Yeah i hate ate your cup.., p.31
Yeah, I Hate-Ate Your Cupcake!: A Romantic Comedy, page 31
“I just can’t understand why you need all these flowers,” she said loudly.
“Of course you don’t,” Bently said to Crystalline. “You aren’t the type of person who could appreciate expensive flowers.”
“Are you seriously going to let her speak to me that way?” Crystalline shrieked.
“Bently,” Tosha said meekly.
“It’s true.” Bently fluffed out her hair. “Look at that disaster of a bachelorette. You can’t even blame that disaster of a party on Karlie for once; it wasn’t her fault. Crystalline is trash. Everyone knows it except for you, Tosha.”
I looked down.
“I’m going to have to bump you down the hierarchy of my friend group,” Bently lectured Tosha. “Karlie’s now ranked above you.”
Gee, thanks.
Tosha started sniffling. “I just wanted to have a nice wedding.”
“Then maybe pick a better fiancé or two,” Bently snapped.
“Oh, like you’re one to talk,” Roberta said snidely. “I know your husband stayed in a separate room during the last two weeks of your honeymoon because he couldn’t stand you.”
“At least he actually married me!” Bently shrieked at my sister.
I jumped between them before they could start throwing chairs at each other.
“I think we’re probably good with the wedding rehearsal,” I said in a strained voice. “Let’s just get a drink. We could all use some wine.”
“Um...” Tosha said. “Actually...”
The rehearsal dinner was even tenser than the rehearsal itself, especially when all the guests found out that there was no alcohol.
“This is absurd,” Gran complained, almost running over Tosha’s uncle with her wheelchair as she raced toward me. “This is outrageous. I demand a refund.”
“You didn’t pay to be here,” I hissed at her.
“I don’t suppose you’re going to roll up with a mobile bar outside,” Joseph said to Liam, “and save the day like you did with the pizza.”
“I wasn’t given enough of a heads-up,” he said. “Guess you came out here for nothing.”
Joseph shrugged. “At least now I can let you know that we’re just waiting for all our major shareholders to sign off. Then we can finalize the deal,” he told Liam.
Liam grinned. “Glad to hear it.”
“I’m going to see if someone snuck any vodka in,” Joseph said, loping off.
Liam kissed me.
“Thank you so much, Karlie,” he said. “I literally could not have done it without you.” He kissed me again and spun me around. “We make a great team.”
That was probably why Liam was so tense the last few days, I told myself. The way he had snapped at me at the bachelorette party was so unlike him. Now that he had landed his deal, we would be back to how things were. Everything was going to be fine.
If we could survive the wedding first.
“We have Jell-O for your enjoyment,” Tosha announced over the guests’ loud complaints.
“Tosha,” I said, rushing up to her. I switched off the microphone. “Your parents paid for the alcohol already. It’s not refundable. Why don’t we just serve it?”
“Rudy doesn’t want it out.”
“You’re marrying someone that doesn’t want anyone to drink at a wedding?” I demanded.
“I—” she stammered, her eyes darting around.
“Are you sure you want to marry Rudy?” I asked Tosha. “Everyone else’s wedding is a disaster. No one will think badly of you if you call it off. Shoot, just say that you are taking one for the team, pass out alcohol, and everyone will be on your side.”
“But I love him,” she said desperately.
“Do you?”
“I think so?”
God, I was so close to making her see reason!
Suddenly Liam appeared.
“Don’t worry about it, Tosha,” Liam assured her. He grabbed the microphone.
“Everyone, we do apologize for the change of plans, but please grab some of this delicious food, and let’s celebrate the joining of two, er, three people. The servers will also be coming around with specialty mocktails for everyone to enjoy.”
I desperately wished Liam hadn’t butted in, though it was nice of him to be helpful.
“I think I almost had a breakthrough with Tosha,” I told him after the guests, grumbling, had accepted the food the servers were passing out.
