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Vince
She looks fucking gorgeous. Stunning. Ethereal. Perfect.Mine.
As I watch her walk up the aisle, my throat tightens and tears fill my eyes. She’s the epitome of everything I ever dreamed of. My heart. My future. Walking toward me in the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen. A smile pulls at my lips as I remember the first time I ever thought that about her—the Aphrodite costume. She sure as hell is my goddess of love in every single way.
As she gets to me, she gives me the kind of radiant smile that warms my entire body. It takes everything inside me not to grab her and kiss the hell out of her.
Leo pats my shoulder and walks back to his seat as I take Maia’s hands in mine.
“You’re breathtaking,” I whisper.
“And you’re damn sexy.” She winks at me, and I want to go all caveman, throw her over my shoulder, and run down the aisle with her. But we’ve got a thing to do first.Thegetting married thing.So, I behave myself.
We say our simple vows, but what hits me most profoundly is sliding the ring onto her finger. It’s a tiny action that binds our promises. I never want her to take that ring off again—at least, not for long.
Once we’ve exchanged rings, it’s finally time.
I step in and wrap my arms around her before the pastor even says the word “bride.” The second it leaves his mouth, I lean forward and capture her lips in a kiss, dipping her backward and possessively sweeping my tongue into her mouth. She twirls her tongue against mine, teasing me, before the hoots and hollers of the guests remind me where we are.
I pull her upright and tightly hold her hand as we make our way down the aisle together.
“That was a hell of a kiss.”
“Just making sure you knewexactlyhow I feel.”
She smiles at me. “I always know how you feel.”
I lead her to a small grove of trees, and turn to face her, looking deep into her eyes. “I love you, Mrs. Ardito.”
“Mm. I love you too, husband.”
I growl and push her against a nearby tree, showing her just how much I love her.
Biggest downside of the wedding? People are focused on us, and I can’t whisk her away for a quickie. I barely made it through our first dance. I would’ve done it against the tree after the ceremony, but Micah found us for pictures way too quickly. If the way Maia’s looking at me across the dance floor right now is any indication, she’s feeling the same way.
My mom and Veronica walk up to Maia and whisper to her. Her expression changes, and her eyes dart to me. I’m confused. This is supposed to be time for dinner and drinks. We already did the parent dances. What’s left except toasts? We decided to wait on those until later in the evening.
Maia walks over to the DJ and takes the microphone.
“Hey, everyone, if I could have your attention, please.” Everyone quiets down. “Today is incredibly special, and we’re so happy you’re here to celebrate with us. However, as I think pretty much everyone here knows, there’s one person who isn’t, and we wanted to honor her today.”
My breathing hitches. I had mentioned wanting to do a memorial for my mom at one point, but then started to worry it would be too sad. Of course, she came up with a special way to honor her.
“Vince, would you come up here?” I stand up and start walking toward her. “This is a little slideshow we put together honoring Ella and the boys she loved with all her heart.” An instrumental version ofThe Glory of Lovestarts playing as I get to Maia.
She leads me to two nearby chairs with a perfect view of the slideshow.
I wrap my arm around her and pull her close as I murmur, “This is beautiful. Thank you.”
“There’s a story I want to tell you to go along with this. My mom told me about it the night we got engaged. I was going to tell you right away, but I decided I wanted to wait for the right moment.”
She smiles at me, then proceeds to tell me what my mom said when we were just three years old. I stare in disbelief as I listen to her explain the connection between us that my mom saw. I find my eyes drawn to the sky, silently thanking my mom for believing in us long before we ever saw the faintest possibility.
My gaze drifts back to Maia, who is looking at me in awe. “I love you,” she whispers.
I press my mouth against hers, giving her an emotion-filled kiss. “I love you too.”
Then we turn our attention back to the slideshow, hands clasped together as we watch the beautiful moments play through.
