Mia's Wedding

Chapter One

Chapter One

Mia had just put the lid back on her lipstick when her phone pinged, signalling a text message. She smiled—a few seconds earlier and it might have startled her and made her put lip colour on her nose or something. Not a good look. The message was probably from Elias or Alex, letting her know they were on their way. She put down the lipstick and picked up the device.

Running a little late—don’t be mad. Will explain when I get there. E xx

Mia’s smile faded as she absorbed the contents of the message. She wasn’t mad that he was running late—it sounded like it would only be a matter of minutes, and he’d had the decency to let her know. No, it was the other part of the message that concerned her. That he had something to explain, and that he’d said I get there, rather than we get there. Alex was supposed to be coming along, too. Unless they were picking him up next? His place was en route for Elias, so it’d make more sense to go to him first, then on to Mia’s. She shrugged—she’d find out what was going on soon enough.

Furious. Might not answer the door now. Will make use of Deliveroo and watch Netflix instead.

She added a winky face emoji, followed by one blowing a kiss, so he knew she was joking, and sent the text.

No sooner had she put the phone down than it pinged again. She rolled her eyes—did he have a good comeback for that? Probably—he was the king of witty retorts.

The message wasn’t from Elias, though. It was from Thomas.

Don’t want to disturb your evening out and… after, so I’ll say goodnight now, and I love you. Have a nice time—look forward to seeing you when you get home. Tom x

Mia’s heart skipped a beat, as it always did when she saw, heard from, or even thought of, Thomas Walker. Most people would find it odd—to say the least—that a woman’s boyfriend was texting to say he hoped she had a good evening when he knew she was going out with two other men. But then there was nothing ordinary about Mia’s life these days.

In the few weeks since the death of her father—which had been expected, but the knowledge had made it no less devastating—her life had been turned upside down. Not only had she had crippling grief to deal with, as well as the responsibility and paperwork that went with administering the estate, but she’d had a huge curveball thrown at her, too. Her father’s will, as she had expected, named her as sole beneficiary—excepting some sizeable charitable donations—but there had also been a caveat, something which had been added in more recently. In order to inherit, she had to marry a suitable—his words—man within twelve months of her father’s burial, otherwise her vile, greedy cousin, Quinn, would get everything.

Thrown into tailspin, Mia had, at first, tried to get the amendment to the will disqualified. Her father had been so ill, and on so many medications when he’d changed it that she’d thought perhaps he wasn’t of sound mind, wasn’t making sensible decisions. Unfortunately, the family solicitor had assured her that all the relevant checks had taken place, and that the latest version—and its caveat—were legally binding. Which had left Mia with no choice but to find a husband—no way was Quinn getting his grubby paws on her childhood home and the estate. He had no interest in keeping the business interests going, interests which a lot of people relied on for their livelihoods—Mia included. All he’d do was run things into the ground, sell up, and fritter the proceeds away.

Soon after she’d received the shocking news, two things had happened: her luck had changed, and things had got crazy. She’d met Elias, who was definitely “suitable” husband material, but had also discovered he was into sharing women with his best friend, Alex. In the meantime, she’d been rapidly falling in love with Thomas—who, being the estate gardener, would not meet the stipulations laid out in her father’s will and therefore wasn’t a candidate for marriage.

Fast forward to now, and somehow she was in a loving and very satisfying relationship with Thomas, who, after she’d divulged everything, had given his blessing for her to marry Elias, as well as seeing Alex. She’d gone from long-term singleton to owner of a harem of men in a matter of weeks, and she could still scarcely believe it. It was early days yet, and although Thomas was okay with Elias and Alex being on the scene, she hadn’t yet mentioned Thomas to them. But, given the sharing thing had been their suggestion, she’d be surprised if they had an issue with not being the only two members of her collection. However, when this much testosterone was flying around, anything could happen. She just hoped she was right and that telling Elias and Alex about Thomas wouldn’t screw everything up. Not only was she incredibly fond of both men, and looking forward to seeing what a future with them in her life would be like, but becoming Elias Pym’s wife would solve her biggest and most pressing problem: securing her inheritance.

