Page 19

S omewhere between my vows, dancing with my new wife, and toasting with the idiots I now get to call family, I feel a shift.

A real one.

Like someone flipping a switch in a dark room I’ve been standing in my whole life.

I’m not on the outside anymore.

I’m not lurking in the shadows, watching someone else’s world spin while I pretend not to care.

I’m smack-dab in the middle of something I’ve always wanted.

Family. Belonging. A place at the table.

And somehow, a woman who makes all of it feel real.

Lucy.

My wife.

God, the word feels surreal.

Not because it’s a lie, but because it’s starting to feel more and more like the truth I never let myself hope for.

The last three days without her? Pure fucking Hell.

She’s been holed up here with her big ass family, while I’ve been living out of Volkov Towers, giving her overbearing father access to every single inch of my life.

Every day, every hour, all the minutes between—excruciating.

But now that she’s mine? A hundred percent worth it.

I take a long sip of my drink and let the warmth settle low in my chest as Connor, Sammy, Junior, Liam, Ono, and a few other Volkov-adjacent loudmouths circle around like wolves on a roast.

They’re toasting something— I think it’s me —and Connor slaps me on the back hard enough to make me spill a drop of whiskey.

“Another oak falls!” he yells, raising his glass.

The others echo the call, howling and clinking their tumblers like this is a Viking conquest and not a high-society wedding reception.

“I still don’t get that metaphor,” I mutter to Connor under my breath.

He grins. “You wouldn’t. You’re the oak.”

“Right. Thanks. Super helpful.”

“Basically, you were all tall, broody, and untouchable. Now you’ve been chopped down by love.”

I grunt. “It wasn’t an axe, cousin.”

“Did it have a sharp tongue and long legs with a soft, creamy center? Same fucking thing, my man,” he says with a wink.

They all laugh again, and for once, I don’t mind being the butt of the joke. I don’t bristle or pull back.

I let them roast me, drink with me, slap my back like I’m one of them.

Because I am.

At least, I think I’m starting to be.

And the only reason that’s happening is because of her.

I glance through the crowd, instinctively searching for Lucy.

It takes me less than a second to find her.

She’s standing near the edge of the tent, framed in soft golden lights, her dress shimmering like starlight on water.

Her dark hair spills down her back, that diamond on her finger catching a beam of moonlight as she lifts her champagne flute.

She looks like a dream.

But she’s not a fantasy.

She’s real.

Mine.

I’ve seen every inch of her skin, tasted her moans on my tongue, and still—my chest aches every time I look at her.

I want to know more.

Learn every nuance. Decode every look and breath like I do encrypted data.

And yeah, I’ve already hacked into every part of her life— emails, messages, social media —long before this marriage was official.

But that was about protection.

Okay, maybe obsession, too.

But now?

Now I want her to let me in voluntarily.

I want her to give me—everything.

I want everything.

Her body. Her mind. Her heart. Her loyalty.

I want her to love me.

Not just because I’m the guy who showed up when no one else did, but because she sees me. All of me.

The man on the outside. The one with the eyes that don’t match. With a broken past who’s still trying to piece together what a future even looks like.

And I want her to believe I can belong in her world.

That I do belong.

Because her world is my world now.

Not just because I’ve built a fortress around her, but because I’m learning to live inside it, too.

So I stand here, letting Connor and the others razz me, soaking in the noise and the chaos and the belonging.

And I make a silent promise to myself— she’s not the only one who’s going to fall.

I’m already gone.

But I’m going to make damn sure she knows exactly where she landed.

Right in the arms of the man who would burn the world down to keep her safe.

Right in the arms of the only man who will ever have her.

She’s with me now, and I’m the man who will never let her go.