The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,249

He took a step down from the altar, and Nana smashed his foot with her cane. He stumbled back onto the altar as fast as he could manage.

She gave him a scowl. “Now seems like the perfect time. You were blackmailing your cousin over this wedding and this girl, so you might as well wrap up all your unfinished business at the wedding. Because from the looks of things, that’s all that’s getting finished here.”

Neil’s eyes narrowed. “What does it say?”

Garrett lifted the papers. “Perhaps you should read it.”

“If you want any kind of inheritance at all from me, you’ll sign it.” Nana held a pen toward Neil. “Give him the papers, Garrett.”

Garrett handed them to his cousin, knowing his cousin would sign. Nana Ruby had offered him one-fourth of the land—his expected inheritance, but only if he not only agreed to never release the video and photos of Blair, but also gave Garrett any hard copies Neil might possess.

Neil jerked them out of his hand, and gave them a good shake before he started to read. It was all the opportunity Garrett needed to sneak a glance at Blair. Megan and Libby flanked her now, and he wasn’t surprised by her defiant stance. Yet she snuck a glance at him, and their eyes locked. He saw sadness and regret in her gaze, and his heart sank to his feet. Had he really lost her?

“I’m not agreeing to this.” Neil flapped the papers at Garrett. “I bet you drew these up yourself. How do I know they’re legal?”

“They’re legal,” Garrett said in disgust. “And if they aren’t, then you’ll have your out.” Garrett’s voice tightened. “But I assure you, if you let them leak, I’ll come after you faster than white on rice.”

“Sign it,” Nana barked.

Gritting his teeth, Neil awkwardly bent over and signed the papers on his leg, then tossed them back at Garrett as he rose. “Can I go now?” Then he looked around the church and went slack-jawed as if finally realizing he was acting like an ass in front of over three hundred people, including two hundred of which were his family, friends, and colleagues—not to mention the hundred or more strangers that filled the back of the church, most with smart phones in their hands, recording the entire fiasco.

Dr. Neil Fredrick was about to become a viral sensation of his own.

Nana stepped out of the way, and Neil hurried down the aisle and out the back doors.

The minister, who had stood behind the altar with an admirable poker face throughout all the commotion, finally spoke. “Well . . . in all my twenty years of officiating weddings, I’ve never had anyone object, let alone half the church.” He turned to Blair and gave her a sympathetic smile. “Looks like you dodged a bullet, young lady.”

Blair’s gaze turned to Garrett. “I guess I did.” Then she took a deep breath and started to say something before stopping.

Garrett took a step toward her. “Blair. I’m sorry.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Why?”

“For not telling you about Layla.”

Shock covered her face and she choked out, “She . . . you slept with . . .”

“No!” Horror filled his words. “God. No. I meant I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about her and Neil. When I went to the hospital a few days ago to ask him if he loved you, and the two of them were together in his office, Neil admitted he was sleeping with her and intended to keep her as his mistress after your wedding.”

“But why didn’t you tell me that?”

He grimaced. “Because I knew how much it would hurt you. I hoped I could get you to end it another way, so you’d never have to know.”

“You were trying to protect me?” she asked, incredulous.

“Yeah.”

She smacked his arm with Megan’s nearly destroyed bouquet, and the last few remaining flowers flew out. At this point, it was little more than a collection of pointed green spikes. “Well, don’t do that. I don’t need protecting. I can handle it.”

“Yeah, Nana Ruby pointed that out this afternoon.” A sheepish grin spread across his face. “But you have to understand—I love you. Wanting to protect you seems to go hand in hand with that.”

“You still love me?” she whispered.

His smile spread. “Yeah, I do.”

“Even after the horrible, hurtful things I said?”

“You were shocked and hurt, Blair. I would hope you’d be that upset if I were actually screwing around on you. Of course I still love you. I’ve loved