Instead, the table started in shock at the bright red face of an explosively angry Edgar Lorne. He was flanked on all sides by his hulking bodyguards, and it was readily apparent exactly which one of us he was going for.
It didn’t take a genius to guess why.
The Knights all stood at the same time, even Twain. Jules pulled at Keegan’s hand, but he swatted her away. I would have laughed at the look on her face if the situation wasn’t so serious.
“Edgar,” Sam started, walking toward him. He almost reached him, but one of the bodyguards strong-armed him back. Sam’s face set in anger, but he didn’t push it, not yet.
“You son of a bitch!” Lorne yelled across the room, his eyes locked to mine. Everyone turned to look at me.
“I didn’t do anything,” I said firmly. “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but—”
“What I’ve heard is that you slept with my wife!”
An audible gasp erupted from the wedding party. My eyes widened in horror. I couldn’t even look at Alice.
“She came to me in tears,” Lorne continued, “begging for my forgiveness. She said that you wouldn’t leave her alone, that you pressured her into your bed. But the guilt overwhelmed her. You think just because we have an age difference I can’t satisfy my wife?” He paused like that was an actual question he wanted me to answer honestly.
Deny, deny, deny. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I insisted. I glanced at Alice. The look she was giving me shattered all the hope I’d had only moments before.
“Mac, what the hell?” Sam said, turning to me. “Is that true?”
“No!” I said. “Of course not!”
“I have video,” Lorne growled. “Camera footage of you following her into hallways, into empty rooms.”
Dammit. Margot hadn’t been playing around. I couldn’t believe she’d risk everything just to put me in my place. I shook my head. “She asked me to,” I said. Sam’s face fell in disappointment, and I cringed at the sight. “But that was before I knew she was married.”
Lorne snorted. “Well isn’t that convenient. No, asshole. You messed with the wrong girl.” He nodded to his bodyguards. “Get him.”
My eyes narrowed and my fists itched. Well fine then. If this was the way he wanted it, I could use a fight.
The bodyguards advanced, but Sam stepped in front of them.
“No,” he said firmly. “We’re sitting down and figuring this out like men. You’re not putting your hands on him.”
“This is my resort, Sam,” Lorne said. “I’ll do whatever I want.”
The big bodyguard looked to his boss. Lorne nodded again, and the man went to push past Sam to get to me. Sam didn’t budge, a solid wall, and when the guard felt resistance, he raised a single beefy fist and punched Sam directly in the eye.
It all happened so fast, as these things often did. The moment Sam stumbled back, the entire room erupted into chaos.
I pulled Sam back and bashed the guard in the nose, sidestepping his slow fist and cracking him in the jaw. He stumbled, but the man was truly massive and wasn’t going down easily.
Sam was right back by my side swinging at a second guard. The two of them were so bulky and the room so small that their friends weren’t able to get around them easily.
The delay was enough time for Keegan and Mason to clamber over the fancy table, sending expensive dishes flying, and joining us before we were overwhelmed.
Speaking of flying dishes, Twain was chucking plates at everything that was moving. One caught the guy I was fighting in the nose and I pressed him, punching at his liver and yelling obscenities. I was vaguely aware of Henry pulling Sam back, yelling at him to not get his face busted up even more.
I turned for a second to make sure Sam was out of it. It was only a moment, a flash, but in a fight that was all it took. The guard I’d been punching pulled out a metal police baton. I only got a glimpse of it whizzing toward my skull before it cracked me in the temple and I was out.
I woke up on my back staring at an off-white ceiling. Without moving, I took stock of the situation. My head hurt like a bitch, beating with a steady pulse as blood barged through protesting veins. My temple ached from where the baton had caught me. My upper lip felt heavy. Swollen. Otherwise, my injuries were minimal, just a steady ache in my bones and my fists that reminded me I wasn’t quiet as young as I used to be.
I already knew, as I lay there motionless, that the real damage wouldn’t be physical. The rehearsal dinner was completely ruined, the same probably for the bachelor and bachelorette parties later. I couldn’t imagine anyone would be up for strippers and booze after what had just happened.
I sat up as a thought occurred to me: Were the others okay? The last thing I’d seen was the five other Knights duking it out with Lorne’s posse of muscle-bound bodyguards. How long had the fight gone on? Were there worse injuries than a swollen lip and a possible (probable) concussion?
I stood shakily and worked out the kink in my neck. I was in my own suite, on the couch in the living room. I went to the sink, poured and drank a glass of water, then refilled it and drank that one too.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror beside the table. I was still wearing the slacks and dark green dress shirt I’d worn to the dinner. There was a bit of dried blood on the collar but otherwise it was still acceptable. My hair was sticking up in all directions, and, sure enough, my upper lip was red and angry looking. I’d put ice on it later. For now, I splashed some water across my face and on my hair, smoothing it down.
That’d have to do. Now to find my friends and make sure everyone was okay.
And deal with the consequences of my actions. Or, it seemed in this case, lack of action. Of course the one time I didn’t fuck the girl was the one that brought the whole world crashing down.
I didn’t have to go far. I was walking toward the door when a card swiped on the other side and it pushed open.
Alice, I hoped, even though I knew our coming confrontation was going to be nothing good.
But no, it was Sam. And from the look on his face, this conversation wasn’t going to be any better.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Mac?” he demanded immediately. He’d changed into another suit and I winced when I saw his eye. It was a sickly shade of yellow. That was going to look fantastic in the wedding pictures.
“I didn’t—”
“I don’t care!” His voice rose to a bellow, and we stared at each other in silence, eyes locked in anger. Was he not even going to give me the chance to explain myself?
Then Sam’s broad shoulders sank and he sighed heavily, shaking his head. He walked to a chair and collapsed into it.
“I put a lot of faith in you,” he said finally. His voice was tired. “I told Beck you weren’t going to be a problem.”
“I didn’t sleep with Margot,” I said firmly.
“What about Mariana?” he asked, looking up to meet my eye. “In an unlocked bathroom?”
Damn you, Alice. I couldn’t meet his eye. “It was a mistake.”
“And what about Tuzas? Did you really try to hustle pool against a gang? With Alice as your backup?”
“I didn’t try to hustle. I got forced into it,” I said, cringing at how lame it sounded. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”