EPILOGUE
Seth
Today I was marrying my best friend.
Cat was one million percent my best friend in the entire world. Once I got her back in my life, everything seemed to fall into place. It was as though the universe was screaming, ‘You finally got it right!’
I did.
I totally did.
Our life might have gone down the broken road of Hell, might have been painful at times, but in the end, the pain was what allowed us to be better together. Heartache, fear, and chance shape people and that was what those things did to me. It made it so I looked at every woman (except Cat) with precision gloves, and none of them passed the test. I also feared that I would settle. Thankfully I didn’t because when I saw Cat at Joss’s wedding, I took a chance and told her how I still felt. Now she was minutes away from becoming my wife.
“Ready?”
I looked at the door through the reflection of the mirror to see Gibbs walk into the room. “Yes, but Cat’s going to kill me. I’m hungover as fuck.”
“Drink some water and man the fuck up.”
“I don’t even know what we did last night.”
He laughed. “I think it’s better that way.”
And Cat was probably going to kill me because of that little fact. I literally couldn’t remember what we did other than drink. And drink. And drink. All the guys swore it was going to be the best night of my life. Maybe it had been. I have no idea because the last thing I remembered was taking a shot of tequila Paul had given me when we were in a limo. We had dinner at a place called Herbs and Rye, and the next stop was some place called Commonwealth. I had no idea what we did there, or what we did after. I could have bet my first born at some casino on Fremont Street for all I remembered.
A knock sounded on the door, and then Joss stuck her head in. “It’s time.”
Gibbs turned to her. “Aw, she came to escort me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Paul will kick your ass.”
“Did I hear my name?” Paul barreled in.
“How the hell are you two not hungover?” I asked, my head pounding and my stomach churning.
“Practice,” Paul answered.
“We drank the same amount?” I asked because he was one fucking ray of light this afternoon and I hated him because of it.
“Well, we were all buying you drinks, too.”
“So I had double or triple what you motherfuckers had?” They both nodded. “I hate you all.” That included Gabe, their friends Vinny, Nick, and Bradley. Apparently, my night was nothing like Gabe’s. They camped or some shit. At least he could remember. And yes, VICE detective McKenna partied with male escorts. Saddles & Racks wasn’t some pimp making his women sell themselves twenty times a day. Saddles & Racks was a company where the people paid for dates. That was all I needed to know. What happened behind closed doors wasn’t my business. I had actual criminals to worry about.
“While this was insightful, it’s time for you to make an honest woman out of my girl,” Joss said, waving for all of us to leave the room behind her.
The guys clapped me on the back and left. I took a few moments to straighten my black bow tie, down a bottle of water, and grab two aspirin from my bag.
I was ready.
Cat chose for us to get married at the Wynn. They had a primrose garden courtyard that was available on a Wednesday, three weeks after Gabe and Autumn got married. When I told Cat I wanted to marry her right away, I wasn’t kidding. The downside, though, was that I couldn’t get off work to go on a honeymoon. I wasn’t complaining, but I did want to escape with her again. And I knew we would because I had sixty or so years to do it.
As I walked out onto the terrace, the round canopy that was covered in ivy was lit with white lights. I walked along the white rug that was laid out in the center of two aisles of cushioned wood chairs, but the décor and cake and food and whatever else went into planning a wedding weren’t what I cared about. The only thing I cared about was her.
Cat.
My Kitty Cat.
Catherine Marie Stone was about to become my wife.
I hugged my parents as I passed them, and shook Cat’s father’s hand and gave her mother a hug. Cat’s brother and his wife had flown in as well, and when my gaze cut to his, he stood.
“I know we just met, and I don’t give a fuck if you’re a cop, but if you hurt my sister again, I will kill you.”
I snorted. “If I hurt your sister again, I will kill myself,” I corrected. There wasn’t a chance in Hell that I would do such a thing again. The first time was a misunderstanding, and now that she was back, I was never letting her go.
Ever.
We shook hands, and then everyone took their seats besides Cat’s father. He left to go get my girl as I stood next to Mark who was starting to become the resident Saddles & Racks officiant.
