Wicked Ever After (Wicked & Devoted #2) - Shayla Black Page 0,77
home safely to her.
But the hours had dragged by without any word. By afternoon, worry had set in. As preparations for the wedding continued and the guys from EM Security had rolled in before the ceremony, she’d asked Logan if he’d heard from Pierce. He’d given her a regretful shake of his head and a few well-meaning words. By sundown, her worry had contorted into thick dread.
A man like Montilla probably had a lot of enemies. His death didn’t mean Pierce had been the one to kill him. Someone else could easily have ended the terrible man’s reign of terror…while her man lay rotting in an underground compound or a shallow grave somewhere.
Brea tried to shake off all the destructive what-ifs and worries, but it was useless. If Pierce hadn’t surfaced in the twenty-four hours since Montilla’s death, she feared there was an awful reason.
She dabbed at more tears.
“You okay?” Cage asked, slipping a brotherly arm around her.
She tried to smile. “Sure. How about you? I know you were expecting to see Karis here.”
“Yeah.” He sounded down.
“Do you know why she didn’t come?”
Cage sent a sideways glance to Karis’s sister, Jolie Powell, who stood with her husband Heath. “They said she suddenly caught a cold.”
“And you don’t believe that?”
“It’s possible…but no,” he grumbled.
Gossip said Cage and Karis had rung in the New Year together—naked, tequila-soaked, and oblivious to their screams and groans keeping the neighbors awake. She’d been aloof since.
Cage was a good guy, and Karis would be a fool to pass him up.
Brea tried to give him an encouraging smile. “I doubt she’s avoiding you.”
“I know she is. She’s made that perfectly clear.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “Can we talk about something else?”
“Sure.” Brea scrambled for a topic. “Ever think you’d have a TV star for a sister-in-law?”
“No. Honestly, it’s kind of weird. I got off shift a few days back and some reporter was waiting at my truck, asking my opinion about my brother’s upcoming wedding, the bride, their future…and climate change.”
Brea managed to laugh. “I’ll bet you’ve perfected the ‘no comment’ response by now. I sure have. Not that what I say matters. Even when I’ve corrected them, those tabloid rags are determined to push the story that I’m Cutter’s something on the side.”
“Of course. It’s juicier if he’s marrying one of People’s Most Beautiful People while flaunting his pretty baby mama under her nose.”
She grimaced. “They’re all liars.”
“Can’t deny that. Listen, I know you’re used to having my brother around, but I’m going to take care of you after he’s gone. I’ll be farther away but—”
“You don’t have to.” Brea placed a hand over the little swell of her belly covered by her burgundy chiffon bridesmaid dress. “We’ll be fine. Everyone seems to forget that I’m a grown woman. But I’ll keep reminding y’all. Even Daddy is coming around.”
“You’re going to have a little one soon, probably alone and—”
“Don’t say that.” It was likely true, but Brea wasn’t ready to accept it.
“Honey, Walker isn’t here. And I don’t think he’s coming back.”
“He is. He has to be.” But her reaction was more of a knee-jerk than a conviction.
“Maybe. If he’s able. But besides the fact he’s an absolute douche, I have to be honest. A mission like that has wiped out squads of soldiers, even taken out most of a SEAL team. He’s one sniper alone.”
“Stop!” She jerked away and fought a rise of more tears. Cage wasn’t saying anything she didn’t know, but she didn’t need to be reminded that Pierce’s survival chances were slim—and dwindling by the hour. “I’m clinging to hope right now. Please don’t take it from me.”
“Okay. I’m sorry. I just want you to know that, after Cutter is gone, I’ll be around as much as I can.”
Cage meant to be helpful, and she had snapped at him. “I’m sorry, too. I’m just really worried about Pierce. Constantly. I know the odds aren’t good, but if anyone could survive and succeed, it’s him.”
Every day, she’d prayed. Every night, she’d cried. Now all she could do was try to beat back despair and hold on to hope. Pierce had returned once. If there were such a thing as miracles, maybe he could pull off one again.
Suddenly, she heard a commotion on the opposite side of the tent. Cage frowned and whipped his gaze around, looking over the crowd, toward the ruckus. His eyes went wide. “Holy shit.”
“What?” Brea really resented being so short. No matter how she stood on her tiptoes and craned to peer