“The three of us make a . . . well, pair doesn’t work. A triple?” Rory said with a little laugh, trying to break the tension in the room as they remained parked inside while the guys secured the property. Whatever that meant. “We should get some sort of special tattoo. The hunted ones.” She pointed to the inside of her wrist, sliding her long-sleeve up. “Put it right there. What do you think?”
“You still win the award for the craziest life story amongst the three of us, is what I think,” Ella responded. “The craziest thing I’ll probably ever do is fake marry your brother. But there’s still a chance no one will come looking for me if he doesn’t know or ever learn Jesse’s identity. We can only hope, right?”
Rory slid her sleeve back in place, a forlorn expression replacing the smile she’d plastered on her face, one Ella guessed was a vain attempt to make the situation less brutal.
“The rest of Griffin’s team will be here later today. Between them, A.J. and his teammates, and well, the CIA . . . I think we have strength in numbers to keep you safe. They’ll find the threat. It’s what they do,” Savanna said, her leg no longer bouncing up and down as she gazed out the window where her future husband stood outside talking to Jesse.
Ella was surprised Jesse wasn’t sporting a black eye by now. While A.J. had vehemently rejected the fake marriage idea, same as Jesse had originally, in the end, he’d given up. Ella wasn’t dubbed the most stubborn in her family for nothing.
But when A.J. briefed his brothers about the plan, it’d been Ella’s older brother Beckett who’d snapped and lunged at the groom. Fortunately, the other guys jumped in and held him back. And that was all after Jesse asked her father for her hand in marriage. From what Ella heard, her dad straight-up broke down in tears and said yes.
When she learned he’d been praying for her and Jesse to walk down the aisle someday, Ella had nearly thrown up from guilt. But it was best her parents were kept in the dark about certain details. They didn’t need to know that Jesse had been an assassin for the CIA. The less they knew, the safer they’d be.
It was going to be positively painful for Beckett to officiate the wedding, but he had the power to do so, and it’d make things easier to have someone “in the know” performing the ceremony since it was all one big sham.
“Will your parents be suspicious that we have security roaming the property tomorrow?” Rory asked a moment later, shaking Ella’s thoughts free. “Carter’s men will be armed. Everyone who knows the situation will be packing.”
“A.J. coughed up a believable answer for our parents. Said it’s for our celebrity guest, Rochella. Though Henry has his own security, just not as many as I would have assumed,” Ella explained.
“I didn’t see any sign of a bodyguard when he came to the café.” From the corner of her eye, she noticed Savanna’s gaze immediately fall to her lap.
“What?” Ella whispered.
Savanna slowly worked her attention to Ella. “Griffin has concerns that Rochella’s offer might be a bit too perfectly timed. Like he’s helping someone draw you out and away from here.”
Ella shook her head. “There’s no way a fashion mogul is taking orders from a criminal. Griffin’s paranoid.”
“Regardless, you know they’ll take a look into the offer. And Henry Rochella’s family and company,” Savanna said. “At least Falcon will be with you in Paris.”
“I’m sorry I’m the reason Griffin has to leave you,” Ella apologized, deciding to let go of the Rochella-as-a-bad-guy conversation. It didn’t sit well with her.
“You’re not. Jesse is. And well, maybe it’s not his fault either.” Savanna clutched the chair arms. “Maybe his job was a necessary evil, and . . .”
“No, we’re not cutting my brother any slack.” Rory stood and rounded the handmade coffee table that Jesse had crafted from reclaimed something or other. Always recycled. Repurposed. “Ella has to sleep under the same roof as him until they leave. But Chris and I won’t be a barrier for y’all in Paris, which sucks. I hate that you have to live alone with him pretending to be married for an unknown amount of time. Sitting and waiting for someone to come after you.” Rory ran her hands along her arms as if chilled. “Makes me ill.”
Ella couldn’t exactly ask Henry for a two-bedroom flat in Paris. Jesse would just have to sleep on the couch in their living room. Ella was still so shaken by everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours—Rochella’s incredible offer, temporarily moving to Paris, and as of that morning, her request for a sabbatical approved by her principal—that she’d nearly forgotten the fact she and Jesse would be “playing house” in one of the most romantic cities in the world.
Henry had phoned an hour ago, right after they’d finished breakfast and Jesse had left, to let her know they were giving “the newlyweds” a few days for a honeymoon in Paris before she needed to join the other “gems” for work. Ella had considered refusing, but she was worried that’d be a red flag. Plus, that gave them some time to dig a bit deeper into the situation surrounding the man who might come after her for revenge.
“I wish Beckett had given Jesse a shiner,” Rory said while looking outside where her brother stood next to Griffin, a cell phone held out between them and most likely talking to someone on their team over speakerphone.
A.J. and the others were nowhere in sight, so they must have still been prepping the property for war or whatever. Maybe setting booby traps. It’d been too dark to “arm the perimeter” last night, so Chris and Jesse had taken turns staying awake.
“I’m sorry your brother has put you in potential danger too,” Ella said. “I hate that you have to sit around and wait for what might happen as well.”
Rory waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Chris and I are going back home soon, so I’ll be surrounded by a bunch of overprotective SEALs in Virginia. I’ll be fine. I’m not taking a break from work. If someone wants to come for me, they’ll get a bullet in the head. Or a bite in the ass from Bear.”
Yeah, Bear would sound off if there were any intruders as well. Ella nearly forgot they had the protection of a specially trained SEAL K-9. Trained by Rory herself too.
“We have an hour before we have to head to your parents’ place and help out with the preparations for this last-minute wedding. I doubt your mom slept at all last night, ironing out the wedding details,” Rory commented when they’d all remained quiet for a minute or so.
“I don’t think I can help plan.” Thinking about the dress she’d be wearing tomorrow already had her heart breaking into a dozen pieces. “I can’t pick out flowers or whatever I need to do for my fake wedding. It was bad enough Jesse and I had to fill out the marriage license this morning in front of my parents. I think Mom was a little suspicious and maybe trying to call our bluff.”
The license would be filed with the county, as was required, but Jesse’s people would alter the records online instead of making it official. Hack was more the correct term, she supposed.
“Y’all don’t need my help anyway,” Ella went on. “Mom will be fine. She lives for this stuff, and we just had your wedding to Chris this summer. And after organizing my almost-wedding last year, Mom is practically a wedding planning pro.”