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“She’s not alone, asshole,” Rain snapped at Romero. “She has her own damn dad, and I have no plans of ever leaving her alone. You’re one to talk if we are going to start talking about how our kids were raised.”

Oh boy. Those were fighting words if I ever heard them. Now I was mad at Rain. Could he not go one day without fighting with someone? Of all the days I didn’t need drama, today was the day.

Romero completely ignored my father, thank Christ.

“My son is out there right now with the rest of your coven. They are putting together something beautiful just for you, and that’s fucking great and all, and I’m sure you’re going to love it, but that left you alone up here with no one other than your father right after losing a man who meant a whole lot to you. He might have turned out to be a total motherfucker in the end, but that doesn’t take away from the fact you loved him and he meant something to you. The way I see it, that means you shouldn’t be alone right now and could use all the family you can get. And you and I are family, make no mistake. Even without my son in the picture, you’d still be my family. You made sure of that after what you did for me.”

Apparently he didn’t want to be my friend after all. Family trumped friends all day every day.

I sucked in a shuddering breath and held it for several seconds before releasing it. This man would not make me cry today, that was not happening. It would ruin the makeup it had taken me what felt like forever to carefully apply.

“Romero,” I croaked out in a hushed voice.

“Nope,” Rain said as he put his hands on his hips and glared at us. “We are not doing this shit today. Nobody gets to cry before the actual ceremony starts. If you want to cry then, I’m all for it, but not before. It’s not happening on my watch, you hear me?”

I laughed softly. “I hear you, Dad.”

“You do know you don’t always have to be so damn mean and bossy, right?” Romero grumbled, but he wasn’t fooling me. I saw the way he looked at Rain and the heat in his eyes.

Rain could be as mean and bossy as he wanted, and Romero secretly loved it.

For the first time ever, I found myself wishing they got together. Then again, they might just kill each other.

I wasn’t brave enough to say anything, because let’s face it, my mouth usually had a mind of its own and I could never control it.

“We have gifts for you,” Rain told me, completely ignoring Romero. Romero looked at him like he was promising retribution for that later.

Rain would pay, he knew it, but he looked like he wouldn’t care when that time came.

I seriously loved my dad.

But… “I don’t need any gifts. Definitely not on a blessed day like today. I have everything I already need right here with me. Don’t give me anything.”

Rain didn’t listen to me. Not that I actually expected him to, but it wasn’t in me not to try. He’d given so much recently that anything else was going to make me uncomfortable. If he gave me too much, the scales would become unbalanced. What did I have to give him in return?

“That’s right,” Romero murmured quietly. “You need something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. Your gifts. Though the borrowed one really can’t be considered a gift because you’ll have to obviously return it later.”

Now I really was in danger of crying. These rough men who seemed like they were half dead most of the time were here for me in a way only a mother and bridesmaids normally would be. I didn’t have those and never would, they both knew it, and it was incredibly beautiful that they went out of their way to do this for me. It helped showcase just how much they really cared about me.

I would expect this out of Rain. Romero was a completely different story.

“I’ll start out with your something borrowed,” Rain said as he clasped my left hand.

He slipped a thick gold band onto my thumb. It fit me perfectly. I knew it was his wedding ring without him telling me.

Raw emotion clogged my throat. It was such a precious gift for him to allow me to wear it.

My heart raced, beating brutally against its cage. What if I lost it?

“I can’t—” I choked out.

He cupped my cheek and smiled kindly at me. “Don’t look so scared, baby girl. You won’t lose it. It’s safe with you, I have faith. You should too.”

I blinked away the tears forming in the corners of my eyes. I couldn’t afford to ruin my makeup now. There was no time for that.

I cleared my throat and pushed the emotions back down. “I’ll be careful with it. I promise, Dad.” I hugged my hand to my chest and clenched it over my heart in promise.

Rain leaned in and pressed a sweet kiss to my temple. “I know you will, baby girl. You’re my heart, and I love you. I want you to know that, from the depths of my very black soul, I love you with everything that I am. You deserve all the happiness in the world, and I’m glad you’re getting what you want today. It’s going to be perfect and everything you could dream of.”