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"As someone who’s part of the same club, I concur." Sinclair grins.
"I second that." Nathan inclines his head.
"The three of you wankers need to mind your own business," I growl.
"Why should we, when it’s so much fun to be all up in yours?" Sinclair chortles. "The look on your face, man—and to think, your journey into the far reaches of this rollercoaster is only beginning."
"Fuck you, too," I say without heat.
Knox looks at the three of us in disgust. "What the fuck am I doing here in the company of you wusses?"
Sinclair and Nathan exchange looks.
"You thinking what I am?" Sinclair drawls.
"That he’s protesting too much?" Nathan smirks.
"Who bets he’s up next?" Sinclair’s grin widens.
Nathan pretends to think, then shakes his head. "Not taking that one.”
"The fuck you two talking about?" Knox lowers his chin to his chest.
"I don’t think you want to find out in a hurry. I—" an electric shock runs up my spine. My muscles stiffen.
I turn to find her standing at the bottom of the aisle. From the corner of my eye, I notice that my nephew, Edward, who’s going to officiate the marriage, has joined us. The seats around me have filled up with our friends while I’d been busy trying to calm my mind. I spot Arthur and Imelda in the front row, they’re holding hands.
Then I see my son step up to my bride. What the hell? What’s he doing dressed in a tux and why is her arm hooked through his?
Is he going to give her away? That feels like a selfless gesture on Felix's part. It implies a maturity I hadn’t thought he had. It implies a blessing of, or at least approval of, our marriage, something I have only dreamed off. In fact, this feels like the conciliatory gesture from Felix which I have longed for. My mind says to accept it for it is, an attempt at burying our differences. But something primal in me is unable to get over the fact that another man is touching her. So what if he’s my son? And that he’s doing this to show he’s ready to move past our differences. She’s mine and I cannot stomach any other male near her.
She moves closer, her gaze soft, her gait slow. Her eyes connect with mine, and in them, I see an emotion which calms the jealousy that’s infiltrated every part of my body. There’s also a pleading in them… She’s asking me to play along, to not react. I scowl at her, and her gaze widens.
If she thinks she can lead me on this… She’s wrong. I’m the one who sets the pace. If she wanted my son to walk her down the aisle, she need only have asked. If she wanted to stage a reconciliation between us, she could have shared her plans. Sure, I’d have shot it down, but that point is moot. She didn’t tell me what her plans were knowing what my response would be. She knew how pissed I’d be, but she went ahead and did it anyway.
I glare at her, and some of the color fades from her cheeks. I promise her retribution with my gaze. I promise to spank her arse for this bratty gesture. My fingers tingle.
And almost as if she senses it, her gaze flicks to my hand, then back to my face. She flicks out the tip of her pink tongue and touches it to her lower lip. All the blood drains to my groin. Fucking hell, at this rate I’m not going to be able to last the length of the ceremony.
I school all emotion from my features, and when I set my jaw, she swallows. She raises her chin, and in that gesture, I realize I’ve underestimated this woman. She’s ready to go toe-to-toe with me, even if it means I’m going to teach her never to defy me. She’s stubborn and adamant, and fuck, if I don’t fall for her in that moment.
30
Vivian
"Are you sure about this?" Felix slows his steps, forcing me to reduce my speed, when all I want to do is pull out of his hold, close the distance to the glowering man who’s standing at the end of the aisle with his wide stance, his fingers clenched into fists at his sides, and his shoulders rigid, and tell him he doesn’t have anything to worry about. That I asked Felix to walk me down the aisle to show Q he was giving up his claim on me. That by doing this, he's acknowledging that Q and I belong together.
I didn't expect Felix to say yes to my request, so imagine my surprise when he did. Honestly, him agreeing is quite a gesture. Despite all his faults, I can’t deny that Quentin and I wouldn’t have met, if not for him. So, it feels right to have him play a role at our wedding. Perhaps, I should have mentioned it to Quentin, but I didn’t want to chance his refusal.
I’d rather do it and ask forgiveness later or… Going by the glower on Quentin’s features, face the consequences of my actions. But he can’t blame me for doing this. He mentioned he wants to forge an understanding with Felix, but from what I’ve observed, the two of them aren’t any closer to that. So, this is me, forcing things along, the way Quentin did when he transferred money into my account.
And m-a-y-b-e, I want to see what happens when he realizes I didn’t tell him what I was going to do. It’s going to bring out the dominant side of him even more strongly, and if he wants to discipline me for it… Well, I’m not complaining. I ignore the ripple of anticipation that tugs at my belly and continue down the aisle with Felix at my side. Q’s gaze darts from me to Felix, then back to me.
His blue eyes turn into arctic glaciers, the kind which are so densely packed with ice, you can’t see through to their depths. The kind that hints there’s a whirlpool of emotions churning under the surface, which he’s hidden from you. It’s there in the pulse at his jaw, the vein which tics at his temple, his flared nostrils, the skin stretched over his cheekbones, the way his shoulders swell, and his chest expands, the tightly clenched fingers at his sides, the wideness of his stance, which stretches the material of the pants over his thighs.
Oh my god, he looks so handsome. He’s hot and sexy, and so virile, and he’s the man I’m going to marry. I’m so excited it’s him. It had to be Q. I knew it from the moment I walked up the aisle a few weeks ago. When I passed him and realized he was in the wrong place. That he shouldn’t be behind the pew but up there near the altar, waiting for me. And now, he is. I'm so excited, I feel giddy.
I’m here in my beautiful Karma West Sovrano original dress, I have friends in the audience who showed up for me and are smiling at me, and I have someone walking me up the aisle.
