Chapter Twenty-Three

When I turned to look back at my new sister-in-law, she had two men dressed in black from head to toe standing beside her.

“It doesn’t have to be this way, Lauren…”

She smirked as she stroked the pistol she held in her hands. “Oh, but I am afraid it does. Your precious little wife stole everything from me, and the saddest part, she wasn’t even fucking around!”

Madison and Charlie had made their way to either side of my body, waiting for my signal to attack.

From the corner of my eye, Claire walked up from where she had been hiding. “Lauren Ashley Johnson, what in the hell do you think you are doing?” she yelled.

Lauren hissed at her mother, “For twenty-one fucking years, I have been trying to make you proud of me and get a little of your attention. I am going to kill your precious baby! Do I have your fucking attention now?”

She then aimed the gun at her mother.

“Charlie! Now!”

He had already begun to dive in front of Claire seconds before Lauren pulled the trigger, taking the bullet for Claire.

Shit! Damn! Fuck!

“What a waste of a bullet!” Lauren screamed.

I snarled at her, “If you want her, you are going to have to kill me first!”

Smirking, she aimed her weapon right at me. “I would be glad to,” she said, as she pulled the trigger once more.

My heart almost jumped out of my chest as somebody pushed me.

Still on the ground, I looked up at my brother and mouthed the words, “Get her out of here now.” Jason, my father, Michael, and Mister Johnson surrounded Via as they ushered her away from the scene.

Lying on the ground, I rolled over just as Madison scooted her gun towards me. “Go after her, Ryan.”

One of the men ran towards my wife. I stood and took my first shot, nailing him on the side of his leg and watching him fall to the ground.

“Why are you doing this, Lauren? Why now?” I turned to face her.

She smiled as if I had asked her the simplest question. “Your precious wife deserves to suffer like I did my entire life! It is her fault I had to grow up hearing ‘Olivia this and Olivia that’. It gets fucking old!”

“Baby, you know your father and I never meant to make you or your brother feel this way,” Claire chimed in, trying to reason with her.

Lauren glared at her mother. “Bullshit! You and Dad have done nothing but praise this so-called sister of ours who never comes around. Isn’t that right, Logan?”

The other guy dressed in black pulled off his ski-mask. “She is right, mother. You and dad wouldn’t give us the time of day. Everything was always about Olivia, the daughter you bailed on nearly thirty years ago!”

Lauren’s eyes brightened as if a light bulb had turned on in her head.

“Oh dear brother, I believe we have made a grave mistake. We took this whole ordeal out on the wrong person. It is she who made us this way.” Her eyes were glowering towards Claire.

I pulled Claire behind me and stared at them. “It isn’t anybody’s fault. Your parents made a huge mistake. They are only human.”

Logan and Lauren shook their heads at the same time.

“I’m afraid it isn’t that simple, Mister Rayner. Someone has to die.” Lauren spoke, aiming her weapon at me once more.

At this point, I had heard enough of their bullshit! They had crashed my special day and were keeping me from my wife. I don’t fucking think so!

My gun shot off first, knocking Lauren off her feet. Jerking the gun out of his sister’s hands, Logan shot it off in my direction.

“No!” somebody called out, diving on top of me.

Seconds before my back hit the ground with a huge thud, I managed to squeeze the trigger and shoot Logan in his arm.

Adjusting my eyes, I looked down to see whose body was atop of mine. “Oh, Jennifer, sweetheart. What were you thinking?”

She smiled. “Shut up, Ryan! There was no way in hell I was going to let you miss out on that baby’s life.”

“Where are you hit?”

Giggling, she buried her face in my abdomen for a second and popped back up. “My ass.”

I rolled my eyes, hearing the faint sound of sirens growing closer and closer.

Still holding Jennifer, I sat up to see Madison putting pressure on Charlie’s shoulder. She had been hit in the chest, but was protected by her bulletproof vest.

Madison shook her head in disgust. “I should have known it was the siblings. What better way to get revenge than at a wedding?”

The police took the wounded suspects into custody and hauled them away. The paramedics came to assist Jennifer and Charlie.

Dusting my suit off as I stood up, a friendly hand rested on my shoulder. My eyes looked up to see Claire.

She sweetly smiled. “Thank you for saving me, Ryan.”

I shrugged. “That is what family is supposed to do. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a wife at home who needs to be re-introduced to her mother. Would you mind?”

“Lead the way.” Wrapping her arm around the one I had extended out to her, we headed to the house. “Do you think she will talk to me this time?”

* * * *

I strolled into the house where the guys had taken my wife to keep her out of harm’s way.

Via leapt into my arms the second she saw me, pressing her lips against mine. She pulled away and stared at me. “What in the hell just happened?”

“I brought someone here to help me explain everything. Via, I would like to introduce you to your life-saving mother, Claire Roberts.” I flashed Claire an encouraging smile.

My wife looked over in her mother’s direction, but I was unable to read the expression on her face. It took her a few minutes to smile, but then she leapt out of my grip, strode up to her mother, and hugged her.

Stunned, Claire embraced her daughter even tighter. “Oh honey, I’m so sorry for everything.”

This is not how I imagined our honeymoon, but as a man seeing his wife reconnecting with her estranged mother after twenty-six years, I could push my sex-driven thoughts aside for as long as my Via needed.

Claire pulled away from Via with a horrified look plastered on her face. “Shit! I am ruining your reception time. I am so sorry!” She straightened out her ensemble and said, “You two go and enjoy your just married status. I will see you there.”

