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Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ispun Ivy around the makeshift dance floor Sasha set up in the living room. I had to hand it to my sister-in-law, she sure knew what she was doing when it came to throwing a party.
The wedding was gorgeous. Even I had to admit that, and I wouldn’t have cared if we’d married in a barn.
“You seem…” Ivy trailed off. Her large, green eyes, which had been highlighted by the copper colored makeup she wore, looked at me in wonder. “You look happy.”
“I am.” I brought her in close, allowing my fingers to run through her softened curls. I was happy. Tying Ivy to me legally made me less worried about the possibility of jail or her being kidnapped by the Russians.
“I’m thinking about getting you out of that dress later,” I murmured in her ear. I slid my lips down the smooth column of her throat pressing a light kiss behind her ear.
Ivy blushed, and I chucked. For someone who used to dance naked, though I now knew that was only once, she was embarrassed easily.
“You look beautiful,” I told her. It was the truth. When I saw her standing at the end of the aisle on her brother's arm, my breath had caught in my throat. I’d never thought about marriage. I hadn’t wanted to drag anyone else into this shit show of a life, but standing at the edge of the altar, watching Ivy walk towards me, had felt real in all the ways that matter.
She opened her mouth, probably to thank me, but we were interrupted by the squeak of a wheelchair. We both looked over to see Mikey wheeling towards us. His young face was flushed with exertion, but he looked adamant to make it.
“Hey, little man,” I said. “Are you having fun?”
His face lit up. I’d made an effort to include Mikey where I could, knowing that it was important to Ivy. It was important to me too. I knew what it was like to lose family. It was a pain I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
“This is the best wedding I’ve ever been too!” he exclaimed.
“It’s the only wedding you’ve ever been too,” Ivy reminded him.
I laughed and reached out to rustle his hair. “Did you get enough to eat?” I wasn’t sure how much Mikeys treatment allowed him to eat, but I knew that I didn’t like the gaunt hollowness that followed him and Ivy around.
They were my family now, and they would want for nothing, especially not food.
Mikey nodded. “I had baked potato soup. Sasha said she made it special for me.”
I chuckled. I’d relayed to Sasha that Mikey needed something that would be easy on his stomach, and she’d someone found something easy and delicious.
“That’s great,” Ivy said. Her voice sounded off, and when I looked over at her, I could tell that she was on the verge of tears.
Mikey could too. I watched the moment his face fell into one of disappointment. He didn’t want Ivy upset. Neither did I. “I have a gift for you,” I blurted out.
Mikeys eyes widened. “Really?” he asked. I wasn’t shocked by his surprise. From what Ivy told me about their family situation, there weren’t many gifts in the last few years.
I nodded. “I was going to give it to you later, but I think your sister is getting tired, so we are probably going to leave soon.”
Mikey was getting tired. I could see it all over his face, and in the stern way his nurse was looking at us. “Ivy can’t hang,” he said.
Ilooked over at her, expecting her to snap back at him in true big sister fashion. But she was silent, looking at the two of us with big, sad eyes.
“Come on,” I gestured. I grabbed Ivy's hand and led her off the dance floor. Dom stepped towards us, but I gave him a subtle shake of my head.
I wasn’t the Don, which meant that my wedding was able to be significantly smaller than his. But I was still second in line, a role that came with responsibilities. All our guests were men in the organization, just those who were higher ups, some were family, but others were ones who’d worked for the family for generations. They’d come to pay their respects, and in turn, I was supposed to pay mine.
But that wasn’t my focus right now. I wanted my wife happy, and I was going to do whatever I needed to make sure that at the end of the day, she was smiling.
“Where are we going?” Mikey asked. He was trying to play it cool, but I could hear the excitement in his voice.
“That’s a good question,” Ivy muttered behind him. I’d organized this surprise myself. I knew that she was upset over how she left the house and Mikey with a nurse, and I’d wanted to do something to show her that even though I was the monster under the bed, when it came to her brother, she didn’t have to worry.
There was a large box in the center of the spare room I wheeled Mikey into. “Please tell me that’s not an animal of some sort,” Ivy asked. Her eyes were wide, and I knew she was seriously worried.
“Is it?” Mikey was the opposite of his sister in that regard. “Ivy wouldn’t even let me get a fish.”
