More Than Forever (Providence Series Book 2) (27 page)

“We need to go shopping soon then, what about next week?” 

Ren stopped his conversation with Brett and said, “No, it’s too dangerous!” 

“We’ll go with security, Ren. We’re not stupid,” Maya replied frowning at him. “We need to get dresses!” 

“Order them online,” he argued back. 

“Are you high? I want to do it properly, Ren., I’m only doing this once and I want to experience all of it.” Those must have been the magic words because he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Wait until the week after and if everything has been quiet, then you go. But,” he said sounding firm. “You go with security and do whatever they tell you to.” 

I looked over my shoulder at Luke whose lips were set in a firm line as he gave me a brusque nod and then turned back to Maya and nodded. She turned to Ren and grinned, before launching herself at him and almost tipping the chair he was sitting in back onto the ground as she squealed. I needed to learn her Jedi mind tricks. 

Chapter

TWENTY-TWO

I
sla
 

I
t had been ten days
since the barbecue, and Maya and I were finally dress shopping.  Graham was driving the car today and when we’d pulled up to pick her up, I’d been shocked to see Cole getting into the car, too. Maya had explained that he’d insisted on coming with us and then Cole said something that had Graham accidentally stomping on the breaks. 

“I’m armed, don’t worry.” We’d all flown forward in our seats when Graham stomped on the pedal while looking back at Cole. 

“Give me the weapon.” 

“What? No way!” 

“Give me the weapon,” he repeated, facing forward again and holding his hand out. 

“I know how to shoot, man.” 

We’d pulled up to the dress shop that Maya had chosen at that moment and Graham swung around in his chair to face Cole. “You don’t pull it, you don’t shoot; you keep it where it is and forget about it. Do I make myself clear?”

The only answer he gave was a big sigh as he got out of the vehicle. I was about to do the same thing when Graham grabbed my hand. “If he pulls that weapon, you duck and get the fuck away from him, yeah? That’s as fucking worrying as giving a ten-year-old kid an AK47!” 

I chuckled and then stopped seeing how serious he looked. 

“Give him the benefit of the doubt Graham, he’s not that bad!” He kind of was, and the thought of him with a gun did worry me because he’d probably drop it or something, but I wasn’t going to let Graham know that.

Shaking his head at me, he got out of the vehicle and opened my door for me and helped me out seeing as how my belly kept me off balance.

We’d gone into the store and Maya and I had started trying on dresses, which brought us to now with me standing in the most beautiful dress I’d ever seen with Cole sitting looking at me with his mouth open.

“Oh Isla, you
have
to get that one!” Maya said, tightening the ribbons that did up at the back just behind my boobs. After that, it was a free fall of white material that came in at the waist but gave me enough room at the front without looking frumpy.

There was a white lace overlay that had subtle sparkles here and there. The veil I’d chosen had the same lace around the edge of it and it trailed behind me a couple of feet.

I looked over at Cole who was still staring at me, but snapped out of it when Maya nudged him. “Yeah, that’s the one,” he said and then gave himself a shake. “And your tits look
awesome
!”

I looked down and had to agree that he was right. They’d really grown with the pregnancy and if I wasn’t careful would probably look indecent in this dress. I heard a smack and Cole groan and looked up to see Graham walking away and Cole rubbing the back of his head and glowering over his shoulder at Graham’s back.

“So fucking violent,” he muttered.

Maya helped me out of the dress and then tried on the three that she’d narrowed it down to. The first one was beautiful, but it was really low cut and Maya had been blessed with a more generous chest than I had. When she’d walked out, Cole had been taking a sip of the coffee that the shop owner had brought him and had choked when he looked up and saw the magnificent cleavage that was now almost up around Maya’s chin.

“Uh no, honey,” I said shaking my head and laughing. I could just imagine Ren’s face if she wore that when they got married.

“I know, I just wanted to see his face and it was so worth it.” She grinned pointing at the still choking Cole beside me before turning back to the dressing rooms leaving me giggling and whacking Cole on the back.

The next dress was beautiful, but it just didn’t do her justice. I knew they’d take it in, but it was too loose and just didn’t scream Maya at us. I shook my head and looked over at Cole who was now lying back in his chair, with his head on the back and his eyes closed so I kicked his foot making him shoot upright and look around us.

Nodding my head over at Maya who was scowling with her hands on her hips, I watched as a look of disgust came over his face.

“What the fuck, Maya?” He spluttered. “Don’t you wanna get laid on your wedding night? Jesus, what the fuck is that?” 

I raised my foot again and stomped as hard as I could on his toes, which with the angle that it happened at wasn’t that hard, but was enough for him to turn in my direction and growl.  

We looked back up in time to see the owner glaring at Cole and Maya’s shoulders shaking as she walked back into the dressing room with the glaring owner following her.  

