We reach him in no time.
Nic pulls to a stop and I come in beside him as the crowd of Widows gathers behind us. “GO,” Nic roars, rushing the man along to get this shit started as Sebastian, Kai, and Eli stand off to the side, exactly where they should be.
The man nods, looking mostly terrified but does exactly what he’s been tasked to do. “We are gathered here today—”
“No. Vows, rings, kiss, done,” Nic demands as something pulls on my dress.
I glance back to find Ocean standing behind me with her husband, Colton, who has their little girl, Storm, perched on his hip. She beams up at me as she straightens my wedding gown, making it absolutely perfect. “You look incredible.”
I so desperately want to throw myself into her arms and thank her for coming to this shit show, but the celebrant is following Nic’s demands as though his life depended on it. “Dominic, your vows,” he prompts as Nic clutches my hands.
Nic stares into my eyes, and I realize that he has a speech made for this very moment. “I …” the sound of police sirens in the distance has his face dropping and panic soaring through me. “Fuck, um. I vow to love and cherish you as my queen until someone or something takes me out of this world.”
I nod. “Same.”
The priest looks between us, confusion marring his face. I’m sure he’s never run a ceremony quite like this before. “Exchange of rings.”
Kairo steps into Nic’s side as the sirens get louder and hands him the rings that have been living peacefully inside his suit jacket pocket. Within the space of two seconds, Nic grabs my hand and slides the ring on before shoving his in my hand and prompting me to do the same. I don’t even have a chance to look at it before the celebrant is continuing, clearly realizing that those sirens are meant for us. “Umm, I guess, I pronounce you husband and wife. Kiss your bride.”
The sirens get obnoxiously louder, but this is one part of the ceremony that Nic and I will not be skimping on. He grabs me and pulls me in, curling his arms around my body before crushing his lips to mine and kissing me deeply.
The Widows cheer around us, drawing even more attention to us and as Nic pulls back from me, the celebrant holds out a piece of paper. “Sign here,” he says, not allowing us the chance to just enjoy this moment, though, we’re not exactly paying him to give us the full-on, lovey-dovey, hearts and roses kind of package. We weren’t kidding about getting in and getting out. We can enjoy it later.
Nic grabs the pen out of his hand and signs his life away before handing it to me. The celebrant points to the section where I need to sign just as multiple cop cars come to a screeching stop, blocking off the street.
I slam the pen down on the papers as Nic hikes up my dress, yanking my gun out of its sheath. He slams it into my hand as all the Widows pull out their own.
Ocean yells out that she’ll call me later and takes off with Colton, doing everything they can to keep their little girl safe before this turns into a shoot-out. The Widows create a barrier between us and the cops and as Nic takes my hand, he grins down at me. “Now it’s time for the real show,” he says, glancing up and indicating to the other side of the street where hundreds of Wolves begin pouring in, Christian standing front and center.
My big brother nods, giving me his approval and I can’t help but smile. How is this day so fucked-up yet so damn perfect?
I adjust my gun in my hand and beam up at Nic, knowing he had everything to do with this. “Thank you,” I whisper. “That means the world to me, but I hope it was all worth it. I hope we covered all the basics to make this wedding legal.”
He shrugs his shoulders as the cops start yelling for us to put our weapons down, half of them turning around to face the Wolves, only just realizing that we’re no longer the ones surrounded; they are.
“Beats me,” Nic says. “We signed, kissed, and said our vows, and that’s all that matters in my eyes.”