Ten minutes later, he pulled the car up to the valet at the familiar country club clubhouse and quickly ran around to the passenger side before the attendant could take Lily's hand. "I've got her, thanks." He handed the kid a ten and took Lily's soft delicate hand, enjoying how the diamond sparkled in the late morning sun. The look she shot him caused him to smirk and he whispered in her ear as they walked in. "Now, how would it look if I allowed my fiancé to be helped to her feet by a parking attendant? Besides, with how good you look, I might have had to fight him for you."
"I'm in a business suit, not exactly the most attractive outfit I own, Martin." She smirked as she linked her arm with his.
"Can I help it if I could find you attractive in a burlap sack?" He kissed her temple as she laughed.
Waiting for the waiter to finish pouring the coffee and leave, Victor smiled again. "Your mother and I saw the engagement notice in the Washington Post yesterday morning." He looked to his son and then Lily. "I must say the photographer did a remarkable job."
After about ten minutes of small talk, Lily listened to Victor try to explain that there were a lot of factors that led to the hearings first being asked for and then being cancelled, the least of which was national security. No one wanted her case to be compromised or her investigators to be made public. Also, there was talk about why she did nothing to stop them on her end. "I didn't feel that they were worth burning a favor to quash. There are more important things, Victor, than burning an IOU to attempt to go against my father. We did nothing wrong and I had no problem with an outside investigator taking a look at the case. They weren't going to find anything." She should have seen the guilt trip coming. Victor had to burn some powerful favors to put an end to the investigation and hearings. Going against Charles Anderson was never easy.
"Which is why you didn't have to do anything, Dad." Martin jumped in, never one to sit idle when there was Victor Fitzgerald bashing to be done. "We were fine, though now it looks like Lily needs your help to protect her."
"Martin," Victor's tone changed and he lost his smile, "watch yourself. This comes from a place a lot higher up than even my pay grade. I merely did a favor for a friend, though I am sure that the appearance is that Lily is insulated by people in high places."
Lily sighed with a shake of her head and lost eye contact. "I hope your 'friend' promised you a big favor in return since it was his bad form in the first place."
Victor smiled again. "Don't worry, Lily. I know how to take care of myself. I've been in the game for too long."
An hour later, grateful the impromptu breakfast meeting with his father was over, Martin pulled Lily into an empty reception hall, kissing her as she laughed. "Do you remember the last time we were in here?" She shook her head and he kissed her again. "I'll give you a hint. You were wearing a stunning blue dress and a tiara."
She laughed. "You remember what I was wearing on prom night?"
"Like it was yesterday."
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him. "You are a hopeless romantic, Secret Agent Man."
"So I've been told."
"Why don't we get married here?"
"I thought you wanted to get married at the estate?" Since he'd proposed, she'd been arguing with her mother to get married at her parent's estate. It wasn't like her to concede a point so easily.
"The estate only has significance to me. Here has significance for both of us."
He laughed. "Yeah, it reminds me of just how stupid I was in high school."
His blue eyes sparkled and her smile widened. "Then let's change that. This hall should hold three hundred people,"
"Wait a minute. What happened to small and intimate?"
"Our mothers happened." She rolled her eyes and watched him try not to laugh. "I'm sick of taking their calls everyday while I'm trying to work. They finally wore me down and I have resigned myself to having the Cinderella wedding I never wanted."
"I'll talk to my mom and see what I can do."
"No, you won't, Secret Agent Man." She straightened his tie, avoiding eye contact, afraid he'd see the fear in her eyes as she spoke. "You need to concentrate on not getting shot."
"Hey, Tiger Lily," he lifted her chin until he was looking into her deep blue eyes, "don't worry about that. I am always careful and the team is there to watch my back. Besides," he grinned, "I've already been shot once. It's not as much fun as the movies make it out to be." She smiled and shook her head before he hugged her and kissed the top of her head. "So, Mrs. Fitzgerald, what do you say we go talk to someone about getting married."
"Say it again."
"Say what? Mrs. Fitzgerald?"
"Ugh," she cringed and shook her head, "no, that's your mother."
"Then how about Lillian Rose Fitzgerald?" He smirked as she smiled uncontrollably.
"That I could get used to. Say it again."
"Lillian Rose Fitzgerald, what do you say we go talk to the concierge about our wedding?"
"I say that is the best thing I have heard all morning." She linked her arm with his.