Empire High Betrayal(80)

“Very well. I have two contingencies though.”

I nodded and looked up at him.

“First, you and Matt will be moving into your mom’s old apartment as soon as you’re married. I won’t have you staying here any longer than necessary. Clearly it’s unsafe.”

Because of Isabella. But I didn’t think my dad wanted to argue anymore tonight. “Okay, I’ll talk to Matt about it.”

“And second, you will let me pay for the whole thing, yes?” A smile spread over his face. The father I was growing to love was the one talking to me now. Not the scary mobster one.

“Really?” I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Of course, princess.” He kissed my forehead. “Anything for you, you know that.” He looked over at the Caldwells and sighed. “Not my choice of in-laws, but I’ll make it work. I’ll go have another word with them to help smooth this over.” He walked over to the Caldwells and started having a much more civil conversation with them.

“Sorry about that,” Matt said as he pulled me back in his arms. “I know you hadn’t had a chance to talk to your dad about the wedding yet. Were you able to change his mind?”

“Mhm.” I pressed the side of my face against his chest and I actually saw Mr. Caldwell laugh at something my dad said. “But he did have one contingency. He wants us to move into my mom’s old apartment after we get married.” I pulled back so I could look up at him. “I know we haven’t talked about what we were going to do after…”

“Are you kidding?” Matt dropped his forehead against mine. “I’d love to live with just you. A little more privacy sounds pretty great to me.”

And a state-of-the-art security system to keep my evil half-sister and the apparently discontent families out. Whatever that even meant. It didn’t matter. None of it did. As long as I had Matt by my side everything would be fine.

But there was one thing about my conversation with my father that weighed on me. And it wasn’t fair to marry Matt without being honest with him.

“I was right,” I said. “He is a mobster.”

Matt sighed. “Yeah, we kind of figured, didn’t we?”

That wasn’t really the reaction I’d expected. “So if we get married…that kind of drags you into this mess.”

“If we get married? There’s no if, baby. Nothing would make me not marry you.”

I breathed in his exhales. “But he told me it’s dangerous. I don’t want to put you in danger.”

“Hey.” Matt cradled my face in his hands. “This isn’t about our families. It’s about us. I want to marry you. And that’s all that matters.”

“It kind of matters.” There’s no out. “It’s a family business. I’m a Pruitt.”

“Yeah, and I’m a Caldwell, but I’m not the future CEO of MAC International. Let our older siblings take care of the family businesses. We can go wherever we want. Do whatever we want. Be whoever we want to be.” He pushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“As long as I can be Brooklyn Caldwell I’ll be happy.”

Matt smiled. “And as long as I can call you my wife, I’ll be happy.”

He was freaking perfect. “Can we please get out of these clothes now?” I asked.

Matt laughed. “And into the guest bed.”

Oh my God. I didn’t bother telling him that my dad disapproved of our sleeping arrangements. I couldn’t not sleep beside Matt. The sound of his heart beating while I was snuggled up to his chest was the only way I was able to fall asleep. He’d held me close every night after my uncle passed away. He held me tight every night since I moved in. When I was in his arms, I felt whole. And no one, not even Isabella, was going to break me again.





Chapter 33


Wednesday

I ran my fingers along the velvety couch and looked up at the chandelier above my head. There was only one way to describe the wedding dress boutique – pure elegance. It was like Odegaard, only the wedding equivalent. And I was already feeling uncomfortable knowing that these dresses probably cost more than the down payment of my mom’s house back in Delaware.

A super stylish woman in a black dress walked over to us. “Hi, I’m Sarah, and I’ll be your bridal consultant today. Which one of you is the bride?”

I stood up to shake her hand. “That would be me. I’m Brooklyn.”

"It’s so nice to meet you. And who is with you today?"

"This is my maid of honor, Kennedy. My future mother-in-law.” I gestured to Mrs. Caldwell. “And my Justin.” I laughed. “He’s my wedding planner.”

“Nice to meet all of you,” Sarah said. “Are you ready to get started?"

She didn’t say it, but it seemed like she was thinking we must be waiting for someone else. Like my mom. I found myself blinking away tears. “Yes, let’s do this.”

Sarah smiled. “What silhouette are you leaning towards?"

"Oh, um.” I looked over at Justin.

He laughed. “We need the full treatment, Sarah. We’re going to try one of every style to see what she’s most comfortable in. And then we can narrow it down from there. Sound good, Brooklyn?”