It was the final dress that was
the one
. It had a fitted bodice that highlighted her curves and her ta ta’s perfectly with the skirt falling to the floor and sweeping out behind her as she walked towards us.  

“This is it,” she said, looking like she was going to cry. “And the top also stretches a bit, so it won’t look terrible when I get my bump.” 

Her and Ren were getting married in two weeks, so I doubted she’d have much to worry about. But then I knew from my own bump, that one morning you wake up without it and the next morning you wake up with a basketball in front of you and struggle to do your laces up, so it was probably for the best that she had something stretchy.  

We’d just placed our orders at the cash register and were paying and arranging for our fittings the following week when Graham came in looking pissed off. 

“You need to hurry up. We need to go!” 

It must have been bad because he didn’t snatch the gun away from Cole when he raised it in his hand. 

Signing the slips, we thanked the owner and walked behind Graham, who stopped at the wall that covered the window to the side of the door. 

“Coleman just rang. They’ve got word that someone has put a contract on you,” he said, looking at me grimly. I heard Maya gasp and Cole curse from either side of me, but I was too busy processing what he’d just said. “Isla,” Graham said giving my arm a shake. “We’re going to walk out that door and get straight into the vehicle. Nick is in the driver seat and has the engine running already. You don’t move from behind me and Cole you’re gonna do the same with Maya. Understand?” 

We all nodded, me still in shock, and then we were moving through the door. Cole had just exited in front of Maya and I was about to walk out behind Graham when there was a bang. Graham grabbed me and brought me down to the floor, cushioning the fall with his body before twisting us around so that he was covering me. I could hear shots going off around me and voices yelling with screams every so often when Graham lifted up and looked down at his hand and then down at me in horror. 

“Oh motherfucker,” he growled and spoke into the gadget on his jacket. “Isla’s been hit; I repeat Isla has been hit.” 

It was then that I felt the burning in my arm and looked down to see a small pool of blood beneath me and realized that the bullet had hit me. Lying my head back down on the floor as the sky began to spin, I felt my arm being jostled around, making it hurt even more and whimpered.  

“You’re gonna be okay, Isla, it’s just a flesh wound,” Graham said as he tied something around my arm. 

It hurt that much that I felt my eyes roll back in my head and then everything went black. 

L
uke
 

Picking up my phone
and seeing Cole’s name, I sighed wondering what the hell he had to say now. He’d been messaging me shit like ‘Wait ‘til you see your wife’s tits in her dress’ and I’ll admit I was getting ready to throttle the cock jockey. 

“What?” 

I could hear shouting in the background and the sound of a door slamming and sat upright in my chair. 

“There’s…Luke man,” he stuttered. “Isla’s been shot.” 

Jumping out my chair, I ran toward the door and found Baz already running toward me as he talked into his own phone. We changed directions toward the SUV that was parked next to the house and I jumped into the passenger seat just as he got into the driver’s seat, threw his phone in the cup holder, and started the engine. “Tell me,” I panted. 

“We’re just pulling up to the ER. It was in her arm, but she’s been out cold for five minutes now.” 

I heard the screeching of tires and then Graham’s voice shouting for help and felt sick to my stomach. 

“Is she…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. “Oh fuck, Cole, the babies!” I started gagging and without slowing down Baz opened a window. The rush of cold air helped, but all I could think about was my wife and babies and that I could lose them. 

“Graham says it’s a flesh wound. He’s got the OBGYN on call coming down now.  We’ll be in the ER in a side room he says.” 

I couldn’t speak anymore and the phone dropped out of my hand onto the floor as I took deep breaths and tried not to do the ultimate thing that no man should do - cry.  

“She’ll be fine, Luke. Graham knows what he’s talking about and if he says it’s a flesh wound, then he’s telling the truth. She’s carrying Montgomery’s in her belly, too, man,” Baz said in his deep voice, not taking his eyes off the road. “They’re all gonna be just fine. And the fuck who did this…” he trailed off. 

I didn’t reply as I watched houses and trees whizz past us until we pulled up to the entrance of the ER; I jumped out before Baz had pulled to a stop and ran in. 

“Isla Montgomery?” I asked the receptionist. I must have looked a state because she stared at me for a second before snapping out of it and typing into the computer in front of her.  

“She’s in the ER room five. Go through those doors and follow the corridor past the curtained cubicles and the door will be on your left.” She pointed at double doors off to the side of us and I barely got out a thank you before I was running through them. 

I didn’t need help finding room five because I saw two of Baz’s men standing in front of it as soon as I hit the corridor and ran toward them. They both stood aside as I got to the door and I shoved through to see Maya bawling her eyes out as she sat on Cole’s lap. Isla was lying in the bed with a nurse standing over her as she attached what I now recognized as baby monitors to her belly.