Society Weddings (Corrigan & Co. Book 11) (14 page)

“You just did it, and you haven’t been
struck down yet,” Aiden tells him.

“Try not to,” I tell them all.

“Anyway, as I was saying, we’re early.”

“I know. I just can’t resist messing with
you.”

“Why am I not surprised by your juvenile
behavior?” Kendrick says, joining us. We’ve taken him out a few
times, and while I’d love to say we’ve loosened him up, he’s still
a work in progress.

“Aww, Kenny, you know you love me just the
way I am.”

“If you say so.”

“I do.”

“Save that for later,” Jake tells me with a
smirk.

“Been there, said that, going for something
new this time.”

“Maybe you’ll impress Reina enough for a
trophy,” Aiden offers.

“That’s really getting old, man.” Theo tells
him.

“Just because they haven’t won one, and you
aren’t even in the running, is no reason to sound bitter.”

“I feel offended that I wasn’t even included
in that insult,” Kenny tells him.

“There you go. Don’t take any crap from him,
Doc.”

“When have I ever taken any crap from any of
you?”

“True that,” Nate says, holding his hand out
for a fist bump.

We laugh and joke as the other Society
husbands join us along with the Griffins. When Aqeelah and Neveah
walk in, I excuse myself to greet them. “Hello, friends.”

“Hello, Matt. Are you going to show us to
our seats?” Aqeelah asks me.

“Sit wherever you’d like. There are no
‘sides’ here. Everyone here means something special to both of
us.”

“I like that,” Nev says.

“I’m glad you approve. It looks like it’s
time for me to take my place, so we’ll catch up more later,
okay?”

“Of course,” Aqeelah tells me, pulling me
down so she can kiss my cheek. “Thank you for including us
today.”

“You are my family, and I want you with me
always.”

* * *

Reina

My wedding dress is fairly simple, and just
what I wanted. The strapless bodice has a little embroidery, but
not much. A little more flows onto the top layer of chiffon in the
full skirt, but there is nothing sleek or flashy about this gown.
My long veil is trimmed with lace, and my hair is a combination of
both up and down. I feel more “me” than I ever did at my other
wedding.

I smile at the girls as
they finish getting ready. Stella assumed I’d want them all in my
favorite color, but instead I asked for them all to wear the same
dress, but in
their
favorite color. It’s strapless, and the bottom looks like a
flower. The rainbow is represented here today, and I love it. My
culture is full of color, and I want my wedding to reflect
that.

Everyone but me has a white bouquet to
offset the colors of their dresses. Mine is blue roses with white
and blue Calla lilies. I don’t know where Stella found them, and
honestly they’re probably dyed, but I love them.

We all walk out together, and I take my
father’s arm as we wait for our cue. The girls all walk down the
aisle, and take their seats next to their husbands. It will be only
Matt and I at the fountain in front, expressing our love for each
other, and everyone here with us, too.

My eyes lock with his as I make my way to
where he’s waiting for me. I know he’s smiling, and so am I. We’ve
come so far—past the fighting, and the hurting—and I can’t wait to
see where we go from here.

Matt takes my hand, and we turn to our
guests. I know what he’s going to say, but I’m surprised when he
says it in Spanish.

“Thank you all for coming here today. You
all know we’re already married. This ceremony is for us, but also
for you as well. Everyone in this courtyard has touched our lives,
and it’s our honor to recognize that now.”

He squeezes my hand, as he winks at me. He’s
going to keep speaking in Spanish, but I’m going to switch to
English. Everyone here knows some Spanish, but if he’s going to
honor my heritage, I’m going to honor his as well.

“Nate and Aiden, I want to thank you for
always being there for Matt no matter what. Your friendship and
loyalty have meant so much to him over the years, and I’m proud to
consider you my friends as well.”

“Audrey, thank you for listening when
Reina’s mother told you she had been kidnapped on her way here, and
thank you for kicking my butt when I got too far out of line.
You’re like the big sister I never had—especially because your mom
loves me so much—and we wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for
you,” Matt tells her.