“She’ll be fine,” he said in a reassuring voice as he wrapped his arms around me.
“And so will the guests. I slipped two bottles of gin to your grandmother, and she’s going to give people shots under the table to keep the crowd quiet.” He kissed my cheek.
“Let me grab you a snack.”
I should have been happy that he was so supportive, but it still felt like something was off, that I was missing something, something that would blow up into not just an awkward moment but a devastating one.
69
Liam
I couldn’t sleep the night before the wedding.
Rudy hadn’t said anything more about the test. What would it be? What was clear was that I could not and would not hurt Karlie.
Aren’t you already hurting her, though?
We’re going to have a nice, easy, and unfortunately dry wedding. It will end early, then you can take Karlie back to your condo and have a much more fun evening, I promised myself.
I played the part of best man, hoping that Rudy would spill more secrets. Who knew if anything was going to come of the FBI investigation? Maybe it would just fizzle away, and I wouldn’t have to do any weird test. I had worn the wire just in case. But Rudy wasn’t talking.
Normally the groomsmen would be having a drink and swapping stories, and the older men would give advice both good and not so good. Jokes would be told and memories made. But this groom’s suite was dead quiet, punctuated only by the occasional cough from Tosha’s or Crystalline’s fathers, the only other men besides Rudy and me in the room.
“I suppose we should head down,” Rudy said finally, looking at his watch.
Thank god, because I couldn’t have stood it a moment longer.
Ivy, the wedding planner, ushered us into position when we arrived at the chapel.
“You ready?” I asked Rudy, adjusting my cuff links.
“This is just the second of many weddings.” His gaze met mine. His eyes held that same empty look my father would have.
“When will you choose your second wife?” he asked pointedly.
So that was it; that was the test. How long was I going to have to keep this charade up? I couldn’t have layers of fake relationships. I tried to calculate which of my brothers would remove the least number of body parts if I asked one of their girlfriends to pretend to be my fake second wife.
“While my father had a prolific number of wives,” I said, forcing my voice to be steady, “he had trouble keeping them all under control. In my opinion, it’s because he did a poor job selecting them. I’d like to be more careful.”
“Don’t wait too long,” Rudy instructed. “By the time your father was your age, he had five wives and several dozen children.”
Yeah, that fucker.
The strains of the wedding march played.
Rudy walked down the aisle by himself, strutting like a lizard.
I offered Karlie my arm. “I hid alcohol under the head table at the reception,” she said out of the corner of her mouth.
“My love.”
I helped her up the stage to stand by Crystalline then took my spot next to Rudy. We turned to the front as a beaming Tosha was escorted down the aisle by her father. Even though it was probably not the most normal wedding, people in the audience still had teary eyes.
Rudy took Tosha’s hands.
“Dearly beloved,” the preacher began. “We are gathered here—”
The doors were blasted open, and men in SWAT gear holding rifles burst into the church.
“FBI!” they shouted. “FBI! Nobody move.”
70
Karlie
“Oh my god!” I screamed and held my hands up.
Chaos broke out in the church. The men in black outfits and other people in navy-blue jackets with yellow FBI letters swarmed the chapel.
“Liam,” I cried, searching for him.
But unlike everyone else in the church, who was completely shocked and horrified, Liam looked grim but not at all surprised.
“Liam, what is happening?” My voice trembled.
“Just stay calm,” he said, his gaze sweeping out over the chaos.
Three agents stomped up the stairs, handcuffs in hand.
“Rudy Brighten. Crystalline Brighten. Tosha Cherner,” they said, “we have warrants for your arrest for fraud, blackmail, money laundering, human trafficking, and assisting with the escape of a federal prisoner.”
The FBI agents snapped handcuffs on Rudy and Crystalline. A female agent roughly pulled Tosha’s arms behind her back.
“I don’t understand,” my friend cried.
“Please,” I begged the agent, “she’s a victim.”
