The Billionaire’s Hidden Heiress
[Book 2] Chapter 76

Knox POV

I'm nervous. My hands are shaking. I can feel my body trembling even as I take a swig of the glass of bourbon that my father hands me. "Calm down" he laughs as I shoot a glower at him "you're acting as though you're about to faint or something."

"I'm just nervous" I exhaled, adjusting my bow tie for the hundredth time.

lan claps me on the shoulder. "Relax," he says, rolling his eyes, clad in his own suit and his hair freshly slicked back "I'm sure Lorelai is just as nervous as you are," he advised, while Grayson chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"I just want this to go perfectly" I mumbled, "she's put in a lot of effort to get this organized and I don't want to mess anything up."

"Just admit it's pre-wedding jitters", Grayson teases me as I stare at him indignantly, wishing I could deny it "It's normal, just ask everyone," he adds.

Midnight comes skittering out from under the bed, causing Grayson to go staggering backward in alarm. "Good god, what is that? Vermin of some kind?" he asks, alarmed as lan snorts in amusement.

"No" I growl, picking up Midnight and giving him a little cuddle as he nuzzles into me "This is my ferret Midnight". I show him to Grayson, who looks reluctant to pat him.

"Careful, the little bastard will steal your coins and hide them somewhere if you don't keep an eye on them," my Father says quite cheerfully.

Grayson eyes my pet even more warily as I put him down on the bed.

"He just likes shiny things", I defend Midnight as lan just shakes his head in resignation.

"We know," lan says tersely, "that's part of the problem."

I went back to smoothing my hair down and then motioned for the guys to follow me outside. There are pews of white chairs outside, set in rows, and a large rose arbor set up where Lorelai and I would say our vows. My father sighs "I'll go wait for Lorelai" he tells me, shaking my hand, "congratulations son," he adds, glancing around the yard which has been made over for the wedding ceremony and will be made over again afterward by the servants for the reception.

"The women will be late," lan says, picking at some lint on his jacket. It's like a rule or something."

I glared at him, "I doubt even Lorelai will be late for her own wedding ceremony", I snapped.

He raises a brow "Really", he glances meaningfully at his watch "The only reason we're early is that you can't stand to be late for anything. It peeves you" he pointed out smugly.

He was right. I couldn't bear to be late to anything. We were more than early for the ceremony, but I believed in being punctual or early. Never late.

Grayson laughs "Leave him alone, lan. You can make fun of him all you like tomorrow"

lan grins "But he's going on his honeymoon. Can you believe Lorelai managed to convince him to take her to a quaint bed and breakfast in town for it? It's not exactly glamorous, but it's better than nothing," he said ruefully.

Yes, Lorelai had managed to convince me to go somewhere for our wedding night. It was outside my comfort zone, but I wanted to make her happy. She hadn't wanted to go on a cruise or an airplane flight with her morning sickness and this had been a compromise. Not to mention I was still paranoid about security since Karen was on the loose. Until she was found, I couldn't rest easy. I sighed.

"At least I'm taking her somewhere". I was trying not to sound too uptight about it.

lan smirked "You know that you're not going down there to see the sights", he joked. "In fact, I'll lay bets you don't even leave the room."

I gave him a warning growl. He just chuckled. The minister stood off to the side, staring blankly at the pews. Part of me suspected he was high, but I wasn't about to question it. Who was I to judge if a servant of god needed something to relax him in order to get through the ceremony? As a matter of fact, I could have used something myself, I concluded wistfully. I readjusted my bowtie, feeling like I was being strangled. In frustration, I tore it off and flung it to the ground.

"Knox" lan groaned, exasperated, "you only have to wear it for a little bit of time. Now it's crinkled" he groaned, bending down and picking it up, his eyes examining it closely.

"It feels like it's strangling me," I said moodily "I'm not wearing it."

He opens his mouth to protest and then sighs, shrugs, and puts it in his pocket. "It's your day, what you say goes," he says nonchalantly, to my surprise. I had been expecting him to argue with me. It took the wind out of my sails, literally. "Does that mean I can get rid of mine then?" Grayson asks eagerly.

lan pins him with a stare "No."

Grayson sighs with resignation and readjusts his bowtie. I smirk at him. He rolls his eyes. People slowly began to drift through the entrance into the backyard, taking their seats and staring ahead with expectant looks on their faces. The media are, of course, situated right at the back with the photographers. I feel anxious as they begin to take photograph after photograph, like an animal at the zoo, being stared at behind a glass wall.

