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“Shut up, Dad,” I grumbled as my lips twitched. “Maybe Romero will take care of her in a fit of jealousy, and he’ll put us all out of our misery.”

“Don’t joke,” he growled.

Who said anything about joking? I very wisely kept my mouth shut. I had been doing that a lot lately.

He arched an eyebrow in a show of arrogance. “Shall we?”

Suddenly my palms were sweaty and my heart beat overtime inside my chest. I was ready, but in reality, I had no idea what to expect out of what was to come next, because I had been stupid enough to ask to be kept in the dark.

I had been calm, the car ride had mellowed me out, but now that calm was starting to fade and fast. It wasn’t necessarily panic that was taking root, but it was something that kind of scared me, just in a different way.

What if I messed up and said the wrong thing? I hadn’t practiced what I wanted to say to them. It was easier for them, they only had one person to say something to. I had seven different people to commit myself to.

What if I disappointed them? That would be horrible, and I would never be able to forgive myself. I knew they would forgive me in a heartbeat because that was love, but it would likely haunt me forever.

I could not mess this up.

I shook off my nerves and tugged on Rain’s arm. “Alright, Dad, I’m ready for you to walk me down the aisle, so to speak. You’re only going to get to do this one time. Be grateful for it, because I hadn’t ever thought I would do it once. I had always planned on being a lonely old maid. My oh my, how the times have changed. Now come on, old man, my destiny awaits, but it’s not going to wait forever.”

He swept his free arm out grandiosely in front of us. “After you, baby girl. I already told you I would follow you anywhere.”

And he did. He walked beside me down the path lit with candles and strewn with pretty flower petals. He followed me all the way to the arbor where my men and the rest of our family waited for us.

It was showtime, and all of a sudden, I was scared out of my freaking mind.

I also could not wait.

26

Istood underneath the center of the arbor all by myself, shaking on my bare feet. Rain had walked me to this spot, kissed me on the cheek, gave every single one of my guys a death glare that would have sent weaker men running, and then he’d gone to stand right next to Romero.

I was left standing alone in a really pretty dress with no idea what to do with myself or how to proceed.

Goodness, why had I told them I wanted nothing to do with the planning and left everything up to them? How bloody stupid was I?

I fidgeted, my fingers twitching, and I ran the fabric of my skirt between my fingers. It felt nice and all, but it wasn’t enough of a distraction to make me feel any better.

Ugh, this was pure torture. Thankfully Quinton stepped forward to save me before I changed my mind, said to hell with this shit, threw dirt in their eyes, and peacedthefuckout of here for good. Which was actually something I considered the longer I stood here by myself.

Quinton stepped right up to the plate before I could bolt. Bless him, he always did have the best timing.

It also seemed right that he was the person to start this off. It was his idea, after all. He always took on the mantle of leader for our coven, so it was also very much right that he got in there and led by example. That was how real leaders led.

He stepped under the arbor with me and grabbed hold of my hands in his. I immediately felt at ease with his hands on mine. He soothed away all of the panic, and the urge to run had completely disappeared from my body.

It was then that I actually noticed for the first time what he was wearing.

His feet were bare, like mine. He had on black slacks with a white, long-sleeved button-up shirt that wasn’t tucked into his pants. The sleeves were rolled up almost all the way to his elbows, exposing the flame tattoos licking their way up his arms. The shirt wasn’t buttoned all the way up to his throat. The top few buttons were left open, exposing his skin, and if he shifted just right, I might even be able to catch sight of the tattoo above his heart of my name.

I glanced around the semicircle that was my men. They were all dressed exactly the same as Quinton. Each one of them looked absolutely delicious in their attire. I hadn’t known what I’d expected them to wear, but it sure wasn’t this.

They all looked relatively relaxed and very comfortable in their own skin, definitely so in their clothes. They made me so very happy that I had decided to wear this dress that Damien had made just for me instead of my mother’s dress. There was no way that beautiful monstrosity would have fit in here.

But this dress I was wearing was absolutely perfect for this night and for the way they were dressed.

Quinton’s lovely brown eyes stared down into mine. They were warm and tender, and my heart melted into a puddle with just one glance.

“I have the paperwork inside the house that you’ll need to sign in order to make this official, but we can do that later. I had to con an ordained minister into signing the damn thing without actually being present for this, and maybe I strong-armed him a little bit. But don’t you worry about that. I messed with his memory, so thankfully that traumatic event isn’t going to stick with him. I also already made Rain sign it as our witness. Now it’s just waiting on your signature.”