“Do not interfere,” the agent barked at me.
“Liam, please tell them.”
He pulled me away from the agents.
“Just let them do their job,” he said with a heavy sigh.
Tosha had to be half carried away, since she kept tripping on the long train of her dress.
After making the arrests, the agents seemed to leave as quickly as they had come.
I followed the crowd as we milled out of the ballroom into a lobby area. Several agents were coming out of the hotel elevators, carrying laptops and iPads that I assumed they had taken from Tosha’s, Rudy’s, and Crystalline’s hotel rooms.
“This is insane,” I said too loudly. “How can they just arrest her? Tosha didn’t have anything to do with this. Oh my god. Oh my god,” I kept repeating.
Around me people were on their phones. Ivy was arguing with a perturbed hotel manager. The hotel staff was rushing into the chapel with brooms and cleaning supplies.
I didn’t know why they were bothering to clean up; the wedding wasn’t happening. We didn’t have a bride or a groom. Hysterical laughter threatened to spill out of me.
Liam cupped my face, grounding me.
“I’m sorry,” Liam told me. “Karlie, I’m sorry. I didn’t think this would happen.”
“Why are you apologizing?” I asked, confused. I needed to call a lawyer or a senator. There must be a mistake.
“I can’t deal with this right now. I need to get Tosha out of jail. I knew something was wrong with Rudy. I knew he was dangerous. Oh my god. My friend just got arrested on her wedding day. I feel sick.”
Liam cracked his knuckles. “I know. This wasn’t the plan.”
“The plan?” I grabbed the sleeve of his tux. He gave me a guilty look.
“I just—” He shrugged helplessly.
“Was it to have her arrested after the wedding?” I felt the hysterical laughter bubbling up, but I tamped it down.
Then it dawned on me
This motherfucker.
“You knew there was something wrong with him. You knew there was something wrong with Rudy. What was the plan, Liam?”
71
Liam
Fuck. What the hell had happened? Where had all these FBI agents come from? I needed to call Crawford and ask him what the fuck, but Karlie was flipping out.
“Karlie, please just calm down and hear me out,” I begged, grabbing her shoulders.
“I’m listening,” she said through gritted teeth.
I opened my mouth then shut it. I usually had an excuse or at least a funny comment for any situation. But what could you say when you had just lied to the woman you loved and gotten her best friend hauled off to jail in the process?
“I think we should just wait to make judgments until we have all the facts,” I said lamely.
“Liam, we have all the facts.”
“Crawford.” I turned to my brother. He wore boots with black cargo pants and had a gun on his hip.
“What the fuck happened. Does Greg know you authorized this?”
“What the hell does your brother have to do with this?” Karlie demanded. Her knuckles were white as they gripped her dress.
“I assure you,” Crawford said to Karlie, “I didn’t authorize this raid. I don’t work for the FBI. Word is they found out that Rudy was preparing to flee the country. Money changed hands with your ex, Mikhal.”
“I don’t have an ex named Mikhal,” Karlie said in confusion.
“You went on a date with him,” I reminded her.
“The one you interrupted?” she asked.
“With the apple juice. Yeah. He was involved in whatever the hell this is.”
“He was going to break our father, a very dangerous man, out of prison,” Crawford said, resting a hand on his gun. “Rudy, Crystalline, and Tosha have been sending Mikhal money to disperse. Agent Donley said they had to move now or the three of them would have fled the country.”
“And Dad?” I asked.
“Still in prison,” Crawford said. He smirked. “In fact, they are going to tack on more charges.”
“You knew,” Karlie said to me, starting to sob.
“I’m sorry,” I said sincerely, reaching out to comfort her.
She jerked away. “You knew Tosha was in danger this whole time, and you lied to me. You lied to me over and over even when I explicitly asked you.”
“I was just trying to prove it,” I said quietly. “There was no proof, and we needed proof, and I needed him to stay in the city for the wedding so I could get the proof. That’s how these things operate, Karlie. It wasn’t personal.”
