Page 109 of Reluctantly His

I picked her up and cradled her in my arms as I carried her inside, tightening my grip as she trembled. “I know. That’s why we are going to go take care of this right now.”

Her father wanted her married.

So that was what he was going to get—just not to the man he picked.

I carried her into the hospital, and two nurses immediately saw us and started trailing after us, asking what had happened.

“Your security sucks. That’s what happened,” I growled out as I pushed past them.

I wasn’t going to her room, not yet. She would be back safe in her bed with me by her side, protecting her, in a moment. First, we were going to take care of this.

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going to give your father what he wants.”

CHAPTER 39

REID

“What?”

“Charlotte Maeve Manwarring, I’m not going to ask you the question I should be asking you, because I’m not giving you a choice. You are mine. You’ve already said you were mine, and I am never letting you go.” I didn’t look down at her. I kept my eyes up, following the signs for the hospital chapel.

“I don’t want you to ever let me go.”

“Good. So we are going to the chapel now, and we are making it legal.”

“Yes,” she whispered, as if I had actually asked her a question instead of issuing a simple fact.

“Good. I will give you the wedding you deserve once you have healed. You can spend a ridiculous amount of money on a dress, flowers, invitations, anything you want. But this, the legal side, is being handled tonight. I don’t want that asshole, or any other assholes that your father can find, to think he can claim what is mine.”

“Okay.”

I didn’t know why I’d expected her to fight me. Maybe it was because I thought that she would realize that money or not, she was far too good for me, but I was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Wait, she needs her arm bandaged.” One of the nurses chased after me.

“Then grab the shit you need and meet us in the chapel. You can wrap her up there.”

I didn’t say anything else. I just held Charlotte to my chest, feeling her heartbeat against my skin as her fingers tangled in my hair, massaging the back of my neck, a small way for her to show her affection and approval.

God, I was going to love to find all the ways that she showed affection, all the small little ticks she had, annoyances, what made her happy, what made her sad, and what pissed her off beyond all belief. I was going to spend the rest of my life exploring every facet of this beautiful creature in my arms and protecting her with my life.

She was my mission now.

The chapel was completely empty when we got there. A small button on the side of the altar had a little wooden placard that said press for assistance.

I slammed my hand down on that button several times until a small door opened in the back of the room.

“Can I help you?” a man wearing a black button-down shirt asked, stepping out of the room.

“Yeah, you ordained?” I asked, cutting off the pleasantries.

My girl was cold and uncomfortable. I needed to get this handled before I could fix that. Safety might come before comfort, but as far as I was concerned, they were both important when it came to my girl.

“I am. Can I help you with something?” He looked me up and down as he took a step back, no doubt getting ready to call security.

“We need to be married. Now.”

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