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And with that, she smiled, rolled her shoulders back, and walked past me like she hadn’t just spewed venom that no mother who loved her child should ever be capable of. But for her, the words flowed with ease because she didn’t love me and she never would.
* * *
The garden was decorated for the occasion. Exotic flowers were in short, round crystal vases that lined a makeshift walkway that separated the area into a small section. All the original decorations were still executed even though we elected to keep the ceremony to only being our immediate family. Cress stood at one end of a clear acrylic that held pearl colored beads beneath it which would give the appearance that she was walking on clouds down the aisle toward me.
My angel
Her dark knight.
That was how I currently felt. My mood had shifted and I couldn’t shake the layer of vexation that my mother had left me with. At least she’d done me the courtesy of leaving. I couldn’t say I was surprised. That had likely been her plan the entire time. Get dressed up just to come shit on my day. That was who she was.
“You good?” Ez moved beside me. The priest was standing off to the side mumbling to himself. Likely going over his speech to deliver our nuptials so I relaxed and addressed my brother, feeling our conversation would remain private.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Our mother was here. What did she say?”
“Does it matter?” I growled, cutting my eyes his way.
“She wasn’t supposed to show.” Ez stepped in front of me so that he was blocking my view of the handful of people that were here. Sasha, Christian and his wife, Jona, their mother, Trini and her husband.
I was grateful that Cress wanted this to be simple and private. We’d done the performance at our engagement party. Today was for us.
“You invited her, Ez.”
“And after the interaction the two of you had at the engagement party, I told her it was best that she not show.”
“Yet, she was here.”
“This is still her home. Not much I could do to stop her from showing but she wasn’t supposed to be here. Knowing that she left leads me to believe she only showed to prove a point.”
“She wanted to remind me that I’m not worth her time or her love.”
“Lias…”
“I’m fine, Ez. Nothing I haven’t heard before.”
He frowned, searching my face again. I could see the concern but I brushed it off. No matter how much the poison she always seemed to spread hummed in the back of my mind. I was grateful when the soft chords of a cello began to play, intervening. I wasn’t in the mood for a pity party on my behalf.
Fuck my mother.
“Last chance to bail.” He smiled smugly and I lifted my eyes looking past him. I saw her and nothing else mattered. “With the way you’re looking at her, I guess I don’t need to hand over the escape route.”
My eyes shifted back to my brother as he stepped out of the way. Cress was looking down. One of her arms hung loosely through her brother’s, the other clutched an arrangement of calla lilies just below her chest. Her expression was tense as Christian leaned in close. My stomach clenched at what he was possibly saying, maybe offering an out as Ez had just done but eventually she lifted her head and those pretty brown eyes connected with mine. Her smile was soft at first but it grew slowly. Incredibly fucking slow until it showed in her eyes.
I winked and she dropped her gaze but only for a brief moment then they were moving. I was appreciative of their slow pace because it gave me time to fully take her in. The dress she had chosen was the one I wanted to see her in. Sheer, covered in beads. It hugged her body gently and pooled at her feet, keeping her steps measured and even.
Cress was all I could focus on. Her hair was pinned back off her face, in loose waves that brushed her bare shoulders, held by a tiara that sat at the crown of her head. The beading matched her dress, complementing it and her gorgeous brown face.
She was beautiful.
She was mine.
And when she stepped beside me, allowing Christian to kiss her cheek, she gently removed her arm from his and she extended a hand to me, palm up. All the dark whispers that had flooded my head up until now fell silent. Her hand slid into mine without hesitation and I lifted them both and kissed her knuckles.
“Why this one?” I asked, allowing my eyes to do a slow crawl from her neck down the length of her body.
“I wanted to know which one was your favorite. She said this one.”
