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Pulling back from our kiss, I take my time to run my hands all over Evie’s beautiful crimson dress.
“You look like a real queen in that,” I breathe.
“Not yet,” Damien adds in, coming to my side with the box we purchased for her. Mafia weddings do not share rings, but we wanted to give her a symbol of our love and devotion.
“We had this made just for you,” Lev says as he unties the bow and lifts the lid. Evie peers in, a gasp leaving her lips.
“What?” Her brows pinch together as we grin at each other.
“When we first met,” I say, lifting the gift out and holding it up for her, “you got on your knees and called me your king. Except, I never truly earned that title, not in the way you have earned yours.”
“You are fair and just in everything you do,” Damien says.
“You unite people for the greater good and not out of a selfish need for power,” Lev adds.
“We were never your kings, Evie. You were always our queen.”
I hold up the black gold crown with red rubies and diamonds encrusted in it as we all kneel for her. Her hand moves to her mouth in shock, her eyes beginning to water. “You guys, this is too much.”
Lev shakes his head as he stands and lifts the crown to her head, fitting it into her hair perfectly. “Nothing could ever be too much for you. But this is long overdue.”
Evie leans in and kisses him then helps Damien and I to our feet to kiss us too. She wipes away tears as she steps back.
“Dammit you guys, I said I wouldn’t cry today.”
I hand Damien a hundred dollar bill and Evie slaps his arm, making him laugh. “You bet I would cry?”
“I bet that the gesture would make you a little emotional, yeah.”
She rolls her eyes and walks to the mirror behind the bar, looking more regal than ever. I glance over all of the scars, admiring how she wore them proudly for everyone to see.
She’s grown so much in the year we have known each other. She wears them like a badge of honor, and I know without a doubt that people in the crowd today respected her for them.
Lev approaches her from behind, his hands roaming the skin on her back as she leans into him. He lightly massages over some of her scars, and I notice the tension in her face relax as he does it.
“Do those hurt, Princess?” I ask, moving to her side to run my fingers over her flesh.
“Some more than others,” she says with a lift of her shoulders, as if her pain is normal. How I missed seeing this before, I do not know.
“How does he make it better?” I ask, gesturing towards the way Lev’s fingers rub circles then seem to try and stretch the scar out.
“I move the tissue around to help it heal and break apart the scarring. It can take a while to do, and the appearance will never change, but the build up under the skin can wane and become less painful over time.”
“Just you doing it in the past few months has helped a lot,” she says to Lev. “The one on my stomach used to give me daily trouble and I hardly feel it anymore. The thicker two on my backand collar bone would make it hard to fight some days, but now I have full range of motion.”
I watch his technique as he continues down her back.
“How often should we be doing this?”
Lev tilts his head. “As often as she wants. The more it’s done the better and the quicker the results.”
“Then I will add in time to our schedules to make sure it is done daily.”
“Alexi,” Evie eyes me in the mirror. “I’m fine. It’s not a big deal.”
“You are right, it is not a big deal. So let me take care of it.”
I was not asking for her permission to ensure she is not in pain, but when she finally relents, I feel better.
