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It could’ve been two minutes or two hours, I’m lost to everything except Dante Esposito.
My husband.
The scents of salty sea air and sweet mint swirl around us. But eventually, our lips slow. He brings us upright, our gazes holding as he takes two steps backward.
Like a bolt of lightning flashes between us, static energy crackles around us. I’ve always been able to feel him differently than the others. Not better or worse, just uniquely him.
The final piece of my heart moves in front of me. He stares back at me, his jawline sharp, his rich brown hair twinkling under the halogen lights. There’s a storm brewing in his dark brown eyes. He gives me a purposeful once-over, dragging his gaze slowly down, over my curves, pausing on my lower abdomen. His gaze feels thick, leaving a swath of soft possession behind. He looks at me from beneath his lashes that don’t have any business being so dark or long.
He positively smolders as his stare swallows me whole while we repeat our vows.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss each other.”
With his hand gently resting at the hollow of my throat, my new husband uses his thumb to tilt my chin up toward his mouth. “Until the end, Raven.” He whispers the words quietly against my lips, a vow just for the two of us. He seals it with a kiss, a promise imprinting itself upon my soul and stamping against my kiss-swollen lips.
I pull back a hair’s breadth and murmur my own promise. “And then some.”
10
MADDIE
Cheers erupt around us and someone pops champagne. The loud smack of the cork popping free of the bottle triggers an involuntary flinch. Aries steps into me further, his body shielding me from the rest of the room.
I grab onto his wrists, slipping my fingertips underneath the shirtsleeve of his all-black ensemble. He looks like he walks with the shadows, seamlessly slipping in and out with ease.
“I’m fine.”
He thumbs my chin, gently tugging the divot under my bottom lip. My lips part as shivers of lust replace the moment of panic. Revelry bounces around the small room. Four rows of short, white pews take up two-thirds of the room, more than enough space for the handful of people we invited today.
Out of the corner of my eye, Elvis slips away from his post in the middle of two ornate golden pedestals. I didn’t look too closely, but I’m pretty sure his likeness is carved in the side of one of them. Fresh pink and white flowers in clear vases perch on top of each pedestal, the delicate floral scent a welcome perfume.
Several small light fixtures hang down from the ceiling—entirely too many for this size room—but I appreciate the attempt to brighten this windowless room. The carpet is worn and a strange shade of pink, but I don’t really care about any of it.
I’d marry each of my men in a back alley in the middle of Brooklyn if that’s what it took to call them mine.
“Let’s get out of here, wife.”
Aries’s words sound like gravel, low and rough and hitting me in all the right places, but before he can make good on his promise, my best friend’s shriek is so loud, it’s practically inside my head.
“Madison Murphy Walsh! I can’t believe you just got married!” my best friend and cousin, Lainey squeals. “Wait, I’m going to have to get used to your new last name when I need to hit you with the impact of a full-name reprimand.”
I pull away from Aries with a grin. I can’t help it, Lainey’s joy has always been contagious. Aries’s reluctance is apparent, but Lainey doesn’t either notice or care. She wedges herself between us and throws her arms around me in a bone-crushing hug. Her dark red hair tickles my face as the familiar scent of strawberries hits my nose.
My shoulders relax further as nostalgia hits me in the gut with all the force of a basket of adorable kittens. It’s warm and inviting—and exactly what I didn’t realize I needed.
“Quick, squeeze me tighter right now if you need a getaway. Rush’ll have us out of here in thirty seconds flat if you need.”
I smile at her uncharacteristic absurdity. “I’m not here against my will, Lainey. Technically, I’m the one who proposed the whole thing.”
She pulls back, leaving her hands on my shoulders. She’s a total knockout in her off-the-shoulder cornflower blue dress. It hugs her figure without being obvious, and the color pops against the deep red tones of her gorgeous hair. Of course, she wouldn’t be Lainey if she didn’t have a pair of Vans on her feet—all white, in my honor, of course. Her whiskey-colored gaze skips over my face. “My, my, cousin. You’ve been keeping secrets from me, yeah?”
The other big secret comes to mind, but I’m not ready to tell anyone yet, so I school my expression into something more neutral. I want to keep it something for just us for a while longer yet. “We’ll have to get together and trade secrets—and maybe tips.” I waggle my eyebrows at her.
Her face breaks out into a wide grin and she pulls me in for another hug. “I couldn’t get Mary to come. I’m so sorry, Maddie.”
My sister’s absence feels like an ever-widening canyon in my heart. I wanted her here, but I can’t make her be here.
I can’t make her love me.
