Bad Guys Don't Win (Janet Maple Series Book 4) (19 page)

Janet took a deep breath as she looked
at her reflection in the mirror. Three months ago, she thought this day would
never come. But here it was—in a few minutes she’d be walking down the aisle to
become Mrs. Dennis Walker.

All of her married girlfriends had
warned her about the wedding jitters, but she’d never imagined she’d feel like
this—butterflies were flying up a storm in her stomach. It was bad luck to see
the groom the day of your wedding, and she hadn’t seen Dennis since the early morning
of the day before. They had spent the night under separate roofs—Janet had
stayed with her parents, while Dennis had stayed at their new apartment—and had
been apart all day. Now, she wished she could just have one quick moment with
him—one look into his eyes, one glimpse of his smile would be enough to wipe
her worries away.

“Let me have a look at my beautiful
daughter.” Janet’s mother dabbed her eyes with a tissue. “You look absolutely
stunning my dear,” she added. “Dennis is one lucky man.”

“Do you really think so?” Janet asked.

“Oh, yes, this dress looks like it was
made for you. But what am I saying? It was made for you!” As a wedding present
for Janet, Philip had his friend, Alexandro Caron, an up-and-coming designer
who had just sold his entire line to Bergdorf and Goodman, design a custom
wedding gown for Janet. The waiting list was almost a year long, but Janet got
her dress in less than three months.

“I wasn’t talking about the dress, Mom,
although it is beautiful.” Janet eyed the delicate strapless bodice lined with
countless pearls and the beautiful silk crinoline skirt that cascaded to the
floor in heavy ivory folds. Initially she’d wanted to go for something much
more simple, like a Grecian tunic, but when she saw the sketch Alexandro had
designed, she couldn’t resist. “I was talking about Dennis,” Janet added
quietly.

“Of course he’s lucky to have you.” Her
mom smiled. “He’s told me so himself.”

“He did? You never told me.”

“That’s right, I didn’t because I didn’t
think it necessary. But seeing that you’re getting the wedding jitters, I’m
going to tell you now. It was the night when you came over for dinner to tell
us about the wedding reception. As I was doing the dishes after dinner, Dennis
came to help and told me he was the happiest man alive to be marrying you and
that he would always take care of you.”

“He said that?”

“I’m quoting. He also told me how sorry
he was your wedding got derailed because of that crazy Kovar case and that he
was never going to let work get in the way again. ‘Being with Janet is the one,
most important thing in my life,’ he’d said.”

Janet felt tears welling up in her eyes.
She was truly a nervous wreck today. “I can’t believe he said that. That’s just
so—”

“Sweet and wonderful,” Janet’s mother
finished the sentence for her. “He really is a very nice young man. I know the
two of you are going to be very happy together.”

“I know,” Janet said quietly. “This is
what I have always wanted. What I’ve been dreaming of since I was fifteen—to
fall in love and to have this fairy-tale wedding.” Janet smiled wistfully
remembering her teenage dreams. As a family, the Maples used to frequent the
Bronx Botanical Gardens, and the wonderful green retreat became her favorite
place for life. She’d always dreamed of getting married there, surrounded by
flowers and trees. Now that the day was finally here, she could hardly believe
Dennis Walker was waiting for her at the altar of roses and lilies, just as she
had always imagined it to be.

“It’s just that now that it’s here, it
all feels so much larger than life. I’m scared I’m going to wake up and it’s
going to vanish, like a dream.”

Her mom drew her into a hug. “I know,
honey. Every bride feels like that on her wedding day. Actually, I should
rephrase myself, only the most luckiest, happiest of brides feel this way on
their wedding day. It means you really love your future husband.”

“I know. I’m just so happy it makes me
almost scared.”

“Happiness is nothing to be scared of.
But then neither are the hard times because when you know you have the man you
love by your side, who loves you just as much as you love him, there’s nothing
the two of you won’t be able to handle together.”

Janet nodded. “That’s something I’m
definitely sure of.” And she really was. If anything, the past few months had
proved she and Dennis could make it to hell and back and still come out in one
piece.

