Sleight of hand the king.., p.24
Sleight of Hand (The Kings: Wild Cards Book 3),
p.24
“I think the groom is getting antsy,” Jack said from behind Joker, leaning forward to speak quietly.
“Is that what we’re calling it?” Joker murmured, studying the lanky blond man with wild hair. He was some kind of artist or something.
Lucky tapped Ace on the shoulder. “Bro, did he just pull out his phone? At the altar?”
“Yep, it would seem so. I’d also like to point out that his phone case has a giant seashell on it. How did that even fit in his pocket?”
“What’s he doing?” Gio asked. “Is he on a video call?”
“I think he’s filming himself,” Jack replied.
“What’s his name?” Leo asked, and Ace handed Leo the wedding program containing all the information about the grooms.
Leo tapped away at his phone. “He’s talking to his social media followers. Yikes. That’s not very nice.”
“What’d he say?”
Joker cringed. That was King’s not-happy voice.
“He’s pissed off with Gage and saying how selfish he is, and how can he do this on his wedding day.”
Joker frowned. His wedding day? Last time he checked, weddings involved two people. “Why is your cousin marrying this guy? He doesn’t seem like Gage’s type.”
“I don’t know, to be honest.” King let out a weary sigh. “They’ve been on and off again for a long time, and every time I thought Gage was going to move on for good, his boyfriend would reel him back in.”
A ginormous older man in a white linen suit approached the groom. He had to be the father, because the two had the same blond hair, blue eyes, and cat’s-ass sour lips expression. Glancing around the space, people started to murmur and whisper among themselves; some of them glared in their direction. Joker narrowed his eyes at one guy who’d made the mistake of glaring at him, and the guy quickly darted his gaze somewhere else.
It was probably best if Joker didn’t look over there. He leaned into Ace. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For having a wedding with solid ground and no dead sea trees for seating.”
Ace chuckled. “You’re welcome.”
“My ass is getting numb,” Lucky muttered.
“Um, Ward?” Leo tugged on King’s sleeve. “I think your cousin is trying to get your attention.”
Joker turned, along with the rest of them, and sure enough, Gage was frantically waving at King from the small white tent on the patio. What the hell was going on?
Ace craned his neck. “Is Gage wearing a suit made of… seashells?”
“What the fuck?” Joker had to press his lips together to keep from laughing, because if he started laughing, he wasn’t going to stop.
“I’m very concerned,” Gio told Joker. “I hope the shells have been cleaned out properly.”
Ace tapped Joker’s shoulder. “Um… is it just me, or does that look like a claw?”
“Where?”
“By his crotch.”
“Why are you staring at his crotch?” Joker teased.
“I wasn’t staring at his crotch. Something dark moved, and it caught my eye. It happened to be in the vicinity of his crotch.” Ace squinted. “I think it’s a claw.” He turned his attention to King. “Wait, doesn’t your cousin have one of those weird aversions to crustaceans?”
“Really?” King grumbled. “You can’t remember to order normal sticky notes at work instead of neon pink, but you remember my cousin’s aversion to crustaceans?”
“It’s not that I can’t remember; I just choose not to.”
Before King could reply, Colton smartly jumped in. “King, maybe you should go check on your cousin. Make sure he’s okay.”
King stood and made his way toward the tent, then disappeared inside with his cousin. Something had to be going on. The wedding should have started by now. Maybe Gage was having wardrobe issues. Who the fuck knew? Maybe if Gage’s fiancé went to talk to his soon-to-be-husband instead of ranting on social media, this whole thing would resolve quicker and they could get to the eating and drinking part of the day.
What seemed like a lifetime later, King returned, and judging by the look on his face, it would be an interesting day.
“What’s going on?” Ace asked.
“There’s a bit of a situation.”
Shit. Were they going to need equipment? Was it a security issue? “What is it?” Joker asked, ready to spring into action.
King met his gaze, his expression somber.
“We’ve got a runaway groom.”
Coming soon, Aisle Be There, book one in the new Runaway Grooms series on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.
What happened during Joker and Gio’s bachelor auction date? Check out the bonus scene here: https://readerlinks.com/l/1869833
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Thank you so much for reading Sleight of Hand, the thirds book in The Kings: Wild Cards series. I hope you enjoyed Joker and Gio’s story, and if you did, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Reviews can have a significant impact on a book’s visibility on Amazon, so any support you show these fellas would be amazing. Coming soon, Aisle Be There, the first book in the upcoming Runaway Grooms series, part of the Four Kings Security Universe on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.
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ALSO BY CHARLIE COCHET
Shifter Scoundrels Series
Co-written with Macy Blake
FOUR KINGS SECURITY UNIVERSE SERIES
Four King Security
Four Kings Security Boxed Set
Black Ops: Operation Orion’s Belt
The Kings: Wild Cards
Runaway Grooms
THIRDS UNIVERSE SERIES
THIRDS
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THIRDS: Rebels
TIN
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OTHER SERIES
Paranormal Princes
Soldati Hearts Series
North Pole City Tales Series
DID YOU KNOW?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charlie Cochet is the international bestselling author of the THIRDS series. Born in Cuba and raised in the US, Charlie enjoys the best of both worlds, from her daily Cuban latte to her passion for classic rock.
Currently residing in Central Florida, Charlie is at the beck and call of a highly opinionated sable German Shepherd and a rascally Doxiepoo bent on world domination. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found devouring a book, releasing her creativity through art, or binge watching a new TV series. She runs on coffee, thrives on music, and loves to hear from readers.
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