Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (24 page)

Clay
found his usual table and Morgan and Angel followed, arm in arm
behind him. Once they were seated, Morgan sitting in the middle that
time, she laid her phone on the table and leaned in toward Angel and
whispered. “Are you okay?”

“Mhmm...I'm
fine, Stick. I'm just thinking about how amazing I'm going to look in
that sky blue suit at your wedding!” He tried his best to be
happy, but it was hard.

“Sky
blue, huh? Hmm..I like it!”

“Guys,
please,” Clayton protested their discussion and Morgan and
Angel giggled like school children and dropped the topic.

Lunch
was more enjoyable than the three of them could have imagined. Morgan
was waiting for the moment to execute her plan, Clayton was hoping
everything went through and Angel was still worrying about Cedric,
but none of them let on to what was really going in their minds.
Morgan told Angel about what had happened with the robber and Abby,
and Angel told the two of them how his visit with Cedric had been and
the hell he'd gone through with Gio to get another week off.

“Well,
I'm so glad you're here!” Morgan hugged her friend, then slid
her chair out and stood. “I'll be right back...gotta pee
again,” she whispered to the two men, then set off to find the
restroom.

“I
better take a piss too,” Clay told Angel and stood from the
table. “It'll probably be another hour until we get to Caesars
so...” he warned Angel about taking advantage of the
restaurant's restroom. Angel waved him off and said he was fine. Near
the bathroom, Morgan and Clay met up.

“What
time is he...?” Morgan didn't get the full question out because
she got her answer. Even on the other side of the restaurant, she
could hear her phone's obnoxious ringing. She smiled at Clay, then
walked into the ladies room to wait out 'Operation Phone Call'.

“Holy
shit balls, mother of fucking hell!” Angel dropped his napkin
and nearly fell out of his chair when Morgan's loud phone began to
ring. It was so loud that it caught everyone's attention in the quiet
restaurant. His loud cursing was just an added bonus. “Uh, my
bad bitches. Go back to eating your Luigi and clams,” Angel
waved off the nosy eyes and stared at the phone that was vibrating
across the table, dancing to its own loud tune.

“Sir,”
a man approached the table as Angel reached for the phone. “I'm
going to have to ask you if you'll please lower your voice.”
“What?
All I said was for these,” Angel looked past the server to the
people who were still gawking, then rolled his eyes and looked back
up to the server. “All I said was for those nosy ass people to
enjoy their Luigi and clams.”

“Sir,
it's lingui...”

“Whatever.
Clam sauce,” Angel cut him off, then grabbed the phone quickly.
“Excuse me,” he put a 'wait a minute' finger in the
server's face, then answered the phone.

“Angel
speaking, hello Sean.”

“Sir,
we don't allow phone ca...”

“Shh!”
Angel waved off the server again, but when he saw he wasn't moving,
he told Sean to wait a moment. The word manicotti was so close to
Angel's lips, but as usual, it didn't come out as planned. “Yo,
man-a-cock-block-me, back the fuck up. I'm talking to one of my best
boos.” He shooed the man again.

“You
have to leave. I can't even believe Mister Shaw would be in the
presence with the likes of someone like you.” The server
pointed to the front door, but Angel leaned back in the chair and
slowly brought the phone back up to his ear. “I said you need
to leave!”

Angel
smiled and came to his feet. “Your daddy didn't seem to...”

“Angel,
let's go outside!” Morgan had heard the waiter raise his voice
and came out to see what was going on. When she saw her friend less
than an inch from the server's face, she knew she had to get Angel
out of there before he got arrested. She pulled his arm and Angel
laughed all the way to the front door as he was dragged along behind
Morgan.

“I
bet it was your muthafuckin' pube on my goddamn pizza!” The
last thing Angel heard before being pulled through the front door was
the sound of satisfaction of people spitting out their food.

“Angel,
oh my god! You can't do that! Do you have any idea how fast they'll
call the police”

“Blah,
blah, blah. He was a little bitch and had it coming.” Morgan
threw her hands up and groaned. She was in for a long week if he
planned on doing things like that. Angel took a few seconds to calm
his laughter, then held the phone up and said Sean was on the other
end.

“Uh...”
Shit. I can't talk to him.
“Just...talk to him for a
minute...I have to go tell Clay what happened and try to smooth
things over...” Morgan ran back inside the restaurant and ran
up to the mortified server and began apologizing for Angel's
behavior. Outside the restaurant, Angel was once again speaking to
Sean.

“Sorry,
Irish. Stupid ass restaurant kicked me out for answeri...”

“Angel,
is Morgan around?” Sean sounded worried, which was exactly how
he needed to sound.

“No,
she went back inside but...”

“Good.
I was going to tell her, but I'm glad ye answered. You're her best
friend, maybe she'll listen to you instead,” Sean lied, just as
easily as the others. “Angel, if ye don't want to hurt Morgan,
ye can't repeat what I'm about ta tell ye.” Angel nodded at
Sean's words and fell against the cool brick wall of the front of the
building. He could tell the Irishman had put back his fair share of
pints before calling, so Angel was hoping Sean wasn't calling to
profess his love for Morgan.
Cuz I can't deal with that shit right
now.
“I'm sure ye heard Fin's asked for Morgan's hand,
aye?”

The
question caught Angel off guard.
Does everyone and their mom know
about it?
“Yeah and I ain't fuckin happy about it either.
What the fuck is he doing?” Angel grabbed a chunk of his own
hair and pulled at it nervously.

