Listed: Volume I by Noelle Adams Read Free Book Online

to tell me
right now if you think my marrying her will genuinely jeopardize the case.”
    He
felt a little sick as considered the possibility of canceling the
wedding—imagining how Emily would feel—but he had to stay reasonable. Priorities
had to remain priorities, and the greater good was always more important than
sentiment.
    His
father being sent to prison was the greater good. For everyone.
    There
was a pause on the other end of the line, before the other man said, “No. It
won’t. And you’re right about the jury sympathizing with her even more. We
should be fine.”
    “Good.
Then the rest of this conversation can wait. I have to get married now. We’ll
be back in town on Friday to take care of the rest of it.”
    When
Hathaway had hung up, Paul put his phone down and tried to shake all thoughts
of the trial and his father out of his mind. They were like a weight about to
descend on him, one he was holding back with the force of his will. He was more
distracted than he’d been earlier, though, as he started to get dressed in the
black suit he was wearing for the ceremony.
    He
wasn’t wearing a tuxedo, since the wedding was in a garden and Emily wasn’t
wearing a very formal dress.
    They’d
arrived in Paris early that morning, and he’d used an old friend of his
mother’s to arrange for them to get into the Louvre before regular hours, so
Emily could see the Mona Lisa—one of the lower items on her list—while they
were in France. Then they’d flown into Aix and been driven to the historic,
luxury inn he’d picked out as the venue for the wedding ceremony.
    For
the last several hours, ever since they’d arrived, he’d been wrapped up in plans
for the wedding. The inn had provided a wedding planner, but there were still a
zillion details to handle in a very short amount of time, and Emily had to go
pick out a dress and then visit the day spa to get her hair done, a manicure,
and whatever else women needed to feel pretty on their wedding day.
    Although
he was eager to get back to Philadelphia so he could get started on his new job,
he’d told Emily they could wait until the following day to get married, so they
wouldn’t be quite so rushed today.
    But
she hadn’t wanted to wait.
    Paul
had managed to get mostly dressed when his phone rang again. Smothering an
impatient sound, he greeted the wedding planner.
    “I’m
sorry, sir,” she said apologetically, “But there’s been a question about the
music choices, and I think you need to weigh in.”
    “We
covered this. They can play anything they want, as long as it’s pleasant,
classical, and not associated with those standard wedding pieces.”
    “I
understand that, sir. But I was just listening to one of the pieces they were
practicing, and I think you’d better…”
    “Fine.
I’ll be right down.”
    Since
he was going to see the wedding planner anyway, he grabbed the slim, velvet
necklace box that had been sitting on the table in his room and took it with
him out to the walled garden, where the ceremony was going to take place.
    Emily
had originally suggested that they just get married by a judge at the
courthouse. That certainly would have been easier for all involved, and Paul
would have preferred it, but he wasn’t convinced that was what she really
wanted. If this wedding was supposed to fulfill one of her life’s dreams, then
a quick, no-nonsense union at the courthouse would be a letdown.
    So
he’d suggested a church wedding in the neighborhood, but she said she’d feel
awkward with all her friends and acquaintances present when it wasn’t a real
marriage and they all knew she would die shortly. Then he suggested a couple of
picturesque chapels and gardens in Philadelphia. It was only then that he
discovered what she was really concerned about.
    Part
of her dreams of a wedding was being surrounded by people she loved, and she
wouldn’t have anyone—not one person—that she loved at this wedding. She didn’t
want to walk down