She typed out a response to Thomas’s message.

Heading out very soon. Going to tell them about us. Wish me luck. I love you too—lots. Look forward to seeing you when I’m home. Goodnight xxx

With a smile, she hit send and stashed her phone in her bag, knowing he wouldn’t reply again now for fear of interrupting her evening. Not that she minded being interrupted by Thomas, but he was adamant she should have the time and space to tell Elias and Alex—who, though they hadn’t said as much, really came as a package deal—that Thomas was in her life, and was here to stay.

Her front door buzzer sounded. She took a deep breath, checked herself in the mirror, and grabbed her things. Time to go.

She opened the door to a smiling Elias, who looked as handsome as always in his stylish suit. “Deliveroo and Netflix, my arse. Come on, gorgeous—let’s hit the town!”

Mia locked up and put the key in her bag, then took Elias’s arm. They walked down the steps and out into the chilly January night to the waiting black cab.

“I’m afraid,” Elias said, once they were settled into the back of the car, “Alex isn’t coming.”

“What do you mean, he’s not coming?” she squeaked.

Elias looked apologetic, but gave a one-shouldered shrug. “There was an emergency at the hospital—as their nearest surgeon, he got called in. Couldn’t very well say no, could he?”

Mia shook her head and sagged back into the seat, her heart sinking to her stomach. “No, of course not. I’m very sorry he won’t be joining us, but although we’re scintillating company, we don’t count as a life or death situation.”

He reached out and squeezed her hand, then kept hold of it. “No, we certainly do not. I hope, though, that I’ll be entertainment enough for you by myself this evening.”

She squeezed his hand back, then leaned over and kissed his cheek, pulling in the scent of his delicious cologne at the same time. “I’m sure you will. Besides, this was part of what you two meant when you were talking about being able to give a woman the attention she deserves between you, wasn’t it? Alex unfortunately can’t make it, but because I’m dating—or whatever the hell we’re calling this—both of you, it means I’m not left high and dry. I’m sure at some point you’ll be the one who has to cancel. These things happen.”

With a smile, Elias said, “They sure do. Though I don’t really get emergencies at work—and if I do, they’re all about which person gets to line their pockets the most, rather than saving lives. But enough of that!” he added brightly, clearly eager to change the sore subject of his chosen career. Though she still didn’t understand why he was so embarrassed about it. And if he hated it so much, why was he still doing it? She wasn’t going to broach that particular topic, though, not tonight. She already had one potentially hairy subject to discuss.

But then how could she, now? How could she talk about the situation with Thomas without Alex present? She stifled a sigh. f**k it. Looks like it’s going to have to wait.

“So,” she said, “where are we going?”

“You’ll have to wait and see,” he replied with a smirk.

She jabbed him in the ribs. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. Patience, woman! We’ll be there in…” he peered out of the window, presumably to check where they were, “in less than ten minutes, traffic permitting.”

“Hmph.” She folded her arms and pouted. “Guess I’ll just have to wait, then.”

“Don’t sulk.” Elias tapped the end of her nose. “We haven’t seen each other in a little while, so I want smiles and laughter, not pouting. Even though I know you’re faking it.”

She gasped. “I never fake it!”

“I should hope not,” he shot back, his grin turning wicked. “My future wife deserves nothing but the best, and that includes orgasms. Real ones.”

Her tummy flip-flopped. Bloody hell, she’d almost forgotten about that. She’d been so focussed on working up to telling Elias and Alex they weren’t the only two men to be sharing her that there hadn’t been much capacity left for thinking about her impending wedding. But then, technically speaking, she wasn’t engaged yet. They’d discussed it and informally agreed to it, but there’d been no proposal, no acceptance, no ring.

There was plenty of time left for all that, though. If she and Elias had to grab a couple of witnesses and go to a registry office at the last minute, it would still count—her father hadn’t specified a type of ceremony, thankfully. But that wasn’t how she wanted to do things, and she suspected Elias wouldn’t be too keen on that idea, either.

