“I overheard you talking to Oona about missing him, so I called.” Rhodes’ eyes shifted away from mine as if he was a little bit embarrassed to have displayed so much human emotion all at once. He was definitely going to reach his quota for the year if he kept it up.
“Dad’s still convinced you’re going to come back and marry the Italians,” Romey whispered in my ear. “So he doesn’t know I’m here.”
I didn’t care what my father thought, I was just happy to have my little brother at the wedding I actually chose. “Will you walk me down the aisle?”
Originally, I was going to walk alone down the long white path down to the large artificial lake that sat on the Keane property. It was normally hidden by a copse of trees which had since been trimmed back to reveal the pretty little lawn where all of the guests were waiting for me. But now that Romey was standing in front of me I couldn’t help but ask him to go with me—just like I’d wanted him to during my first wedding.
Romey’s gray eyes, the same as my own, swelled with pride as he puffed out his chest and nodded before holding his elbow up for me to grab onto.
Placing my hand on his arm, I turned back to Rhodes.
‘Thank you,’ I mouthed to him, my eyes drinking in the softness of his expression as he nodded.
“You like that bodyguard?” Romey asked as we started on the path, and unlike the last time I’d walked down an aisle, I was filled with anticipation as we neared the floral arch that would lead to my groom.
I slanted a glance at my brother. Leave it to him to cut right to the chase, even after not seeing me for weeks. “Rhodes isn’t a bodyguard, he’s Edison’s second-in-command.”
“That may be, but you still haven’t answered my question.”
I frowned at him, wondering why he couldn’t just let it go. “What if I do like him?”
Romey’s lips twisted together as he scrunched his freckled nose. “It’s not a good idea, Per, the Keanes are famous for their leader not having a pack. No matter how much their wives like the help.”
Calling Rhodes the help sent a thread of irritation through me and I forced myself to breathe through my anger. I didn’t have a lot of time with my little brother and I didn’t want to spend it arguing.
Romey meant well, but our parents’ snobby influence seemed to have rubbed off on him more than it had me. That was, at least, one benefit of spending years in and out of the hospital.
“I don’t like him,” I half-lied. I wasn’t sure what I thought of Rhodes McCreary or what I could think about him. There was clearly something deeper going on between him and Edison. They went so well together that my instincts were even having a hard time separating them.
It reminded me of the time when I was little and was at a friend’s birthday party and one of the moms asked me if I wanted a vanilla or chocolate cupcake and I’d answered with full confidence that I wanted both.
She’d then chastised me for being selfish when everyone hadn’t gotten their share yet and that I should be a good girl and just pick one.
If that wasn’t the most apt metaphor for the conundrum I currently found myself in, then I didn’t know what was.
“Am I supposed to believe that when you gave the man those gross googly eyes of yours? He’s almost twenty years older than you, Perrie. They both are. Can’t you see how insane that is?”
I hadn’t woken up this morning thinking that I’d be getting scolded by my baby brother. Especially not on my wedding day.
Shooting him a withering look, I gave the inside of his elbow a hard pinch and watched as he struggled not to yelp. “Edison and Rhodes are both only fifteen years older than me and I’m marrying Edison of my own free will.”
Romey snorted like I’d just told a funny joke. “And being carried off from one wedding to another is your own free will?”
“Did Father send you to try and convince me to back out of this wedding?”
“What?” Romey’s brows drew together in confusion. “No, why would I listen to him? I’m just worried about you, Perrie.”
We reached the edge of the archway and through it I could see Edison at the end of the aisle chatting with the priest until the music changed, signaling that it was my turn to enter.
His gold eyes were vivid underneath the early afternoon sun, taking in my outfit with a hunger that was just barely covered by the wide grin on his face.
I gaped at him for a moment before reminding myself that we were supposed to look like we were madly in love. My lips, painted with a sheer pink gloss, pulled up into a smile that matched his.
“You don’t need to worry about me, Rom,” I whispered as we slowly followed the cadence of the wedding march up the aisle.
Several faces that I recognized from last nights’ rehearsal dinner turned to eye me, including the pale face of the woman who’d stared at Edison with a look that made every omega instinct that I possessed itch to scratch her eyes out.
Yulia, I remembered, looked as if she’d spent the morning crying. Her bright blue eyes were rimmed with red as she pushed the fat hand of her husband off of her knee.
Her expression was passive, but her eyes were filled with anger as I passed her by. I didn’t know what the history was with her, but Edison pretended like she didn’t exist, so I would do the same.
“Look,” I whispered as we neared the end of the aisle and my future husband. “Edison gave me a choice to marry him. I’m not being forced.”
At least not in that sense of the word. In the back of my mind I had to wonder if I asked him to leave instead of getting married if he would have let me.
“I just wish you didn’t have to do this at all.” Romey’s voice was glum even if his expression was bright. “I wanted you to live your life now that you’ve got it back.”
My heart swelled with love for my little brother. It had always been me and him against the world, but now it seemed as if our worlds were splitting down the middle with us on either side of a vast chasm. I would be the wife of a mobster and he would, if our father had anything to do with it, step into the political ring.
“I am living it. I even get to go to school starting next week.”
I could feel Romey stiffen with surprise, but my attention was away from him now and onto my groom-to-be who was holding a hand out for me.
His fingers were warm and soft as he led me up the stone steps to where the priest was standing.
Shooting one last look at Romey over my shoulder, I found my brother standing at the bottom of the steps looking a little bit forlorn until Oona swooped in and led him to his seat.
“My bride seems to be looking at everyone else but me today,” came Edison’s rumble from behind me as he gave my hand a gentle squeeze until I faced him fully again.
