Page 32 of Until Death or Defeat
“For richer or for poorer,”
“In sickness and in health,”
“In sickness and in health,”
“Until death do you part,”
“Until death,” I promise her back, as I gently push the ring onto her finger.
I can see the sparkle and fire in her eyes as I look into them, and my resolve feels broken. I put my hand behind her head, and roughly push her into me for a kiss. I dip her down backwards from the sheer force of the kiss, and I can hear the applause.
“Uh, you may kiss the bride . . . ” I hear the priest awkwardly mutter as I already have my tongue exploring her mouth. I didn’t expect my first kiss with any woman to be on our wedding day like some chaste gentleman; but for us it’s fitting.
I eventually let her breathe again, pulling her back to stand on her own two feet, though she struggles for a moment. I can see the shock plastered on our families faces, and I give my brothers a smug smile as I hold her waist and walk her back down the aisle toward the country club.
My mother is of course clapping and crying, while the rest of those in the front row are just giving each other curious looks as we pass. The rest of the attendants politely clap, whistle, and follow us into the ballroom for the reception.
We sit at the two-seated table meant for us, as the rest of the guests slowly flood in to find their assigned seats.
“What the fuck was all that?” she finally breaks the silence, and I laugh as I take the champagne bottle from the ice bucket on the table and pop it open.
“That, was for looking at me with yourfuck meeyes while you slid a ring on my finger.”
She furrows her brows and snatches the bottle from my hand to pour herself a drink.
“Those were not fuckmeeyes, you freak. They were fuckyoueyes.”
“Same thing,solnishko,” I tease, drinking in the sight of her again.
“There will be no fucking of any kind,” she says sternly, taking a sip out of her flute.
I chuckle, moving my arm to the back of her chair. “You think you will be able to lay in my bed without getting fucked?”
She chokes on her drink and holds her chest. “You’re out of your goddamn mind,” she grits through her teeth, but she can’t hide the way she had to adjust in her seat.
“If we’re going to be forced to marry and share a home, we might as well enjoy ourselves somehow.”
“That won’t be happening, so erase the idea from your fucked up head.” She sets her glass down roughly, and her eyes flicker across the room until her brows furrow.
“What is it?”
“My uncle and my cousin Leo,” she says, nodding in their direction. “They aren’t really buddy-buddy with our side of the family anymore.”
She says that as if it’s a whispered secret; but I had thought that would be obvious after what had happened.
I watch them for a moment as she looks back down, fixing her dress and hair. Her uncle looks this way, and I can’t make out the expression on his face as his eyes stay on her.
The rest of the evening drew on for what felt like forever. We had to go through all of the stereotypical motions of a wedding reception, and I could not fucking wait for this to end.The only thing that kept me compliant was the look on my mother’s face as she would see Giselle and I together.
Luckily we somehow avoided being coerced into doing a slow dance, though I can feel Maxim’s eyes on me as he stands beside me. “You should at least pretend you’re enjoying yourself, but I guess you’re anxious to take your new wife back home, huh?”
I glare at him as I take another sip of my drink.
“Mom seems pretty smitten with her.”
When he says that, my eyes drift across the large ballroom until they fall on her.
She’s standing there talking to my mother with a smile on her face. I don’t see her like this often. Most of our interactions over the years took place in this very country club; or any other Family event that was held, and she never looked happy at any of them.
