The men jumped into the aircraft with the two women looking on anxiously. The police were just arriving, and Gabe finally saw Lara and Aileen go to greet them.
The helicopter lifted off almost immediately, and Gabe nervously checked the time again.
Hang on, sweetheart. We’re on our way. We’re cutting it tight, but we’ll get there.
Gabe just hoped they made it before his woman ended up married to the wrong man.
Sitting outside the judge’s chambers waiting to be married to a man she loathed was one of the hardest things Chloe had ever had to do.
She wanted to run.
She wanted to hide somewhere James would never find her.
She wanted to hightail it back to Gabe and continue living in a happy place.
Most of all, she wanted to hurt her ex the way he had hurt her.
Instead, she was sitting on a hard wooden bench, waiting for her life to go in the worst direction possible. She’d been unable to find the device with the original video James was using to blackmail her. Until she did, she was willing to do almost anything to stop it from going public.
Her family didn’t deserve to pay for her mistakes.
“He’s ready, honey,” James said loudly with a false smile after opening the door to the chambers.
What had he told the judge? That she was nervous, that she was fearful or shy? Maybe her ex was planning on trouble from her, but there was no point in asking for help. She wouldn’t be here if she weren’t willing to marry James to silence him.
She didn’t smile back. She’d stopped playing his games a long time ago. It would be better if he dropped the crap and just acted like the snake that he really was. Chloe could deal with the whole thing a hell of a lot better.
Getting to her feet, she walked through the door, her head held high. She’d be damned if she’d let him know how sick with fear she was at the moment.
James had paid two complete strangers to act as witnesses, a middle-aged couple who probably needed the money. Chloe nodded to them as she entered the room, unable to speak due to the lump in her throat.
Rituals were performed, and she went through the motions of agreeing to marry James. At least it was a civil ceremony, and it would be mercifully short.
The judge started to talk, standing in the middle of the room as the witnesses took a seat. Chloe stood stoically with James in front of the elderly male judge, her gut roiling in protest.
Every part of Chloe balked, her mind screaming at her to leave before she made the biggest mistake of her life. Granted, she could divorce James if she could find the original video. But what if she didn’t find it? He’d have control of her money, and she doubted she’d ever see the man she loved or the ranch she adored ever again.
Stop it, Chloe. Stop it now! You’re running out of time.
Everything happening at the moment seemed surreal…but not in a good way. Chloe felt like she was in a nightmare, one that kept her standing exactly where she was, getting ready to repeat the vows that the judge was rapidly coming to in the ceremony.
“Do we have rings?” the judge asked politely.
No, I don’t have a ring. The bastard was always too selfish to get me one.
Chloe would have taken anything back then, any kind of symbol that they were engaged. But James had never had the inclination to think about rings.
“We don’t believe in rings to symbolize our love,” James said charmingly as he took both of Chloe’s hands in his.
She shuddered as he touched her, almost unable to keep herself from pulling away.
The judge straightened his glasses. “Very well. We can go on then.”
No. Please. Don’t go on. This man doesn’t love me. He hates me, hates women in general. Someday I won’t be able to stop him from hurting me.
Her mind was like a playback of her life with James: every time he hurt her and every time he’d minimalized his abuse with glib excuses. He’d been charming sometimes, making Chloe believe that eventually his bad behavior would stop.
It never had.
It had taken him awhile to show his true colors, starting off as an adoring boyfriend. Little by little, that behavior had worn away, and she’d been left with nothing but self-blame, guilt, and shame.
“Chloe, are you going to repeat your vows?” the judge asked after clearing his throat…loudly.
No!
Yes.
“Hell no, she isn’t. She’s coming home with me, and she isn’t leaving here a married woman,” an angry, possessive male voice sounded from the door.
Oh, God. Gabe?
Chloe froze as she turned toward the door. Just inside the chambers stood Gabe, Tate, Blake, and Zane, all of them wearing murderous expressions.
“What are you all doing here?” she asked remotely, her tone shaky and confused.
“Saving you, sweetheart,” Gabe said as he strode forward and took hold of Chloe’s upper arm gently. “No wedding,” he said in a clipped voice to the judge.
Blake stepped up to introduce himself and have a conversation with the man who had been ready to marry her and James, his vague explanation of a misunderstanding clarifying very little for the bewildered judge.
“So, there isn’t going to be a marriage ceremony?” the official asked, as though he needed more clarification.
“No.”
Tate, Zane, Blake, and Gabe answered in unison in adamant voices.
“Come with me,” Gabe rasped, nudging Chloe toward the door.
She suddenly snapped out of her dazed stupor. “I can’t. Gabe, I explained what I wanted on the phone.”
“Yeah. And it was a whole lot of horseshit,” he rasped into her ear so nobody else could hear.