could ask for. I’m going to miss you.”
Crying is for girls.
Words of wisdom from my father. He’d said them for as long as I could remember.
I sniffed back a tear.
I wasn’t going to succumb now. I’d be strong. Not just for Daphne and my unborn kid but now for Murph as well. I’d find out how this happened and take care of whoever was responsible.
I’d avenge my friend.
If it was the last thing I did.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Daphne
Something nudged me.
I jerked upward.
“It’s just me, baby.”
“Brad!” I melted into his arms. “How’s Sean?”
Brad cupped my cheek. “I’m so sorry to have to tell you this. He…didn’t make it.”
What? Confusion muddled my brain. I hadn’t heard him right. That was it. It had to be. “He just had too much to drink. That’s all.”
“Baby, he had a beer. One beer.” Brad kissed the top of my head. “He was drugged. Heroin.”
“But he doesn’t—”
“Do drugs. No, he doesn’t. He was also poisoned. The doctors might have been able to save him if it had only been the drugs, but the poison killed him. His body just shut down.”
This wasn’t happening. Nothing bad had happened at my wedding. This was a dream.
No, a nightmare. A really bad nightmare.
Except that it wasn’t anything like my normal nightmares. I wasn’t running from something that scared me only to wake up and not remember who or what was responsible for my torment.
No, this was real-life torment.
Real life…
“Who would…? Why would…?” I couldn’t grasp the words I wanted.
“I don’t know, baby. But I assure you that I’ll find out. I’m going to put the best PIs in the business on this. I owe that to Murph.”
“Brad, I don’t understand.”
“I don’t either, Daphne.”
“Our wedding…”
“It was beautiful. We have to remember the beautiful parts.”
The beautiful parts? No sooner had we exchanged vows than I had passed out. But that was the least of the problems.
Brad kissed the top of my head again. Then he pulled back from me a bit and met my gaze. His eyes were sunken and sad. He pressed his lips to mine. They were wet. His cheeks were streaked. Had he been crying?
Somehow I’d never thought of Brad crying. He seemed so strong. So very strong.
Of course, he’d literally just lost his best friend.
He needed me to be strong now, and I wouldn’t let him down. I’d vowed once never to be a colorless flower again. I’d become one, if only for a moment, on my own wedding day.
That self-indulgence was over.
I’d be strong for my baby. Strong for the man I loved. I pulled his face toward mine and kissed him. Hard.
He pulled away. “I need you so much right now.”
“I’m here for you. Take whatever you need from me.”
“My God.” He slammed his lips back down on mine.
I opened for him, let him take my mouth with his tongue and teeth. It was a hard kiss. A raw kiss. A kiss of need and ache.
A kiss of life.
He was proving to himself that he was alive because Sean wasn’t.
I melted into the kiss, let him take what he wanted, needed, desired.
Was my door locked?
I didn’t know. Didn’t particularly care at the moment.
The only thing I wanted was to ease Brad’s pain.
He moved quickly, nearly tearing my pajamas from my body and then unzipping his trousers. Within seconds he was inside me, thrusting, thrusting, thrusting…
Grunting, grunting, grunting…
Then releasing.
Releasing inside me.
It was that fast.
And I was happy to give him what he so desperately needed.
“God, baby,” he rasped against my ear. “I needed that. I needed you.”
I stroked his hair. “It’s okay.”
“I’ll take care of you in a minute, okay?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“I want to. I just needed… I just…”
“It’s okay,” I said again, still stroking his hair. “I’m here.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Daphne. You make me whole, and I need to be whole right now.”
“You were always whole, Brad.”
“I thought I was, but I wasn’t. I am now.”
His words played in my mind, and I understood.
Fate.
Destiny.
We completed each other.
We were whole with each other.
I smiled against his cheek. “You’re still wearing your tux. When does it have to be returned to the rental place?”
“It doesn’t,” he said. “It’s mine. Though it’s completely ruined now.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you kidding? This tux is the last thing I’m concerned about. Just let me lie here for a few minutes. I need to hold you in my arms.”
“I need that too.”
And I did. More than I needed more kisses or an orgasm. I needed to be in Brad’s