It’s my turn again. “Thank you, Jessica, for
being the parent Matt could always count on, and for loving him as
much as you love Miles. Miles, thank you for coming to Las Vegas,
and helping us when we needed you. I’m so honored to be part of
your family, and your life.”

“Mama, and Papa, thank you for giving me the
gift of your daughter. I know I haven’t always earned your trust,
or even your respect, but when you heard we were getting married,
you accepted me once again. I will spend the rest of my life
proving to you that your daughter is the love of my life, and I
will never hurt her again.”

We continue to thank each other’s friends
and family, and then we come to the person we both owe so much to.
Matt nods at me, telling me to go first.

“Jane, I need to thank you. For starting the
Society, for rescuing me from physical danger more than once, and
for trusting me to lead in your stay. I’m also so grateful for your
friendship, love, and advice throughout the years. We’ve had a
rough year, but I know in my heart that you felt you were doing the
right thing.”

“Gram, I owe you everything. You were there
for me all my life, supporting me even when I didn’t deserve it.
You brought Reina to me; although, I’m pretty sure you regretted
that quite often over the past decade or so. You are a strong
leader, and I don’t tell you enough how proud I am to be your
grandson. Thank you. For everything.”

There is not a dry eye in the courtyard once
we are done. We turn back to each other, and kiss. There’s no need
for vows, or promises. We both believe that it’s more important for
us to show each other our love. If we’ve learned anything from all
we’ve gone through, it’s that words need to be proven, and love has
to be shown. We do that every day.

“Are you ready for your last surprise, Mi
Reina Hermosa?”

“Show me what you’ve got.”

We lead everyone down
through the streets to the village below. I don’t know what I was
expecting, but it certainly wasn’t Ed Sheeran standing up on the
stage in the middle of the street. He smiles at me before launching
into
Thinking Out Loud
. Tonight, Matt will kiss me under the light of a thousand
real stars, and I know I’m the luckiest woman in the
world.

Turn the page for a sneak
peek of
Society Girls:
Sierra
, available January 2016!

Sierra

When Reina Corrigan calls and asks you to
come to her office, you don’t say no. At least, I don’t, and I
think I’d be hard pressed to find anyone else who’d say no to her,
either. She’s intimidating as hell, even though I know she’s super
cool, too. Anyway, here I am, waiting in the lobby of the Corrigan
& Co. Foundation. Trying not to bite my nails, or fidget too
much as Alex Corrigan smiles at me.

“You can go in now, Sierra,” she tells
me.

“Thanks.”

I make my way down the hall and raise my
hand to knock. The double doors of Reina’s office open before my
hand can connect. I chuckle as I look inside, seeing my
sister-in-law, Ainsley, and her friend Darcy inside the office as
well as Reina and Jane Corrigan.

“Please come in, Sierra,” Reina tells me
with a smile.

I walk in and take the open seat next to
Darcy. “I didn’t realize this was a group thing,” I say, pulling at
the bottom of my patterned blouse as I bite my lip.” I have no idea
why I’m here, and I’m honestly even more confused right now than I
was sitting out there waiting.

“I’m sorry for all of the secrecy, but even
though you know what we really do here, what we need to discuss
with you is something new, and well, pretty exciting for us.”

I
do
know what really goes on here.
Besides the great work the Foundation does publicly, they do even
more privately. The women of the Society are spies. Ten agents who
go undercover, and help right the wrongs that are committed against
those who can’t protect themselves. They also sometimes take on
private jobs, like figuring out who’s trying to sabotage a football
team. Which is how I found out about them—they saved me, my
brother, and a whole football stadium full of players and
fans.

Ainsley was undercover, and while Zack was
pissed at her for it, I was intrigued. Since then, she’s taught me
how to shoot a gun and use other weapons, how to hack into computer
systems, and some other really cool things. There’s never been a
guarantee that a Society position would open up, but I’m in a good
position should that happen. I’m hoping it’s happening right
now.

