26. At Last - Alex
I sat alone in the guest room where Rafe and I would stay until our wedding. There would be no bachelor or bachelorette parties. No separate sleeping arrangements the night before we exchanged vows.
We were breaking tradition for the sake of safety.
I fingered the letter from my dad, still hesitant to read it. Rafe had already gone through the letter and package, and since he’d given them to me and told me to take some time alone in our room, I knew the contents couldn’t be too bad.
Or maybe it was bad, but not in a dangerous-way kind of bad.
With a deep breath, I set the letter aside and clutched the red velvet jewelry box my dad sent to the vineyard. The fact that he’d known we would be here told me a lot. Filing for a marriage license probably tipped him off, but he’d have to have someone watching in the first place to catch it.
The wedding was not a big event by any means. No newspaper announcements, no elaborate catering services or wedding planners involved.
Just Rafe and me, a few witnesses, and the ceremony officiant. If my dad knew about our plans, it was because he’d been on the lookout for information.
I turned the jewelry box in my hand for several seconds, equal parts curious and scared to find out what was inside. Something about the box was familiar. Maybe the color, or the soft texture against my palm. As I flipped open the lid, a memory flashed in my mind. My breath hitched, and I closed my eyes, begging my subconscious to hold on to the memory.
I must have been no older than five, a year or so before the De Lucas came into our lives. Mom grinned down at me, fingers playing with a jade stone pendant circling her neck. I remembered it because it had matched the color of her eyes, and people always said I had my mom’s eyes. In this memory, the weight of the red velvet box was heavy in my small hand.
I glanced down at the box clutched between my fingers now, but Mom was gone, I was no longer a child, and the pendant sat nestled against a shiny, black lining instead of her slender throat. I blinked but couldn’t stave off the pain of her loss, the missing years I’d never get back, the questions I’d probably never find the answers to.
Three days from now would mark one of the happiest days of my life, but she wouldn’t be there to share in it.
The only thing I had left of her sat inside a pretty, cold box.
Wiping at the tears on my cheeks, I picked up the letter from my dad and began reading.
Alexandra,
Your mother wanted you to have this. She can’t be there with you on your big day, but she’s there in spirit.
— Dad
That was it. A single fucking line. Two short sentences. But that was Dad. He wasn’t the sentimental kind, so the fact that he sent the necklace at all said a lot. Maybe there was a little life left in his cold, dead heart.
Three days later, I didn’t put the necklace on for him. I did it for Mom. As far as I was concerned, my dad was dead to me.
“Are you ready?”
I turned at the sound of Angel’s voice. She bent and smoothed the bottom of my dress. As soon as we were situated outside the room we’d transformed into the bridal dressing area, I knew she’d adjust my train before I walked the short distance to Rafe.
I hadn’t known her for long, but I trusted her more than some people I’d known since high school, because she’d been broken same as me, and like me, she’d found a way to glue her pieces back together again. We were kindred spirits.
“I’m ready,” I said with a hard swallow. As she signaled to the guys that we were about to begin, I prayed to a higher power that Rafe and I would be allowed this one day.
This one perfect fucking day, with the temperature a breezy eighty degrees, the sun dipping toward the horizon as it shone its rays onto the rows of grape vines in the distance. Not many things had escaped the fiery destruction of my lie at fifteen, but Mason Vineyards had been saved, despite the fire our enemies had set ablaze as a sick form of retribution.
I saw the salvaging of the vineyard as a sign of hope.
“He’s waiting,” Angel said.
A simple statement, but true in its simplicity. Rafe Mason had been waiting for over eight years.
To enact revenge for the sins I’d committed against him.
To succumb to the darkness inside his soul, allowing him the freedom to unleash his twisted fantasies on me.
To love me.
I let out a breath, and the wind carried it away as I took my first step. The instant I came within view of Rafe, I felt the weight of his stare on me. My gaze traveled a slow journey up the vines of roses weaving through the trellis and finally settled on Rafe. He stood under the arch, Jax and Adam at his side, and the way he looked at me stole my breath, his intensity winding around me like a chain I couldn’t escape.
A chain I welcomed far beyond “until death do us part.” Eternity spanned before us, immeasurable in its certainty.
Angel’s steps halted as she reached the front. Her shyness was never more apparent as she watched me close the distance from underneath her lashes, her sage green dress flowing in the gentle wind.
I soaked in every detail and catalogued it, determined to never forget a single moment of this day. The warm grass under my bare feet, the azure sky overhead, not a cloud in sight. The breeze kissing my cheeks, tumbling a dark curl across my eyes before settling into place again.
The closer I got to Rafe, the more he reeled me in. The world faded away, leaving only him and me. Green eyes locking on green eyes, hearts colliding with the promise of eternity. The sun beat warmth onto my back as it dipped toward the earth. By dusk, Rafe and I would be married.
I’d be his wife.
Society wouldn’t understand our union. They’d only see the criminal and the accuser.
None of that mattered. I pushed those thoughts out of my head because on this day nothing should be wrong. This was the day I’d waited for, had dreamed of for years, never believing it would come to fruition.
But it had, and now I stood in front of Rafe, passing my bouquet of calla lilies to Angel before lacing my fingers with his.
“I have no words, Alex. You are…stunning.” His voice broke as he brought his hand to my face and cupped my cheek, fingers trembling. Our interlocked hands tightened.
He’d never looked sexier in clothes. Naked Rafe would always be my favorite sight, but seeing him in slacks and a dress shirt, a tie neatly knotted at his throat, was drool-worthy.
I didn’t know how long we stood like that, his hand cradling my face as we eye-fucked each other on the proverbial altar. If the silence was uncomfortable, we didn’t care.
The officiant cleared his throat, and the ceremony began. We went through the motions, repeating the customary words, conforming to society’s expectations. But our bodies would speak the real vows in the bedroom tonight, infusing our union with the intensity that flowed between us when we came together.
Only tonight, we’d do it for the first time as husband and wife.
Rafe took my left hand in his and slid the ring onto my finger, this time for good. “With this ring, I pledge my love to you.”
A smile tilted my lips at the perfect irony; the ring he’d chosen nearly matched my mother’s necklace.
The only true family heirloom I had from my past life.
My turn arrived, and I squeezed his hand, drawing strength from him as I pushed a simple gold band onto his finger. “With this ring,” I said, my voice little more than a whisper as I met his eyes, “I pledge my love to you.”
We were both grinning like fools when those magical words were uttered in the same sentence.
Husband and wife.
The next instant, Rafe’s mouth was on mine.