“Not personal?” she choked out through the tears. “You sacrificed my friend. You put her in danger. I am such an idiot. I can’t believe I trusted you. Tosha would never give money to a criminal. She’s a victim; she’s Rudy’s victim.”
“She authorized money from her account,” Crawford said coldly. “Seems you don’t know your friend all that well.”
“Shut up, Crawford,” I roared at him.
He gave me an assessing look. “Come find me when you’re done here.” He stalked off.
“Karlie?” Joseph called, rushing over. “Are you okay?”
Fuck.
“No!” she shrieked. “This is his fault.” She jabbed her finger in my chest. “You had some scheme going because there is something wrong with you, and there is something wrong with me for thinking you were the perfect guy. But you used me. You lied to me, and you told me you loved me, that you had everything under control, that I could trust you, that you were the only one for me, but you weren’t. You’re just a fucking liar. I wish I’d never met you. You ruined my life. I hate you.”
“I love you, Karlie,” I pleaded, trying to make her see.
“No you don’t,” she sobbed. “That’s not how you treat people you love. I wanted to marry you. I had our wedding all planned out.”
I felt like shit. “I want that, too, and I’ll fix this, and we can still get married.”
“No,” Karlie yelled, wiping a hand over her face. “No, I will never trust you, Liam Svensson. I don’t want you in my life. Stay far the fuck away from me.”
She doubled over crying.
Joseph put his arm around her.
“We’ll call lawyers for Tosha,” he said, wrapping his suit jacket around Karlie.
“I have my car outside,” I told him. “Let’s bring her—”
“Absolutely not,” Joseph said coldly. “And you better not ask me about that contract. I don’t think I want someone like you running my company.”
“This is why you can’t do business with the Svenssons.”
And, of course, Belle was here. She was an ice queen in a deep-blue cocktail dress. “The Svensson brothers will always screw you over.”
“At least now we can have alcohol at the reception,” I said weakly, desperately trying to salvage the situation.
Belle shook her head.
Joseph shot me one last angry glare and led Karlie away.
And just like that, I lost everything.
“What the fuck is wrong with all of you?” Greg raged at my brothers and me.
“I saved the day,” Crawford said. He took a bite of his Philly cheesesteak. “And Liam actually helped, so good job, Liam. Here, have a cheesesteak.”
“Fuck you.”
“You cost us that contract, both of you, with your bullshit,” Greg roared.
“We kept Dad from escaping from prison,” I said quietly. “That had to be worth something.”
“Worth billions of dollars?” Greg sneered. “Because I’m sure Belle is talking with Joseph as we speak and nailing down the terms of the deal. If she really wants to fuck us over, she’s also going to turn around and give Finn Richmond a favorable deal too.”
“I’m going to fix it,” I said, feeling miserable. But I wasn’t sure how. “I just need to talk to Karlie.”
I couldn’t believe I had lost her, would not believe it, would not accept it. I would tell her how much I loved her, how I wanted to be with her. Shit, I still had the café that I had given her. That was worth something, right?
“Maybe just give her a day to cool off,” Walker suggested. “Don’t pull a Greg and storm in there while she’s still upset.”
“Right,” I said, “right.” I was going to give her time to cool off then go talk to her. She wouldn’t be able to resist me.
The wait was hard, though. I tried to pay attention that evening as my sisters peppered my brothers and me with questions, and we reassured them that Dad was absolutely not getting out of prison.
“In fact, he’s going to be staying there even longer,” Beck promised.
“Enough bad news,” Carl announced. “Liam brought extra wedding cake for you!”
The smell of frosting and sugar hit me when I walked into the bakery the next day. I slowed my pace, running over my apology speech again. I had jewelry, flowers, and the contract for Karlie’s café with very generous terms, funded by yours truly, along with several million dollars I was kicking in for upgrades.
