Slanting a sideways glance at her, I grinned. “I think I know that better than most, pet.”
With the way her body looked in that dress, there wasn’t a man alive that would think she wasn’t a fully grown woman. But that didn’t always equate to knowledge and experience.
She’d spent the better part of her first few years as an adult in hospitals battling a cancer that threatened to kill her. Because of that, she was more mature in some ways than the average twenty-two-year-old, but in others she was naive and innocent thanks to being cloistered away for five years.
Perrie blushed at the drop of a pin, but sometimes her dry sense of humor surprised even me, a man who made it a point to never be surprised.
Leaning down, I pressed my mouth to the shell of her ear. “It’s actually just an excuse to get out of here, I can’t stand these stuffy events.”
Every time I attended one, the memory of being a little boy in a scratchy suit rose unbidden into my mind.
Because my mother was never able to leave the estate, my father expected perfection from me, his only son.
I was to stand completely still with a fake smile plastered on my face as the branch heads, some of the very men in this room who still didn’t consider me their leader, pinched at my cheeks and talked in barely disguised innuendo about my mother.
Aine Keane was as beautiful as she was crazy and most of the men had tried to woo my grandfather into marrying her. But he had his eyes set on my father who, despite being twenty years older than my mother, married her when she was only seventeen years old.
One of my security opened the car door and I helped Perrie get in, my mind still on memories of times long past.
“Is he coming?” Perrie asked when I settled in next to her.
“Who?”
Perrie ducked so that she could see Rhodes who was still standing at the open door of the car.
“Him,” she pointed a slender finger at the other alpha.
“Me?” Rhodes’ brows rose with surprise.
“Him?” I pointed as well and watched as Perrie rolled her eyes, probably thinking we were both idiots.
“Yes. Now get in before I change my mind.”
Rhodes didn’t need to be asked twice, and in a blink, he was sliding into the seat across from us, the ghost of a satisfied smile on his face.
Perrie said nothing more, but settled in with her body pressed into mine, her eyes on the passing city outside of the window.
Apparently, she’d finally forgiven Rhodes which meant that I was one step closer in my plans to create a pack with them.
And judging by the way Rhodes’ dark eyes were locked onto the oblivious omega, I had a feeling I wouldn’t have to do much more to bring the two together.
Twelve
While I hadn’t seen any of the doves Edison had been muttering about last week, I was eyeballing the pair of swans that were currently waddling through the garden in front of me.
“When did he have time to get swans?” I muttered to Rhodes who was standing next to me dressed in a smart-looking tuxedo.
I’d so rarely seen him out of his usual uniform of dark pants, dark shirt, and the soft brown leather jacket that he wore like a second skin, that it was taking some time to get used to.
It clearly also made him uncomfortable because he was fidgeting with the bowtie like it was strangling him and when he pulled his hand away it was horribly crooked.
Without thinking, I shoved my oversized bouquet of lavender into his hands and reached up to fix it.
Rhodes’ dark eyes swelled with some kind of emotion as he stared down at me, letting me fiddle with the fabric until I was pleased with it. “I have no idea where he got them. The man has connections everywhere.”
My eyebrows shot up. “The big scary mobster has a swan guy?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.” There was a hint of a smile on his face but it was gone before I could truly relish in it. “You don’t really think he’s scary do you?”
I shrugged, the motion pulling at the chiffon material of my wedding dress. “Not to me, but it would be naive to say that he isn’t scary at all.”
Yesterday had been eye-opening when it came to just how dangerous my husband-to-be actually was. After we returned from the engagement party I caught Oona and the maids whispering about it—though their tone had been one of dry resignation. They didn’t seem afraid of Edison. No, they just seemed to understand why he’d done what he did.
“Smart girl.” Rhodes handed me back my bouquet, his eyes leaving my face for something behind me. “Ah, and it looks like your surprise actually made it!”
I frowned at him and turned, my mouth dropping open when I found my little brother standing a few feet away with his hands planted firmly in his pockets.
It was the same suit that he’d worn only a few short weeks ago when he attended my first wedding, but this time instead of a stormy expression, Romey just looked happy to see me.
“Rom!” I squealed, throwing myself into his arms and not caring if it crushed my flowers. “You’re here!”
Romey’s grip was crushing as he hugged me. “I was invited by Mr. Scary back there, so I came.”
Whirling around to Rhodes, I found him smiling the first truly genuine smile I’d ever seen from the alpha.
“Why did you invite him?” I asked, curious. Neither Edison nor Rhodes held any love for the Chandler family—even if seemingly they’d accepted me amongst their ranks.
