." If he didn't, I was going to pound his face and give him a reason to cry. "We'll find out the whole story someday. But if he knew you were sitting on the steps of the Beverly Hills Courthouse crying in the rain in your pretty dress, your face all twisted in pain, I'm sure he'd want me to stand in for him today."
"Really?" Her fingertips struggled with loose strands of hair over her eyes.
"I'm sure of it. And he'd thank me for it later so he didn't miss out on a chance to seal the deal with a woman as beautiful as you."
Her lips twisted into a shy smile, and her eyes brightened with hope. She didn't talk much, but I was learning to read the little tells on her face. "You think we have time?"
"We might be a few minutes late. I'll talk them into giving us our moment with the justice of the peace." I stood up and offered her my hand.
She stared at it for a long time. She'd stopped crying at least, so I'd done something right. "Okay." Delicate, cold fingers gripped my hand loosely. It felt good to give her some warmth from my touch. Her skin was a light brown sugar compared to my dark molasses as I helped her up the steps.
We gathered her things and walked back into the courthouse toward the clerk and the room marked for ceremonies.
Chapter 4 Blind Union
Wren
"I'm sorry. You're too late. You'll have to reschedule." The clerk inside the courthouse tilted her head and showed no emotion as she crushed all my hopes with those words. She was a pretty woman, a little older than me with bleach-blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail.
"No, please. We're only a few minutes late. Please let us in."
Her red lips stiffened, and she tapped the little clock on her desk. "Your time slot was only fifteen minutes and you're ten minutes late. There are people waiting behind you." She peered over my shoulder to dismiss me.
"Okay. Thank you." Her nose scrunched as she motioned for me to move aside. I wasn't angry at her. I understood she was just trying to follow the rules. Being a coordinator for hundreds of short weddings was probably a very difficult job.
She didn't know my life was at risk and I had to get married today or the gang leader who was after me would force me to marry him. Magnum didn't know. The only one who knew was Gavin, and he wasn't here.
I turned around and prepared to face Magnum with the bad news, but he was already pushing into my spot to get up close to her desk.
