“I just got here. I didn’t even go home, came straight here.” Sal raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on with you? I heard you bolted out of here like a maniac.”
Alex frowned. He didn’t even want to think about it anymore. “Someone tried forcing their way into Valerie’s apartment. I’ll tell you about it another time. That shit’s giving me a headache.”
“She okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. Shaken up, but fine.”
Sal studied him for a moment, then spun his chair around to face the computer again. “Is this really the guest list for the wedding? Good Lord!”
Alex sat down on a chair near the door and leaned his head against the wall. “Yep, that’s it. Mom and Pop are nuts. Sarah only has her mom and one aunt. Angel said they have a couple of her friends coming down from Arizona and a few local ones. The rest are all our side.”
“You sure you ordered enough food?”
“Yeah, the list is on that same file. Everything for the wedding is.” He watched as Sal clicked open some of the other files.
“Damn, Alex. When did you do all this?”
Alex leaned his head back again, rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. “I started when pop said he wanted the wedding here. You know how he can be. I had a feeling this thing was going to turn into a circus.”
“Dude, you have graphs for the seating arrangements?”
Without opening his eyes, Alex chuckled before responding. “Mom and her sisters? C’mon—we all know who’s gonna snap and who’s not. I had to keep things under control.”
“Seriously, Alex, I’m impressed. I’ve hated every computer class I’ve taken so far. I just don’t have the patience. This is something else.”
Alex took a deep breath, still keeping his eyes closed. Deep inside, though he’d never admit it, there was a part of him that still delighted in impressing his older, much more anal brother. “The software does it all, Sal. It’s not rocket science.”
Sal didn’t respond. Alex opened one eye and saw Sal still clicking through all the hours of work he’d put into organizing this wedding.
“Has Angel seen this?”
Alex sat up, remembering all the work he still had to do. Valerie’s incident had thrown his whole day off. “I dunno. He’s been busy trying to find a place for his restaurant.” He stood up checking his phone just in case. “Oh, I meant to ask you. You bringing anyone to the wedding?”
Sal turned to look at him. “Probably not.”
“What happened to that Melissa chick?”
Sal shook his head and turned back to the computer. “She’s too damn… everything.”
“What does that mean?”
“Too swank. Too in-your-face sexy. Too outspoken.” He turned back to Alex. “I might’ve been able to live with all that. It’s when she got too pushy that really did it.”
Alex smiled curiosity getting the best of him. “How so?”
Sal shrugged. “She knew we weren’t exclusive. I made it clear from the beginning, and she said she was okay with that.” He shook his head. “Somehow she got into my place one night, made dinner and was waiting for me in her birthday suit when I walked in.”
Alex lifted an eyebrow. “Sounds good to me.”
Sal spun around and faced the computer again. “Yeah, it would’ve been if my date hadn’t been with me.”
Alex burst out laughing.
“Yeah, laugh it up,” Sal said without turning around. “It still doesn’t top your tutor story.”
The remark didn’t lessen Alex’s laughter. He walked out the office still laughing. Knowing how proper Sal always strived to be only made the visual of him walking into that with a date even funnier. Sal muttered something under his breath, but Alex heard him chuckle as well. Today of all days, he needed the laugh. Thankful for the break in his mood he threw himself back into his work.
CHAPTER 22
The restaurant was a madhouse on the eve of the wedding. Food and supplies rolled in all day. Angel opened the place, helping with the set up of the banquet room. Certain things like the dance floor and the stage set up he wanted done just so. It was his wedding, so Alex watched and let him have at it. In a way he a was a little surprised Angel didn’t seem nervous at all. Then again, Angel had been sure since he’d met Sarah back in high school that she was the one. The only reason they’d waited this long was because they both wanted to finish school first.
As if the wedding preparations alone weren’t enough to make things hectic, Sal arranged for the pay-per-view heavyweight champion fight to be watched at the bar that very evening. He mentioned doing a little promoting on the internet. Alex now knew what was behind the sly grin when Sal had told him. The place was already packed. The main fight wouldn’t even start for another hour.
Alex should’ve known when Sal mentioned he’d hired a couple of Romero’s guys to make sure things stayed under control. They’d never needed security before, but the bar area was already nearing capacity and customers were still arriving. Romero was there, throwing a few back. He said he was off duty, but Alex could see he was doing more looking out than drinking.
Valerie, Isabel and Sofia had taken Sarah out for dinner and some drinks. They assured Angel it wasn’t a bachelorette party. More of a dinner and girl talk the last night before the big day. Alex told Valerie it sounded an awful lot like a bachelorette party to him. She just laughed and promised it wasn’t.