Forever Wicked: Wicked #4 Page 10

  His wicked grin melts me. “Let’s find out.”

  16

  Day of the wedding

  * * *

  “Jax Jamieson with stage fright. Never thought I’d see the day.”

  Mace grins from behind my shoulder in the floor-length mirror.

  “Fuck that.” I knot my tie, but my fingers are clumsy. It’s an alarming feeling given I’ve made my living with these hands.

  “We need reinforcements,” he says, making for the door.

  “No drinking.” My commanding voice has him stopping. “I want to remember this. Every second.”

  I forget the tie for the moment when I glance back toward the doorway and see a girl dressed in soft purple. Her lips curve.

  “Wow. You look great, Dad.”

  “Back at you.” But I choke it out because my daughter has me speechless.

  “Don’t think getting yourself arrested buys you sympathy for the condom thing,” she says but crosses to me. Her fingers go to work on my tie. “I’m still pissed you tried to send Tyler away.”

  “Does he know why?”

  She shakes her head. “And he’s not going to. You and me are going to talk about this. Maybe we’ll even yell. But not today.” She finishes, smooths down the black satin. “Today’s for you and Haley.”

  Sometimes her maturity blows me away.

  My daughter, who used to curl up next to me to read the Harry Potter books I bought her. Who trusted me to teach her how to swim, who bounced in the audience next to her aunt Grace in the VIP seats at my concerts.

  I turn back to the mirror as I swallow the emotion rising up. “Thanks, kid.”

  She blinks, her smile tightening as if she’s trying to contain hers, too. “Well. I just came in to say break a leg. You’ll do great.”

  Annie folds me in a hug, and my ribs expand to the point of cracking. Too soon, she releases me and heads for the door, squeaking as another figure appears in the hallway beyond.

  “Hey,” he says.

  “Hi.”

  “You look… beautiful.”

  “Thank you.” In the mirror, I see my kid flush, then duck past the man—boy—in the tux. “You too.”

  “I look beautiful?” I can just hear his low voice sounding amused.

  “Yes,” she decides, laughing.

  “Tyler, come in,” I call.

  He complies.

  “Shut the door. You change your mind about meeting some producers later today?”

  “No.”

  “Good.” I stare at him. “I want to help you with whatever’s happening at home.”

  His expression clouds. “You don’t even know—“

  “It doesn’t matter. I will help you resolve it, and then I can make you into the best musician you could ever be. Whether that’s headlining arenas and flying on private jets or playing pickup for some second-rate act. They don’t define you. You do that. If you’re up to it.”

  He shakes his head, bewildered. “Why? You’ve done enough letting me help with Big Leap, inviting me here.”

  I reach for the boutonniere on a side table, white and the same shade of purple as Annie’s dress.

  “Consider it an investment. Someone did the same for me, and though I didn’t like how he did it, I can’t regret the outcome.”

  I pierce the fabric of the tux with the pin, adjusting the tiny flower arrangement until it’s level and then meeting Tyler’s gaze in the mirror.

  “Before you answer, there’s a condition. Few things in my life are precious to me. My family is one.”

  “Haley’s been good to me since the day I met her,” Tyler says levelly. “And Annie…” His attention drops to the carpet as he shoves his hands in his pockets. “She looks at the world like no one else. I don’t know what I did before her friendship.”

  Satisfaction settles in my gut as I reach for his tie, tucking in the tail where it’s escaped. “It should go without saying that I expect anyone in my circle to look out for my family. To never put personal interests ahead of Haley’s.” My jaw works. “Or Annie’s.”

  I replay the teasing I overheard in the hallway moments ago, and from the dawning understanding on Tyler’s face, he’s thinking of it too.

  “My daughter needs friends. She doesn’t need distractions. Flirtations.” The emphasis on this word isn’t an accident. “Anyone who might hurt her, intentionally or not. There are enough people like that already in the world.”

  I think of the threat to Annie, the woman who’s been lurking all week. The one my lawyer has insisted hasn’t raised her head that security has on their blacklist.

  “If I learn you’ve acted in a way that contravenes our agreement, you’ll wish you’d never heard my name. Do you understand?”

  Tyler glances back toward the door, still closed, and I’m surprised he’s hesitating. I wonder about the emotions chasing themselves across his half-turned face.

  But by the time he meets my gaze, his expression is calm. “Yes.”

  When we decided to move the wedding to our place, Nina arranged a tent for the food and a fleet of golf carts to move people around.

  The weather has cooperated, and it’s warm and sunny as I head out the back of the house to find my groomsmen standing by the golf carts.

  “I don’t get sentimental, but I wanna thank you. You’ve been with me a lot of years. Some longer than others”—I meet Mace’s gaze—“but you’re all brothers to me.”

  They nod. Mace’s eyes get glassy.

  “Let’s get this over with,” I say gruffly.

  The ride down to the gazebo feels like entering another world. The trees have been decorated with white gauze, and there’s a gravel path laid down with flowers on either side. When the golf cart rounds the last grove of trees, I see rows of chairs filled with people I’ve worked with, friends from the industry.

