Chapter Forty-Six
It was her wedding day, and she couldn’t believe it. After so much heartache and trauma, she was about to marry Rafe Palazzo. No second thoughts, no worries stared back at her when she looked in the mirror.
She was a little tired and had woken up alone in the early afternoon with circles under her eyes, but a makeup artist had worked magic. She was now dressed in her perfect gown, with her hair, makeup and nails done expertly, and she had about two minutes before her bridesmaids came in.
“You are stunning, Ari.”
Ari turned to find Lia standing inside the door. Ari hadn’t even heard it open.
“Thank you, Lia. Thank you for being here now, and for the last three years. I don’t know what I would have done without you,” Ari said as she moved forward and wrapped her arms around her friend.
“You would have been fine because you are beautiful, smart, talented and a real prize for any man. All you have to do is let me know if my brother isn’t treating you right, and I’ll come and straighten him out,” Lia said with a twinkle in her eye.
“I have a feeling that you enjoy terrorizing Rafe,” Ari said with a laugh.
“Oh, he well deserves it for the numerous pranks he played on me while I was growing up,” Lia said.
“Where’s Rachel? I thought she would be here by now,” Ari asked; she realized it was getting close to time to walk down the aisle and yet there was no sign of Rachel anywhere.
“That’s odd. I haven’t seen her since this morning, when we dropped off the dresses here. She said she would be right behind me. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to think about it,” Lia said, concern apparent on her face.
“Let’s check her room,” Ari said, sure that everything was fine, but with an undercurrent of worry because only she and Lia knew about the baby.
They stepped into the hall and made their way down to Rachel’s fitting room. Ari knocked on the door and there wasn’t an answer, so she tried the doorknob. It was unlocked.
The two women opened the door, calling for Rachel. Still no answer.
Ari felt her stomach heave with fear. She was afraid to look around, afraid they’d find Rachel lying on the floor bleeding. What if she’d had a miscarriage and had been lying there dying all day? She’d never forgive herself for being so self-absorbed that she hadn’t noticed her dear friend missing for an entire afternoon.
“Oh, Ari,” Lia gasped, making Ari turn slowly around. She was afraid to see what had made Lia’s voice so frightened.
What she found was Lia holding a note. That wasn’t so bad. Or was it?
“You’d better come here,” Lia said, and Ari made her way over to her.
Ari didn’t recognize the handwriting. It wasn’t Rachel’s.
When she read the words, she blanched.
This wasn’t good — not good at all.
“What do we do?” Ari asked.
“We have to talk to Rafe,” Lia replied with dread.
“He’s not going to be happy,” Ari said as she paced to and fro in the small room.
“No, he’s not. Do you want to finish the wedding first?”
“Are you kidding me, Lia? Of course not. This is far more important,” Ari said, and she walked from the room. Lia was right behind her.
Ari entered Rafe’s room, stopping in her tracks when she saw just how breathtaking her future husband was. Shane and he froze in the process of putting on their black ties.
“You aren’t supposed to see each other,” Shane said, his mouth agape, the new shiner on his right eye not detracting from his looks at all. Lia was obviously taking a bit too much pleasure in the bruise left by her brother on Shane’s face.
“You need to see something, Rafe,” Ari said as she moved forward.
He read the note, and fire instantly entered his eyes.
“Is this a joke?” he asked, looking between the two women.
“No, unfortunately, it’s not,” Lia said, looking decidedly uncomfortable.
“Why wasn’t I told of her condition sooner?” Rafe thundered.
Ari knew he was upset, but that was no reason to take out his temper on her or his sister. She sent him a warning look, and he calmed down, though rage was still brewing in his eyes as he passed the note to a very confused Shane.
“She wanted to wait to let you know,” Ari told Rafe.
“You knew.” It wasn’t a question, just a statement as he looked from Lia to Ari.
“Yes, of course we knew. She didn’t want to be yelled at for making a mistake, but she needed to talk to someone about it. So she told Ari and me about everything roughly a week ago,” Lia confirmed. “She swore us to secrecy.”
“I can’t believe you kept this from me. Had I known, she wouldn’t be in the situation she’s in,” Rafe said in exasperation.
“What? She wouldn’t be pregnant?” Ari asked.
“There’s nothing I can do about that, obviously. That’s not what I mean. She wouldn’t be gone,” he said, running a hand through his hair.
“What do you want to do, Rafe?” Shane asked, his own eyes narrowed in outrage after reading the note.
“I’m going after my sister, of course,” Rafe replied.
“I’ll go with you,” Shane told him.
“I can handle this, Shane. I don’t want your ass hauled to prison for insubordination. We both know you leave tomorrow,” Rafe said as he patted his best friend on the shoulder.
At the mention of Shane’s departure, Lia cast dangerous and disgusted looks at both men.
“Lia, we need to talk,” Shane said as he watched her stiffen.
“No, Shane. You go play G.I. Joe and leave me the hell alone,” she said, turning away from him.
“Sorry, Rafe, but your sister is a pain in the ass. I need to have a chat with her while you and Ari figure this out.” Shane strode toward Lia.
Ari watched her friend take a step back, but she didn’t look frightened. Excitement gleamed in her eyes. Shane followed, picking Lia up and carrying her from the room while she yelled bloody murder.
“It seems that both of my sisters are having man problems,” Rafe said, running his fingers through his hair, mussing it up just the way Ari liked it.
“I will inform the guests that the wedding’s been postponed,” Ari said a bit sadly at the thought.