Forget the Kovars, even a deadly
underworld czar like Ed Pierce who made the roughest criminals shake in their
boots, was no obstacle to Janet and Dennis’s wedding. The verdicts for Edward
Pierce, Petr Kovar, and Roman Kovar had been announced last week. Edward Pierce
would be serving a life sentence in one of the highest security prisons in the
country. Petr Kovar had also been given a life sentence. His nephew Roman had
received a sentence of twenty years. Anton Kovar had received a reduced
sentence of five years in exchange for his cooperation with the authorities. Of
all the Kovars, Anton was the only one who’d earned redemption. Yes, he’d done
horrible things, but he’d done them out of stupidity rather than malice. Anton
had also helped capture Ed Pierce, who’d been on the FBI’s most wanted list for
over a decade, exposing a corrupt U.S. Marshal in the process. Tom Burke was
still being investigated for his collusion with Ed Pierce, with the verdict to
be announced shortly. The investigation had uncovered fake dental records Burke
had planted to falsify the Kovars’ death, but there were many more instances of
crimes Burke had committed while serving Pierce that were still being unveiled.

At first Mila had balked at Anton’s
sentence and Philip had threatened a private lawsuit to challenge the verdict,
but an apology from Anton had convinced them to change their minds. Anton begged
for forgiveness and said that as soon as his sentence was done, his only wish
was to reunite with Jess and move to a quiet countryside. Jess was in steady
recovery and as devoted to Anton as ever. She swore to visit him as often as
she’d be allowed and to wait for him faithfully until his release. Philip had
been outraged by Anton’s plea, but Mila decided to forgive Anton and convinced
Philip to let it go. After all, Philip had forgiven Mila for her past, and she
thought it right to forgive Anton—she said she could finally sleep at night and
wanted to put the past behind her.

Janet and Dennis had truly managed to
pull it off—get the bad guys off the street and still have a dream wedding that
would’ve taken at least a year to plan had it not been for Philip Barrett’s
influential connections and Janet’s very dedicated and efficient wedding
planner. Everything had come together so perfectly, it was enough to make her
cry with happiness.

“Janet, are those tears I see in your
eyes?” Her mom gently lifted Janet’s face with her hand. “There’s no crying on
my watch—not even happy tears. You’ll ruin your beautiful makeup and that
makeup lady spent so much effort getting it just so.”

“I know.” Janet smiled, willing the
tears away. “I’m just being silly. I guess I’m not much for ceremonies after
all. Dennis was right—maybe we should’ve eloped.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t because I
wanted to see my beautiful daughter on the most happiest day of her life.”

“Mom! You’re going to make me cry
again.”

“No, I’m not. Come on, it’s almost time.
Stand up and take a couple of steps. Your dad will be here at any moment to
walk you down the aisle.”

Just then there was a knock on the door.
“Janet, you’re decent?”

Janet didn’t get a chance to reply
before wedding planner, Irene, and her friends, Katie and Lisa, swarmed the
room. Mila concluded the procession. “We just wanted to stop by and wish you
well,” Mila said shyly as she closed the door behind them.

“All ready to go?” Janet’s matron of
honor, Katie, asked. They had been friends since law school and Janet had been
the maid of honor at Katie’s wedding.

“Almost.” Janet touched her veil
nervously. “How does it look out there?”

“Marvelous, simply marvelous,” Irene
said proudly. “I planned a number of weddings in my day, but this has got to be
the best of them all. And everything got pulled together on such short notice!
A wedding in the Botanical Gardens planned in three months! I tell you, I
deserve a medal for this.”

“And Philip,” Janet added quietly. Had
it not been for Philip’s high-powered connections, Dennis and Janet wouldn’t
have been able to get on the Gardens’ calendar so quickly.

Mila smiled. “Philip was happy to help.”

“It’s good to have friends in high
places.” Irene winked. “Wait a minute here, what’s this huge rock I see on your
finger?” Mila tried to pull her hand away, but Irene would have none of it.
“Let’s see it.”

