“I can’t live at home?”
“Malyshka,” Camille whispered, “that was never your home. The second Mama died, it stopped being that.” She reached for Victoria’s hands, squeezed them. “You know it as well as I do.”
Victoria blinked up at her. “I-I guess.” Then she frowned. “What about my things?”
“Maxim is going to arrange for them to be brought here. Or to Inessa’s,” I said gruffly, feeling selfish for hoping she’d prefer to live with Eoghan.
How long did the bastard need for a honeymoon anyway?
And I had plans for my bride... unintended and unexpected plans, but they were there nonetheless.
Victoria bit her lip. “Do you mind if I stay with Inessa for a little while, Cammie?”
Sorrow lit her features, but I had to admire her for shaking it off, and doing it damn well.
“Of course not,” she told her, and when I saw her squeeze Victoria’s hands a little harder than before, I knew it had nothing to do with imbuing the sentiment by touch, but to experience that whisper of masochistic pleasure I was going to cure her of.
I stared at her long enough so that when she raised her head and happened to glance at me, she couldn’t miss my narrowed focus on her, before I dropped the look to her hands. Immediately, she let go of her hold on her younger sister.
“You might have to stay with us tonight. I don’t know when Inessa’s coming back—”
“They’re flying in from Texas now,” Victoria told her, which let me know that Inessa hadn’t kept Camille in the loop.
It was easy to see that there was a chasm between Camille and her sisters, that, even though she loved them, I wasn’t sure if that love was returned. Or at least, not as much. If love could even be quantified. Favoritism was one thing, but to this extent?
Aidan drove me more insane than Conor did, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t go to the ends of the earth for both of the fuckers. Hell, I loved Aidan enough to save his ass from Da, picking up the slack for him when few other brothers would do the same. Letting him bottom out so that he’d know he had to clean up on his own terms.
Adding the reasons behind the chasm between the sisters to the questions I needed to ask my future bride, I merely said, “Victoria, we were going to have a small, private service with just a few friends—”
“But Cammie doesn’t have any friends.”
Camille’s cheeks turned pink. “Don’t say that, Vicky.”
“Well, you don’t. Not anymore, do you?” was the grumbled retort, one that anyone with younger siblings had heard way too many times to count.
Not anymore?
What had she done to piss off both her family and friends?
“Shut up,” she hissed, nudging her arm.
“Anyway, you can’t mean there’ll be no family here.” Victoria scowled. “What’s a wedding without family?”
“Peaceful?” was my wry reply. “I’m not going to put either of us through what Eoghan and Inessa dealt with.”
Victoria crinkled her nose. “I think it was romantic.”
“Well, it might be, but even though no one else who’s family is attending... would you like to be there?”
“Duh,” Victoria muttered. “Of course.”
My lips twisted into a smile. “Of course,” I repeated, which was how, six hours later, I ended up getting married in front of my sister-in-law and three of my best friends in my living room.
It wasn’t ideal, but it was done.
And for our purposes, that was what mattered the most.
As I pressed my lips to hers, I let my mouth whisper along to Camille’s ear, and I murmured, “Feel any different now you’re Mrs. Brennan O’Donnelly?”
“Yes.” She tipped up her chin. “You were right. I finally feel untouchable.”
“By anyone but me,” I rasped, letting my teeth nip her earlobe as I pressed my hand between her shoulders and held her close. Feeling her shiver, I whispered, “You had the choice to walk away.”
She tipped her head back, brave enough to meet me stare for stare before she murmured, “What makes you think I want to be anywhere but here?”