Page 320 of When a Soul Cries

My nerves returned with a vengeance.

I could hear faint voices outside. Movement. Kai laughing at something. Sugga telling somebody to shut up.

Then Zari led me toward the back of the bungalow.

The moment I saw what Roman had done, I stopped walking.

“Oh...”

The backyard was almost unrecognizable.

A huge floral arch framed the ceremony space, overflowing with white roses and flowers woven through dark greenery. Soft white fabric draped from beneath the flowers and fell gracefully toward the ground, moving slightly whenever the mountain breeze passed through.

A chandelier glowed beneath the center of the arch.

The aisle leading toward it was covered so completely in white flower petals that the ground almost disappeared beneath them. Glass cylinders holding candles lined both sides, their flames flickering as daylight faded around them.

And beyond all of it were the mountains.

The last streaks of sunset stretched across the sky in soft gold, peach and dusty pink, slowly deepening toward purple and blue as nightfall crept closer.

The candlelight grew warmer as the sky grew darker.

For a wedding that hadn't existed this morning, it was breathtaking.

Zari stepped up beside me and stared.

“Shit.”

A nervous laugh escaped me.

She slowly looked around. “This is nice as hell. How the fuck he do all this?”

“I don't know.”

And I really didn't.

This morning, we hadn't even known we were getting married.

Yet somehow Roman had taken a private bungalow in the mountains and turned its backyard into this.

Then I saw him.

Everything else disappeared.

Roman stood beneath the flowers waiting for me.

And he was holding Halo.

My heart stopped.

He had changed into an all-white tuxedo that looked like it had been made specifically for his body. The white jacket stretched neatly across his broad shoulders over a crisp white shirt, with a white bow tie at his throat and a small white boutonnière pinned against his lapel. Matching white pants and shoes finished it, while his chain and watch caught the last traces of sunset and candlelight.

But it wasn't the tuxedo that broke me.

It was Halo sitting comfortably against him.

Her little white dress puffed around her legs while one of her hands rested against his chest near his chain. Roman had one strong arm securely beneath her, holding her like he'd been doing it her entire life.