“Is that right? You hadn’t shown anyone until last night?” Alex turned back to the painting. It really was a work of art. He had no idea Valerie had all this in her.
“Well…”
Alex brought his attention back to her when she didn’t finish. She glanced around, suddenly visibly nervous. Bruce immediately came to mind. Alex followed her gaze but she didn’t seem to be looking at anything in particular.
He squeezed her hand. “What is it?”
Her eyes met his for a second then they were on the painting again. “Luke saw it.”
Alex let that sink in and tried desperately to not let the discomfort those three little words gave him manifest. “Did he now?” An older couple moved in close to take a look at the painting. Alex and Valerie moved out of the way. “When was this?”
They started making their way back to the table, and Valerie spoke as she glanced around the room. “The day Bruce tried to force his way in my apartment. Remember I told you I was picking up a painting I wanted to get framed?” She glanced at him.
Alex nodded but said nothing.
“Luke called, and when he said he was in the area, I asked if he could stop by and take a look at it. He was there for all of ten minutes. With everything going on, I thought maybe it would upset you further. Even though it was nothing, I didn’t mention it.”
They reached their table, and Alex pulled out her chair for her. Once they were sitting, he took her hand and kissed it. “Don’t make it a habit to keep things from me just because you think it might upset me. I’m glad you told me.” He kissed her lips. “The painting is beautiful.”
He was glad she’d finally come clean about it. But Alex’s unease about her still working with Luke just reached a new height. The fact that Luke had been given privy to something that was so important to her spoke volumes about her relationship with the guy. He squeezed her hand and tried not to let this change his mood. As much work as he’d put into this wedding, he wanted to be able to enjoy it.
With the first dance over and all the other traditional dances out of the way, it was time for tossing the bouquet. Because Valerie was the maid of honor, she got to be front row center. They played the drum roll counting down starting from five. All the single ladies readied themselves. When they got down to two, Sarah turned around. Rather than tossing it over her head, she threw it at Valerie.
Valerie was startled but still managed to hold on to it. Some jeered: others laughed.
“Hey, she’s the Queen tonight. She’s allowed to do whatever she wants.” The wedding host teased into the microphone.
Sarah winked at Alex, and he smiled at Valerie. It paid to know people in high places. Alex put in the request when it was his turn to do the dollar dance with Sarah. Knowing what that meant, Sarah had been thrilled at the suggestion.
Valerie shoved the bouquet at him with a smirk when she reached him. “I don’t suppose you had anything to do with this?”
Alex feigned shock at the mere suggestion. Valerie laughed. “You guys are so bad.”
The formalities were nearly over. Sarah and Angel stood by the wedding cake, the photographers snapping away as they cut the first slice. Alex would be glad when the photographers were finally relieved of their duties. He’d never posed so much in his life.
All in all, the wedding had been a success, and the service even for a wedding of this magnitude had gone smoothly. He slid his arm around Valerie and brought her closer. With the wedding out of the way now, he could focus on what he really needed to get taken care of: Bruce.
CHAPTER 25
Since the night before the wedding, they hadn’t heard a word from Bruce. Alex wasn’t taking any chances. After hearing about Hank’s piss breaks, he had Romero add another guy to watch Valerie. Steve was an ex-cop and supposed to be one of the best.
With Angel and Sarah honeymooning in Cabo, Alex felt it was safe to wait until they got back to talk to Angel about it. He only hoped by then he’d know enough about this guy to nail him.
In the meantime, he’d let Sofia in on Valerie’s stalker, leaving a few of the more alarming details out. He made her promise to tell him if she noticed anything unusual, no matter how insignificant she thought it was. At the moment, he didn’t feel it necessary to have anyone watch her, but if he had to, he would. The idea of Bruce coming after his family infuriated him.
He stalked out of the back room and into the restaurant. Sal was in a booth with a couple of young guys—he’d been interviewing potential employees all morning. With Sarah and Angel gone for the week and a couple of employees out sick, the restaurant was really feeling the pinch. Now that Angel and Sarah’s restaurant was projected to be up and running before the end of the year, Alex was not only losing them, they’d be taking a few of the seasoned cooks, waitresses and bartenders with them. His dad said they would need all the help they could get until they got things running smoothly.
Alex hoped to pick up a minimum of ten new employees before then, and he was glad Sal was there to help with the interviewing.
Romero walked in the front door, grinning. Alex had been expecting him. He obviously had news, finally.
“This guy’s a writer.” He said with a king-sized grin.
“A writer?”
“He likes documenting everything.” Romero took a seat at the bar and tapped the bar for service.
Alex walked behind the bar. “You wanna beer?”
“Nah, I’m still working. Just give me a soda.” Romero drummed his fingers on the bar. “So, this guy keeps journals. Online journals. Some of the entries are public but most of the ones about Valerie are not.”