“Blair.”
“Then you mentioned it again this morning when you realized that I truly intended to break up with you. So when you failed to talk me out of dumping you, you sent your slutty girlfriend to Garrett’s hotel room, then insisted that we go back to talk to Garrett together. But here’s your mistake with that one, Neil: What are the odds of me finding my fully clothed boyfriend with a lingerie-clad woman twice? Because, call me a fool—and I’ve rightly earned the title—but I can’t imagine Garrett would ask me to marry him and then invite a skanky woman to his room twenty minutes later.”
Neil’s face had turned as red as the bridesmaids’ dresses. “Maybe if you knew how to satisfy a man, I wouldn’t have to go elsewhere for sex.”
A horrified gasp spread throughout the crowd.
She put her hands on her hips and eyed him with distaste. “Neil, you wouldn’t know how to satisfy a woman if she supplied her own vibrator.”
Debra and her daughter gasped, but the sounds were practically drowned out by the crowd’s collective laughter. Neil’s fury increased, and he took a step toward her.
Garrett had heard enough. “You need to back away from her Neil. Now.” The command in his voice was unmistakable. He started down the aisle, the papers in his hand. “Have you listed your grievances, Blair? Because I have a few of my own.”
At the sound of his voice, she twisted to face him, her mouth dropping open in surprise. “Garrett.”
He approached the altar, trying to keep his rage at bay. “Neil, you self-righteous prick.”
Neil pointed to the back door. “Get the hell out of here, Garrett! None of this concerns you!”
“When you send your girlfriend to strip in my room, it concerns me. When you hurt and try to humiliate Blair, it concerns me.”
Neil leaned closer and lowered his voice, motioning to the papers in his hand. “I thought you were bringing me an offer, cousin. Do you really want to do this?”
Garrett sneered, “You mean the deal where I was going to pay you to call off the wedding?” He looked over at Blair and smiled. “Looks like I don’t need that deal anymore.”
“What about the other?” Neil asked, his tone hateful.
“The other?” Garrett asked, feigning innocence. “I think Nana Ruby has something to say about that.”
Neil’s face paled. “Nana Ruby?”
“I’ve had enough of your bratty behavior,” Nana said, standing up from her seat toward the front of the church and shuffling past several people to get to the aisle. “I should box your ears, Neilson Allen Fredrick.”
He clenched his hands at his sides. “Stay out of this, Nana.”
Aunt Debra rose up and rushed over to her mother. “What’s going on here?”
“What’s going on, Debbie Sue, is that your son is a liar, a cheater, and apparently an extortionist. You should have raised him better.”
“They’re lying!” Debra shouted. “My little Neil wouldn’t do any of this!”
Nana Ruby waved to him. “The proof is in the pudding.” She looked up at him. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I’m innocent.”
“Then I guess you won’t mind signing this paper Garrett’s made, ensuring you stay innocent.”
Neil glanced around the church at all the curious guests. The back of the church was now full of over a hundred people, who from the state of their attire, were social media onlookers. “This doesn’t seem like the right time.” He took a step down from the altar, and Nana smashed his foot with her cane. He stumbled back onto the altar as fast as he could manage.
She gave him a scowl. “Now seems like the perfect time. You were blackmailing your cousin over this wedding and this girl, so you might as well wrap up all your unfinished business at the wedding. Because from the looks of things, that’s all that’s getting finished here.”
Neil’s eyes narrowed. “What does it say?”
Garrett lifted the papers. “Perhaps you should read it.”
“If you want any kind of inheritance at all from me, you’ll sign it.” Nana held a pen toward Neil. “Give him the papers, Garrett.”
Garrett handed them to his cousin, knowing his cousin would sign. Nana Ruby had offered him one-fourth of the land—his expected inheritance, but only if he not only agreed to never release the video and photos of Blair, but also gave Garrett any hard copies Neil might possess.
Neil jerked them out of his hand, and gave them a good shake before he started to read. It was all the opportunity Garrett needed to sneak a glance at Blair. Megan and Libby flanked her now, and he wasn’t surprised by her defiant stance. Yet she snuck a glance at him, and their eyes locked. He saw sadness and regret in her gaze, and his heart sank to his feet. Had he really lost her?
“I’m not agreeing to this.” Neil flapped the papers at Garrett. “I bet you drew these up yourself. How do I know they’re legal?”
“They’re legal,” Garrett said in disgust. “And if they aren’t, then you’ll have your out.” Garrett’s voice tightened. “But I assure you, if you let them leak, I’ll come after you faster than white on rice.”
“Sign it,” Nana barked.
Gritting his teeth, Neil awkwardly bent over and signed the papers on his leg, then tossed them back at Garrett as he rose. “Can I go now?” Then he looked around the church and went slack-jawed as if finally realizing he was acting like an ass in front of over three hundred people, including two hundred of which were his family, friends, and colleagues—not to mention the hundred or more strangers that filled the back of the church, most with smart phones in their hands, recording the entire fiasco.