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Forever.
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER
The church is full of people. Candles are burning along the entire aisle even though sunlight still shines in through the stained-glass windows. Wood creaks as people take their seats, and there is a pleasant murmur in the air. It would look like the perfect picture of how to celebrate unity… if it weren’t for the fact that the entire crowd is clearly split in two.
On the left side of the aisle is my family and the rest of our people. Several of them are speaking quietly in Russian while casting suspicious looks at Kaden’s side of the church. Some of them are, in turn, shooting equally wary glances at my family while speaking softly in Italian.
I laugh under my breath. Kaden and I have been together for a year now. They can’t possibly still think that this is some kind of trap.
“The bride shouldn’t be out in the church in her wedding dress like this before the ceremony starts,” a casual voice says from behind me.
Straightening from the open doorway I was leaning on, I turn around to find Kaden’s father standing behind me. Jonathan Hunter is wearing an impeccable dark blue suit that complements his brown hair and blue eyes perfectly. Narrowing my eyes slightly, I flash him a knowing smile.
“That’s the best thing about being the bride.” I give him a quick rise and fall of my eyebrows. “My wedding. My rules.”
He chuckles, and then tips his head at me as if conceding the point. Then his expression turns serious as he holds my gaze. “It’s not too late to run, you know.”
“Run?” I raise my eyebrows. “From what?”
“This.” He flicks his wrist to indicate the wedding that’s about to begin soon. “Kaden is a very complicated person. There are a lot easier partners you could choose.”
“I don’t want easy. I want him.” I fix Jonathan with a sharp look and nod towards the entrance to the church while giving him a fake sweet smile. “And if witnessing this wedding is that distressing for you, you can always wait outside until it’s done.”
Amusement flickers in his eyes, and it looks like he’s suppressing a smile as he raises his hands in surrender. “I just had to make sure.”
Then he starts back towards where the rest of his sons are waiting. But right before he moves out of earshot, I swear I can hear him chuckle and whisper to himself, “She’s going to be perfect.”
I shake my head at his retreating back, but then blink in surprise when Jace suddenly shoots up from his seat at the front of the church and sprints between the pews. My brows crease in a frown. But then I spot the reason.
A young woman with beautiful red hair jerks back as Jace skids to a halt in front of her. I’m too far away to hear anything, but Jace crosses his arms over his broad chest and levels a disapproving stare at her.
She throws her arms up in frustration and says something while shaking her head.
Jace looks like he is trying to keep his cool as he raises his arm and points a commanding hand back towards the pew closer to the back where she had been sitting. He says something that makes irritation flash across her face, and she stabs a finger into his chest while retorting with something I still can’t hear.
Mirth ripples through me as I shake my head at them. It has only been a few weeks since the two of them were forced into this kind of close proximity, and I can’t wait to see how this will all play out. Especially since that wild girl has apparently made it her mission in life to drive Jace crazy. In more ways than one.
But before I can see how this latest argument ends, another altercation draws my attention.
My heart leaps into my throat as I spot my father and brothers corner Kaden the moment he steps into the church from a side door. Kaden comes to a halt, standing completely still as the three of them surround him. Dad is standing in front of him, presumably saying something. But his back is to me so I can’t tell what it is.
Kaden’s gaze slides over my father’s shoulder and lands on me, as if he could feel my presence even across an entire room full of people. His lips quirk faintly in a tiny smirk as he meets my gaze for a few seconds before shifting his attention back to my father.
A smile dripping with challenge spreads across Kaden’s mouth.
Then he reaches up and pats my dad on the arm in a highly dismissive and condescending way before simply strolling off.
I don’t know whether to laugh or roll my eyes or groan in exasperation.
“If everyone could please take your seats,” the priest calls, his voice echoing through the grand stone building. “The ceremony will start shortly.”
The priest’s gaze shifts to me, and he raises his eyebrows expectantly.
This time I do roll my eyes. But he’s right. I’m technically not supposed to be standing here. So I sweep my gaze over the candlelit room one more time and then turn and slip back through the doorway and into the small waiting room close to the beginning of the main aisle.
It’s warm, brightly lit with normal ceiling lamps, and furnished with pale wood. I brush my hands down my white wedding dress and then check my appearance in the mirror.
