"What's really going on Sean? What happened from the car ride where we were joking until we landed and now she looks like a zombie?"

"Too much drama with Shae and the crew, maybe it's wedding jitters? Possibly she's feeling the affects of Aries's attacked, that motherfuc...Hell I don't know, maybe she's premenstrual."

"What can I do to help?"

"You've done more than enough. Hooking this up means a lot to me."

"What are friends for? I consider you and Lizzy true family. I'm y'alls biggest fan."

"I know and we both appreciate it."

There was knock on the door. I called for whoever to come in. It was Harold and another gentleman.

"Bernie my man," Jarreau said walking up to an elderly man shaking his hand. He said something to Jarreau in french and he turned his attention to me.

"Sean this is Bernie, the jeweler extraordinaire. He is the owner of Exquisite Gems, located downstairs."

"Hello," I said shaking his hand.

"Hey Bernie have a seat, I need to talk to my boy for a minute." Jarreau looked at me signaling for me to walk in the bathroom with him.

"You look worried Sean and it's not attractive brother. Talk."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she bailed out. She calls this a shotgun wedding." I sat down on the lip of the jacuzzi tub.

"She won't. That girl loves you too death. That whole Aries thing probably is starting to sink in. Just give her a minute to get herself together."

"Maybe you're right."

"I am. Now pick out a ring so we can get this wedding started."

We walked back out and I sat in the other high back chair across from Bernie.

"Mr. Jarreau told me to bring the best, and that money was no object," the old man slowly said trying to sound clearly through his thick accent. "I've brought you some of my prize jewels and if you do not see what you want, I can still accommodate." He pressed in a sequence of numbers on a black case and it opened. Inside were rows of his and her wedding bands. Bands of gold, platinum, diamonds, palladium, titanium, tungsten, sterling with Argentium silver, stainless steel, ceramic and cobalt with chrome.

"What kind of ring does your future bride have now?"

"A platinum, eight carat princess cut blue sapphire with diamonds."

"Beautiful stone and very rare to have platinum and blue sapphire. A man with great taste, the lady should be happy. Let's see what I have."

I examined a few and found the perfect one. It was a simple platinum band with three carats of diamond going around. "I'll take this one."

"As you wish." Bernie shined it up, signed the authenticity papers and placed it in a box. We shook hands and he left. I stared down at the ring, twisting it back and forth.

"Okay you're suppose to be happy, happy, happy. You're marrying your dream girl and you looking like you lost your bestfriend."

"She's right this is crazy J."

"What's really going on. Something got you all messed up in the head. Maybe you're the one with the wedding jitters. Talk to me man I swear whatever you tell me won't leave this room."

"Sam told us how Michael, Shae, Aries, Ausef and that doctor was planning to get to me. Shae's pretending to have my baby, Michael is bankrolling her and she works for him blackmailing and setting clients up. Ausef is singing like a bird saying it was a scheme especially when Michael paid him off so they could bring in this doctor, Kevin Lewis, that works with Sam and Alanna's mom foundation who is selling babies."

"This shit is crazy man." He put his hands on his hips pacing.

"Exactly." I told him everything Sam had shared and his mouth opened and closed, opened again and slowly closed."

"These mofos done lost their rabbitass minds. Payback is coming. Aries mad because she chose you over him. I swear if tootsie roll pop head was here I would bite it off, chew it up and swallow it just so I could shit him out only to see it flushing down the toilet."

"TMI, broham."

"I'm just saying." He sat next to me.

"I swear a bruh work hard everyday, making that paper and these scavengers want a piece. Have they heard of working, paying taxes and making their own way? No they try to suck everything out of you and when there's nothing left they move on to the next. This group needs to be stopped and exposed. I agree with Sam, lets get em. Did I ever tell you I played Othello in college?"

"No J."

He cleared his throat getting off the bed and said, "Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, is the immediate jewel of their souls: who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 'twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;

but he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed."

"The meaning is..."

Jarreau rolled his eyes at me walking towards me. I hunched my shoulders. "I didn't take the class in high school or college duh."

