PROLOGUE
Havoc
Six Months Earlier
“Holden, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?”
It’s hard to swallow against the lump in my throat. I worry that I’m doing the wrong thing here. Making this young girl trade in one life she didn’t want to live for another. But as I look at her, I see a future for me. One I’d never thought possible. As a rule, I don’t trust women, but I have trusted her since I met her.
For six months I’ve lived with her, learning the type of person she is, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that she has a good heart. In some ways she’s a product of her environment, in other’s she’s risen above and beyond. I want to be the person who helps her realize her destiny, the future she can have. I’ve come to care for her, come to be her friend, and I know there’s nothing I won’t do for her. Somehow, she’s wormed her way beyond my defenses and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to not only make her happy, but keep her safe.
“I do,” I answer, and mean it.
I take a moment to look at her. The brown hair that shines black in certain lights, hangs in curls and a braid around her face. Her white dress is a lace number that stops at the top of her thighs. Maybe a little too risqué for wedding? Probably, but it shows off her amazing legs. She wears pearls in her ears, like any good southern woman on a special occasion, and there’s a small pendant at her throat that I can’t quite make out. I want to lean forward and study it, discover all her secrets, all her desires.
I’m brought out of my daydream as the man in front of us starts speaking again. The Justice of the Peace asks her the same question. Looking into those brown eyes of hers, I search for hesitation, for fear, but my girl? She has none. As I prepare to slide the ring on her finger, I’m reminded that for now, she is mine, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her. My life is more vibrant with her in it, and maybe it’s exactly what I’ve needed.
Leighton
“Leighton, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?”
I stand next to the man who’s protected me since he picked me up from the back of Blaze Coleman’s ambulance, and I give him the same thing I started with – my trust and my acceptance. Over the past few months, I’ve wanted to give him more, but he isn’t receptive yet. I’m hopeful that the ring he’s about to place on my finger and the one I’m about to place on his will change things. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t, but there’s no denying I’m happier now than I’ve ever been in my life.
“I do,” I whisper, feeling the impact of these two words. I know exactly what they mean now and what they will mean in the future.
We repeat more words, make a few more promises, and my heart pounds as I realize it’s time for the kiss. We’ve done this once before, not that anyone knows it, but that kiss? It had been out of control, two people with no pasts not sure of their future. I wonder how he’ll kiss me this time? Will he let me start with the control again, or will he take control from the moment our lips touch? Will he grasp the strands of my hair in his fingers and tug me in the direction he wants me to go?
I lean up, grasping at the front of the white button-down shirt he wears. My fingers tug on the material and I tilt my head to the side, leaving it open, leaving it up to him. My heart pounds in my chest as his face gets closer to mine. The smattering of a slight beard, the pink-red hue of those full lips, the long eyelashes that feather against the freckles he has on his cheeks – I see it all as he bends me to his will. He wraps his arms around my waist; I in turn wrap mine around his neck, pulling him down as he tugs me close. He pauses, his eyes searching mine, before he takes the kiss that now belongs to him. This kiss is different than our last; chaste in the way he takes my lips, and disappointing in the way he doesn’t take my tongue.
When he ends it quickly, I all but stumble back, because I was all-in with giving myself over to him. He holds me tightly, a smirk twitching the corner of his lips.
“Congratulations, Holden and Leighton.”
We both turn to the man who officiated our wedding, thanking him. Holden puts his hand on the small of my back and leads me out of the room. I hold our certificate in our hands as I watch the next couple enter the room. So that was it, huh? I’m now a married woman. Something told me I’d feel different, and right now, I don’t.
Holden’s got his cell phone out, texting to someone. Then he puts it back in his pocket, loosening the tie he’s wearing. “So you want to go grab some dinner? We can head to Birmingham, to someplace nice.”
“Sure,” I agree. I’m a little shell-shocked and not sure how to respond. This had definitely been our plan for the day, but at the same time, I wasn’t sure whether we’d go through with it.
When we get to his truck, he opens the door and helps me up so that I don’t flash everyone on the street. When he goes to help me buckle around the bouquet of flowers I’m holding, he grasps my chin between his thumb and forefinger, bringing it down, forcing our eyes to meet.
“Change your last name as soon as possible, Leigh. The quicker we can get you away from anything having to do with Strather, the better off you’ll be.”
“People in this town aren’t going to forget where I came from,” I remind him, letting myself drown for just a moment in those eyes of his.
“If I have anything to say about it, they will. You let me worry for the both of us.”
He leans in, kissing my cheek, before he lets go to make his way around the front of the truck. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Life as I have always known it has just changed in a big way.
An over six-foot, two-hundred pound, heavily tattooed kinda way.