“Sucks a lot.”
I nod my agreement. “A replacement baby won’t make it suck less, though. The only way is the healthy way. Process your feelings and move on as best you can.”
“No shortcut, huh?”
I shake my head. “Shortcuts never work as well as taking the long, hard road. But look at us—sometimes the long, hard road can lead you somewhere good.”
He wraps an arm around my shoulder, half-hugging me as we walk. “Somewhere really good.”
I smile up at him. “Really, really, really good.”
“I’ll feel really, really, really good when we’re back home,” he informs me.
“Me, too. I’m glad we survived Mateo, but I hope we never see him again.”
Vince smirks down at me. “I would say there’s a strong likelihood we won’t.” He misses a beat as we step onto even ground. “Mia said she’ll send me pictures of Dom. Well, send them to Maria who will send them to Cherie—there’s a whole underground railroad of SMS messages, but eventually they’ll get to me.”
I grin. “Look at Mia, being sneaky.”
“I’m glad you liked her,” he says, honestly. “I’m glad things between all of us ended on a good note. Not Mateo, fuck him, but us and Mia.”
I nod my head. “Me too.”
Now we’re walking along the pool that seems to be the centerpiece this U shaped Mediterranean-style villa is built around. He points to a spot in the pool. “Right there is where we played Marco Polo with my dad’s girlfriend and Mia got jealous.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Of your dad’s girlfriend?”
“She was Mia’s age. She used to hit on me all the time.” He swings his hand to indicate an enclosed grotto. “Right there is where your buddy Rafe cornered Mia in the grotto. No idea what actually happened in there, but judging by the way she fled, it couldn’t have been good.”
That draws a heavy sigh out of me. “I really wish Laurel wouldn’t sleep with that asshole.”
“Yeah, me too. At least she leaves tomorrow. Then she’ll never see him again and we won’t have to worry about it.”
“Tomorrow can’t come soon enough,” I state.
He nods, looking up at the house. “I kinda just want to burn it down.”
I move beside him, reaching for his hand. “Yeah, but that would be arson. Also, setting a fire in the desert, while momentarily cathartic, also seems really irresponsible.”
Vince smirks, turning his head to look at me. “You ruin all my fun.”
“Only the really bad ideas,” I amend. “That’s what I’m here for.”
“Let’s get married.”
My heart drops and I jerk my gaze to his. “What? That’s your alternative to burning down your father’s house? Getting married?”
“No, but we’re in Vegas.” He says this like all people come to Vegas to get married. “We want to have a baby and a house—stands to reason we’ll also want to get married. And who’s gonna come to our wedding? Cherie and Laurel? We don’t have family, just them. Laurel’s already here. She could go with us tomorrow and be our witness.”
Now my heart rises back to its rightful cavity and beats a little harder than it should. “You really want to get married?”
He squeezes my hand, then brings it up so he can kiss my knuckles. “Hell yeah, I do.”
—
It’s about the last way I expected to end this week, but Vince and I spend a little time exploring the house where he kept his captive ex-girlfriend, then we traipse back over to Rafe’s, in hopes he and Laurel haven’t made it to the bedroom yet.
Luckily, they’re still on the couch. She’s straddling him, taking off his tie, but she stops and looks over at us when we come running in.
“We’re getting married tomorrow,” Vince announces.
Laurel gasps, with pleasure.
Rafe’s jaw drops, not with pleasure.
“What?” Laurel squeals, climbing off Rafe’s lap and running over to me. Her gaze goes to my hand, wrongfully—but logically—assuming this was maybe something we actually gave a little thought to, and maybe I would have a ring. I stifle a mad laugh, but I guess if I’m going to share my life with Vince, I have to embrace spontaneity sometimes.
“We don’t have a ring. We didn’t plan this. But we’re gonna do it.”
Rafe eases up off the couch. “Hang on a minute. You guys just decided in the past half hour to get married?” He looks at Vince like he’s lost his fucking mind. “Do you recall all the money you just came into? You need to talk to a lawyer and have a pre-nuptial agreement drawn up if you’re going to get married.”
“Stop killing our buzz,” I tell him, shooting him a dirty look.
“Yeah,” Vince agrees, frowning at Rafe like he’s a real asshole.
Rafe can’t quite contain his amusement as he looks between us. I can basically see him thinking I’m an opportunist, cashing in on her good luck. “Hey, I’m not saying don’t get married. I would say that, if I thought there was even an outside chance you’d listen, but I know you won’t. I’m just advising my newly minted millionaire cousin not to get married three minutes after coming into his sizable inheritance.”