174

174

Tyler took out his phone and was getting ready to dial when they heard a car coming up the driveway.

Lexi dashed to the window. “They’re back!”

Relief hit Tyler hard and swift, like a sucker punch in the gut. He slipped his phone back into his pocket. Those two better have had a damned good excuse for scaring them all half to death.

Tweedle number one followed Lexi to the window and peered out. “See, I told you they were fine.”

Lexi turned and shot her a look. One that would have scared Tyler had he been on the receiving end.

“She’s got a lot of nerve just taking off,” number two said indignantly.

Lexi didn’t say a word, but he could see her temper rising. Her cheeks were getting red and blotchy and her fists were clenching and unclenching. And her foot was tapping. Bad sign. If those two knew what was good for them they would quit while they were ahead. Especially with Lexi standing within swinging distance. He knew from experience that you could only push her so far before she blew, and she looked as though she was more than halfway there already.

“Enough,” Dale said.

“Why are you getting mad at us?” Heather snapped back. “We are not the ones with the problem. You should have seen the way she flipped out the other night over arrangements.”

“Yeah,” Dee agreed. “It’s not our fault she thinks that she’s too fat to fit in her dress.”

The last word had barely left her mouth and Lexi was already in midswing. Tyler scarcely had time to cringe before she connected. One quick, solid right jab, and Dee  was on the ground, holding her jaw.

Everyone else stood in stunned silence. Even Heather didn't seem to know what to say. Or maybe she just didn’t want to be the next one to go down.

Then the door flew open and Lily burst through, Daniel close behind. “Hi, everyone! We’re back!”

___________

They had eloped.

Apparently, the dress incident and lots of arrangements had been the last straw, and Lily had told Daniel that if they didn’t get out of there, the wedding was off. And thank goodness Daniel was smart enough to know what he would have been giving up if he’d let her go.

If Lexi didn’t love Lily so much, she would kill her for scaring them. But thinking about it, she wouldn’t have done things any differently. In fact now that she was technically engaged to Tyler, she was beginning to think that eloping or having a very small wedding was what she truly wanted.

But at least she knew everything was going to be okay for her friend. Lily and Daniel would make it. They would be happy. Now, if only she could feel so confident about her own life.

“You couldn’t wait until I got inside the house,” Lily said, handing Lexi a new bag of ice and taking the melted one. “You had to take her down right before I walked in.”

Lexi set the ice over her swollen, purple knuckles. “It’s not as though I planned to hit her. It just sort of happened.”

She barely even remembered doing it. One minute she was just standing there, the next Dee was on the floor and Lexi's hand was throbbing. When Dee recovered from the shock, she’d begun to wail about calling her attorney and pressing charges, then they had packed up and left. The villa had been blessedly peaceful ever since.

“How’s the hand, Sugar?” Tyler asked. He sat in a chair across from Lexi, a goofy grin plastered on his face. He was enjoying this far too much.

“I think I’m going to cut my boxing career short.” She replied.

“It looks as though you two are getting along better,” Lily said, looking back and forth between them.

“I guess you could say we’re working things out,” Lexi told her.

“I’m glad. At least this trip wasn’t a total waste.”

“Have you told your parents that you already got married?”

“We called them from the road and caught them just as they were leaving.”

“I've called my dad and told him too,” Lexi said.

“I’m a disgrace to my family,” Daniel said.

“They're going to be so pissed,”

“And you guys are okay with that?” Lexi asked.

He shrugged and sat on the arm of the couch, beside his new wife. She smiled up at him. “They’ll get over it. Right now I just want to enjoy being a newlywed.”

“We’ve decided to leave early for our honeymoon,” Lily told them. “We’re going to drive up the coast, then be back in time for the cruise when it leaves Saturday night. Either of you is welcome to stay for the rest of the week.” She shot Lexi a smile. “Or both of you.”

Lexi glanced over at Tyler and saw that he was trying really hard not to smile. Three days alone, with this big house all to themselves would have been great, but they had stuff to take care of.

“We won't be staying,” she said, “But we'll both be going to pay my father a visit,”

Oh Yeah. Tyler had almost forgotten about Lord Fuckface.

This was a trip he wasn't looking forward to.

__________

Lexi’s palms were damp as she smoothed the fabric of her dress for the third time. Her heart pounded in her chest as though it were trying to escape. The grand study smelled faintly of leather and aged scotch, and her father sat behind his oak desk, the same desk where he had mapped out her life like a business transaction.

Paul Graham was not a bad looking man, although he frowned a lot. His good looks weren't surprising to Tyler, given that he was Lexi's father. He was a ruthless businessman, set in his ways, just like Tyler was, and pissed or not, one fact that stood was that he loved his daughter dearly and wanted the best for her. Unfortunately he thought that ‘best’ was Victor and that was quite sad.

Paul Graham didn’t bother standing when they entered. His gray eyes flicked over Tyler first, narrowing with disdain, before settling on Lexi. “I didn't think you'd visit me any time soon after our last meeting since you returned,” he told his daughter, “I assume there’s a reason you're here now. I thought Lily's wedding was off.”

“Dad…” Lexi’s voice faltered, but Tyler’s hand closed firmly around hers, grounding her. He was calm—outwardly at least—but she felt the tension in his grip.