"Deep breaths" lan muttered beside me, glancing towards the media who were chatting excitedly with each other. "Deep breaths. It will all be over soon. Just think about Lorelai" he advised.

A smile stretched across my face. Lorelai. I could almost envision what she might look like in her white dress. She's always beautiful to me. I can't wait to see her. My excitement grows. Soon, the two of us will be husband and wife, and she will bear my last name, Grant. We had yet to announce her pregnancy to the media, and she wasn't so far along yet that she was visibly showing. The thought of being a father was thrilling and exciting as well as terrifying. I already knew the child would be spoiled by its grandfather, uncle, and aunt.

I glanced towards the seats again and then frowned. Something was niggling at me. Something seemed off. There was one woman in the media who kept her back turned, her long hair cascading down her back. There was something familiar about her. I couldn't put my finger on it. I knew that figure. I knew her. But when I glanced over again, she had vanished into the thickness of the media and I thought I was being paranoid. "What's wrong?" lan asked.

I glanced at him uncertainly. Perhaps my imagination was going into overdrive because of my jitters, I thought, absent-mindedly. Security would have checked everybody's IDs as they entered the backyard. We had increased security specifically for this event. But then why was I feeling so apprehensive? Why was there a sick feeling in my gut? I coughed, telling myself it was all in my imagination, and forced a smile onto my face. "It's nothing" I lied, "just nerves, that's all."

I glanced once more towards the media but didn't see her. I turned towards lan and saw him frown. "You'll never believe how excited Flair was this morning" Grayson was saying, causing me to become distracted for a moment as he gestured with his hands "she was up at the crack of dawn," he said glumly, "insisting she had to get ready. Can you imagine?" he snorted "how many hours does a woman need to get ready anyway?" he asks incredulously, "us men, we put on a suit, we brush our teeth, tidy our hair and bobs your uncle, we're all finished. It's that simple."

"Did you tell her that?" I asked absent-mindedly, as lan moved closer to me, still frowning.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Grayson asked, feigning horror. "If I told her that, I would be sleeping in the spare room tonight. Of course, I didn't tell her" he said, chuckling. "I need to stay in the good books if I want any chance of...." he flushed as I glared at him, daring him to finish that sentence.

"Never mind," he said hastily.

We heard the sound of a commotion coming from inside. Shouting that makes me start to turn, even as lan suddenly shoves me out of the way and throws himself down, too little too late. Screams fill the air. I fell, scrambling instantly back to my feet as I heard the distinct sound of a gunshot. A woman is running, while the bodyguards tackle her. My eyes are on lan, who is lying facedown, blood pooling from a wound on his back. I rush to his side, putting pressure on the wound, while Grayson begins to dial for an ambulance. "lan" I shouted, but he was unresponsive, lying still.

I feel cold inside. I glanced at Grayson. I shoot a look at the bodyguards who are holding the woman struggling in their grasp.

"Take over" I rasp, Grayson immediately putting his hands on the wound.

lan has a pulse, but it's not strong. I need to check on Lorelai and my father. I blinked back tears. The woman is smiling triumphantly.

It's her. I yank off the wig, exposing her for who she is. The crowd is gone, having panicked and stampeded out of the backyard while the gunshot has gone off. Her eyes narrow as she glares at me.

"I told you that you would pay for what you did" she spit out venomously.

"You're about to pay for what you've just done" I snarled at her, my hands shaking as I fought back the urge to wrap my hands around her neck. "Why would you do something like that? Why?" I shout.

"If I can't have you, then no one can" she sneered. "lan got in the way. Lorelai doesn't deserve you. It should have been me you married. It was meant to be me" she cried as the bodyguards tightened their grip.

"I was never yours" I grit out, "take her to the authorities and get her out of my sight. Do not let go", I ordered, and then heard a scream coming from inside, that made my blood run cold.

Lorelai. What else had Abigail done? I shot back a look at lan and Grayson and then took off running into the house, the bodyguards at my heels. Lorelai was with Flair and Rachel, which meant all three of them were in danger. As heartbroken as I was about lan, I had to save my bride and my sister. There was no time to lose and all I could do was pray that lan was going to make it.