Twisted Mercy (Red Team Book 4) (34 page)

Val spread his hands and shrugged. “We’re cool.”

Max caught a glimpse of pink shellac on Val’s fingertips and shook his head. “What’s with the she-nails? You come out or something?” As that thought hit him, his eyes widened. “
Shit
, I
always
miss the good stuff.”

Val lifted a hand and spread his fingers as he considered his nails. “I lost a bet to Selena. It’s going to drive Owen fucking bonkers.”

* * *
 

The ceremony was about to begin. Chairs had been set up in two neat columns next to a huge tent where dinner would be served. Max and the other guys who were scattered through the different rows all came to their feet. He was surprised to see Ivy’s dad leading her down the aisle. Greer had said something about Kit bringing her parents out for the weekend. That was ballsy. Max supposed it could have gone either way, good or bad. Fortunately, it looked like maybe they’d patched things up with them.
 

Max looked over at Kit. Their team lead only had eyes for Ivy. His face was rigid. His shoulders back. Christ, the guy could be intense sometimes.

Ivy smiled at everyone as her dad led her down the aisle, but when he handed her off to Kit, her eyes really lit up. Max’s heart ached at the sight of their joy. He’d never be loved like that. A love like that didn’t come overnight—not for a guy like him. It could take years of nurturing, tending. He was never in a place long enough to make a go of anything in his personal life.
 

He thought of Hope and the peace her presence always gave him. He wished she were there with him. She was unlike any of the women he’d known. Different even from his mom and sister, God rest their souls.
 

She was tough; she needed nothing from him, not even protection. She fought her own battles and could handle the fallout of her own decisions. He’d seen her panic—he’d also seen her turn around and head right back into what it was that had frightened her. Courage like that was rare. It had been one of the first things that had attracted him to her.
 

But she was vulnerable, too. She was like a piece of candy, hard-coated on the outside, soft and sweet on the inside.
 

He sighed, returning to his seat as the ceremony started. It would be so easy to imagine a future with Hope—or so he’d thought when he’d invited her. He couldn’t blame her for not coming. She didn’t know anyone here—and she thought the team was a potential enemy to her brother.
 

Still, the day was too much to face alone. Everyone was laughing and hugging and crying. That level of emotion made him feel raw and unbalanced.
 

* * *

Max made it through the wedding ceremony through sheer orneriness. Greer came over to stand with him as the crowd left to find their seats in the dinner tent and then head to the patio and living room for hors d’oeuvres and the open bar. They stood off to one side and watched the small gathering move around.
 

“I’m assuming you cleared everyone here?” Max asked.

“Course,” Greer said. “Coulda used your help.”

“Sorry. Been a little busy. I was surprised to see Ivy’s folks here.”
 

Greer shook his head. “Kit pulled that out of his ass. I thought Ivy was going to kill him when she found out. So far, it’s worked out okay. Really good, in fact—after the initial showdown.”

“What else is new since I’ve been gone?” Max didn’t miss the humor in Greer’s eyes at that question. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer.
 

“Not much,” Greer said in an offhand manner that told Max the truth was anything but. “Just the whole Owen-Selena-Val thing.”

“
Jesus. Christ.
For real?” Max asked.

Greer shrugged. “Seems so.”

“Unbelievable. Owen doesn’t have a prayer in hell of winning a female Val’s set his sights on.” He looked over at Owen standing next to the mayor on the patio, then moved so he could see Val. “Nah. Makes no sense they’re competing over a girl. It’s far more likely Val’s just rubbing Owen the wrong way, like he does with everyone.”

“Wanna bet?” Greer countered.

“Twenty bucks?”

“You’re on.” Greer shook hands with Max.

A half-hour later, the company was called in to supper. Max sat at a table with Val, Angel, Rocco and Mandy, and a couple of ladies who appeared head over heels in lust with Val and Angel.
 

Next to Max was an open seat and a name card that read “Hope.” Hope hadn’t bothered to show up. Wasn’t that just the summary of his life? Max took a long sip of the beer he’d brought over from the bar.
 

