The Wicked Prince

“I’m sorry. He just couldn’t wait and the guard said it was okay,” Tamara said.

“Are you kidding? We were just talking about you.” Pilar moved, making the women hemming her dress stop, and crouched to throw her arms around Asher, kissing his forehead gently, before standing and hugging Tamara.

“You look stunning,” Tamara said, pulling away. “The most beautiful bride.”

“Thank you. Thank you for coming on such short notice. Is Jack here?”

“He’s here. He went to take Ben some cigars he brought him.”

“Oh, he’ll love those. I just hope he doesn’t smoke them before the wedding,” Pilar said.

“I’ll kill him if he does.” Tamara scowled. “I told Jack to wait but he kept going on and on about a humidor, so . . .” She shook her head. “Ben’s parents are also here. You owe me for that one.”

“Oh my God. They flew in with you?” Pilar laughed.

“Only because I love you.” Tamara shook her head.

Pilar laughed louder, then stopped, turning to the small garment bag on the chair beside her. “These are Asher’s tuxedos. We can hem either one if they’re too long. I think the photographer wants him to get dressed with Ben for photos.”

“I’ll take him right over.” Tamara grabbed the garment bags and tapped Asher’s head. “Let’s go get changed for the wedding.”

“I’m going to have the most important job,” Asher announced to the room. “I’ll have the wedding rings and without wedding rings you can’t get married.”

“Very true.” Pilar smiled. “I hope you’ll take good care of them for us.”

“I’ll guard them with my life.”

“That’s a bit excessive, but thank you.” Pilar laughed. I couldn’t help but laugh as well.

“He watched a movie about knights on the way over.” Tamara shook her head with a chuckle. “Come along, Asher.”

“See you in a bit, Ash.”

“See you, Princess,” he called out, blowing her a kiss as they walked out of the room.

“He’s so sweet,” one of the seamstresses said.

“Adorable,” another added.

“He is.” Pilar grinned widely.

Of all the things in the world that could surprise me, the biggest one was my friend’s ability to not only accept the fact that her fiancé had a son, but cherish it. She’d stepped into Ben’s life seamlessly, as if she’d always been there. Even her relationship with Ben’s ex-fiancée was incredible. It was commendable, for sure, but not something I could say I would do if I was in her shoes. It wasn’t something I thought she could do either, though, and here she was, showing me differently. The fact that Tamara was kind helped, but it was more than that. I thought of Aramis and Oscar and how much I enjoyed both seeing him as a father and spending time with his little boy, but it wasn’t the same. I wasn’t actually Aramis’s girlfriend and Oscar’s mother wasn’t Aramis’s ex, and still whenever I thought about the possibility of him getting together with Esmée I felt like someone was punching me in the stomach. That was yet another thing I needed to seriously stop.

“I guess we’re not walking together.” The comment came from David, making my heart sink a little.

“I guess we aren’t.”

Originally, we were going to walk the wedding together, but last minute, Pilar switched it so that I was walking with Aramis and David was walking with Corina, a friend of hers from primary school. David sighed heavily, adjusting his bowtie. I hated to admit it, but he looked really great in a tuxedo. Then again, David looked good in everything. He was careful about what he ate and watched his figure. He got haircuts every two weeks, like clockwork. He never had stubble on his face, always clean-shaven and handsome. Him looking great in a tuxedo wasn’t a surprise.

“I didn’t bring a date,” he said.

That was a surprise. “Oh.”

“I wasn’t sure where we stood. You haven’t been answering my calls.”

“I’ve been busy planning a wedding.”

“You did a good job.”

“A good job,” I said. Not great, not wonderful, just good. “You could have done better?”

“I hire outside resources to do things that aren’t in my job description.”

“Meaning you think someone else could have done better.” I scoffed, shaking my head. “You do realize I was a wedding planner before I took the job as Pilar’s secretary.”

“I thought you were Aramis’s secretary.” David raised an eyebrow.

“I’m . . . no, I’m Pilar’s secretary. I was just helping out Aramis.”

“I’m sure you were doing more than helping out.”

My face burst into flames. I glanced away, jaw ticking, feeling as if he’d slapped me. I couldn’t even deny it outright, not if I wanted to keep the charade that Aramis and I started AFTER the fact.

“I’ve been looking for you.” The voice was Aramis’s and made me blush even deeper. I shut my eyes. God. What timing. Even when he set his hand on my arm, I didn’t dare face them. “We need to go line up.”