Page 135 of Exile and Embrace

Her eyes are glassy as she clutches the bouquet of flowers to her chest.

She walks down the aisle lined with colorful flower petals until she comes to a stop in front of me.

Zoe lets go of her arm and steps beside me. “If I have to lose my sister to someone, I’m glad that it’s you.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “Thank you.”

The officiant begins the ceremony as Ava hands off her flowers to Zoe.

Zoe joins Billie and Hadley on the other side of Ava. The three of them look more emotional than Ava is right now.

Becca takes a seat beside Cillian, leaning onto his side as the music comes to a stop.

“Hey.” I keep my voice low, barely more than a whisper as the officiant drones on.

Ava laughs. “Hey.”

The officiant looks between the two of us. “If you would both like to say the vows that you’ve prepared.”

I turn to Christian, reaching for the piece of paper with my vows.

He hands them over while Jovan winks and Alessio nods.

I take a deep breath, turning back to Ava.

“Aves, I wrote vows, but honestly, they’re not that good, so we’re just going to wing it.”

The crowd of our family and friends chuckles, but Cillian’s laugh is the loudest.

Becca elbows him, her eyes brimming with tears as she looks at Ava.

I take Ava’s hands in mine, running my thumbs over her knuckles. “Aves, I could live a thousand lives and not find another person who loves me and understands me the way you do. I could wander the earth and never find a woman who is half the person you are.”

The lump in my throat threatens to choke me. I swallow hard, wanting my words to be as clear as possible. “I knew when I saw you again four years ago in prison that you were far too good for the likes of me, but you took a chance on me anyway.”

Ava reaches up and swipes a tear from beneath my eye.

I turn my head quick, kissing her hand before she can pull away.

“Aves, I love you more than you could ever know, and I will spend the rest of my life showing you that.”

Ava’s bottom lip quivers, and she lets go of me long enough to swipe away her own tears before they can fall.

“Finn, you set my world on fire in the best ways possible. You came into my life, and you burned down everything I thought I knew, making way for a better life to form.”

She sniffles, raising a finger to her eyes again.

Ava takes a deep breath. “We’ve built ourselves up from the ashes since we’ve been together, and I look forward to continuing to build with you. I fell in love with you slowly at first, but then it came crashing down around me. My life would be only half of what it is without you.”

She takes a moment to smile at me.

I take the handkerchief out of my jacket pocket and hand it to her.

She laughs and wipes away the tears before holding my hands tighter. “I’m going to love you for the rest of our days. I’m going to fall in love with you more and more every day. Being your wife is all that I’ve ever wanted.”

The officiant nods to Christian and Zoe.

The two of them step forward, both presenting our wedding bands.

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