“You ready?” he asked.
I smiled. “Since I was fifteen.”
He leaned in closer to me. “This better be the last fucking wedding I do. I know you don’t work for S&R, but these fuckers are droppin’ like flies. First Gabe, then Paul.” Mark shook his head in disbelief. “Next will be Vinny or some shit.”
I laughed. “Maybe you can offer it as a package deal on your website?”
“Hell no!”
Music started to play, and my attention moved to Paul escorting Hannah down the aisle. Then Gibbs brought Joss forward, and my heart started to beat faster in my chest. This was it. Any second Cat was going to appear, and everyone else around me would disappear.
The familiar strum of our song started to play, and my headache vanished. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her from the moment she walked onto the terrace. That floral dress she wore to Joss’s wedding, and the teal one that she wore to Autumn’s, had nothing on the white one she was wearing to marry me. I didn’t know what style it was, but I knew it was my favorite. It had a poufy skirt that I couldn’t wait to crawl under, and it was strapless, showing the bare shoulders I wanted to taste. But what made this dress my favorite wasn’t the way it looked. It was who was in it.
My bride.
Tears pricked my eyes as I watched her come to me. I’d found a girl who was beautiful and sweet, one who had waited for me, and me for her. We were just kids when we fell in love, not knowing how anything would turn out. Then I’d found the same woman who was strong, that shares my dreams and who I’m building a home with. We fought against the odds, but this time, I knew we’d be all right.
The one to carry my love.
The one to carry my secrets.
The one to carry my children.
“Make this fast,” I whispered, hoping Mark could hear. I couldn’t wait another minute.
Cat’s father kissed his daughter, I shook his hand and then I took Cat’s hand. “You look perfect tonight.”
She smiled up at me. “It’s because I’m finally marrying the perfect man.”
“I’m far from perfect, baby, but we’re perfect together.”
Then as I stared into the chocolate eyes that I craved, Mark made her my wife.
My forever.
Mark made the ceremony fast, and then we took pictures and ate at the restaurant that looked out onto the Lake of Dreams at the hotel. When Cat and I left for our suite, people congratulated us as we passed. In the elevator, I took her lips, kissing her and not caring if anyone else was around.
“We did it,” Cat said against my lips.
“Yeah, baby, we did.”
“You ready to start a family?”
I pulled back, looking down on her. “Where do I sign up?”
She smiled. “In the room.” I tilted my head slightly. “I stopped taking the pill,” she said, reading my thoughts.
“Yeah?” I grinned.
“Yeah.”
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. I took her hand, pulling her toward our room. Once Cat and I were behind the closed door, I spun her around and started to work on the bodice that was tied up her back.
“Fuck, baby,” I muttered. “Why are these things hard to get off? We’re meant to fuck after I make you mine, not me losing my erection ’cause I can’t get this fucking thing off.”
Cat laughed. “I think it’s meant to open as though I’m a present.”
“Kitty Cat, you are a gift, but if I don’t get inside you in the next few seconds, you won’t be saving this dress ’cause I’m ripping it to shreds.”
She spun, stopping me from my work. “Maybe you should have champagne to calm down?”
I smirked. “You know I prefer to drink it on you.”
And then like magic, Cat wiggled out of the white dress until she was standing in nothing except white panties and sparkly sandals. “What are you waiting for?”
I groaned and moved to the ice bucket where a bottle was chilling.
“Oh, I forgot.”
I looked at Cat, the bottle in my hand and water from the ice dripping onto the carpeted floor. “Forgot what?”
She looked around the room and then moved to a suitcase that was sitting next to the couch. “I packed something.”
I began unwrapping the bottle as I watched her bend and start to open the luggage. The cork popped as Cat pulled something from the bag.
“Want to use these?” My handcuffs spun on her finger. My dick started to stiffen at the memory of the first time she was naked with my cuffs on her.
“You sure?”
She nodded.
I set the bottle down and moved to her, grabbing the cuffs. “Then hands behind your back, Mrs. McKenna.”
The End.
Vinny’s story is next in Rum & Coke!
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