  I’d expected people would throw a fit about the venue change, but Nina said most were fine with it.

  As our golf carts pull up behind a white wall covered in flowers that was erected for the wedding, my gaze goes to the tent nearby, where the girls are getting ready.

  “No peeking.” Nina appears from nowhere, dressed in her purple dress.

  Brick’s eyes bug out of his head.

  “You found a purple sling to go with the dress?” I say, impressed.

  “Of course. I had it made from the same fabric.” She turns to Mace with a smile. “You’re up.”

  Mace is the only one of us who’s a qualified wedding officiant, so he heads for the gazebo first, the service in his hands, and he takes up his post.

  “Thank you for all of this,” I say under my breath.

  “For all the trouble you gave me, you were always my favorite, Jax Jamieson.” Nina squeezes my arm. “Now get your ass up there.”

  Three steps lead into the gazebo, and I savor each of them, feeling the sturdiness under my feet as I move to stand in front of Mace. I sneak one last look at the structure we built.

  Our bridal party will be taking their seats on benches lining the gazebo decorated with boughs of flowers. Our friends resting on the wood I built with my own hands. My sister Grace in the front row, smiling.

  It feels right.

  Grooms always look awkward as fuck, and now, as I turn to face the guests, I get it. I scan the faces, millions of dollars of fashion, but I’m barely seeing them.

  When the song we chose for the processional starts, the voice is familiar. I cut a startled glance over at Lita, playing with a band in a nearby tent. She smiles, and I shake my head in appreciation.

  Then I glance back down the aisle and see Brick and Nina. Next come Kyle and Annie. Finally Serena, on her own since Mace is already here.

  By the time the wedding party takes their spots next to me in the gazebo, my emotions are bigger than my chest. I bow my head, so full of feeling I might explode.

  Pride that these are my family and friends. Gratitude for everyone who could come.

  Grief for everyone w
ho’s not here and who had a part in our story.

  It’s been a long journey to get here, and our journey’s not over. I’ve packed venues around the globe. Made more millions than I could ever spend. But this—family, friends, life—this humbles me.

  Murmurs start in the crowd.

  Mace’s throat clears, and I lift my chin.

  Her white dress is sleeveless and dips into a V at her chest. The skirt flows out around her, behind her. Her sleek, dark hair’s pulled back from her face, a simple headband of flowers atop her hair.

  But it’s her face that gets me.

  Flushed rosy skin.

  Full, pink lips.

  My heart stops as Haley’s gaze finds mine.

  She’s fifty feet away, but I swear I feel her breath, smell her skin. Dark, almond eyes lined by thick lashes and full of something it could take a lifetime to process.

  I want to spend every second doing just that.

  She moves toward me, Jerry at her side, her arm looped through his. I can’t tell if he’s holding her up or she’s holding him up.

  And that’s the thousandth reason I love her.

  It could take seconds or hours for her to reach me, and I don’t care either way. It’s too long to stand apart from her and not near long enough to admire her. To bask in the pride and fucking appreciation of knowing she’s sharing her life with me.

  When she reaches the gazebo, she turns to stand in front of me, Serena helping with her train as Jerry sits with a huff of breath on the bench. His eyes are damp.

  “Friends, family, industry insiders it would have been impolite to leave out…” A chuckle goes up from the crowd before Mace continues. “We’re here in this beautiful, sturdy, and well-stained gazebo today to watch Jax marry Haley.”

  I can’t help smiling as Mace speaks. Haley beams too.

  He goes through a few more remarks before asking, “Do you have the vows?”

  We both nod.

  Although the idea of being married in the church I went to as a child held a certain nostalgia, intimacy is more important.

  The minister who kicked us out of his church might’ve been within his rights to do so, but the chaos was our chaos—the chaos of friends and family and people who care about one another doing the best they know how.

  And the security guards at the estate were following guidelines by ignoring an elderly man stumbling past them into the dark, but any one of our crew would’ve stopped him immediately and done anything in their power to make sure he was safe.

  When we changed the venue for both the ceremony and the reception, we’d decided to write our own vows. From the moment Haley proposed it, that felt like the easiest decision of all.

  “Haley, would you like to start?”

  She looks at me, her face open and beautiful and everything I could ever want.

  “Jax.” The love in her voice nearly brings me to my knees. “I swore I knew you before I met you. Your words got me through the hardest times of my life. My impression was that you were someone who knew what it meant to live, how to face it all and come through the other side.

  “When I got to know you, I realized I was wrong. Not that you hadn’t lived, but that there was so much more to you. You’re larger than life, but it’s the quiet moments, the secret ones, that won me over. It’s who you are as a friend. A brother. A father. I love that I get to witness it, that I see you not only when you’re brilliant and brave, but when you’re troubled and humble.”

  My throat works.

  “I’m not used to having someone care about me like you do, someone who wants me to see only the best of the world. Even though we come at the world from different directions, I know you respect me and we want the same things.

  “It’s not enough to say that I will love you and cherish you, because that implies you’re something outside of me. You’re part of me, Jax. You’re my today, my tomorrow, my forever.

