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“That was so beautiful,” she said.
“It was a long time in the making.”
“Do you believe in love?” she asked.
I turned to look at her. I didn’t use to, but my brothers were making it hard to deny. The question was, did I believe in love for me? The jury was still out on that. “Sure.”
“For some people anyway,” she said.
I frowned. “Not for you?” Any man would be a fool not to love her.
“I don’t know. How about you?”
I sighed. “I don’t know.”
When we made it to the foyer, the wedding planner herded us to have professional pictures taken. When it came to just the men, Ben started to balk at being in a photo with Ash.
“Careful, Ben. I won’t let you fuck this day up for Beth,” Ash warned him.
“You already fucked — ”
“Hey!” I got in front of Ben. “Have some respect for your sister. Jesus, your niece is right there.”
Ben seemed to catch himself and walked off.
“Let him go,” Ash said, with a menacing glare toward Ben.
Eventually, we all got into limos to head to the reception. Ash and Beth got their own and I could only imagine they would be starting their honeymoon early in the back of it. I’d have done the same with Morgan, except that we weren’t alone in our limo. My brothers and their wives were with us.
When we got to the hotel ballroom, we had to stand in a line to greet everyone. Wedding traditions were strange, I thought, but it was Ash and Beth’s day, so I stood in line and welcomed everyone.
I wanted to have alone time with Morgan, but as the last of the guests arrived, I noticed Ben pulling a flask from his pocket and taking a swig. From the way he swayed, it wasn’t his first sip.
“Fuck,” I said under my breath. “Excuse me,” I said louder as I exited the greeting line.
I tapped Chase and Hunter on the shoulder and nodded toward Ben. They excused themselves from the line as well.
“Why don’t you distract him, Chase, and I’ll divest him of his flask,” Hunter said.
“You some sort of marine ninja pickpocket?” Chase asked.
“Marine ninja is an oxymoron.” I grinned at Hunter.
“I’ll show you a moron,” Hunter laughed.
Chase and Hunter headed off to deal with Ben, while I headed to the bar and the head of the catering staff to let them know not to serve Ben any booze.
I looked out over the ballroom, and it seemed like all was well. Beth and Ash were staring at each other like no one else was there, while everyone else chatted. The band played in the background and a few people started dancing.
I heard a commotion across the room, and saw Ben stagger a bit as he confronted a waiter who had taken the champagne away from him. Ben then started to make his way toward the microphone near the band.
“Ah, hell no,” I said. I hurried toward him, and it appeared that Alex had the same idea as she reached him before I did.
“Hey Ben, now isn’t the time for speeches,” Alex said as she looped her arm through his and spun him away from the mic.
“I’ve got a few things to say.” Ben’s words were slurred and I realized he was drunker than I’d initially thought.
“I’m sure you do, but it’s not time for that.”
“You’re not the boss of me.” Ben unsuccessfully tried to untangle his arm from Alex, but she had a good grip on him. I’d have to mention to Dad that she deserved a raise for dealing with this.
I waved a hand toward Chase to signal him about what was going on. He nodded, and leaned toward Hunter to say something to him.
“We can take care of this, Alex,” I told her.
“I can handle it, Kade. Go celebrate your brother’s wedding.”
With a firm grip on Ben, she tugged him out of the ball room.
“What’s Alex doing?” Hunter asked.
“She says she can handle it.”
“I’ll notify security to keep an eye on them,” Hunter said pulling out his phone.
With Ben taken care of, it was time to do as Alex said, celebrate my brother’s wedding. First on my agenda, find Morgan and make sure no other man here got access to her. I searched the room, my gaze going to her as she chatted with other guests of the party. I strode with singular purpose toward her. The woman was mine tonight.
8
Morgan — Saturday
The wedding was so beautiful, and I couldn’t have been happier for Ash and Beth, and, of course, Hannah. The ceremony was made even more memorable by the attention Kade was giving me. I wanted to believe it was true interest, but I suspected he was just treating me as his plus one, since I was the maid of honor and he was the best man. The only problem was that each time he touched me, whether it was his hand on my lower back when he escorted me to the table for our meal, or brushing my left hand with his right as we sat next to each other, sizzles of electricity went through me. I was a bundle of buzzing nerves, wanting to put my hands all over him.
