James POV

At first, it didn’t feel real. This was all some sick prank. Surely Mary was going to pop out of some room in this penthouse suit. This was some elaborate bachelorette party game that they had planned. Mary would come out with her wide, green eyes and wrap her slender arms around me. She would apologize for scaring me, saying that she took the joke too far. Yes, that would happen only in a moment.

But I waited. Everyone in the ...