“It’s not that I don’t have feelings for you, Zee,” I said.
She dropped her gaze. “You don’t have to explain. We barely know each other.”
“It can be a temporary solution,” Zach said. “You can have the marriage dissolved once this has all come out with the wash.”
I took Zee’s hand. “Would you be up for it?”
“I don’t know.”
“If it means protecting you,” Reid said, “I’ll do it. I promised I’d protect you, Zee.”
“You don’t need to protect me,” she said. “I’m not a suspect. We’ve determined that.”
“He means protect you from this ceaseless questioning Morgan seems to want to put you through,” Zach explained.
She breathed in. “I can take it.”
I squeezed her hand. “But you shouldn’t have to. Not after what you’ve already been through. You shouldn’t be punished for coming forward to tell your story. You shouldn’t be punished for trying to help us.”
“Okay,” she said softly. “If you both think it’s best.”
“Good enough.” Zach closed the file folder in front of him. “Let’s head to the courthouse and get this done. The sooner the better.”
I stood and smiled at Zee, still holding her hand. “I guess we’re about to be married.”
She rose, her pallor kind of yellow. “I guess so.”
“You don’t have to do this,” I said. “Just say the word, and we won’t go through with it.”
She shook her head. “I want what’s best for all of us. I’ve come this far to help you, and I won’t stop now.”
With a little help from Benjamin Franklin, I was able to get a license and an appearance in front of a judge by one p.m. Zach stood as witness, along with Judge Brady’s court clerk.
“Do you wish to be married?” Judge Brady asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“And you, miss?” The judge nodded to Zee.
“Sure. I guess.”
“Good enough.” He scrawled his signature. “Both of you sign here, and you’ll be married.”
Zee stiffened next to me.
“Wait,” I said. “What about the vows?”
“That’s just a formality,” Judge Brady said. “It’s not necessary, and I’ve got a full docket this afternoon.”
Zee dropped her mouth into an O while my stomach did a somersault.
Without vows, it didn’t feel like a real marriage.
Then again, it wasn’t a real marriage. It was a marriage of convenience to keep us from having to testify against each other.
So why did a giant lump form in my throat?
The judge handed me the certificate. I signed my name and handed it and the pen to Zee.
Her hand shaking, she signed and handed it back to me.
“Now the witnesses,” Judge Brady said.
Zach and the clerk each signed, and Brady handed the certificate back to me. “It’s done. I assume you’ve already paid the requisite fees?”
His clerk nodded. “They have, your honor.”
“Good enough. Have a lovely life, Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe.” Judge Brady smiled.
Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe.
I didn’t hate the sound of it.
In fact, I kind of liked it.
“Off you go,” the judge said, still smiling.
Why shouldn’t he smile? He was a thousand dollars richer for ten minutes’ work.
Zee didn’t look happy. She didn’t look unhappy either.
She looked, simply, stunned.
No reason for me to be unhappy. I’d just married the woman I love.
But clearly she didn’t feel the same way.
No matter. I could still woo her. Still make her fall in love with me.
We just had to settle my father’s murder first.
My brother’s wife had been arrested. Arraignment shouldn’t be until tomorrow morning, but Rock was working on that.
Yeah, money talks.
Bail would be set, probably at a million dollars or more.
Which we’d pay, and Lacey would be free to go, awaiting trial.
We had to figure this out. Soon.
Tomorrow.
But tonight? I had a wife, and she deserved a wedding night.
51
Zee
I’d felt more with Reid Wolfe—now my husband—than I’d ever felt before.
More than I’d ever wanted to feel.
Yes, I’d fallen hard. But I desperately wanted a husband who loved me as much as I loved him.
My flesh still numb, I walked with Reid back to the Wolfe building. It was several blocks, and we didn’t talk.
We took the elevator up to his apartment. He gathered his staff in the dining room. “I have some news,” he said. “This lovely lady and I were married this afternoon, so you now work for her as well as for me. Whatever she wants, please see to her needs.”
Lydia and the others were clearly surprised, but they all simply nodded and then went about their tasks.
I followed Reid to his bedroom. “I’ll have your apartment packed up and your things delivered as soon as possible.’
“My job…” I began.
“I’ll see if you can get an extended leave of absence.”
“Mo. The others. They can’t afford the rent without me.”
“That isn’t anything for you to worry about. I’ll cover it until they can get a new roommate.”
“My job…” I said again.
“I promise I’ll take care of all of it,” Reid said. “But you’ll never have to go back if you don’t want to, Zee. I’ll see that you’re always taken care of, even after the marriage ends.”
After the marriage ends…
So the marriage would end, in his eyes.
My heart broke in two.
I was in love—married to the object of my affection.
And it was only temporary.
The story of the Wolfes concludes in Reckoning, coming soon!
Craving more Helen Hardt?
Read on for an excerpt from Reunited!
My flesh tingled, my tummy tightened, and my heart made a mad dash to leap from my chest. My fingers, seemingly of their own accord, pushed the button to replay the message I’d just heard.
“I’m calling for Mr. or Mrs. Abbott. My name is Brett Falcone, and it looks like Maya’s going to be on my soccer team. Practice will start next Monday at six o’clock…”
I let the words fade.
Brett Falcone.
His voice had deepened just a little, but it was him—the man from my past I thought I’d never see again. Yet that glimmer of hope, that flicker of desire, had always burned within my heart.
I hadn’t known he was still in town. Of course I’d only been back a few months. After my divorce from Danny, I’d moved back to my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Danny still lived in Cleveland, close enough that Maya could see him on the weekends.
Twenty years ago, I’d left Columbus and vowed never to return. I met Danny in California ten years later. Five years after that, when he received a job offer in Cleveland, I’d agreed to return to Ohio. Cleveland was far enough away from Columbus that I didn’t have to think about my former life of heartbreak and humiliation.