Once everyone had filled their plates from the buffet and had settled into quiet conversations at their tables, Blade stood up and called the gathering to silence so he could toast Kit and Ivy.

He held up his glass of champagne. “Kit, Ivy, few here today have had the privilege of sharing your journey as I have. Kit probably never told you this, Ivy, but the day he first saw you in high school, he came over to my house and told me he was going to marry you.”

Ivy’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at Kit in wonder. She took hold of his face and kissed him.

“The road to this point in time, this celebration, hasn’t been easy for either of you. It’s my hope that your difficulties are all behind you and your future is filled with only joy and love as you begin your lives together.”

After Blade’s toast, Rocco stood up. He smiled as he offered his toast, but his eyes howled. Mandy seemed a calm and cheerful fortress sitting next to him. Christ, Rocco was lucky to have her. Max checked the other guys, wondering if they saw what he did. Their solemn expressions told him they did.

After Rocco, each of the guys—except Owen—said a few words. And then a strange tension zinged through the room as Ivy’s dad stood up.
 

“As many of you know, I fought long and hard against this marriage. I was wrong. Only a fool could look at my daughter and not see how happy she is today. That said—”

Owen clapped and the guys followed suit, as did the rest of those gathered, cutting him off. Owen stood up. “My turn,” he said to Ivy’s dad, who relinquished the floor reluctantly only when her mom tugged at his tux jacket.

“Kit, Ivy, it’s an honor to be here today to celebrate your wedding,” Owen said. “Your relationship has withstood not only the test of time, but the test of every hardship conceivable. Your love has been forged in fire and is all the stronger for it.” He lifted his champagne glass. “I wish you nothing but happiness as the two of you, and your daughter, start your new lives together.”

He smiled as he looked at the couple, but Max didn’t miss the subtle change that happened when his gaze shifted to Ivy’s parents. Max had often heard mothers call themselves mama bears, but at that moment, Owen was a great grizzly he-bear who owned the forest. Fuck with him—and his—at your own peril.
 

Max fingered the green bottle of his beer. How much of Owen was real and how much an act?

A few minutes later, the dancing began. Max watched Kit lead Ivy around the dance floor, mesmerized by each other. They moved across the floor like one being. As guests gathered to watch the couple’s first dance, they slowly blocked his view. Angel and Val escorted the ladies sitting next to them to the dance floor. The empty chair beside him caught his attention. He sighed and glanced away from it.
 

His gaze fell on Selena, sitting alone at the table she’d shared with Owen, the mayor and his wife, the sheriff and his date, and Kelan and Fiona.
 

Max got up and went over to her. He smiled and held a hand out to her. “Dance with me?” he asked.

“No.”

“Oh, c’mon. I’m a safe guy to be around.” He gave her a grin. “Well, I guess there’s three or four others who’re safe, too.”

Her eyes narrowed. She stood up without his help and led the way to the dance floor, where she turned and faced him. The music rolled into another slow song. Max took the lady warrior into his arms. She was tense, like a rubber band stretched tight, ready to snap. He imagined how widespread the collateral damage of that explosion would be when and if she ever did pop.
 

“What makes you safe?” she asked.

“I have a girl.”

Selena smiled. “That’s nice. Where is she?”

“Not here. We’re not an easy bunch to be around.” He changed the subject. “Your cheek’s healing nicely,” he said. “Greer told me what happened.”

“Took ten stitches.”

“Doesn’t show.”

Max looked over to the open doors leading in to the living room, his attention drawn inexplicably in that direction. He frowned, catching a glimpse of a blond woman he never expected to see. He stopped dancing.

Selena tensed. “What’s up?”

“She’s here,” he said.

“Who?”

“My girl.”

She laughed and shoved his shoulder. “Well, idiot. Go get her.”

Hope accepted a glass of champagne from a tray a waiter offered. She walked among all the happy people, feeling both invisible and out of place. She wandered through the room to the patio, where the music was loudest and people were dancing. Her gaze swept the place, searching for one particular man. Max was there, dancing with a tall, statuesque woman in an elegant pantsuit.
 

