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“This is perfect, don’t you think?” he murmured. If this marriage was nothing more than a means to an end, he vowed to make the wedding worthy of Mia. And … where had that thought comefrom?
“It reminds me of a night long ago.” Her eyes glowed in awe, and a bit of something he couldn’t identify. “I could not imagine a more fitting setting.”
Subdued lighting flickered across the room and abank of open windows stretching across the west side of the room allowed the cool November night air to blow gently through. Huge ceramic vases lined the base of the windows, overflowing with fresh flowers, their scent lightly perfuming the air. Apriest awaited them at the altar, smile warm and welcoming. Vivaldi played softly in the background like a benediction.
“Do you wish to be married?” the priest asked.
Brand held out the envelope Dora had given him. “We do, Father.”
“Very well. The Beaumonts have requested that I ask you to carefully consider your reasons for entering into this marriage,” the priest said in a grave tone. “Marriage is a serious affair, and you should only enter it with due thought and consideration. Please look at the person you’ve chosen to join your life to and be very certain this is the right choice.”
Brand swore beneath his breath. Every single word the priest spoke hammered at his heart, protesting the reasons he’d chosen to marry. Without hesitation, Mia gazed up at him, her eyes glowing greenish gold. Though her expression remained cautiously noncommittal, her eyes, that look, betrayedher.
They were filled with a brilliant hope and an unmistakable longing. Though this marriage wasn’t destined to last, her eyes carried the expression of enduring love, faith, hope. She was a fascinating woman, in some regards a delightful contradiction that vacillated between European sophistication and sweet innocence. Her smile, with those adorable small laugh lines, drove him insane. And the way she kissed?
He wanted her more than any woman he’d known.
How could he ever resist her? And yet, he had to. His life didn’t hold room for love or romance or anything other than his daughter. When she discovered him incapable of returning a woman’s love, would she grow to hate him like Carina? Accuse him of being incapable of love the way his late wifehad?
Carina had lost her life attempting to leave him after their marriage became stale, unexciting. Though to be honest, it had been both those things from the moment they’d said, “I do.” His guilt over Carina’s death still lingered, but it affirmed the one thing he knew to be true. There was only enough love in his heart for his little girl. And today, she needed a mother.
Mia offered a reassuring smile, as though sensing his doubts. Reassurance of what? That she’d never love him, despite her request that he seduce her? That when the time came, she’d happily leave him? Or did she offer reassurance that she’d stay with him until Toni recovered?
“Are you sure, Mia? Really sure?” he asked in an undertone edged with desperation. “I’m offering so little in exchange for so much.”
“Why do you even bother to ask me that when you already know my answer?” she whispered in return, her light accent more pronounced with the softness of her words.
“Have you decided?” the priest asked.
“We’re sure,” Mia said, her voice serene and filled with an unassailable certainty. “Quite sure. May I?” At their nod of assent, she snapped one last picture to commemorate the moment, their bodies pressed side by side with the priest smiling in the background.
A strange, comforting waft of vanilla filled the room, though he couldn’t identify the source. In that moment, determination filled him, the determination to make sure she experienced as comfortable a life as possible for the short time they remained together. And when he made love to her—seduced her—he’d make sure to create a memory she’d remember for the rest of herlife.
“Please, Father. Continue,” he said, adding his assurance to Mia’s.
The abbreviated ceremony contained many of the same elements from his previous marriage, but it felt far different. For some reason, even though shorter, it lacked the haste he and Carina had experienced when they’d married in Italy. This one possessed a warmth the other lacked, maybe because the guest list didn’t involve the disapproving presence of Carina’s parents in the background. Or maybe it had more to do withMia.
He glanced down at her. Unable to resist, he wrapped his arm around her waist and tucked her close. She locked into place, small and delicate, her curves aligning perfectly against him. She swiveled slightly to face him, still enclosed within hishold.
“I, Mia Starr, take thee, Brand Salvatore to be my wedded husband.” The words whispered between them, steady and true, without the slightest hesitancy. Her eyes met his, locked with him, wide and glittering in the moonlight.
The ceremony continued, washing over him like a balm to his soul. When his turn came to speak his vows, he found the words came just as easily as they did to Mia. He didn’t question it. Nor did he dwell on it. He didn’tdare.
“Do you have rings you’d like to exchange before I complete the ceremony?” the priest asked with a fatherly smile. “If not, we have some on hand. They’re just trinkets until you can obtain your own.”
“I have rings,” Brandsaid.
Mia smiled at him in delight. “You do?”
“I do.” He reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a pair of gold wedding bands, clearly brand new. “I bought them right before I flew in,” he added, just to bring home the point that his ring wasn’t from his marriage to Carina.
Based on her soft chuckle, she didn’t have any problem reading between the lines. “Thank you for thinking of it.” She held out her hand and he slid the band over her knuckle. It fit as though made for her. “It’s just right.”
“Sheer coincidence.”
“Perhaps.” She took the second ring he offered and grasped his hand in hers. “Your turn.”
She pushed the gold band onto his finger and stared at his hand for a long moment. No doubt the significance of the moment had just sunkin.
