Cursing, he kicked the ground. He and Jenifer hadn’t even liked each other, or at least he hadn’t liked her. They went on a series of dates because his father pressured him to be seen in society. Jenifer was the type of girl who needed to be seen at all times; therefore, he always had a date, not that she ever paid him much attention. She was always much too busy flirting with other men. He never cared, because he never liked her. He assumed she felt the same way. Jenifer didn’t actually care for him; she was just using him for his title and his money—something he swore he would never marry for.
He took a deep, soothing breath. Clearly the woman was insane.
Pain slammed into his chest as he made eye contact with Kessen, fighting to think of what to say, a way to explain that Jenifer was lying or that she was mistaken. The man in him felt the need to calm all females around him down, yet the part of him that knew he loved Kessen wanted to scream at the injustice. As much as it pained him to admit it, he needed to follow through and marry Jenifer; it was the only way to protect Kessen and her father.
The idea made bile rise in his throat. He silently led Nick to Kessen. She was still sprawled out across the blanket, sobbing. He wasn’t sure if it was from shock or anger or both.
The only words that came to mind at that specific moment were not appropriate for Kessen’s ears. How could he screw up so royally bad? He cursed aloud. To think that Jenifer had come up with such a scheme. Furious, all he wanted to do was chase after Jenifer and knock some sense into her. Unfortunately it would make him look like a worse cad, considering he needed to be helping Kessen. She would never forgive him.
Before Nick reached Kessen, Christian tried to explain what happened.
Nick’s reaction wasn’t what he expected. Instead of telling him he understood and would take care of it, he pushed him with all the force of an American bulldog and swore.
“You blew it!”
Kessen scrutinized the exchange with curiosity.
Nick pushed Christian again. “How could you? What’s wrong with you? You complete and utter prick, I should kill you!” Nick lunged at Christian again. This time Christian didn’t move. Instead he welcomed the pain from Nick’s fist as it connected with his jaw.
Christian fell to the ground in a heap and wanted nothing more than to lie there and wallow in self-pity. It was done. He and Kessen were finished.
He only had one chance to make things right for her, and he was going to take it.
Without saying a word, he got up, dusted himself off, and went to find a strong drink. He would tell his father in the morning.
The wedding was off.
As he walked away the last thing he heard from Nick’s mouth was, “Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ll fix it, just leave it to me. I’ll make it better. I love you … I love you so much.” He heard Kessen’s choked sobs and knew this was his fault.
The words should have been his—the comfort from him, not Nick.
He swallowed the giant lump in his throat and excused himself to his chambers.
****
“Ouch!” Nick growled.
“Sorry.” Duncan shifted his weight uncomfortably as he carried the body over his shoulder. “She’s heavier than I thought!”
“I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that your brilliant plan completely backfired,” Nick grumbled.
Duncan swore. “How was I supposed to know Christian would respond that way? All I wanted to do was push him over the edge. Have you seen him lately? He’s like a caged tiger! The man loves her; he’s more stubborn than I gave him credit for. Jenifer was merely doing what we paid her for.”
“And exactly what currency did you use, Duncan?”
“What is it in your country? Oh yes, I plead the Fifth.”
“Only works in America. I will have you know that in the past two days I’ve lied to my best friend, tricked a British lord, and kidnapped someone. If I go to prison after this, I’m throwing you under the bus.”
“Brilliant,” Duncan mused. “Now would you please lift her higher. I don’t want her back to hit a rock or anything. She has to get to the tree house without any damages.”
“Right, because my goal at this point is to cause injury to my best friend, whom I’ve also just helped you drug and kidnap.” Nick had been feeling angry ever since Christian told him what happened in the garden. After talking with Duncan, they decided this was the only way to deal with the situation, especially since it was their fault in the first place. But how were they supposed to know that the little push they thought Christian needed would backfire? It took a lot of careful planning and strategy, but Nick and Duncan had a lot to gain. After all, their friends’ future was in their hands.
Duncan groaned. “The tree house is just past the garden. Do you think it’s far enough to do the trick?”
“It will have to be. I can’t carry her much longer,” Nick grunted.
Duncan and he moved the body carefully into the tree house cottage and lit a lamp. She would be waking up soon. They had only meant to drug her for a few hours, but heartbroken girls had a way of sleeping off the pain just like Kessen was doing.
She probably never wanted to wake up.
“Stupid Christian!” Nick said loudly.
Duncan looked at him and took a shaky breath. “He’s trying to protect her. He loves her, you know.”
“I know that, you know that, and Kessen probably knows that. It’s Christian who doesn’t know, and I’m pretty sure his participation is required, don’t you think?”
Duncan started pulling out the blankets they’d brought. “The news station should be arriving to film the wedding. No contact was made outside that the wedding would be off. We’re going to have to make something up to stall.”
“You think so?” Nick’s voice had grown tired.
“If I know Christian, and I do, he’ll go into panic mode. He won’t stop until he finds her. We get him to confess his love for her on the news, so everyone knows how important she is to him. He wouldn’t dare back out after confessing it in front of the world.
“How much did you give her?” Nick was suddenly curious.
“Jenifer’s hot. We’ve been dating since she and Christian broke up. At this point she would do anything for me. It may or may not have something to do with my ability to charm any woman over the age of eighteen.”
Nick laughed. “When Kessen finds out Christian rescued her from dangerous kidnappers, she’ll be all goo-goo-eyed over how romantic it was. Didn’t you say one of the books had a similar story? She’ll go nuts over it.”