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“Is there any other type of Las Vegas wedding?” Marco jokes, flashing me a grin. One great thing to come out of this is that I’ve had the chance to actually socialize with him a little more, and I’m finding that my assistant also makes for a very good friend. “Just relax and enjoy it. It’ll be over before you know it.”
“How’d you get so wise?” I ask him, shaking my head. I’m about to add that he’s just a kid – to tease him more than anything – when I realize that he’s a few years older than my bride and a smile curves my lips.
“How’d you get this far in life without getting married?” he shoots back, grinning cheekily. I appreciate what he’s doing – a bit of light-hearted banter to take my mind off things and get me to calm down. But it’s something that makes me think.
“You know how I drive a car that’s worth roughly the same as your apartment?” I tell him, with a glint in my eye to let him know I’m not really judging him for it. “I had to sacrifice in other areas to get the business going. It’s not all glamor and casinos, you know.”
“Oh, I know,” Marco says, shaking his head a little. “Maybe now you’ll actually take a break from work once in a while.”
“Take a break,” I say, experimentally, as though I’m trying the words out. “Huh. Yeah, maybe I could give that a try.”
Marco only laughs.
Inside my head, I feel like I’m traveling back in time. Back to when I was his age or even Savannah’s age. Twenty years feels like a long time, but it also feels as though it passed just in the blink of an eye.
I made a lot of choices in my life. Almost every time, I chose business. I chose to leave behind everything I knew once again just seven years ago, and it paid off in spades.
But that time of my life, that whole time when I was putting business first, was also a time when I was lonely. I didn’t feel so bad about it, mostly because I was lonely on purpose. I needed to be alone in order to focus on the things that mattered more to me then. I never met a woman who seemed to be worth risking it all for. Not until Savannah came along.
My life has been set up a certain way until now. It was a way that suited me, even if it was solitary. But I’ve finally found a woman who is worth it. And the best part is, I’ve spent my life until now building the kind of lifestyle that means I can give her whatever she wants or needs. She’ll never have to worry about money, not so long as I’m still around to make sure she’s provided for.
But Marco is right. The time for spending my life on conference calls and meetings and nothing else is passing. I need to make sure I have a better work-life balance from now on, that I’m able to spend time with Savannah as much as I need to. I need to take a step back, start delegating and trusting others a lot more.
And as I stand at the head of the aisle waiting for my bride to come down, I only have to look slightly to the side to get an idea of who should be the first person to get a promotion. I’ll consider it a wedding gift, only from me to Marco instead of the other way around.
Behind us, the wedding march begins to play, and I’ve never turned around so fast in my life.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Savannah
I stand in a small antechamber in the little chapel, checking my hair in the mirror.
It’s not quite the designer dress that I was threatened with by Jonas for the full wedding – and I’m kind of glad. This one was on sale in a thrift store not far from the chapel, and I was even able to buy it with my own money. One last nod to my bid for independence.
I get the feeling I’m never going to want for anything ever again because Jonas will always buy it for me the second I ask for it. It’s nice to think about earning something myself, standing on my own two feet. I think I’m going to have to find a way to persuade him that I still need to work – even if only to keep my feet on the ground.
“Are you absolutely sure about this, darling?” Mom asks, watching my reflection from where she stands beside me.
“Yes, Mom,” I tell her, smiling as I turn to look at her. She’s already dabbing tears out of her eyes just from seeing me in the dress, so I can’t imagine she’s going to make it through the ceremony without bawling her eyes out. “I’m really sure. Jonas makes me so happy.”
