"Oh. Yeah. That was just business."
"On New Year's Eve? At my wedding?"
I shrugged, not wanting to sound like a dick but needing to if I wanted to continue to hide my hot mess of a life. “It was that killing two birds with one stone thing."
His eyes narrowed as he stared at me. "What sort of business?"
I rolled my eyes. "Dude, you should be on your honeymoon. I'll tell you all about it when you're back at work."
"I could tell you what that business was about."
I whipped my head around toward the voice. A man approached us. A man I didn't know. Immediately, my heart sped up and panic grew. Was this the next step of Amelia's and her father's plan?
The man smiled affably, but I could see in his eyes that he had no friendly thoughts toward me.
He extended his hand to Sam. "Congratulations on your marriage. I'm sorry to drop in like this. I'm James Dunsmore."
Sam shook his hand and then looked at me for an explanation.
James then looked at Noel and Harper, who were still standing there. "James Dunsmore."
"Noel St. Martin. This is my wife, Harper." They all shook hands, and James cocked his head to the side.
"Noel St. Martin. The head of Saint Security?"
Noel smiled. "Not anymore. I retired."
James nodded. "Who would I call if I needed to hire someone to look into another person?"
I flinched. Were Amelia and her brother going to hire somebody to investigate me? What the fuck for? She was the one who needed to be investigated. In fact, maybe that was a good idea. If I planned to defend myself, I needed to get some leverage that private investigation could gather.
Noel reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. He handed it over to James. "Call Archer Graves. He runs the show now."
"Noel has learned to carry Archer's cards around because he has a stellar reputation around the world for his work. Everywhere we go, someone wants to hire him." Harper stared up at her husband with pride. They were yet another couple who found wedded bliss. I wanted to gag.
I turned to James. "If we need to discuss anything further, perhaps we could do it another time."
James shrugged. "I can wait." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "I’ll be right outside." James looked at Sam and then at Noel and Harper. "It was nice to meet you. Thank you for the card." He gave me an expectant look and then turned, leaving the ballroom.
Sam watched me, his brow arched. I wanted to go on as if Amelia's brother had never shown up, but I was agitated at the idea of him sitting outside the ballroom where anyone in my family could approach him.
I plastered on that fake smile again. "I’ll go take care of this. I'll be right back. I promise."
"Okay, but Kate and I aren’t waiting for you. We’re on our honeymoon and will be leaving on time."
I gave him a hug. "Understood."
I strode out the door feeling like a thousand eyes were on me. Jesus, I'd grown paranoid as well.
When I stepped out of the ballroom, James was leaning against the opposite wall with one ankle crossed over the other as he looked at something on his phone. He lifted his head as I approached, and this time, there was no attempt at affability.
"What do you want?" I shoved my hands in my pockets because I really felt like I wanted to punch this guy. "I told Amelia that her little plan wouldn’t work. Are you in on it too? Are you here to extort money from me?"
James’s hand fisted and flexed. Clearly, he wanted to hit me too. "I’m trying to decide what my sister saw in you. All I see is an A-one asshole who knocks a woman up and then threatens to take her child." He nodded toward the ballroom. "I imagine none of the people in there know you're capable of that, do they?"
To be honest, I hadn't known I was capable of it either. "You're lucky your sister and father aren’t sitting in a jail cell."
He rolled his eyes. "On what charge?"