Accident Prone

"Can I offer you a drink?", Roberto asked Angela.

She was not really willing, but the father-daughter dance is half an hour away and until then there is nothing else going on and she didn't have a valid reason to reject Roberto. She could say 'no', and then stand there awkwardly.

The truth was that Angela would love to spend time with Derek, but considering the situation with Ashton, she knew how that was not a good idea.

Angela glanced at Derek and smiled apologetically before responding to Roberto.

"Sure."

They discussed this previously and she knew that Derek will understand how there was nothing going on between her and any other guy (Roberto included). But it didn't make it any easier because every cell in her body screamed for Derek's proximity. She told herself that it's just a drink and nothing more, but she felt like she is cheating on her love.

Derek watched from the side as Angela and Roberto walked to the bar and he pressed his lips into a line. He knew that Angela is being polite to Roberto and that Derek should not interfere unless he wants to attract Ashton's attention and cause trouble, but... This will be more difficult than he thought it will be.

Ashton also saw that Roberto went with Angela to the bar and he frowned.

"Are you worried about Angie?", Sabrina asked Ashton.

Ashton didn't deny it. "She is my baby sister. It's normal that I'm worried if she is in danger of falling for the wrong guy."

Sabrina saw that Ashton was on the verge of going to the bar, and she assumed that he will tell Roberto to scram. "You don't need to worry about Roberto."

"What do you mean?"

Sabrina smiled awkwardly. She knew that she should not talk about Angela and Derek, but she can't allow Ashton to cause a scene here either. Sure, it's not a big deal if two random guys quarrel during a wedding, but Roberto is the bride's half-brother and Ashton is the groom's brother-in-law, so they are not some random people.

"Angie is not a child, Ash. You need to let her experience things. Good and bad. Only like that, she will grow. What will you do when she starts going to college, and all those seniors start inviting her for a coffee? At least here they are in a public place and they can't do more than light flirting.", Sabrina said and pointed with her chin toward the bar. "And look at them. It's obvious that Roberto is trying while Angie is only polite. He is a gentleman so he will not act out of line, and this is a chance for Angie to learn to repel suitors while you observe from the side. If you feel that things are going out of control, you can interfere. If you go there without Angie being in trouble, she will call you overbearing, and she might accept Roberto's advances only to spite you."

Ashton's eyebrow arched in slow motion. He understood this logic. Kids like to be rebellious, and Angela is a kid. He liked the point that Angie is learning to repel guys under Ashton's watchful gaze.

Sabrina saw that Ashton relaxed and she was proud of herself for pacifying her husband, but she didn't know that being married is such hard work. Madeline told her many stories about the challenges of parenting, but she never told her that she will need to watch over her husband as well.

…

During this half an hour long break, Liz, Brianna, Max, and Quentin went to one of the back rooms where security was holding Suzy.

Brianna knew because she was involved, and Max found out because his men held Suzy in custody. Because of Brianna, Quentin tagged along as well, and Liz would not miss it for anything.

They reached the door and Max noticed that only his men are present. What happened with Fabricio's men?

Inside the storage room that had tables and chairs stacked in the back, they found unconscious Suzy on the floor.

Max squatted to get a better view of the woman's face in order to confirm her identity. Brianna said it's Suzy, but Max didn't get a chance to see her. Her nose was broken, and there was a half-dried stream of blood over her face, but he recognized that it's Suzy.

"I did that, with a frying pan.", Brianna said, obviously proud of her handiwork.

"Well, now we know one thing you can do with a pan without torching the kitchen.", Quentin said teasingly and ducked for cover behind Max.

"You torched the kitchen?", Liz asked Brianna while struggling to keep a straight face.

Brianna pouted. "It was a one-time thing, but he will keep on bringing it up until the day we die."

Brianna didn't want to chase after Quentin, but her glare told him that she will get back at him for this. It's not her fault that she is not a master chef. It was their monthiversary, and Brianna wanted to surprise Quentin with heart-shaped donuts she personally made with love... but the oil was too hot and it splattered and caught on fire and… it was not her fault! Luckily, only one wall got charred because Quentin arrived and he swiftly covered the burning pan with a lid that cut off the oxygen and the fire died out. But Quentin brings that incident up whenever he gets a chance. He is lucky that she loves him and that he is a good lover, otherwise, she would punish him... somehow.

One of the guys from Max's security stood in front of others, and it was obvious that he was the leader. When Max looked his way, the man started with his report.

"She didn't wake up since we brought her here. The documents confirm that this is Suzanne Gorman. We found one female server in the broom closet on the West side of the building. She was in her underwear, and there was a gown next to her. She was non-responsive and we suspected drugs; the ambulance took her to the hospital five minutes ago."

All this confirmed their previous suspicion, how Suzy pretended to be a server. Their first thought was that Suzy snuck in as staff, but now it seemed that she arrived here in some other way and attacked the server in order to get her clothes.

"Do we know what she was doing in the kitchen?", Max asked.

"We are not sure at this point.", the man responded. "We took a sample of the cocktail from the trash and we have her clothes and purse. We found several unmarked pills in the lining of her purse, but the tests are still pending. Also, her phone is on its way to Ian, and he will try to retrieve her call logs. We will let you know as soon as we get results back."

They all suspected that Suzy was spiking drinks, but they didn't want to rush to conclusions without evidence. There is also a question if she acted alone. However, alone or with someone else, considering Suzy's history with stalking Hunter, her presence at this wedding can't be good.

"Do we know how she got in?", Quentin asked.

The man nodded, happy that finally has some solid information. "She came as a date with Julian Temple. He is at the table in his seat and we have cameras following him. Other than looking for his date, there was nothing unusual so far."

"Do you think that he is involved as well?", Liz asked Max.

"I don't know.", Max admitted. "But we will keep an eye on him, just in case."

"Take her to the safehouse and keep on watching for anything suspicious...", Max instructed his men and two of them grabbed Suzy's arms, while one got her legs before they started carrying her away.

Max was surprised that Fabricio's men are not present. Well, it's not that he is missing them, but they should be aware of the incident.

They all know how this is a very important event for Fabricio, and they decided to keep him in the dark and use Roberto as their main contact.

All teams have strict instructions to observe and unless there is an immediate danger, only to report and to await further orders.

What they don't know is that before the ceremony, when Roberto went to check on his men, he completed one round and confirmed that everything is in order. After that, he turned off his Bluetooth communicator and put his phone on silent. He didn't want to be disturbed during the ceremony with a thought how if it's anything dangerous, his men will handle it without him, and if it's not dangerous, it can wait. And then he got Angela to accept his invitation for a drink, so he didn't check his messages or turn on devices.

That is why Roberto has no idea that an intruder (aka Suzy) was caught in the kitchen and taken away, while one drugged staff member is on her way to the hospital.

Well, he will find out, eventually.

Quentin and Brianna went to join the party, and Liz and Max waited to confirm that Suzy is covertly loaded in the back of the van and on her way to the safe house.

"Will you tell Hunter about this?", Liz asked Max.

Max confirmed. "When the first dance and the cake-cutting are over."

Liz knew that after those two events, it's only food and a party without anything particular that puts a spotlight on the bride and the groom. But… "You don't think it will spoil the mood?"

Max looked at Liz with a complex expression. "It will but… Imagine that this is our wedding and the woman who got caught messing in the kitchen was Irene. Would you like to know about it?"

Liz's eyes widened in slow motion when she realized that she would definitely want to know about it. Actually, knowing that Irene tried to sabotage them and failed, and that Liz gets to deliver punishment personally would bring her a certain dose of gratification.

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