AllFreeNovel
Share Us
33
Bain
My heart wasin my throat as Ciana walked into the library. Her short hair was styled, her makeup flawless, and that white dress… The way it molded to her breasts, over her ever-growing belly, and her hips.
Fuck.
No one had ever looked more beautiful than my bride.
My grandmother’s ring glittered on her hand, an unneeded beacon because every eye was already drawn to her. Beside me, the priest sucked in a shuddery breath, and I had to restrain myself from pulling my gun and popping a bullet in his head. He was a man of God. He wouldn’t touch her. That didn’t matter, though. He was looking at her, seeing her true beauty, and part of him wanted her almost as desperately as I needed her.
Swallowing hard, I stepped forward, meeting her halfway. “You look exquisite,” I murmured as I bent to kiss her softly on the lips.
She fisted her hands in my suit jacket, urging me closer, to deepen the kiss. Resisting the temptation—barely—I broke the kiss and pressed my forehead to hers. “Are you ready to be my wife, mo chroí?”
She hesitated, making my heart stop. Lifting my head, I saw the uncertainty in her brown eyes. But then she gave me a small smile and nodded. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
This was, no doubt, a far cry from how she’d imagined getting married. Her family meant a lot to her, so I knew she would have wanted them here to celebrate with her. Adding this to the never-ending list of things I promised to one day make up to her, I lifted her hand to my lips. “I love you.”
Her smile grew a little bigger. Every time I said those three words, she seemed to melt a bit more, but she hadn’t returned them once. I had a hell of a long way to go before she trusted me with her heart again, but I prayed I was getting closer every day.
The priest cleared his throat, reminding me we had company. After I tucked her hand through my arm, we walked over to where he stood with Brody. The ceremony was over quickly, and then I was sliding a wedding band on to her finger. When the priest told me I could kiss my bride, I cupped the back of her head and put everything I couldn’t voice into our first kiss as husband and wife.
When I lifted my head, we were both breathing heavily.
Licking her lips, she stared up at me, dazed. “If you think you’re not wearing a ring, you’re crazy,” she grumbled.
“You want me to wear one?” Her glower made me laugh. “I’ll have one delivered.”
“No,” she snipped and held out her hand. “I’ll have one delivered. I’ll take one of your credit cards, please.”
Pulling my wallet from my inner jacket pocket, I took out one of my black Amex cards and placed it in her hand. “Your own cards will arrive in the next few days with your new name on them.”
“Hmm,” she muttered as Brody showed the priest out. “I just married Torin Kennedy. Will we have another ceremony for me to marry Bain O’Farrell?”
I scooped her up and buried my nose in her neck. “Legally, you married Torin, but you are very much Bain’s wife.”
She ran her fingers through my hair. The feel of her nails over my scalp made me groan in contentment. But then she tugged on the strands hard enough to jerk my head back. “Does she know you’re a married man now?”
“Who?”
Her eyes narrowed on me. “Cori.”
“You don’t need to worry about her,” I assured her as I carried her out of the library.
“Maybe I want to worry about her,” she argued.
I paused at the bottom of the stairs, giving her my full attention. “Why? She’s nothing to us.”
“You killed Declan for no other reason than he was there. You said Cori was there too, and if it was her voice in the shadows during…” She shuddered. “If she means nothing to you, then why haven’t you dealt with her yet?”
“You heard her voice?” I rasped. “What did she say?”
“That’s not the point!” She squirmed to get down, but I tightened my arms around her and began climbing the stairs two at a time. “Bain! Put me down.”
Ignoring her, I didn’t stop until I got to our room and placed her carefully on the bed. Caging her in with my arms on either side of her, I leaned into her. “What did she say, mo chroí?”
Gulping, she leaned away from me as far as she could. “She told Sheena to cut my hair because it was too pretty and she hated it. When Sheena was burning me… She… She…” Tears spilled over her lashes. “I-I thought you would destroy everyone who hurt me that night. Was I wrong?”
“No!” I groaned. Sitting beside her, I pulled her onto my lap. “I am going to deal with her. I promise, she will suffer for everything she did that night.”
“Do you still care about her?” Ciana whispered, her eyes glued to my face. “Is that why you’re hesitating?”
“I’m not hesitating. I’m already dealing with her.”
Her lashes lowered. “You are?”
“Yes. And by the time I’m done with her, she will be begging me to finish her.” I cradled my bride against me. “I need you to trust me on this. No one who was there that night will escape retribution.”
She was quiet for a long moment, and I held my breath, waiting to see if she would give me her trust in this. Finally, she lifted her lashes. “Okay.”
“Thank you,” I breathed, relieved that she was going to have faith in me.
