Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 105089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 525(@200wpm)___ 420(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 525(@200wpm)___ 420(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
“Alejandro is right though,” Maeve told her right before she blew her nose and started coughing.
“Oh, Maeve. You sound terrible,” Immy said sympathetically.
“Thanks. I know,” Maeve replied. “I’m going to be fine, though.” Another cough hit her and Cat winced.
“I’m a terrible fucking friend,” she said.
“What? No, you’re not!” Immy replied loyally.
“I am. Maeve, here I am going on about a couple of pimples while you’re coughing up half a lung.”
“I think it went past half a lung to a whole lung sometime in the night,” Maeve replied. “And this is your wedding. You’re entitled to act a bit, um . . .”
“Crazy? Whack-a-doo? Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah?” Cat supplied.
“You’re none of those things,” Immy told her. “You just want your big day to be perfect. There’s nothing wrong with that. But Maeve, Cat’s right. You don’t sound well. You need to see a doctor.”
“I’ll be fine,” Maeve said.
Yeah, it was clear she wouldn’t be.
“Maeve, go see a doctor,” Cat said firmly. “Or I’m going to tell Alejandro how ill you are. And then you’ll be in trouble.”
Maeve’s eyes widened. They’d all grown accustomed to Alejandro’s bossy, possessive ways.
Well, maybe accustomed was the wrong word. Perhaps, it was more like wary.
Alejandro just wanted her to be happy. And he knew that her friends meant a lot to her. So, he had shifted some of his possessive care to her friends.
Some of them took it better than others.
“Fine, fine, I’ll go.”
“And you’ll do what he says,” Immy said sternly, which was funny because she didn’t pull off sounding stern that well.
“But I’m due to fly out tomorrow afternoon,” Maeve protested.
“Just see what he says,” Cat told her. “I want you here, Maeve, but not at the risk of your health.”
“I know,” Maeve said. “But I was really looking forward to getting away and seeing you guys. I’m the only one that hasn’t visited.”
Maeve hadn’t been able to visit due to the demands of college and her family. Well, the demands of her stepfather, anyway. Cat still didn’t think that Maeve had told them everything about what was going on with her stepfather, Anson.
“Has Alejandro spoken to Dante?” Immy whispered, as though worried Alejandro might hear her.
“No. And that’s all my fault. I pushed him into inviting Dante to the wedding and then Dante went and said no. I told Alejandro that he had to have a good reason, but Alejandro’s refused to take any of his calls since. I feel like I’ve made everything worse between them, and I honestly didn’t think that was possible. What should I do? We haven’t heard from Ortega, either. Alejandro left him several messages, but he said that sometimes he disappears for weeks, maybe even months, and doesn’t check his messages.”
“What the heck does he do?” Immy asked.
“I just don’t know . . . Alejandro won’t really tell me. I know that he works for Dante. I think I need his help to mend fences between Dante and Alejandro.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Cat,” Maeve said cautiously.
“If I don’t do it, then who will? I just feel like maybe this wedding is slightly doomed, you know?”
“I’m surprised that Alejandro didn’t insist on doing this earlier,” Maeve told her. “He doesn’t strike me as the patient type when it comes to you.”
Guilt filled her, and she tried to keep it from showing on her face.
“Oh my God, Cat!” Maeve said. “What did you do?”
“Nothing,” she admitted.
“Cat,” Immy said warningly. “Tell us.”
“Jeez, you guys are harder to lie to than Alejandro.”
“You lie to Alejandro?” Maeve asked in shock.
“Do you have a leather butt?” Immy asked with a giggle.
“Immy!” they both said together.
“What? I know he spanks her butt when she breaks the rules. I’d think her bottom would be hard and leathery by now.”
“If only,” Cat replied, shifting around on her sore bottom.
“Oh, Cat,” Maeve said. “What did you do this time?”
“Urgh, I might have said something about how it’s Alejandro’s money that’s paying for the wedding.”
They both shot her chiding looks.
“Cat, you know that’s not the way it works!” Immy said.
“I can’t believe you said that to him.” Maeve shook her head before she started coughing again.
“I know! I know! It’s our money. Sheesh. I don’t need you guys to verbally spank me.”
“We know. Not when we have Alejandro to do the real thing.” Maeve grinned at her.
Immy sighed. “It’s just all so romantic. The way you met. How much he loves and adores you. I’d give anything to have that.”
Immy was crazy. But also, right.
“Now, spill,” Immy demanded. “What were you trying to hide?” She might be the sweetest and most naive among them. But she could also hold her own living with four men.
So she had a strong core.
“All right, all right, we, uh, might have already gotten married,” she admitted. She hadn’t told them because she hadn’t wanted to risk hurting their feelings.