He motioned for Brady to follow him but not before pausing long enough to give a warning.

“And, Brady? If you hurt my sister again, you’re going to feel the wrath of every De Carlo, living and from beyond the grave, coming for you. Understood?”

Brady knew a promise when he heard it.

“Understood.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

Mary and Rebecca Saunders had three hundred wedding guests. It was one of the largest Sloane had seen at the Jane Hopper Estate, droves of well-dressed people pouring over from the main hall where the ceremony was held and into the grand room where the reception had taken place.

It was a nice wedding. Fun, too. Even the head chef in charge of the food, one of her bosses, Raphael, had commended the event as a favorite. He’d even gotten a bit misty-eyed when, before the bride and bride walk-out, both sets of parents had decided to give one last toast.

Sloane had expected the sight would hurt her a little. But she’d surprised herself.

She smiled at how much love was in the room and was one of the first to clap when they were done.

Now, an hour or so later, Sloane was back in the main hall. She had a trash bag in her hand but was staring at the metal archway still standing at the end of the room.

She sighed. She had a lot of hopes of what came next. She hoped that soon she could become co-owners with Mrs. Baker at the florist shop, finally owning that piece of her comfort. After that, she hoped she had the courage to bite the bullet and start her own event-planning business. One where, unlike the florist shop or her odd jobs now, she would be the sole boss. The one who built something from nothing and watched it grow.

That is, if her brand-new literary agent could sell her blog as a book to help make both dreams a reality. Now that it had an ending, Rizzie had said she was almost positive she could. Especially since it had ended with a twist.

The Girl Who Said Nothing wasn’t a chronicle of a girl too afraid to tell a boy she loved him. It was the journey of a girl who had been too afraid to love at all. But then that girl had become a woman. One who’d finally let herself fall for someone. To connect.

Even if it hadn’t turned into a happily ever after.

“You took a chance, and it didn’t work out,” Rizzie had said after Sloane came clean to her about lying. “That’s all any of us can do, and that will be something everyone can relate to.”