As if sensing Hope’s presence, he looked up, looked right at her, caught her staring at him like a hopeless fool. He stopped dancing. She wished the floor would open up beneath her. She spun on her heel and hurried across the room, wanting to get out before he could catch her. How stupid she’d been to come.

She slammed into the broad chest of a giant. He grabbed her before she fell backward, catching the hand that held her champagne glass so not even a drop spilled.
 

“Pardon me,” he said. “I wasn’t paying attention to what my feet were doing.”

She looked up at his face. He was the blond stranger who’d helped her at Cheyenne Frontier Days when Lion went missing. “You’re one of them.”

He smiled, in no way insulted by her accusation. “I am.”

“I should have known,” she grumbled.

He looked up at something behind her and grinned. “Yours, I presume?” he asked as he let her go.

“Yeah. Mine.” Max’s voice sent a shiver down her neck. She’d known he was close, but not that close. He put a hand around her waist and bent to whisper by her ear, “You just made my day.”

“I’m sorry I’m so late,” she answered.

“Don’t be. I’m glad you’re here.” He straightened and nodded toward the blond guy who’d intercepted her twice now. “This is Val. Val, Hope.”

Val extended his hand. “Nice to officially meet you.”

Hope smiled as she shook hands, then turned his hand to check out his nails. “Pink?”

Val continued holding her hand. “You like? I had them done down at the place in town. It was a lovely experience—tea and a manicure.”

Hope grinned up at him as if they shared a private joke. Max reached over and separated her hand from Val’s. “Go away.”

Val held up his hands. “I’m going. Later, Hope.”

Hope laughed. “I like him. Is he—”

“No,” Max snapped. “And stay away from him. He’s been known to have a woman stripped and on her back inside of five words. He’s not fit company, for you or any female.”

“Really?” She contemplated that statement and felt a blush of color warm her face.
 

The humor, if it was ever there, leached from Max’s face. “Hope, he can have any woman he wants. Why should I let him have the only one I want?”

She sucked in a breath. The intensity of his gaze melted away her worries about arriving late—and even coming at all. She lowered her eyes, stared at the black button studs on his shirt for a long moment until her heart settled a bit. She hadn’t thought he could look any sexier than he did in his tees and jeans. But that tux…
 

He reached over and took hold of her hand. “I really am glad you came.”

She looked up at him, lost herself in his smoldering hazel eyes. She indicated her dress. “I had to find something to wear.”

“You look amazing.”

“So do you.”

They stood there, sharing body space, grinning at each other. Her thoughts were racing, lost in a porn clip her mind kept playing about the two of them and a wall somewhere.
 

He reached a hand to capture a bit of her hair, let it thread through his fingers, then shook his head. “Had to touch you to be sure you were real and not a dream.”

“Feel like I’m in a dream. You wouldn’t believe what happened.”

He looked into her eyes. “Tell me.” His gaze was so hypnotic, she almost couldn’t answer. She held his entire focus. Even his breath seemed to hang on her words.
 

“I didn’t decide until late to come. I didn’t have time to get down to Laramie or Cheyenne, so I went to the thrift stores in town. There were no dresses in Wolf Creek Bend. Someone suggested some vintage clothes the tea shop sold. I went there, but when I discovered none would fit me, a mob of women took over. One of them sold me her daughter’s prom dress and another sold me her shoes and another bought me tea. And now here I am. Like from a fairytale.”

He smiled. “Isn’t there supposed to be a pumpkin and some mice in that story somewhere?”

She laughed, then asked, “What do you know about little girls’ fairytales?”

“Nothing. Not a goddamned thing. Other than the brief break in evil they offer.”
 

“I don’t want us to be a fairytale. They never end well in reality.”

His eyes grew serious. He set his hand against the side of her neck, beneath her hair, his thumb lifting her face to his. “Then we’ll keep it real.” With those whispered words, the world around them vanished. He gripped her face and kissed her.
 

At the bar in the living room, Val waited for the kid who was manning that station to finish with a guest’s drink order. The kid didn’t look a minute over twenty-one; he was certainly nervous about serving the team. His hands were unsteady, and he wouldn’t make eye contact.