Page 47

Rafael

I stare at Lux as she clumps down the aisle in her beautiful white princess dress. Her walking boot isn’t making her move very gracefully toward me, but that’s all right. There’s something entirely fitting about Lux getting married to me in a cast.

Two surgeries later, her ankle is healing well, but the boot is still a must according to her surgeon. I had asked her if she wanted to delay the wedding, but she said no, that she was tired of missing out on the wedding of her dreams.

I feel tears standing in my eyes as I look at her beautiful face, framed by the soft violet waves of her hair. There’s glitter everywhere and the underskirt of her dress is a pale purple to match her hair.

I can’t think of too many men who would happily sign up for Lux’s idea of a fancy wedding, but I think she looks more beautiful than she ever has. The colorful wedding décor just makes her stand out even more, like a beacon of light against the shocks of bright, pastel colors.

“Hello, orange grove sprite,” I tease her as she steps up beside me. I help her balance for a moment as she settles her booted foot properly under the layers of her frothy dress.

“Hi Wolfie,” she says, beaming at me with love shining out of her eyes.

“All set?” Enzo asks us.

I look sidelong at my right-hand man, who graciously went out and got ordained, just so he could marry us for the revised and much more fitting version of our wedding.

“You ready?” I ask Lux, lifting one brow at her.

She shifts a little on her feet and nods eagerly. “Long past ready. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Enzo chuckles and clears his throat, starting to work his way through the not-so-traditional wedding ceremony that he cooked up for us. I listen to his words about commitment and kindness to one another, and I grin at Lux.

She and her best male friend clearly took extreme liberties with the traditional marriage ceremony, which was more about the wife obeying the husband and less about happiness and love. And I’m so glad that they did.

“Do you want to kiss the bride?” Enzo says, and I look away from Lux, blinking a little. That isn’t how the vows usually go.

“Umm…yes,” I say in some confusion, looking back at Lux. “Always.”

Enzo turns to Lux. “Do you want to kiss the groom?”

She gives me a blinding smile. “Oh, yes, please,” she says, her voice filled with heat.

“Okay, then you guys can kiss, I guess,” Enzo says.

I lean forward and kiss Lux, now my bride two times over. The kiss turns from chaste to far too hot for a wedding kiss, and I hear wolf whistles and catcalls all around us.

“We’d probably better stop before things go too much further,” Lux says to me with a giggle, pulling back from me to look into my eyes.

“If you say so,” I tease back, but I turn away from her and raise our joined hands so that the assembled group of well-wishers can cheer and clap.

“I pronounce you both Romanos,” Enzo calls out and I chuckle a little at Lux’s whimsy. Trust her to make this wedding ceremony her own in every possible way.

“Let’s go to our reception,” she says, dragging me with her toward the front of the church.

Lux and Enzo planned out the reception dinner as well, which is why I shouldn’t be surprised to see that there are the fixings for bottomless mimosas on each table, and a whole spread of sweets and cakes alongside them.

“Oh, there she is!” Lux coos.

I look over my shoulder to see our young nanny, the daughter of one of my newer men, walking Eve over to Lux. Lux scoops the baby up into her arms and swings toward me.

“Kisses!” she sings out, and we both press kisses to Eve’s chubby cheeks.

“She’s been trying to lean toward you ever since she saw you walk down the aisle,” our nanny says with a grin. “She knows who her mommy is.”

“She’d better!” Lux teases, blowing raspberries on our baby’s face until she laughs.

I look around at the small gathering of trusted friends and advisors who have attended our unconventional wedding and feel my heart swell with pride and love. My father wanted me to be a cold-hearted killer, but Lux had shown me another way. Her name meant “light”, and she had filled my existence with it, chasing out every shadow, all the monsters under the bed, and all of my doubts and self-loathing.

I had never dreamed that I could be happy, that I could have a good life that I was proud of. I had Lux to thank for that. It’s almost impossible to imagine that I had once planned to end her life, to punish her for what I had thought she had done to harm me.

“I don’t know about you,” Lux whispers to me as she sips her mimosa and takes a bite of the cake on her plate, “but I’m eager to get back home. I don’t want to be one of those brides who saves her wedding dress in a shadow box that’s stuffed in the corner of the closet.”

I lift a brow at her. “Do you have some other plan for this dress that cost a small fortune?” I eye the fluffy, frothy dress with its crisscross laces that march up her back in a neat line.

She gives me a naughty smile. “I was thinking that I need The Wolf to rip it off of me,” she says to me, her tone full of lust.

I feel my cock twitch in response to what I see in her eyes. “Ohhh…” I say, “I see. Well, in that case, I don’t think we’re required to be here for our friends to enjoy our reception.” I down my mimosa in one gulp and grab her hand.

“Thank you for coming to the wedding!” I call to our guests before I sweep Lux into my arms and start walking toward the door.

“Enjoy the mimosas and cake!” Lux calls over my shoulder as I push open the door and stride toward my SUV.

“Don’t break the speed limit,” Lux tells me as I back up and then drive rapidly out of the parking lot of the church.”

“The police won’t dare to give me a ticket on my wedding day,” I assure her.

Her laughter and the rush of adrenaline as I drive too fast toward our new home blend together like the fizzy bubbles of the champagne I drank before we left the reception.

I look over at Lux and think that every day with her is just the same, full of life, vibrance, and joy, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life just like this, with her.

The end.