Lucky This Isn't Real: MacBride Brothers Series St. Patrick's Day Fake Fiance Romance by Jamie Knight (digital e reader .TXT) 📕

“Oh, I was reinstated. It was a no-brainer when they figured out what he was doing. I’m not blacklisted anymore either. In fact, I’m heading up the class action civil case against him. There are others too. Emil has a lot of enemies, apparently. Most of them called me and asked if they could get in on it. Most of them aren’t even taking a fee!”

“Wow, isn’t that, like, a sign of the apocalypse?” Sean asked, listening in.

I pushed him away gently and tried to process what Nicole was telling me. Emil wouldn’t be going to prison but had suffered a fate that would have been considered worse than death for him. He was a non-entity in a field he once dominated and was about to lose a considerable chunk of his fortune.

“Oh, and apparently, Emil is in trouble with the taxman. He hasn’t paid full income tax in like twenty years. No wonder the prick was so rich, he had it stashed in a private account in Zurich.”

I grinned. “Oh, so he might go to prison after all.”

“I would be very surprised if he didn’t.”

It really did feel like justice in the true sense. God only knew how many careers and lives Emil destroyed in his time and how many girls he’d hurt. For him to be ignored and destitute, stripped of the position that would allow him to do that again seemed like the perfect punishment. The potential of prison was just the cherry on the sundae.

“Ooh, sundaes.”

“Sundaes?” Nicole and Sean asked in unison.

“Sorry,” I said, just to Nicole. “What are you planning to do next? Still practice other kinds of law?”

“I think I’ll stay where I am actually, at least for now, until I find someone and fall in love. Then I’d like to take some time off to have a baby. After that, I’ll probably want to go back into law and start looking for a new firm. The other senior partners promised to give me a good reference. Partly as an apology, I think.”

“Well, that and you are the best junior partner they have. They would be idiots to risk losing you, especially because of a prick like Emil. You could have asked for a solid gold Mercedes, and they would have given it to you.”

She laughed long and hard. “Shit, I should have asked for that, oh well, too late now.”

“Live and learn, right? Anyway, see you later.”

I hung up and took Sean’s hand again, and we continued on to lunch, my heart set on an extra-large pizza like we’d had before, followed by a strawberry sundae. That was the last pleasant thing I thought before the ghosts of doubt started to swirl. Was I really getting married? It seemed so fast, but also, I had to admit, not fast enough. It could have happened even sooner had there not been so much fear of what others might think.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“Nothing.”

“Doesn’t look like nothing. Are you worried about the wedding? Maybe it’s all happening too fast?”

I sighed. He knew me too well. “Pretty much, yeah.”

“Do you need more time?”

That was really the question, wasn’t it? How much time would I need? Would there ever be a time when I was fully ready, or was I just overthinking myself out of happiness?

“No,” I said, direct from my heart, “I don’t need more time, I’m sure. I’m excited to be marrying you, and I’m ready to start a new life together in Ireland.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

We kissed to seal the promise and headed off for lunch.

Chapter Twenty-Six - Darcy

I still couldn’t believe it. In a matter of days, my mom had managed to put together a beautiful wedding. Just the sort of beautiful old-fashioned wedding I’d always wanted to have.

I held onto a mixed bouquet of my favorite flowers as my dad walked me down the aisle to where Sean was waiting to make me Darcy MacBride-Matthews. Daddy wasn’t over the moon about the hyphenation or playing second fiddle, but mom brought him around like she usually did.

I never quite figured out what power it was she had over him, but it must have been potent. That much was for sure.

In a switch around which felt right, Nicole was my maid of honor, with Amy and Ciara as bridesmaids. Maggie was suffering from horrendous morning sickness and couldn’t stand for long periods but was still very much part of the wedding. She snapped photo after photo on her cell phone to make sure I hadn’t dreamt the whole thing.

We wrote our own vows, and just for fun, we did them in Irish. Translation sheets were provided, so everyone knew roughly what we said. It took a lot of practice, but I was pretty confident I hadn’t butchered Sean’s mother tongue.

Both families had come at short notice. Matthews and MacBrides had arrived from all over, though there were still a few more of my family than Sean’s, not that we were keeping count. The MacBrides were jetlagged, but they insisted that a few beers would help sort them out.

After the ceremony, the reception was held at a beautiful hotel in Palm Springs. Both cultures came together beautifully. California casual mingled with Irish lilts of various strengths as everyone drank and danced. Mom even managed to coax dad out onto the dance floor for the most adorably stiff version of the foxtrot I’d ever seen. I hadn’t forgotten what dad tried to do, forcing me into a loveless marriage, but I had forgiven him. I was mostly just happy we could be a family again.

“Have you seen Amy?” I asked as I danced with my husband, both of us deliriously happy.

“Kinda hard to miss her,” Sean said with a knowing smile. “She and Jim have been hiding in that corner since