"You need a little Shakespeare in your life Sean. Definitely should be on your Christmas wish list, I'll make a mental note of that. Anyway having a good name or reputation is highly valued. When you lose your good name, no one will trust you. Basically what Othello is saying is, that when anyone damages your character or reputation by spreading falsehoods about you, the damage caused will be totally on you. It will not necessarily damage the person who spread falsehoods about you, unless of course they are discovered and brought to account. In life, all we have that is lasting is our reputation and good character to get us through life, therefore we should jealously guard it from contamination. So you see I can understand where Sam is coming from. Let's take these mofos down, I'm withcha all the way in."

"Lizzy thinks it's too much and sitting back thinking about it maybe she's right."

"Do you want to get revenge?"

"I thought about it. I even told her it could be fun but I don't know, tensions are just high."

"Dude did you not see how Lizzy won the Beat-A-Hoe contest. Shae was lucky you got there before she finished. Maybe you're right, that Aries's John Cena move may have taken her off her game, but just maybe a little motivation can get her steam back. I swear I want to choke Pinhead. I feel like that big brother ready to fight for his sister's honor."

"Get in line."

My phone started to ring, looking down it was Thomas, my detective friend. I swiped and put it on speaker.

"Thomas I have you on speaker with Jarreau." I stopped as there was a knock on the door. "Come in." It was Sam.

"I also have Sam here, he's a friend of mine. He's an intelligence officer."

"I have some bad news Sean."

"What is it?"

"A young lady's body has been found at the stadium where Lizzy was. There were two phones next to her body. One was identified as the victims and the other was in a white case. There were initials of ESJ, in script with a medical symbol on it."

I closed my eyes. "It's Lizzy's."

"I was hoping it wasn't. It's dead and password protected so they won't be able to get in it. Where is she, I need to talk to her?"

"In another room. We are getting married."

"Excuse me?"

"We are getting married in a few minutes. My idea not hers."

"Oh gawd." I could him cussing under his breath.

"Is the woman dead?"

"I don't know. She was taken out in a ambulance."

"Please tell me I'm living a bad nightmare? Please someone wake me up."

"I don't think she did it. Liz had admitted to losing her phone so maybe the real perpetrator planted it near the body which happens to be Aries's ex-fiancé."

I put my head down and took a deep breath. Jarreau put his hand on my shoulder.

"He did it. I bet you my salary that picklehead maniac did it. I bet he was playing her. Lizzy was the invited guest and she wasn't. She was probably going to tell Lizzy all the dirt she had on him and he had to stop her. Yep, chic got jealous. He had to shut her down so he probably attacked her like he did Lizzy," Jarreau said in a huff.

Thomas said, "that maybe so but Lizzy needs to explain her side especially with her cellphone being found next to the body."

Sam spoke up. "Thomas I will bring her in..."

"The hell you are!" I jumped up in Sam's face and he stood there unfazed almost dismissing me. Staring at me for a moment he returned his attention back to my phone.

"I'm friends with Derek Morreau, the chief of Atlanta police. As soon as the wedding is over, she and I will head down there and get this mess cleared up. Thomas can you keep this under wraps until we get there?"

"Yes, but you need to come as soon as possible. Aries was taken into custody for choking Liz and I also have a feeling he might have something to do with his ex's trauma. I'm sure he's playing the innocent ex-lover part. Hopefully the police can see right through him."

"She's not going," I said. "I will not let her go without me."

"Sean the sooner she comes forward, the quicker we can clear this up," Thomas said on the other end of the line.

"Not without me."

"Sean, I swear I will bring her back to you. I will make sure her innocence is proven and those assholes gets what's coming to them. You have my word on that." I noticed something sinister in Sam's eyes that sent a chill through me.

"I will be the one to tell her." I rubbed my hand down my face.

"The good thing is that the couple that helped Lizzy has been identified." I could hear Thomas flipping through papers.

"Who were they?"

"Runningback Brandon Yates and his wife Charlene."

"Oh Brandon Yates, I know him," Jarreau said. "We played in an Allstar game together and he's Aries's teammate. Remember I introduced you to him at my birthday party?"

