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When we break apart, she’s breathing heavily. “Luke?” There is so much uncertainty in that one word. I brush her hair back, wishing I could see her properly without all that shit on her face. She’s made up like a fucking doll and I hate it.
“Sariah. Sariah Easton?”
She glances around the chapel, sees all the unfriendly faces, and doesn’t answer. I lift Sariah’s face towards me and she gives me her eyes. Fuck, I could get lost in them for days. “No one is going to hurt you, I give you my word.” I will destroy anyone who touches her.
“Yes,” she admits to her name softly.
“Time is ticking, Lucas,” Charlotte says from behind me. I wish Sariah and I were alone. The last thing I want is a fucking audience right now. “We need to get the wedding underway before the Eastons retaliate.”
Sariah looks at me, confusion a clear mask she’s wearing. “Wedding?”
“Well, you are dressed for the occasion, darling,” Charlotte says in a snippy tone that pisses me off.
I pull Sariah to the side and away from my family as much as I can. I need at least the illusion of privacy, even if there is none in reality. “Do you want to marry Jeremiah Wood?”
Her brows draw together. “Of course not. My father arranged it. I had no choice.”
I take her hands in mine, feeling how cold she is. I start to rub her skin, trying to get some heat back into her limbs. “There has to be a wedding, Sariah. Either you to him,” I pause, not sure how to address this but figuring it’s better to just say the words, “or you to me.” Knowing Jeremiah, I understand why she wanted to lose her virginity before marrying him. He would have wrecked her.
She stares at me as if I’ve lost my mind. Perhaps I have. But all the fears I had about marrying a stranger are no longer there, because marrying Sariah, Alice, whatever the fuck her name is, is no longer an overwhelming prospect. It feels right, like this was meant to be. I was supposed to meet her that night in the club, and she is supposed to be standing in front of me in a wedding dress, ready to say our vows.
“You want to marry me? We hardly know each other, Luke.”
I shake my head. “We’ll learn about each other.” I can’t stop from kissing her again, needing to reassure her that this is meant to be. “You have to make this decision, and you have to do it now. We are running out of time.”
“You brought me here to marry you? You didn’t know who I was. You didn’t know if I’d want to marry you.” Anger laces her tone.
“We can put you back in the car and take you to the church where Jeremiah is waiting, if you prefer,” Anthony says.
I ignore my father’s words and focus solely on Sariah. “Little dove, there’s going to be a wedding today. There’s no avoiding that. It is the only way I can keep my family safe. I know it feels like all your choices are being taken from you, and I’m sorry for that, but I was set to marry whoever walked through that door. I’m so fucking relieved it was you.”
“Jeremiah and my father will kill me if I do not go ahead with the wedding he’s planned.”
“If you are my wife, I will protect you from any danger. I promise you that.”
She peers up at me as if I could be her saviour. I want desperately to fill that role for her. “You can’t protect me from their wrath. No one can save me from that.” Her voice is small as she says this, and I hate that it is. No one will ever make her feel small again.
“If they come for you, they will have to deal with the weight of the Fraser Empire. And I can assure you, Sariah, our reach is long. If you are my wife, I can keep you safe. Let me protect you, little dove.” I squeeze her hands.
“This is crazy. We’ve only met each other a few times.”
I run my knuckles down her cheek, and she leans into my touch, which I take as a win. “That is true, but you can’t deny there is chemistry between us. You like me as much as I like you.”
“I do like you, I can’t lie about that, but that doesn’t mean we should rush into this. Maybe we should just take a moment and think…”
I take her hands again in mine. “If I had it, I would give you all the time you need in the world to process this. But this is about to cause a war. We have to act now. What do you say? Do you want to be my wife?”
“Declan is going to be furious.”
“He loves you. You’re his daughter. He’ll come around when he realises that this is a done deal. That will bring the Eastons into our alliance.”
She shakes her head. “I doubt he’d care if I lived or died. My only use to him was as a bargaining chip.”
I search Sariah’s face, wondering if she is telling the truth. I don’t see any lie in her eyes. “What do you mean?”
She doesn’t answer. She closes her eyes for a moment as if trying to calibrate herself. I wonder what the fuck is running through her head, because mine is rolling with thoughts. We shouldn’t be doing this so fast, she’s right about that, but I know Wood is going to be furious at losing his bride, and he’s going to take that out on the only person he can. Sariah. To protect her I need her in my circle. When she opens her eyes again, I see the resolve shining back at me. “Tell me your name.”
“Lucas Fraser.”
Her eyes dart around as she looks at my siblings and parents, as if she is trying to put names to faces. “I’ve traded one fire for another. Either way I get burnt.” She huffs out a breath and steels her shoulders. “This is completely insane, but yes, I’ll marry you.”