“Irene, you got eyes like a hawk.” Mila
reluctantly held up her hand. “I guess the cat is out of the bag now—Philip
proposed this morning. I’m sorry, Janet. I didn’t want to spoil your day,” she
added quietly.

“Spoil my day? Why would you say that?
I’m so happy for you!” Janet drew Mila into a hug. They had gotten close over
the past months and Mila even hosted Janet’s bachelorette party at the recently
re-opened Amy and Mila’s. Rather than rebuilding the old building, Mila and Amy
decided to open in a new location and start fresh. “You and Philip are made for
each other.”

“I got dibs on planning the wedding,”
Irene cut in.

“You’ve done a great job with Janet’s,
so I don’t see why not,” Mila replied. “But today is Janet’s day.”

“Yes, sorry. I just got overexcited,”
Irene apologized.

“No need to apologize. If anything, I’m
happy to share the attention,” Janet replied. “I think I’ve had just about all
the attention I can handle for the day.”

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Irene exclaimed.
“The
Vanity Fair
photographer just got here. Isn’t it amazing?”

“
Vanity Fair
?” Janet gulped.
“Where did that come from?”

“They’re doing a profile on Alexandro
and wanted to feature the dress he designed for you. It was all very last
minute. Alexandro asked my permission of course, and I saw no reason why you’d
object,” Irene said brightly. “It’s every bride’s dream to be featured in a
major fashion magazine.”

Janet felt woozy. This was all getting a
bit much. “But what about Dennis? What did he say?”

“He was totally fine with it,” Irene
assured her. “He’s doing great—his best man is taking good care of him,” Irene
alluded to Peter Laskin who was as diligent in his best man duties as he was in
everything else. After everything they’d been through, Dennis decided to make
Laskin his best man and Janet thought he couldn’t have chosen better.

Janet threw a helpless glance at her
friends. “This wedding is starting to get a life of its own. Maybe Dennis was
right. Maybe we should’ve eloped.”

“Everything is going to be fine, Janet.”
Lisa gave her a careful hug, not to rumple Janet’s dress, and squeezed her
hand. She and Janet had been friends since high school. Their friendship had
been rocky at times, and they had been through some crazy things together, but
in the end they still managed to remain friends. “You’re marrying Dennis today
and that’s the only thing that matters. Trust me—I know what I’m talking about.
I’m an old married lady, remember?” Lisa quipped, alluding to her happy
marriage to her husband, Paul. “Just wait till you have kids—that’s when the
going gets tough. Now I’m just a stay-at-home boring mom.”

Janet laughed. “A boring stay at home
mom who helps her husband run a very successful marketing company.” Since she’d
had the baby, Lisa changed career paths and now worked from home, helping her
husband run his successful marketing firm. “And you look great, by the way, but
I’m sure you already knew that, so quit fishing for compliments.” Less than a
year after the birth of her son, Lisa was in just as great a shape as she’d
been before the baby.

Lisa waved her hand dismissively. “I’m
so busy taking care of the baby—I don’t have time to eat. Skip is a tyrant—an
absolute tyrant,” she quipped. “I bet he’s driving his babysitter crazy right
now.”

“Skip’s the cutest tyrant I’ve ever
seen.” Janet had a soft spot for Lisa’s nine-month-old son and always brought
him a little something special whenever she visited. “I’m so glad you and Paul could
be here today,” she added.

“We wouldn’t have missed it for the
world,” Lisa said.

Katie touched Janet’s shoulder. “We’re
all here for you, Janet.”

Janet took a deep breath. “I guess it’s
time to get going.” She slipped her feet into her wedding shoes—an intricate
creation of lace and satin with elaborate lace bows at the back of the shoes,
making them look like a pair of wings. Janet rose to her feet and felt herself
tilt in the three inch heels. “I can’t believe I let Alexandro talk me into
these shoes. How am I going to walk down the aisle?”

“You’re not. You’re going to float there
on the wings of love,” her mom was quick to comfort her. “Come on, honey, I’ve
seen you rock these shoes in your room—you were the picture of elegance and
grace.”