"Yeah, I remember his wife played basketball in college."

"That's the one."

"Do you have his number?" I asked.

He pulled out his phone scrolling down his numbers. "Here."

I took the phone and hit the green talk button. The phone rang but it went to voicemail. I didn't leave a message.

"I don't have any more news for now. Look I will call you back if I hear anything else."

"Okay Thomas thanks." I hung up.

"This can't be happening." I heard myself say. If I told her now, this wedding would be over immediately but I couldn't keep this from her. We would just roll with the punches.

There was a knock on the door. "Sean, it's Mary."

"Come in."

Lizzy's mom walked in wearing a beige sequin draped dress. Very appropriate for a wedding. She looked nervous and concerned. I'm sure this was the part where she says, "oh Sean sweetie by the way my daughter couldn't do it, so she ran away."

"I'm worried about Lizzy. She seems out of it for some reason. She left the room to get some water and she came back looking ill and crying. I'm not sure if it's nerves or stress."

"Let me talk to her." Jarreau said buttoning up his tuxedo jacket.

"Jarreau..."

"Sean I think I can help her."

"She's, I don't know. Maybe this was a mistake. I've pressured her and I shouldn't have. Maybe I shouldn't have suggested this wedding so soon."

"Shouldn't, wouldn't, couldn't please. Boy I'm about to slap you. Shut the hell up and let me handle this."

I began to pace.

"Put your clothes on and let your best man handle this. I will get her down that aisle."

"Don't force her. I don't want her having regrets. I've pushed enough."

"I gotchu. I think I'm the one with the degree in sociology slash counseling. I think I can handle this a lot better than you, no offense. Let your trusted knight bring you your queen. Don't you trust me?" He smirked and all I could do was shake my head.

"Fine. Just don't tell her about this."

"I won't."

I knocked on her door. "Lizzy it's Jarreau, can I come in?"

"Sure," I heard her say from behind the door.

I walked in to see a beautiful woman that was breathtaking. She was adjusting the veil on top of her head as I stood there.

"How do I look?" She turned around to face me.

"Gorgeous, beautiful, breathtaking." Her hair was pinned up with waterfall curls on both sides. She was rocking diamond earrings along with a drop platinum encrusted diamond necklace making her charm bracelet shine. Her makeup was natural highlighting her dazzling eyes and flawless skin and no purple or black marks could be seen around her neck. She could have been a centerfold for any bridal magazine.

"So you think Sean would approve?" She looked sad as she asked the question. She seemed to be brushing imaginative wrinkles from the skirting of the dress.

"You could be buttass naked, with a balloon head, zits, a pimp mama cane and speak with a lisp and he would marry you with the biggest smile on his face. But on a serious note, you could change your mind and just marry me." She laughed walking around sitting on the bed.

"I have enough drama in my life."

"Girl let me turn that frown upside down. Look I have a surprise."

"You have done more than enough. Thank you. When Sean said a chapel I thought about an Elvis impersonator doing the hubhuba with that ugly white costume on with iridescent sequins blinding us by the light."

I laughed. "I would have ripped him a new one. He talking about being the greatest, I would have had the whole team talking about his punkass. Do you know how many jokes we could have come up with? He would be coming home to you pissed off and looking like a sad little puppy."

"He's like your brother. You wouldn't have done that."

"Shhhiiitttt, want to bet? He would be incognito until he did it right, but we still would have jokes. That's what families do. Look, it's just not me but the team thinks you two are perfect for each other. It's a win win situation."

She remained quiet which was definitely not the Lizzy I knew.

I passed her the small black box that I had Harold to get for her. "Here just consider it a wedding gift, believe me it's one thousand times better than my normal wedding gifts."

"And what do you normally give?"

"Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Close your eyes."

She did and I said, "what do you see?"

"Nothing."

"Exactly."

She laughed.

"Come on open it."

"What is it?" she asked shaking it.

"I don't know."

She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Seriously, I don't know. Y'all kinda sprung this on me at the last minute. I asked the hotel manager to hook something up and Harold had it waiting on me. I hope you like it. It's the something new."

She took a deep breath and opened the small box. She covered her mouth and started to cry.