“Mate,
I jus' don't know. Especially since he's asked Erika ta marry him
just a couple 'o weeks ago.”

“You
did NOT just fucking say what I think your ass just said! Erika? No
fucking way. Not Erika...Morgan said...”

“Angel,
I said ye cannot repeat what I'm telling ye.” Angel shut up and
looked around to make sure Morgan hadn't heard his loud mouth.

In
a whisper, he asked again, “you're kidding though, right?”

“I
wish I was, mate. Finlay's changed...he's got both of these lasses
thinking they're the one fae him and I don't want Morgan ta be hurt.
He asked the whore a few weeks back, then he sends Morgan a ring out
a' nowhere. Don't tell her aboot Erika, just get her to change her
mind about Finlay.” That was Sean's only instruction, then he
hung up.

“Wet
fuckin' underoos,” Angel mumbled and fell against the wall
again.
There's a chance Sean has had a misunderstanding. Fin ain't
marrying no Skank-n-Bob.... but what if it's true?
“Why me?
Why?”

Chapter
Eleven

While
Angel was wondering how he was going to save the world, Sean was
sitting in Finlay's living room, finally able to let out his
laughter. “He bought it! He bought ev'ry word of it, mate. It's
fookin' brilliant!”

Finlay
though, didn't quite share the same amusement. Sure, he was happy
Angel was getting his share of a dirty trick pulled on him, but he
was still hurt about the information Angel had given him. “Did
the lass call ye too?”

“Who?”
Sean was still laughing as he took a drink of his beer.

“Morgan.
Did she call ye and ask you if ye were the one who sent the ring?”

Sean
took another drink, then nodded. “Aye, she called me, but she
was only asking aboot ma mum, is all.” Finlay nodded. She'd
called Sean after him, but he knew she'd still called Tanner first.
“Did she ask you?” Finlay shook his head and leaned back
on his couch.

“She
called though...”

“See,
I'm sure she was jus' trying ta feel ya oot. Mate, don' ya worry
aboot it. She loves ya, that much I can tell. Look at the facts mate,
she didn't call me or the wee Aussie ta pull off this trick. She
needed ye because she loves ye the most and it's the most
believable.”

A
smile pulled at Finlay's lips. Sean had a good point. She may have
called Tanner first but he was the one playing her husband-to-be.
“Thanks, mate. I know ye hate admitting she fancies me more
than ye.” Fin gave his best friend a punch to his arm, then
stood to get another beer.

“Ye've
got no idea,” Sean whispered and let out a long sigh. “No
idea at all.”

*****

Morgan
and Clay had been watching carefully from the inside of the
restaurant and when they saw Angel bring the phone down, they knew it
was okay to go outside. “Bald 'n Sours got over himself, we can
go to Caes...you okay, Angel?” She knew what news he had just
received and she could do nothing but imagine the storm of emotions
that was raging inside of him at that moment.

Am
I fucking okay? Am. I. Okay? No I'm not fucking o...
“I'm
fine, Stick,” he told her and grabbed her hand.
How in the
hell am I going to tell you this shit?
He leaned in toward
Morgan's ear and asked her if Clay was going with them because he
needed to talk to her in private. There was no way he'd be able to
talk freely with her client around.

“I
heard that, and yes, I'm going over to the hotel with you two. But,
I'm taking my girl back home with me,” Clay interrupted before
Morgan could answer and wrapped his arm around her waist as the three
of them waited for Clay's car to arrive.

Morgan
giggled and wrapped an arm around each of the men. “This is
such a great day!” Angel actually groaned and Morgan felt his
grip loosen around her waist. She had to tell him soon, put him out
of the misery that she could clearly see.

Nearly
an hour later, as presumed by Clay, they were pulling up in front of
Caesars, but the excitement Angel had held for the men in togas was
long gone. Suddenly, he felt his body tense up and beads of sweat run
down the back of his neck. He knew Cedric was inside and sooner or
later, he'd have to tell him the truth. Later came sooner than
expected.

As
Angel and the other two were stepping out of the car, Cedric was
storming down the sidewalk. “Fuck,” Angel whispered, then
walked forward to try and stop Cedric. “Boo, hey, baby, listen
to me.”

“Angel,
I swear to fuck,” the blonde man spoke under his breath. “Tell
me why she's got that ring on her finger.” Angel bit his bottom
lip and looked over his shoulder to Morgan. Her eyes had gone wide
and Clay took a step forward, pretending to be in shock over Angel
and Cedric's confrontation.

Morgan
reached forward and grabbed Clayton's arm, then pulled him back
toward her. LET THEM TALK, she mouthed and Clay nodded. She couldn't
bare to see Angel like that, and on top of everything, hurting their
relationship was not what she ever intended to happen. She had to
make things right, and soon....but not until she was sure Angel
learned a lesson.

“I
can explain, Cedric, let's just go inside and I'll...” While he
was talking, Morgan got the go ahead from Clay and she stepped
forward to intervene.

“Wait...Angel,”
she grabbed his hand to make him look at her, then she looked between
the two men. “Something isn't right here,” her eyes
stopped on Angel as she spoke. “Why are you two acting so
weird?” She turned to Cedric. “And why do
you
care
if Finlay sent me a ring?” Morgan braced for impact. She had
just ignited the fuse that would explode into a scene, right there in
front of Caesars
Castle.

Cedric
cocked his head out to the side and pursed his lips together in anger
and his hand went to his hip. He stared down the man across from
him. “Well, that shit is just crazy, isn't it Angel.
Finlay
sent the ring!”