“No! I’m happy. I don’t need it.”
Doug alights from the limo and holds his hand out for Antoinette. Her long pink skirt dances around those ballerina legs of hers, and it’s such a feminine color against the Armani black tuxedos the men are wearing that I take a moment to just appreciate my good taste.
“Wait until you see your flower girls.” Eve smiles, knowing where my mind is at before she climbs out with Nicole, leaving me with Charlie and Dolly.
“This is happening,” I say around a chuckle.
“Belle, this is your moment. You deserve all of this.” Charlie presses a kiss to my cheek that has Dolly screeching and patting my makeup with a beauty blender.
“Enough, Dolly!” Doug chides, shoving his hand in my face so that I can take it.
As he helps me out of our ride, it’s like time speeds up.
Suddenly, we’re all making our way to the door of the church. Lots of passersby stop and stare and a few cheer, but the massive amount of security makes most keep walking.
I look around and find Antoinette holding Michelle’s and Juliet’s hands as they get in place, both looking beyond adorable in their pink tutus, their flower baskets filled with pink roses.
As everyone gets into place, I’m on my own for the first time in days.
I’m walking myself down the aisle, but now I’m wondering if I’m fool because these are five-inch heels, for fuck’s sake. I could at least have leaned on Doug so I didn’t fall in front of two hundred guests—
“Here we go,” Doug drawls, kissing my cheek as the large wooden doors open to the old church. “You got this, baby girl!”
I hear everyone stand. The organ chimes its first note.
This is it.
Our day—the first step toward a future I never thought I’d have.
“I’d say good luck, but you don’t need it,” Doug tells me before he starts to walk down the aisle with Eve on one side and Patricia on his other arm. I thought it would be best, and Cade was fine making Doug one of his best men. He knows it’s best not to piss off the Disciples.
I was a little worried all the guys would say no to letting their women walk down the aisle with a Five Points’ mobster, but so far, no one has killed anyone, so I’m rolling with it and taking it as my dues as the bride.
I watch as Dolly, Kitty, Neev, Róisín, and Charlie line up, getting ready for their moment in the spotlight, and I smile as I hear Antoinette instruct the twins, “One foot in front of the other so Auntie Belle can walk on the petals.”
It’s that simple.
One foot in front of the other until I stand before him. A light bit of warmth makes me glance up and a tiny ray of sunlight spills down through the gray sky, hitting a piece of stained glass just so. A sign? It’s as if my mother is here with me… shining her light on my face.
I hope so.
Then, it’s my turn. I’m all alone at the church’s entrance aside from the guards, and I’m ready to never be alone again.
One foot in front of the other…I take a deep breath and step forward, nodding at all the smiling faces. The music sounds louder as I enter the large church, which is filled with more beautiful stained-glass windows and flowers. I hear murmurs of,“Stunning,”and, “So elegant,”as I move toward Cade until my eyes connect with his blue ones.
Time stops, “Canon in D” evaporates, as does the smell of roses, and it’s just Cade and me.
Those damn dimples flash as he grins, then he mouths, “I love you,” at me. The words arrow straight into my heart, making my chest hurt.
God, I love him so much.
I need nothing more.
Just him. Just us. Forever.
35
CADE