“Fix this.”
“It is fixed. It’s done.”
Josh turned back to the crowd, trying to sort through his options. Surely Megan wouldn’t hold it against him if he could get Noah and Libby to confess.
His eye caught the man at the edge of the crowd. He studied him closer, thinking he’d seen him somewhere, then realized he looked like an actor on Dawson’s Creek. The guy stood on the periphery, his body stiff, as though he were looking for a fight. How did he know him?
Josh turned to Libby, his heart racing now. “Who is that guy?”
The man started to push his way none too gently through the crowd, heading straight for Megan.
“Oh, God,” Libby said, breathless. “It’s Jay.”
“Shit!” He took off running, his heartbeat pounding in his ears as he pushed people out of the way.
Megan was talking to her mother and several of her friends, oblivious to the booby trap headed toward her.
Jay reached her first. He grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him.
“What the hell is going on here?” he shouted, still holding her arm.
She cried out in surprise and tried to pull out of his grasp, but he held on tight.
Finally reaching Megan, Josh positioned himself beside her, hands balling into fists at his sides. “Get your hand off her now.” His voice was calm, but it held a deadly edge.
Knickers appeared from behind him, livid at what she had to see as a wedding crasher—one who was accosting her daughter, no less. “Just who do you think you are?”
“Who am I?” Jay shouted, spittle flying out of his mouth. “I am Jay Connors. The groom!”
A collective gasp spread across the crowd.
“What the hell is going on here, Megan?” He jerked on her arm.
Josh wanted to beat the shit out of the dirtbag, but the guy had to let go of Megan first. “I’m warning you,” Josh said, taking a step forward. “Let go of her now.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?”
“I’m her husband. Now let. Her. Go.”
Josh weighed his options as the other man turned to face him, his mouth gaping wide open. He could try to deck Jay, but he didn’t want Megan to get caught in the middle. He heard someone come up behind him, and when he glanced back, he wasn’t surprised to see that Noah literally had his back.
Megan’s face was pale, and she cast a glance at her mother, then at her ex-fiancé. “Jay, let’s go somewhere more private, and I’ll explain.”
A black look washed over his face. “Oh, you’re going to explain, all right.” He moved through the crowd, dragging Megan with him.
As Josh followed, he waved over Libby and Blair, who’d hurried over to them. “Call the police.”
Blair held up her phone. “Already done.”
Jay didn’t stop until he reached a concrete pad at the edge of the gardens. Josh took comfort in the fact that it was at least a somewhat private place. Not that this was a private moment. There were six people watching Jay maul Megan—Kevin had joined the group, looking like he was going to murder Jay Connors himself. One look at Megan’s face told Josh how humiliated she was.
“Start talking, Megan.” Jay’s fury grew, and he jerked on her arm. “Who is this clown?”
Josh’s own temper raged and he started to lunge for the man out of instinct, but Noah held his arm and growled under his breath, “Not yet.”
Megan took a deep breath to keep from crying. “Josh.” She shot a glance at her mother. “Josh McMillan.”
Anger spread across Knickers’ face when she realized she’d been duped.
“Josh,” Jay said with a sneer. “Were you screwing him while we were together?”
“What?” she asked in horror. Then her fear gave way to anger and she glared at him. “No, Jay. I’m not a cheating bastard like you are!”
“We broke up six weeks ago, Megan, and you’re marrying this—” he waved his hand toward Josh, “—this shithead. You’re telling me you weren’t sleeping with him all along?” He jerked on her arm again, and she winced in pain.
Josh had about reached his limit. “If you care about her at all, let her go.”
“You mean care about her like you do?” He released a bitter laugh.
“I love her.” Josh held up his hands, pulling loose from Noah’s hold. “I wouldn’t dream of hurting her, but you’re hurting her now. So let her go, and we’ll talk about this like adults.”
Jay shook his head, seeming to just now notice the others who’d trailed after them. “This doesn’t concern the rest of you. Everyone leave but you.” He pointed at Josh.
Knickers’ face twisted with rage. “You are manhandling my daughter, you miscreant. Let go of her now.” She was a force to behold.
Jay turned his gaze to Megan’s mother, and his grip loosened as if by instinct.
Megan took the opportunity to stomp on his foot and elbow him in the stomach. Releasing her arm with an angry shout, Jay reached up to hit her.
Josh didn’t waste a second. He lunged for Jay, knocking him to the ground as Noah pulled Megan out of harm’s way.
“You son of a bitch! Keep your hands off my wife!” He swung at Jay, connecting with his jaw. “You never deserved her!” Jay pushed Josh away from him, then got to his feet and punched Josh in the stomach.
“Jay!” Megan shouted. “Leave him alone!” She tried to lunge for them, but Noah held her back.
Josh got two more punches in before the men broke apart and leered at each other.
“What do you want, Connors?” Josh asked, breathless. “Do you want her to say she cheated on you? Why? So you won’t feel like such a fool for letting her go?” He clenched his fist, then flexed it. “That’s why you’re here in Kansas City, right? Because you realized what a complete idiot you were to cheat on her? Now she’s moved on, and you can’t accept responsibility for that, so it’s easier to blame her.” He stepped closer and jabbed his finger at Jay’s chest. “But that’s on you! You had two years to treat her right, but you were too stupid to see what you had.”
Jay’s face hardened. “She’s not yours.”
“We’re married. Deal with it.”
Jay swung at him again, and Josh stepped backward and out of the way.
Hundreds of sprays of water suddenly shot straight up from the ground in a twenty-foot diameter. They pulsed, spraying on and off, completely drenching the two men.
So that explained the concrete pad.
Jay swung at him again, and Josh took another step back, evading his fist.
“Enough!” Megan’s mother shouted, the authority in her voice unmistakable.
Both of them stopped and turned to face her, still standing in the oscillating water sprays.
“Jay Connors, you have five seconds to leave my sight. Never contact my daughter again.” Her eyes narrowed. “And if you do, I will hunt you down all the way to the Pacific West and chop off important parts of you that you’d probably prefer to keep.”
His gaze shifted to Megan, a question in his eyes.
“We’re done, Jay,” she said without hesitation. “Go.”