Claire strolled out of the room after giving me a quick peck on the cheek.

My manhood hardened a bit as I stared at my wife, who was still wearing the amazing dress that complemented her every curve.

Strolling up to her and placing a hand upon her belly, I said, “Definitely a baby in there this time, right?”

She smiled and nodded. “I thought of you when I had my gynecologist make a house call this morning before the girls woke up. You’re not pissed about how I told you, are you?”

I shook my head. “No baby, I am not mad. Now, we have beautiful reception being set up in the backyard. Shall we?” I held my hand out to her.

With a childlike grin on her lips, she placed her hand in mine, allowing me to escort her outside. The tent had already been set up and the guards were attentively watching everyone pouring in.

Via stared up at me. “Wow, I had no idea you liked this many people.”

“They are not here for me, baby. They showed up to see you.”

“Me? Why are they here to see me?”

I could no longer hide my grin. “I guess you could call it a bet. My coworkers could not believe that I was marrying a woman.”

Glaring at me for a few seconds, she busted out laughing once her mind processed my words.

“People thought you were gay? Oh, that is classic!”

“Yes, and that bit of news you shared during your vow was the icing on the cake, putting an end to their damned bet.” Picking her up, I carried her into the tent. I looked down at the confusion written on her face, and explained, “I am carrying you over every single threshold we come across for the next twenty-four hours.”

“There you are! Where in the hell have you guys been?” Amanda shouted at us. The second I placed my wife back on to her feet, my sister grabbed a hold of our hands, led us to our table, and demanded we sit.

“She is a domineering little thing. It must be genetics,” Via whispered into my ear the second my sister dashed away from us.

I tried to contain my smile as I observed everyone in the room. Some were sitting and others were walking around to mingle.

“Hey bud, we need you up on the stage now.” My wife’s Uncle James interrupted my thoughts.

Standing up, I kissed her lips and followed him to the stage to stand in front of the microphone. Tapping on it, the room fell silent and all eyes were on me.

“Good evening everyone. You have no idea how much it means to my wife and I you all decided to stick around considering the incident that occurred earlier. Everything is under control. I guess you could say what happened today was the perfect example of how you cannot choose who you are related to.” I removed the microphone from its stand and continued speaking.

“Via and I would like to thank you all for joining us in the celebration of our marriage. Enjoy your dinner, party hard, and please make yourself at home. Thank you.”

* * * *

Soon after everyone finished up with the dessert course, my sister strolled on to the stage and spoke into the microphone. “Alright everyone, before my brother and beautiful new sister-in-law open their gifts, the bride will first share a dance with her father.”

Mister Johnson walked up to our table moments before Jim’s band began to play. Without any hesitation, Via stood and took a hold of her father’s hand. He led her out on to the dance floor, balancing her feet on top of his and holding her frame close to him. I watched them carefully, noticing him touching her stomach. They must be talking about our baby. The second I saw tears twinkling down my wife’s cheeks, I moved to stand until he whispered something into her ear and she laughed.

“How is Via feeling after all of this?” a voice interjected my thoughts.

Looking up, I saw Madison’s smiling face and Charlie standing behind her with his arm in a sling.

I motioned for them to sit. “She is taking everything better than I had expected. She even made amends with her mother. What can I say, my wife is growing up.” I peeled my eyes off her to look at them.

“I cannot thank the two of you enough for saving mine and my wife’s lives today. If there is anything I can do for you at all, just say the word.”

Madison lightly bit her lip. “Actually, there is, but we would understand if you won’t be up to it.”

I gazed at them, a line between my eyebrows forming. “What is it?”

“Charlie would like some time off to recuperate, spend some alone time with his woman, maybe even elope,” Madison chimed in, shyly smiling.

Before I could even respond, I had to stand up from my chair because Mister Johnson was escorting Via back to our table.

“Now the bride and groom will share their first dance as husband and wife,” Amanda chirped through the microphone.

I smiled at Via. “Do you think your heart will be able to withstand another dance? Since you have a birthday in a week, I wouldn’t want you to over exhaust yourself. Should you sit down for a minute? Would you like a glass of water?”

Rolling her eyes, she smacked me across the face. “Shut up and dance with me, Mister Rayner!”

Reeling her body closer to my own, I waited until Jim’s band started back up to twirl her around the dance floor. We moved to the rhythm of the music just like we had at the Jet Mirage, one of the best nights of my life—meeting and falling in love with Olivia. Setting eyes on her ignited a spark in my soul. She became a prized possession. I had to have her!

“Are you feeling alright, baby?” Her curiosity crashed through my thoughts.

I couldn’t help but smile as I stared into her eyes. “I was just thinking about how fucking lucky I am to have you in my life, Mrs. Rayner.”

Playfully batting those beautifully long eyelashes of hers, she grinned at me. “Oh, really. The honeymoon sex was playing in my mind.”

“Leave it to you to always be so fervent to get in my pants!”

She rolled her eyes. “Just wait until the pregnancy hormones kick in. I will see to it that you wake up in the middle of the night with me on top of you, screaming your name.”

My manhood hardened and I practically stumbled after hearing my wife speak those words. “Mrs. Rayner, how dare you erect your husband in the middle of the dance floor and in front of a crowd I may add.”

“Just call it a little payback for not telling me where we are going on our honeymoon. Normal couples make this decision together, but do we? Of course not!”

I rolled my eyes at her attempt to be dramatic. “Olivia Rayner, you of all people should know we are anything but a couple with any sense of normalcy. I need you to trust me on this. You are going to love where we are going, I promise.”