  “I love you so damn much.” Her eyes tear up, and my chest expands even more, until I’m not sure how I’m not floating up to the rafters. “And everything I have, everything I am… I share it with you.”

  17

  Haley

  This morning, I woke up alone in bed with a buzzing in the back of my brain. It took three seconds for me to remember why.

  I’m marrying Jax Jamieson today.

  I sleep-walked through getting ready, rehearsed my vows in my head.

  But it didn’t become real while I was putting on the beautiful dress.

  Not when my hair was plaited into a crown or when my lips were lined and painted.

  Not when I walked down that aisle, my legs steadier than I expected.

  Not even when I caught sight of my husband, looking like the most breathtaking thing I’d ever seen in his perfectly tailored black tux.

  It was when I stopped in front of Jax, his amber gaze stealing from and giving to me at once. That look blasted away any remnants of uncertainty from the past week—about our future, about me, about all of it.

  This is what I want.

  I recite the vows I spent the last two days writing and rewriting because I wanted them to be right.

  Eventually I decided it was more important that they were real.

  Like us.

  My throat bobs as I finish. Judging by the adoration on Jax’s face, the way his eyes glisten as he stares at me like I’m the only other person on the planet…

  It worked.

  “I have to kiss you right now,” Jax murmurs so only we can hear, his fingers threading between mine, his thumb stroking my palm.

  “So, do it,” I whisper back.

  “Um. Guys?” This from Mace. “That’s supposed to be later.”

  “You’re not even a real minister,” Jax gripes.

  “Come on, man. Help me out a little.”

  Jax clears his throat.

  He has me from the first word.

  “Hales, I’m not patient. I’m not forgiving. I’m suspicious. I don’t give people the benefit of the doubt.

  “But having a family, including you, has changed everything. Each day is brighter because you’re in it. Each night is less dark with you at my side. I can’t promise to be patient. I can’t promise I’ll be forgiving. But I will be really fucking grateful each time you give me another chance.

  “Because my heart is full of you.”

  My lips tremble at the honesty in his voice.

  “When you’re not beside me, I’ll wish you were. When you’re threatened, I will hunt your demons. When you’re filled with joy, I will give thanks for the privilege of seeing you smile.”

  I swallow.

  “In this lifetime and all lifetimes after it…

  “You are mine. Not because you give yourself to me. But because I give myself to you.”

  My gaze drops to his tux, where the tattoo sits over his chest, and he taps it.

  God, I love this man. Five years ago, I couldn’t have imagined this being my life. Meeting Jax Jamieson. Falling for him. Having the man I thought I knew turn out to be even better.

  Every part of our journey was important and needed. Even the hardest parts. Especially the hardest parts.

  We manage to get through the exchange of rings, my heart hammering as I slide the band onto his finger.

  When we’re finished, I cut a look at Mace. “We good?”

  “Yeah. I pronounce you…”

  But we’re already kissing.

  And everyone’s already shouting.

  And life is beautiful.

  After the ceremony, we sign the register.

  I have a few surprises for my new husband, and I can’t wait to share them with him.

  When the music resumes, we both look over at the tent. Annie’s at the microphone, singing with Lita, her voice smooth and bright.

  My gaze flicks between Annie and Tyler, who’s standing with his guitar a few feet away. “You’re not still worried about them, are you?”

  His jaw works as his hand finds my sho
ulder, brushing across the skin there. “Not anymore.”

  Before I can ask what he means, Jerry pipes up, “Is it time for food?”

  “Sure thing, Jerry,” Nina says. “We’ll do some pictures, then catering will be set up in that tent.”

  “And a bar,” he says.

  “The bar is already set up.”

  Jerry’s eyes gleam.

  Jax, the wedding party, and I take photos at the gazebo, in front of the house, and by the pool.

  We even take some funny ones on the Big Leap bus, the girls pretending to play guitars while the guys watched on longingly.

  “Smile, Jax,” the photographer says. “But try not to look too smug.”

  “You know how much I get paid to pose in photos?” my husband gripes. “Think I know when I’m smug.”

  “You are,” our photographer replies.

  I laugh, and Jax cuts me a wry look that turns into something deeper, lingering.

  When photos are done, we join the others in the tent where staff are circulating with hors d’oeuvres. Then we take our seats, and the speeches begin, but even though the food’s delicious, I can’t finish anything.

  “You gotta eat, Hales,” Jax says. “There’re two of you in there.”

  “We’re both too excited.” My gaze scans the room and the round tables before it lands on one figure in the back. “You broke Carter’s nose, you know.”

  “It was worth it.”

  I bite my cheek to hold in a smile. “It was a bit uncharitable of you considering he helped me out with something important. Your wedding gift,” I go on at his perplexed look.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Part of the work I did when I was in Philly was lobbying funding groups about the expansion to Big Leap.” I chew my lip. “I was playing phone tag this week because I wanted to make sure it was finalized in time.”

  Jax’s lips part, and the shock on his face is the best possible reward. “You didn’t.”