Chapter 30

30

Dakota

T he preacher is still waiting inside the wedding hall as are the kids, Chelsea, Donna, and the handful of guests we invited. Chelsea is in charge of keeping everyone calm while Archer tries to help me figure everything out. Maddox is upstairs, and I can hear his voice booming throughout the entire top floor, interspersed with vague and muffled replies from Callie.

Archer and I sit on the base of the steps, leaning into one another, waiting.

I've been crying for ten minutes straight. My makeup must be ruined by now, and I wonder if it even matters anymore.

My thoughts are firing like a pinball machine as I struggle to put them in order, to make some sense out of what I saw and of what is going to happen next. But I have yet to find a way forward. I'm stuck.

"It doesn't make sense," Archer says, as if reading my mind.

"I know what I saw," I bluntly reply.

"I'm not doubting you; I simply refuse to believe that he did that willingly," he says. "I believe you, Dakota, I do. What I don't believe is that what you saw is what actually happened."

Confused, I stare at him for a long moment. "What do you mean?"

"Go on, tell them!" Maddox growls as he forcibly escorts Callie down the stairs in a most unceremonious fashion. "Tell them."

"Let go of me, you brute!" Callie snaps back.

Her hair is a curly, fiery mess. Her lipstick is smudged. Her dress is crooked and slightly crumpled, while her deep cleavage shows a tad more skin than it should. Maddox must've pried her off of Reed with no concern for how it might look to anyone else.

Archer helps me stand and keeps me close, one arm protectively around my waist as we turn to face Maddox and Callie.

"I don't understand," I say. "Tell us what?"

"The fucking truth," Maddox snaps, glowering at Callie. "Or else, I swear to God, I will beat it out of you in this very church."

"Maddox, maybe—" Archer tries to intervene, but the fury in his brother's gaze, the tremor in his voice is enough to hold him back.

"No. She talks, or I make her talk."

Fear flashes in Callie's eyes. Shaking like a leaf, she is becoming aware that she may have waded into far more dangerous waters than she had expected. But it's not the look on her face that has me feeling uneasy. It's Reed's absence.

"Where's Reed?" I ask them.

"Tell her!" Maddox snarls at Callie.

She startles and tries to pull away, but his grip on her arm is tight, his fingers digging into her reddening skin. "Ouch, you're hurting me!"

"I haven't even started to hurt you yet," he hisses.

"Callie, now's the time to save your ass," Archer sighs. "What's going on here? Where's our brother?"

"He's upstairs, passed out," Maddox replies. "Callie here has something to tell everyone."

"No, I don't," she shoots back. "It was consensual."

"He's drunk, isn't he?" I mumble, nausea still testing me from every fucking angle.

Maddox gives me a hard look. "No, he's passed out. This bitch drugged him."

"Callie?" I ask, suddenly staring at my sister with sheer disbelief and astonishment.

She rolls her brown eyes at me, crosses her arms, and lets out a heavy sigh. "I had to stop this wedding somehow," she says. "It's not like I could simply ask you to just call the whole thing off."

"She slipped him a roofie, didn't she?" Archer is quick to conclude and just as surprised. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"It worked," Callie replies with a shrug.

All I can do is keep staring at her. "Why? Why would you do this?"

"That's a stupid question. It's eighty million dollars, Dakota. Did you really think I would just sit back and watch you take my inheritance? Of course not. I'm a Monroe. Monroe's fight for what's theirs. And you're not worthy of all that wealth."

"Wait, so you're telling me Reed had no part in this?" I ask Maddox, choosing to ignore my treacherous sister altogether. I've already figured out how it happened. I just need confirmation that Reed is also a victim. My heart demands it. "He had no idea…"

"She slipped something into his drink," Maddox confirms.

Callie scoffs. "I needed a way in. He gulped the whole thing down. All I had to do was mount him and wait for someone to come looking for the groom. I didn't think it would be you, Dakota, coming through the door, but hey…"

"Is he okay?" Archer asks his brother.

Maddox exhales sharply. "He's really out of it. I don't think he's up for the ceremony. I tried waking him up. Cold water, slap on the face, a good ol' shake… nothing worked."

"I gave him the good stuff," Callie giggles.

I slap her so hard across the face that her eyeballs damn near fall out. She cups her reddened cheek and stares at me, holding her breath while her brain plays catch-up. I'm fuming, fury burning through me with scarlet tongues of fire as I try to figure out what happens next.

"You'd better be thankful I'm not doing a hell of a lot worse," I say, gritting my teeth. "You inserted yourself into my life under false pretenses, lying your ass off while pretending you were actually happy for me. God, no wonder Katherine didn't want to leave you the money, Callie. What you did today does not make you a Monroe. It makes you a piece of shit."

"Ah, there we go with the self-righteous bullshit when we all know you were only marrying Reed so you could get your hands on my money."

"It's my money," I reply. "If I remember correctly, Katherine named me in the will."

"Under specific conditions," Callie sneers. "You don't have a groom, so the wedding is off."

Archer chuckles dryly. "Dakota is still getting married today."

"Reed's out of it," I mumble, giving him a troubled look.

"But I'm not," he says.

I need a moment to register the statement. But even when I do, I still find myself confused. "What do you mean, Archer?"

"I'll marry you," he replies, smiling softly. "I'll marry you right here, right now."

"My lawyer will have so much fun tearing you all to shreds," Callie says in a most obnoxious fashion, prompting Archer to take a deep breath. "This will never stand."

"Maddox, do me a favor. Take this bitch inside and make sure she doesn't leave until I put a ring on Dakota's finger. I want her to watch as she loses any chance she ever had at that money," he says.

Maddox gives him a crooked smile. "Say no more, bro."

"What?" Callie croaks before he pulls her away and takes her into the wedding hall.

I'm sure he'll have some explaining to do once they're inside, but it doesn't really matter. I'm too stunned, unable to offer any reasonable reaction to everything that just happened—let alone to anything that is about to happen.

"I mean it," Archer says, shifting his focus back on me. He takes the pocket square out of his tuxedo vest and uses it to gently dab at my makeup. "Marry me instead, Dakota. We'll put my name on the marriage license and fix it later. I know people in the records department."

"Archer…"

"You're marrying the three of us, anyway," he says. "We're doing this, dammit. We're getting you that money if only to put that snotty bitch of a sister of yours back in her place. I want her to suffer for what she just pulled. And I want you to be happy, at peace, and in possession of the kind of wealth that you genuinely deserve." Pausing, he takes a deep breath and chuckles nervously. "If it were up to me, I'd just sign a check and pay everything off for you, Dakota. No questions asked. The bank, the school fees for Maisie. Whatever you need, I'll cover it. My brothers and I would cover it. But I understand that your pride wouldn't allow you to accept such a gift, and I get it. I honestly do. It's one of the things I love most about you."

"Oh, Archer."

"I am dead serious. I'm head over heels, woman. And I want to marry you."

"Okay."

He stops, eyes wide with wonder as his brain catches up to my words. He laughs lightly, then finishes dabbing my face. I take a look at myself in the small mirror near the doors and let a heavy sigh roll from my chest.

"It's as good as it's going to get, given the circumstances," I tell him. "But thank you."

"It's the least I could do."

I lift myself up on my toes and kiss his cheek softly. "Thank you, Archer. For everything."

"Come on, let's get this blushing bride inside and explain it to the preacher."