When we got back to the kitchen, Kody was putting the finishing touches on what he informed me was a "banana waffle sandwich," which he then wrapped with a napkin and handed to me.
"See, now you can eat it in the car," he told me, proud as punch, "but maybe take extra napkins for the syrup."
Sampson groaned and shook his head but said nothing as I took a bite of my breakfast. Steele came jogging back downstairs a few moments later and announced we were ready to go.
Kody followed us through to the foyer, then snagged my wrist before I could leave.
"Hey, babe?" He tugged me around to face him, and I awkwardly licked syrup from my lips. "Whatever happens today—"
"Kodiak Jones," I cut him off with a warning growl, "you better not be saying goodbye right now. Whatever happens today, we'll all make it out alive. Got it?"
He gave me a pained smile, but I grabbed the front of his T-shirt in my fist, yanking him down to kiss me. When I released him again, we were both breathing hard, but I wasn't done making my point.
"No one, Kodiak Jones, no one is separating the four of us again. Certainly not some piece-of-shit, limp-dick businessman throwing his fucking cash around. You're my damn penguin, Kody." I crushed another hard kiss against his lips, then smacked him on the ass. "See you at the altar, babe."
I hurried out of the house before he could stop me again because the last thing I needed was to start leaking from the eyes so early in the day. And that was exactly what would happen if I let him tell me he loved me like there was a chance one of us might die today. Nope. Not happening. Not on my watch.
"All okay?" Steele asked as I slid into the backseat beside him with my waffle sandwich still clenched in my hand.
I jerked a nod, then leaned over and kissed him too. He groaned against my mouth, his tongue flicking over my lips and his fingers threading into my hair to pull me closer.
"Are you gonna share that with me?" he murmured when our kiss ended some moments later. It took me a hot second to follow what he was even talking about, but that was all the time he needed to lean forward and take a huge bite out of my waffle sandwich.
With a shout of protest, I yanked my food away but he just grinned as he chewed his mouthful of stolen food. Bastard. But I couldn't even be all that mad at him... I loved the food-stealing prick too damn much.
Now I just needed to get fake married to my real husband and clean the slate of assassins. Then, maybe, we could entertain a happily ever after.
Maybe.
31
My bridal suite was set up in a hotel room directly across the street from the chapel where the wedding would play out. The second we got inside, I was bombarded with women all talking at a million miles an hour. Steele just laughed at what must have been a deer-in-headlights look on my face, then murmured in my ear that he'd find us some coffee.
Fuck, I loved him.
Hours later, my hair was a perfect cascade of pink curls pulled back from my face in an intricate braid and threaded with small white flowers. My makeup was flawless, and I almost seemed to glow from the inside. Like I'd just swallowed Tinker Bell or some shit.
I'd just stepped into my wedding gown when I heard voices outside the bathroom door.
Frowning, I tugged my zipper up, then pulled the door open to find out what the fuck the problem was.
"Arch?" I asked, my voice sharp with alarm. "What's going on? What's happened?"
He and Steele both turned to look at me in unison, and for a second it seemed like they were both frozen in time, like someone just pressed pause on them. It was only broken by my wedding planner's shriek of panic.
"No!" Alyssa howled. "No, it's bad luck! Don't look!" She tried to somehow block Archer's line of sight by leaping between us, despite the fact that she was all of five-foot tall and not blocking shit.
Archer's lips twitched in a grin, but his eyes didn't leave me for even a second. "I think we'll be fine, Alyssa," he told her with a hint of laughter. "Kate and I don't buy into superstitions much, do we, sweetheart?"
His teasing tone of voice made me think he wasn't here because our plans had suddenly gone awry, so I let the tension slip out of my shoulders somewhat. "He's right," I assured our panicked wedding planner, touching her shoulder gently. "Could you give us a minute, please?"
She looked confused but nodded anyway and started to hurry out of the suite with the hair stylist close behind her. Then she paused at the doorway and swung back around with a frown on her face. "Actually, Madison Kate, I was coming up to ask if you've heard from your father? I haven't seen him at the chapel, and we're getting awfully close to time." Her brows hitched high, like she was trying to remain optimistic but could quietly sense it all falling to pieces.
I gave her a tight smile in return, thinking of how my father had howled when I drove that blade into his thigh. "Oh, I'm sorry; he won't be able to make it," I told her with a forced smile. "He and Cherry ate some bad shellfish on their flight home yesterday. They're both terribly laid up with diarrhea today."
Alyssa's smile slipped to a grimace. "I see. Okay, well, no matter. It's a modern wedding; there's no reason you can't walk by yourself." Except her tone suggested it was the worst thing in the world. How right she was. I'd be one hell of a target like that... but that was sort of the point. Become bait.
"Actually," Archer spoke up, "Sampson is going to step in, right?" He gave our security guy a pointed look, and the older guy peered up at us from his phone.
"Um," he started, his sharp gaze flicking from Archer to me, then back again. "Yes, of course. I'm practically Madison Kate's surrogate uncle, so it's only right."
I bit my lip to keep from laughing at his fumbled lie, but as Alyssa was already gushing her enthusiasm for that plan, I doubt she’d noticed. Part of me felt a little guilty that I wasn’t asking James to take that role, but the guys and I had decided to keep things cautious with him for now. A surprise biological father at this late stage of the game was just a bit too cliched to trust him implicitly.
"Okay, cool, now that's sorted, so if you could..." Archer gave Alyssa a tight smile, the rest of his sentence pretty damn clear.
"Oh, yes, of course," she exclaimed, pressing her hand to her chest as her cheeks pinked. "Sorry, you wanted a moment with your beautiful bride. Please be quick, though. We're ready to start in just ten minutes."
With that, she bustled out of the room and my hair and makeup girls followed. Archer gave Sampson a pointed look, and the security guard reluctantly got to his feet.
Before he also left, he gave us all a critical look and shook his head. "Look, I don't know what's all going on here today," he said quietly, "but I don't need to know. I'll guard you with my life, miss. Same as every day." He gave me a short nod, then exited the room, closing the door firmly behind himself.
I arched a brow at the boys, my hands on my hips. "Okay, what's going on?"
"I'm pretty confident Sampson is loyal," Archer replied as he moved over to the sofa and opening the silver briefcase he'd brought with him. Inside was a slim silver pistol, much smaller than the Glocks the boys favored, and a white leather holster.