Chance glanced down at the bouquet in her other hand. "If you insist."
Isa's fingers tightened on it even as she gave him a grim smile.
"I do."
Which was the only time today she intended to say those words.
Everyone in the church stood up when Isa appeared at the doorway, and she began to descend down the aisle alone. One of Robert's friends had offered to give her away, but she'd refused, and in this, Robert hadn't pushed. He hadn't been the soul of capitulation over much else, though. Every detail of the wedding had been planned by him and Agnes. They'd wanted an impressive event, considering Robert's newly exalted status, and Isa's wishes weren't something to be concerned with. Robert's only other acquiescence was that Isa stayed with her grandmother in the weeks prior to the happy occasion. Robert thought it was because Greta had been feeling poorly. It was actually because she had a ground-floor house with a basement, which made it so much easier for Chance to come and go without being seen by Robert's spies. Robert still hadn't known what to make of Chance being there that day at Isa's restaurant. The last she'd overheard, he figured Chance must have had a twin brother.
Well, if you didn't believe in ghosts or vampires, Isa supposed that was the next logical explanation.
She smiled at Robert as she walked down the aisle. Not because she was happy to see him, but at how his face darkened when he saw the alterations she'd made to his mother's wedding dress. The once high-necked collar had been slashed to reveal generous cleavage instead, and the long fitted sleeves had been cut off at the shoulder. It gave Isa far greater range of motion with her arms, plus of course, it also gave the dress a sexiness that was well at odds with the prim virgin-Catholic bride she was supposed to be. Really, it was Robert's own fault for believing that. Who thought a modern woman would still be chaste at almost thirty?
She reached the dais and Robert held out his hand, glowering at her. Next to her, Agnes, as Isa's imposed matron of honor, reached for her bouquet so Isa could take Robert's hand. The older priest gave Isa a prodding look when she just stood there, not moving. Robert's frown turned menacing.
"Isa…" he said low and dangerously.
She smiled at him. A beautiful smile filled with all the joy over what she was about to do. And then she yanked the flowers off the top of her bouquet to reveal a .357 Magnum.
"Robert, dear, I don't," Isa said clearly, pointing the gun at him.
At that moment, the doors to the church burst open and multiple SWAT team members fanned inside. Her brother Frazier appeared behind them, shouting, "Justice Department, nobody move!" even as several of their guests at once attempted to disperse.
Isa only saw that from her peripheral vision, however, because she didn't take her eyes off Robert. A seething anger filled his gaze as he looked from Frazier back to Isa.
"Your brother's a fuckin' pig."
Isa smiled. "Yep, he's an undercover officer. Who knew? I just thought all that moving around meant Frazier couldn't hold a job. Thanks for inviting your mob buddies to our wedding, by the way. Do you know how hard it is to get them all under one roof, apparently?"
Robert's fist swung toward her, but Isa didn't flinch. With the blood she'd drunk last night as a precaution from Chance, it seemed like Robert was moving in slow motion. Isa fired, hitting Robert in the thigh. He fell to his knees as Agnes let out a cry.
"Hold fire!" Frazier yelled, but the members of the SWAT team had already been briefed to know Isa was one of the good guys. It was easy to pick her out, after all, being as she was the only one wearing a wedding dress.
"Fuckin' bitch…I'll kill you for this," Robert gasped.
"Ma'am, put the gun down now," one of the black-clad SWAT members said to Isa as Robert was quickly surrounded.
"You won't see me again," Isa said, lowering the gun only after Robert had been handcuffed. "In fact, you'll never see Paul or Ritchie again either."
Which had been something Chance refused to negotiate on. Isa already had a hell of a time convincing him that Robert needed to live in order to stand trial for the multiple murders, racketeering, embezzlement, and bribery Frazier had spent three years gathering evidence on. But Ritchie and Paul? Small potatoes.
Or, as Isa surmised right about now, dinner. They'd been assigned to watch the church's exterior in order to ensure that nothing unexpected happened. Like, oh, a few dozen SWAT team members barging in. But they'd mysteriously disappeared right before Isa entered the chapel. Chance hadn't wanted to leave Isa's side during Robert's takedown at the altar, but Isa flatly insisted. She'd been pushed around by Robert for too long, so he'd know, in the end, exactly who helped put him in jail.
She wondered if Ritchie and Paul knew, in their last moments, that they were merely Chance's consolation prize. Still, dead was dead, as Chance had once stated. Guess the end result really was more important than the motivation behind it.
Several of the men being handcuffed from the groom's side of the church gave Isa very cold glares as they were led away. Mentally she shrugged. Frazier told her that she and her grandmother would need to be sequestered by Witness Protection until after all the trials, but Isa had other ideas. Ones that involved the very gorgeous vampire with a lot of friends in grave places. Chance would keep her and her grandmother hidden far more effectively than any government relocation program, and a lot more enjoyably, too. Isa doubted Witness Protection could provide the same kind of extracurricular perks that Chance did.
He came out from the back of the church, shouldering though the throngs of people and flashing the special ID Frazier had given him. His face looked more flushed than usual, and when he reached Isa's side and kissed her, his lips were almost warm.
Oh yeah. Bye bye, Paul and Ritchie.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked softly.
Isa nodded. "Big, fussy weddings were never my style, anyway."
Chance laughed. "I'll have to remember that."
Frazier came up to them then. "Isa, you're going to have to come back with us and give a statement. Plus, uh, I'm sure nothing will happen because it was self-defense, but you're going to have to be booked for shooting Robert."
"Right," Chance snorted. "Come here for a moment…"
He put an arm around Frazier in a friendly way, ignoring her brother's stammering about procedure. Then when Chance had him mostly concealed by the tall cross behind the altar, Isa saw his eyes go green. A moment later when they walked back out, Frazier had stopped talking.
"We have five minutes before he snaps out of it," Chance said to Isa with a wicked grin. "I didn't think I should leave your brother mentally asleep for longer, considering his current circumstances."
"How are we supposed to get past all," Isa's hand swept out to encompass the multitude of SWAT team members, FBI, and police officers, "this?"
"Never underestimate the resourcefulness of a vampire, darling," Chance murmured. Then he led her quickly to the nearby confessional box, squeezing them both inside.
The panel slid open at once on the priest's side, and a pale blonde head appeared next to the privacy grill.
"What are your sins, my child?" a smoothly accented English voice asked.