“I’ll catch up,” Becca said. “Need to use the bathroom.” She headed back toward her room, passing Shane and Sara’s on the way. Their door was open, and something caught Becca’s eye. She stepped back to the opening and peered in at Shane’s big medic case just inside the doorway. Becca shut herself inside the room, knelt, and opened the lid to the case.
When her gaze finally landed on a bottle of injectable diazepam, an idea came to mind. Nick wanted redundancies upon redundancies; well, this certainly fit. And given that Woodson had gotten his hands on her twice before, she wanted a way to hurt him up close if it happened again. Without letting herself question what was probably a totally useless idea, she filled a syringe with a dose guaranteed to induce sleep in a man Woodson’s size. Quickly, she put everything away and tucked the syringe into the pocket of her dress, which hung in Nick’s closet. No one even had to know the syringe was there.
One thing was for sure, Becca Merritt was done feeling like a victim. She was ready to fight for this life she wanted, once and for freaking all.
THEY ARRIVED AT the inn early for the rehearsal. Before Becca even stepped foot out of the stretch Hummer, Nick wanted to take a look around and discuss a plan with the security he’d brought in extra for the rehearsal. This was the same team who’d be running things at the wedding, so they already understood the nature of the threat from when he’d met with them earlier. To add another layer of security, Chen had arranged to put agents from his detail at either end of the long block on which the inn sat, providing an effective roadblock and a defensive perimeter.
It was all likely overkill. Nick knew it was. The bait would lure Woodson to the restaurant, not here. Hell, they hadn’t even published a wedding announcement, so the details of their arrangements could only be known by people with whom they’d shared invitations.
When he was satisfied, he opened the door to the ladies’ limousine. “Let’s practice us a wedding,” he said with a smile. He might be tense as hell inside, but he didn’t want to do anything—well, anything more than what had to be done—to take away from the joy of the occasion. Becca deserved a happily ever after, and Nick was determined to give her one. No matter what it took.
Becca stepped out of the limo in a stunning long blue dress that made the color of her eyes almost glow. She adjusted the long decorative chain of her purse on her shoulder. He’d given her a small handgun that would fit the bag, and even though she knew how to use it—thanks to her father—Nick really fucking hoped she never had to. But he couldn’t have agreed more that she should have the protection on her. It was always wise to be prepared for a snafu, that was for damn sure.
Sonya greeted them at the gatehouse and guided the group of them inside. The first floor of the inn was where the cocktail party immediately after the ceremony would take place while they were taking wedding photographs. A tall round table filled with champagne flutes stood in the center of the floor. “Please help yourself while you wait for the minister to arrive.”
“Do you want to see the upstairs where we’ll hold the reception?” Becca asked the women.
Even though the security team had assured them that the house had been locked up tight all day, with no one coming or going until they and Sonya had arrived to open up for their rehearsal, Nick wasn’t comfortable letting Becca go alone. In the end, everyone went along for the tour. It really was a nice place. The kind of place where happy memories were made. Nick wanted that for Becca. For both of them.
They didn’t have to wait long for the chaplain to arrive. Nick didn’t know the man personally, but Thomas McAdams was a military chaplain who was a friend of a friend, which was how they’d managed to book him on such short notice. Nick guessed that McAdams was not much older than he was, and the chaplain seemed eager and interested and kind. Nick immediately liked him.
McAdams greeted the whole wedding party, then Sonya gave him a general tour of the outdoor space where the ceremony would take place. They’d process up the brick-lined courtyard between chairs that were already set up for them, and the ceremony itself would take place on a raised brick patio against the backdrop of the rear of the gorgeous Carroll Mansion. A plain wide wooden arch stood there now. Tomorrow it would be decorated with flowers.
As Sonya, McAdams, and Becca spoke, Nick couldn’t help but be on the alert. His eyes and ears were wide open, despite the fact that things were quiet. Exactly as they should be. And he wasn’t the only one. Every one of his teammates had their game faces on. Nick was fucking glad.
“Okay, now that I have the lay of the land,” McAdams said, “I’d like to go over what you all indicated you wanted for the ceremony. Then we’ll walk through it as a group, and I’ll show you where to walk and stand, all that sort of thing. And then we’ll do an actual dry run, music and all if you have it.”
“I have it on my phone,” Becca said.
“That’ll work,” McAdams said. For a few moments, they discussed vows, wording for various parts of the ceremony, who was holding the rings, and how they wanted him to introduce them to the audience when the ceremony was complete. “Okay, let’s walk through it all. Anyone should feel free to interrupt this time with questions or suggestions. In fact, now is the main time to ask questions,” he said. “Becca, where do you want to start the procession from?”
Sonya stepped forward. “If I might make a suggestion,” she said, guiding them back into the first floor of the inn. In the back corner, there were three doors. “There are two private party rooms here we’ve set up for the bridal party to use before the ceremony.” She let them into one and turned on the lights. The rectangular room had a long table that seated eight in the center, with old-fashioned leather armchairs clustered in groupings along one wall. A floor-to-ceiling mirror hung at the far end of the room. “Both rooms are identical. These usually work nicely to allow for last-minute preparations, privacy if the bride doesn’t want to be seen by the groom beforehand, and staging for the ceremony itself.”
“Yes, that’s what we’d discussed. I don’t want him to see me until I’m walking down the aisle,” Becca said, smiling at him. Nick couldn’t fucking wait. “So then we’d be processing from inside?”
“That’s right,” Sonya said, leading them back out to the main room. “The groomsmen will join Nick at the dais ahead of time. We’ll keep these doors shut until it’s time for the women to walk. When the music changes, we’ll open the doors and the bridesmaids will go one by one. And then the music will change again to whatever song Becca has chosen to walk to, and she’ll proceed as well. Is someone walking you down the aisle, Becca?”
“Oh.” Without hesitation, she turned to Charlie. “Will you? Please?”
Her brother’s face filled with emotion. “Yeah. Of course.”