“Ooh, your future wife, am I?” she teased, figuring that since the topic of Thomas was off the table, she might as well put the topic of their engagement on the table, instead.

Elias frowned. “Of course you are. I know we haven’t sorted a ring yet, but we still know we’re engaged…”

She shrugged, hoping it appeared more nonchalant to him than she actually felt. “Well, not exactly. We never made it official, did we? More of a loose verbal agreement.”

Elias groaned and screwed up his nose. “When you put it like that, it sounds bloody awful. I know to all intents and purposes it’s a practical arrangement, but I want it to be much more than that, Mia.” He cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb over her skin. “I’ve missed you.”

Warmth bloomed where he touched her, and radiated across her entire face and down her neck. She smiled and placed her hand over his. “I want it to be more, too. And I’ve missed you, as well. It’s been a long month, hasn’t it?”

He nodded, then briefly took his attention off her to look out the window. “It has—but hopefully tonight will make up for it, despite Alex’s absence. Besides, I’m sure you appreciated the alone time after the… upheaval of the end of last year.”

A pang of guilt hit her square in the stomach. She hadn’t, not once, told him or Alex that she’d been alone—they’d assumed, and she simply hadn’t enlightened them. It was more omission than outright lying, and it was only because she wanted to discuss Thomas with them face to face that she hadn’t said anything yet. She was trying to do the decent thing and yet felt horrible about it—even more so now because Alex not being here meant a further delay. Still, not much she could do about it. Unless she went ahead and told Elias and left it to him to bring Alex up to speed? Not an ideal solution, but possibly better than waiting until all three of their diaries matched up again. That could easily be another month, especially when it came to Alex’s insane workload.

“Yeah… about that,” she began tentatively, but didn’t get to continue since the car had drawn to a stop.

“Hold that thought, sweetheart—we’re here!” Elias said excitedly, reaching into the inside pocket of his suit jacket for some money and then getting out of the taxi.

Used to at least one of his foibles by now, she stayed put until he’d paid the driver and come around to open her door. She took the proffered hand and stepped out. “Ever the gentleman. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He nodded to the taxi driver and closed the door.

As the vehicle pulled away, Mia drew her shawl more tightly around her body and took in her surroundings to try to figure out where they were. They were in a kind of square, surrounded by smart, expensive-looking buildings, and boats bobbed on a body of water in front of them—but it wasn’t the Thames. Well, not the main stretch—this had to be an offshoot of some kind, a harbour.

She hadn’t been paying attention in the car—how long had they been driving? She didn’t know. All she was sure of was they’d travelled roughly south east.

“Come on,” Elias said with a smile, and squeezed her hand. “I promise all will be revealed very soon.”

She followed dazedly as he led her around the left-hand edge of the square, which was lined with benches and large flowerbeds. When they reached a gap in the buildings and passed the last one, the view opened up on their left. There was the Thames. They continued over a footbridge, past another expensive-looking building, and towards a pier jutting out into the river. A sign read Welcome to Chelsea Harbour. They stepped onto a walkway, then walked across a bridge and onto a small platform. A few people queued up for the scheduled river boat services, their Oyster cards and travel passes at the ready, but she suspected that wasn’t where they were going.

Sure enough, Elias jerked his head towards a small but beautiful boat moored up at one side of the platform. A man stood on the pier beside it, bundled up against the cold and clearly waiting for them. “What do you reckon?”

With a smile, she replied, “As long as they’ve got the heating on, I’m up for it.” She rubbed her arm with her free hand—her thin shawl wasn’t doing much to ward off the cold air.

“Oh, Mia, I’m so sorry—I should have made sure you brought a coat.” His eyes were wide with concern, and he released her hand, only to wrap an arm around her shoulders and pull her in for a hug, then chafe her arms.

She shrugged. “I’m an adult—or so my birth certificate tells me—I should have thought of that myself. Come on then, let’s get on board. I want to see what you have planned.”

Elias grinned. “You mean you want to get in the warm.”

“Yeah, that too.”