He looked up and found Jenna focused on him. Mike had drifted off to sleep.
His little sister took a deep breath, stood and squared her shoulders. “I want you to fire the event coordinator.”
“I’m not sure that’s the best course of action.”
Her brows winged up so far they nearly met her hairline. “Not the best course of action? How can you say that when she nearly killed my fiancé? Look at him, Liam.” She tipped her head toward the sleeping man. “His oxygen saturation only just topped nintey. According to the doctor, it should be ninety-nine given the excellent shape he’s in. I know you were involved in the peacock thing—” she held out her hand when he tried to interrupt “—don’t bother denying it. But she knew I was scared of birds. It was on the original paperwork. The excursion was supposed to have been diving. It’s what we picked. She changed that to parasailing. And we had specifically requested a native meal for the rehearsal and wedding dinners, listing things we wanted included. Shellfish wasn’t on the list for a reason. And you don’t serve something like that, let alone hide it in a sauce, without knowing if someone is allergic.” Her voice had risen as she listed her complaints, and Mike stirred beside her. “Shh, baby. Rest.”
“Want to get married.”
“And we will,” she said softly, smoothing a hand over his hair. “We will.”
Liam had a difficult choice to make. He could respect Jenna’s wishes and use Ella’s termination as a means of cutting ties with the woman. He could still fire her but keep to his original plan and hire her to coordinate several high-end functions, thus helping her get things back on track. He could even leave everything to his sister and let her terminate Ella, keeping his hands out of it completely.
But he was the direct cause of everything that had gone wrong. Ella had changed the dive excursion to parasailing because the changes Liam had insisted upon were eating into her profit margin. He’d been directly responsible for the peacocks—pinkpeacocks, at that. And the doves. And the changed flowers, from the bride’s bouquet to the groom’s boutonniere to the table toppers. And the revised seating chart. And, worst of all, the addition of scallops to the menu. While he wanted to deny it all, to affect having no conscience, he couldn’t. Not this time. Ella had paid, and dearly, for his mistakes. He wouldn’t let her take the fall, again, for his screwups.
Regret bound his chest like a vise. And he knew that whatever he was suffering, Ella had to be suffering a hundredfold. Her career’s recovery had hinged on the success of this job. People had seen what had happened. Influential people. And they would talk. He might not be able to stop them, but he would do what he could to help her find her path forward.
If he could manage to salvage this, maybe he had a chance at getting her to forgive him.
Better luck betting the contents of my wallet on the afternoon races.
But he had to hope. It was all he had.
Then there was Jenna. And, more consequently, Mike, he acknowledged grudgingly. Watching them together in this intimate setting, he saw something between them he’d somehow missed before. They’d gotten together so quickly, had already been engaged when Jenna introduced him to Mike. Liam hadn’t had the chance to observe them like this, to watch how the man tended to Jenna’s every want, met her every need and cared for her without apology. Liam had been wrong about the man and his motives, and he’d have to admit it. Not just to Jenna, but to the man himself. So many apologies in front of him, the first of which would be hard, the last of which would be the hardest but also the most important.
Looking at Jenna, he struggled to find the right words. Liam blew out a hard breath, gave up what little semblance of control he had left and did what he’d never done before. He spoke from the heart. “Jenna, I’ve made a right mess of things.”
“It’s not your fault Ella nearly killed Mike.”
Ever faithful, his little sister.
“Actually, it is.” If he could just keep his voice steady. “Your assistant provided her with your wish list. I have a copy of it on my computer.”
Jenna just looked at him.
“I also have the digital copy as well as Ella’s hard copy of that list with... Damn it.” He raked his hands through his hair and grabbed fistfuls in frustration. This was proving even harder than he’d expected it would be.
“Leem, what’s going on?” Jenna’s skepticism was beginning to trump her faith in him, and witnessing the change devastated him.
Treat it like a bandage. Grab the edge and rip.“I’m responsible for every change that was made to the original wedding plans.” And he waited.
She stared at him, eyes wide. “You.”
“Yes. Me.” He blew out a breath. “I didn’t believe Mike was the best choice for your husband, squid. You ran off and fell in love between Christmas and New Year, accepted a proposal without consideration and began planning a wedding by Easter. It was too fast. And my first impression of Mike was poor, to say the least.”
“Your first impression trumps mine?” she wheezed. “What, he wasn’t high enough on society’s scale of ‘Rich and Richer’ for you? What about me, Liam? What about what I want? I told Ella precisely what my dream wedding would look like. It was her job to make that happen. Your only job was to be happy for me.”
“Ella only did what I told her to do. She was operating in good faith and believed I was acting in your best interest as your proxy. I wasn’t, and I own that.”
“Youownthat?” she asked, voice deceptively calm. Her eyes? Not so calm. In them, a tempest raged, coming closer to the surface with every heartbeat. “How dare you, Liam. How dare you come in here to Mike’s room, a room he wouldn’t be in if it weren’t for your callousness, your narcissistic belief you know what’s right for everyone. How. Dare. You.” She turned away from him and picked up Mike’s hand. “Damn you, Liam. Your arrogance could have killed this man. Killed my heart. In turn, you would have killed me. You were okay with that?” Blond curls slid forward, curtaining her face, shielding her from him. “You aren’t the man I thought you were. Please leave.”
“Jenna—”
“Leave,” Mike whispered, voice raspy. “We’ll work out what’s best for us and let you know where we go from here.”
Liam swallowed the argument he’d been mounting, the words scraping his throat raw before plummeting into the depths of his belly.
He left.