"Wait you are not suppose to cry, happy, happy happy, oh gawd what did Z man do?"

"Nothing, it's beautiful."

"Girl you had me worried for a second."

In the box was a silver charm. On one side was an etching of a bride and the other side had a groom with a bowtie and top-hat. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I heard her sniffling.

"Thank you, it's perfect Jarreau. Can you slide it on?"

"As long as you don't get snot on my Armani tuxedo, it's borrowed, they'll be trying to charge a brother a cleaning fee."

She took off the bracelet Sean had given her and I slid the charm on the end.

"There you go." I closed the clasp.

"You look so much better when you smile. That pale zombie look is not in this season."

"You're right. I should be happy but with so much..."

"Don't think like that. You love him and I damn sure knows he worships you. You get in his head. He sucks when you are mad at him or if there's something wrong between you two. You are a part of him if that makes sense. I can tell you if he would have caught Aries choking you, your boyfriend Cooter Brown would be six feet under at this very moment. When it comes to his Lizzy Bear no one can come within miles of you."

"Ex boyfriend you mean."

"Okay ex."

"Is it true?"

"What are you talking about Lizzy?

"That a body was found at the stadium back in Atlanta."

"What?"

"I could hear you all talking next door. You all were speaking to someone and they mentioned a body found at the stadium but a lot of it was mumbled."

"Lizzy you don't need to..."

"Jarreau just tell me."

"I promised them I wouldn't say anything and I reassured Sean you were walking down that aisle. I can get him..."

"Jarreau please." She cut me off glaring up at me.

"I swear you two are going to be the death of me. My tombstone will read, son, brother, friend and bitchass."

"Stop stalling Jarreau."

I leaned against the bedpost.

"I'm not. You are putting me in a bad place. Sean wanted to be the one to tell you."

"I'll tell you what. You tell me and I will act surprise when he tells me. At least you can soften the blow."

"Man you betta, your list of favors is growing."

I told her what I knew. Her eyes went wide and she covered her mouth with her hands.

"I didn't do it. I swear. I wonder who it could be? Sharon his baby mama was there but she was in cuffs because he had her escorted out. Then there was Rue his ex-fiancé there telling me how she was still with him, oh gawd do you think it could be her? The ex, Rue? The last time I saw her, she was in the room prior to the argument."

"Wait Aries got a baby mama?

"Yes and believe me she was flaunting her son AJ."

"Aries Jr. Lawd have mercy, that poor child is going to get it. We really only needed one in this world, now we have two. Help me, lawdjezeey."

"Jarreau stop. It's about me remember. I could be going to jail for something I didn't do..."

"Nobody believes you did it. I believe you and they do too. Sam is going to be there. He is calling his friend who's the Atlanta Police Chief and I don't think you will have to worry. If it is this Rue chick, maybe Aries did do something if his baby mama was there along with the ex and the current honey. Damn how can he keep track? He sucks on how to be a player."

"They found my phone Jarreau. I must have dropped it there but not by a body."

"I agree with Sam and Thomas, the sooner you tell the police what happened the better off this will turn out. Sean is pissed because he wants to be there, but with Fan Day in less than six hours, he can't be."

"I wouldn't expect him too. I need to clear my name of any wrong doing."

She twirled her wedding charm around.

"Do you think Aries set this up?"

"He could have."

"When she came at me talking about how she and Aries were still kicking it, I wanted to punch her to shut her old skankass up, but that's it. I didn't cause any harm to her. I swear. Believe me if I did, I wouldn't deny my handiwork."

"I know. I've seen and read a copy of the Lizzy Johnson's Beat-A-Hoe Chronicles. I'm sure a movie will be coming out soon. You are tough as a hellcat but you wouldn't leave evidence."

"Stop it. She definitely deserved to be punched but not left for dead. If it was Shae, well I'm not so sure."

"That's the badass Lizzy I know. Mama Lizzybear in the house."

"This is serious Jarreau."

"Exactly. Where's that chick that had me hiding in a truck spying like a sociopath?"

"I wouldn't take it that far." She bumped me on the shoulder.