I found myself helping Willow change into her honeymoon outfit. You know, something sexy but not too revealing. She had a plane to catch, after all. Between you and me, the girl had packed enough luggage for a month-long vacation, but who was I to judge? A sister's gotta have options.
As we sorted through the bags and clothes, Willow and I shared one of those heart-to-hearts that make you remember why you love your sibling so much, despite their quirks and occasional snarky comments.
Willow, being the sensitive soul that she was, took a deep breath and looked me straight in the eyes. "Daphne, I need to say something," she began, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm so sorry I invited Mum to the wedding."
I sighed, not really wanting to talk about our mother. But hey, it was Willow's big day, so I let her continue.
"I had no idea what she put you through," she added, tears welling up in her eyes. "If I had known, I never would have asked her to come."
I looked at my sister, her face a mixture of pain and regret. And in that moment, I felt my heart soften. I had spent so many years resenting my mother for the things she had done to me. But that resentment had also kept me from opening up to Willow, from sharing my truth with her.
"It's okay," I said softly, giving her a hug. "I understand why you did it. You wanted your day to be perfect and felt like inviting Mum was the right thing to do."
In that moment, I knew that it wasn't just about the wedding; it was about forgiveness and understanding. And although I couldn't bring myself to fully forgive our mother yet, I knew that I could forgive Willow for trying.
There was so much I hadn’t told her. Where the hell did I even start?
"I should have told you," I admitted, my own voice cracking with emotion. "But I didn't want my nightmare to become yours. You had a right to your own story and relationship with her."
Willow hugged me tight, and for a brief moment, we were just two sisters, sharing a bond that couldn't be broken. But as they say, all good things must come to an end, and our moment of sisterly bliss was about to be shattered in the most dramatic way possible.
No sooner had we pulled apart than the door to the bridal suite burst open, revealing three masked men. My heart immediately raced into a gallop. I grabbed Willow and tucked her behind me before wrapping my hand around the bottle of champagne in the ice bucket.
One of the intruders came forward. Not saying a word, he grabbed for me, and I swung the champagne bottle in a wide arc, making sure the end met his temple.
He blinked at me for a second. Blinked again, and then went down like a sack of potatoes.
Willow screamed behind me. “Oh my God. What have you done, Daphne?”
“What have I done? I’m pretty sure that they want to kidnap us. And one kidnapping a month is enough for me, thanks.”
“Kidnapping?” Willow whimpered behind me as one of the other two masked guys came for us.
The second guy tried to grab me, and I kicked him directly in the nuts. He groaned but kept coming, and I swung the champagne bottle again, cracking him over the head. He didn't go down completely, but when he hit his knees, I dropped the champagne bottle and grabbed him by the ears, bringing my knee up to his face, and that did the trick. He fell over.
Unfortunately, his friend had Willow. I scrambled on the floor for the bottle of champagne. And just as my fingers grasped around the neck of the bottle to swing it, he pointed a gun at Willow's head.
“Oh no you don't,” he said.
I dropped the bottle immediately. “We don't have anything you want.”
He laughed as he leered at me. “Why don't you let me be the judge of that.”
He pointed toward the door, and I had no choice but to comply. Just as I turned the knob, I heard him groan. I whipped back to find Willow scooting away from him. “I remembered Gran always said smack a man on the balls if he’s trying to hurt you.”
The guy waved the gun in her general direction, but someone came barging through the door and said, “Put it down if you want to live.”
Drake.
Relief flooded my veins, making me somewhat dizzy. I swayed a little on my feet. He'd come. He noticed I’d left the ballroom, and he'd come.
“You came for me.”
“Always, kitten. Always.”
37
Drake
I still couldn't shake the terror of seeing her in that room with those men. Gabe and his team had searched the whole property, but Massimo hadn't been there. Instead, he'd sent his thugs to collect her.
I couldn't help but wonder how much of this was my doing. If I'd just gotten her to safety someplace where Massimo or the Syndicate couldn't have found her, she would be safe. Instead, I’d played a dangerous game with her life, and she was terrorized at her sister's wedding.
That's on you.
Regardless of what Gabe had said yesterday about our lives being so hard already and to grasp any happiness we can, I knew I couldn’t risk her like that because I was such a selfish prick. I had done this to her all because I needed my life back. Because I needed vengeance and had a vendetta I couldn't let go of.
And now that vendetta was going to rob me of one of the last people I gave a shit about. I needed to get her away from me. Somewhere safe.
At this point, is anywhere safe?
She didn’t know how to hide. She barely knew how to fight.
Though she’d fought well enough to keep her and her sister safe until I arrived. She'd taken out two full grown men. Gabe and the Rogues had done cleanup for us. He’d texted last night to let us know that they weren't dead. She'd been worried that she might have killed someone. But now, unlucky for them, they could be interrogated. The two she'd hit just had concussions. The last one, well, he had sore balls and was non-communicative.
“What do you want to do today?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper, like she was afraid of breaking the spell.
I thought for a moment, and then replied, "Let's just stay here and be together."
She smiled and nodded. "As if that's an option."
She was right. It wasn't. "We'll go with Reginald to a safe house,” I said. “The men at the wedding made me nervous, so I’d rather we lay low for a while. Then I'll take the information we have to Rogues. Right now, my only concern is you."
Daphne searched my gaze and nodded. She rolled over and reached for her phone. "I'm going to call Willow and check in," she said, her voice still thick with sleep.
"Go ahead," I replied, stretching my limbs and tracing my fingers up her spine.
As she chatted with her sister, I couldn't help but smile. It was nice to see her reconnect with family, even if it was just a brief phone call. After she hung up, I decided it was time to make some moves. I dialed Reginald and filled him in.
“How bad is it?”
I hated that he could always tell something was wrong before I even said anything. “It's not good news. We’ll be on our way back shortly, and when we get there we need to move. Just for precaution, I’ll feel better if you go with us.”
“All right. I'll be ready to go.”
While I admired his ability to roll with things, I hated that he couldn’t just live in peace.