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“Kiara?” My eyes widened as my gaze went back to the familiar diamond that was now sitting permanently on my finger. At least a part of it. “How long were you planning this?”

“A while.” He looked so happy. The big smile on his face didn’t fade a bit. Even his usual cold eyes were gleaming with joy.

Some might think us hasty, or that we had made the most terrible decision of our lives. I didn’t know how to read Arkane’s mind, but my heart knew if there was anyone I wanted to marry, it was him.

I loved him with all my heart, and I was okay with loving him for the rest of my life, expecting nothing in return, but when he said he wanted me, that was enough for me to say yes.

I trusted him once and got burned. This time, I chose to trust him again, because my love for him was the same. He was many things, but I knew Arkane would never intentionally hurt me. And I chose to hold on to his promise that he’d take care of me for the rest of his life.

Everyone in his life misunderstood Arkane. He thought he had to live by a set of rules. Live and breathe and fight for his family till the day he died. But deep down, he was simply a man who deserved love, too. And even if this didn’t work out or Arkane never found it in his heart to love me, I promised to love him.

“Where are we going?” I asked as Arkane lifted me in his arms and walked out of the ceremony with a broad smile on his face. Not caring that we were leaving our guests behind. Something akin to childlike excitement in his eyes.

“Honeymoon,” he replied, the smile never fading.

My eyes widened in surprise once again. “Now?”

“Yes, now,” he said, carefully buckling me in the passenger seat of his expensive sports car.

I had no words as I watched him happily make his way to his seat with a wide grin.

“Arkane, we can’t leave the city now,” I told him just as the engine purred to life.

“Don’t worry, wife.” He took my hand and pressed a kiss on the back of it. “What man am I if I can’t afford a few days for my woman?”

“But Arkane… it can wait.”

“Nope.” He shook his head playfully. “It can’t.”

I sighed. If he continued being this sweet and handsome, how was my heart going to take it?

My eyes took in the familiar restricted area where our car slowed down before it stopped in front of a yacht that looked as luxurious and modern as the Seawatcher, only much smaller and intimate, in pristine gray-black.

“Wait for me,” Arkane said, placing a quick kiss on my forehead before he hurried out of the car. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him make his way over to my side and open my door.

“My lady.” Only, instead of helping me out, he lifted me into his arms.

“You’re being very nice,” I muttered dryly. “Keep it down or people will think the Beast has lost his edge.”

“I don’t mind being weak for my wife,” he said without missing a beat.

I kept a cool face even though it was a different matter for my heart.

“Are we going to be okay out in the sea?” My eyes scanned the area. This was the second time in a row I had seen Arkane out in the open, without Mikhail or his entourage to guard him.

“We’ll be fine.”

“How sure are you?” I questioned. Arkane had one too many enemies out for his head, and I didn’t like letting our guard down.

Arkane smiled. “Don’t worry, wife. My men are around,” he repeated the words from earlier today. Funny how so much could change in a matter of hours. I didn’t even know if I had a love life, and now I was married to the love of my life.

We were married for less than a couple of hours, but he had already called me his wife about a hundred times.

Who knew this side of him existed?

I wasn’t complaining, though.

I loved it.