“What’s new?” I ask, trying to hide my
excitement.

“As you are well aware, every woman in the
Society is currently married, some are having babies, and pretty
much everyone has been in the public eye recently. As a result,
we’ve decided to bring in a whole new group of women, all at once
for the first time, to train as agents.”

“Yes.”

“We haven’t asked you anything, my dear.”
Jane reminds me with a smile.

“Oh. I just thought…I mean…why am I
here?”

“So we can ask you if you want to try to
become one of us,” Darcy tells me with a laugh.

“Yes. I want to. Yes.” I
don’t even care that I sound like an idiot. I
want
this.

“It’s not going to be easy. You will have to
pass ten different areas of training. Some may be easier for you
than others, but all need to be mastered. There’s only pass or fail
with us. We can’t have it any other way, because when we go out on
missions, lives are at stake,” Reina tells me.

“I understand.”

“I’ve shown her some things already. I have
faith in her,” Ainsley says.

“Thanks,” I tell her.

“We all have faith in you, Sierra. You
wouldn’t be here otherwise,” Reina lets me know.

“What do I have to do?”

“For right now, nothing. I—we—want to take
the time to make sure we do this right, since it’s never been done
before with ten women at once. I am anticipating that it will take
almost a year to get this all pulled together. During this time,
keep the job you just took in Seattle, and go about your daily life
almost like you normally would.”

“Almost?”

“Yes,” she tells me with a smile. “I want
you to pay closer attention to what is going on around you. Both in
your daily interactions, and in the news. While you may not be
officially training yet, it’s going to be beneficial for you to
start working on things already. Keep going to the gun range, and
working on your computer skills.”

“Okay. I can do that. There’s just one
thing.” It’s something I’m worried about because of what she said
about why they are doing this.

“You’re worried about being in the
spotlight.”

“Yes. There have been some new stories on
our family, and while I’m not a household name, there are people
who know who I am.” That just comes with the territory when your
brother’s a football god.

“We’re actually thinking we can use it to
our advantage. Just like with Ainsley, Darcy, Audrey, and me,
you’ll be invited places that we need to get into. Other times,
we’ll teach you how to disguise yourself to blend in.”

“That’s a relief.”

“You wouldn’t be here if Reina thought
there’d be a problem,” Jane tells me.

“So when the year is up, what happens?”

“It may be less than a year, but when the
time comes, you’ll move into an apartment in our building, and
start training. Darcy will be mentoring you, and while you’ll have
some free time, most of your days and nights will be spent trying
to pass your classes.”

“You’re mentoring me, Darce?” I ask.

“Yes. When you let me hide out with you last
year, you told me you wanted to be one of us, and also that you
didn’t want it to be because I was kicked out. You impressed me,
and I want the chance to help you through this. I won’t go easy on
you, but I’ll support you however I can.”

“I didn’t think I could be impartial,”
Ainsley explains, looking worried.

“It’s fine,” I tell her. “I can’t wait to
work with all of you, and I’m glad to have Darcy as my mentor. I
won’t fail. I promise”

I mean it. Failure is not an option for me.
I want to be a part of the Society more than I’ve ever wanted
anything else in my life. Yes, I went to college, and I’ve been
working in an auction house for the last couple of years, but I’ve
never felt like that was my calling. This—the Society—is what I’ve
wanted since I knew it existed. No matter what they throw at me,
I’ll pass these classes. I have to.

* * *

One year later

Sierra

It’s finally here. Day one of my training in
the Society. Today we’re getting all of our security clearances,
filling out forms, receiving our class schedules, and moving into
our apartments. It feels a little like college again, but more
intense. There are four other girls with me in the elevator that’s
descending to the bowels of the Corrigan & Co. building. I
don’t recognize any of them, but I smile at them, and they smile
back.

Stepping off the elevator, I hear a yell,
and then I’m enveloped in a hug. By no less than a princess. “Hi
Jen,” I tell her with a laugh.