Page 191 of Making Choices

“Nope, everyone but Brutus,” my husband-to-be tells me. “He left his cut behind for his faction to fight over. Needless to say, we disabused them of the notion they have any place in the Shamrocks. We stripped their cuts and burnt off their tattoos, then left them in Bishops’ territory.”

“Good.”

Gabriel clears his throat. “Are we here to marry or chitchat?”

I’m taken aback by the hostile edge to his words.

Slash doesn’t seem to notice as he says, “Marry us.”

While Gabriel starts the proceedings, I squeeze Slash’s hand. “Thank you for trying to make this special. The discussions being had at home today were a bit much—Crystal seems to think she’s organising a wedding for royalty. I’m not sure how she plans on pulling it all off by Saturday.”

“There’s no need to thank me.” Slash lifts my knuckles to his lips. “I wanted to make you mine today—not lettin’ you get away, not now I’ve got a chance with you.”

As much as his words affect me, I don’t allow my reaction to show. The butterflies that take flight in my tummy die as disloyalty floods me. I love Zeke. I love Slash. I shouldn’t be marrying one of them while the other is locked up.

Even if this is Zeke’s idea.

Different but equal.

Those three words will be the death of me.

For a man of many words, Gabriel gets to the point very quickly. There’s none of his typical loquaciousness as he breezes through the vows to reach the legal part before I’m ready to face it.

“Do you, Lilianna Scarlet Mayberry, take this man, Carter McKinnley Hudson, to be your lawful wedded husband, to love and obey, for better and for worse, until death you shall part?”

Staring up at Slash’s hopeful face, I do my best to hide my misgivings as I respond, “I do.”

When I slide the ring that Wyatt passes me onto Slash’s finger, I’m surprised by the sense of rightness that fills me at the sight of the black tungsten band circling his ring finger. As much as I only ever envisioned marrying Zeke, I’ve also always felt like Slash is mine as well. Our mutual best friend. The third wheel as Toker sometimes jokes.

If I could also put a ring on Zeke’s finger right now, I’d be happy.

But that’s a pipe dream.

These two would kill each other before they let that happen. Which is why I need to stick to my plan to keep things platonic between me and Slash, and me and Zeke when he’s released from prison in the coming days. Preserving thirty years of brotherhood, my family’s legacy, my brothers’ future, Zeke and Slash’s relationship—those four things are more important than my stupid heart.

“Do you, Carter McKinnley Hudson, take this woman, Lilianna Scarlet Mayberry, to be your lawful wedded wife, to love and cherish, to honour and protect, for better and for worse, until death you shall part?”

“I do.” There isn’t a skerrick of doubt in Slash’s voice as he answers Gabriel’s question a second after he poses it. “For-fuckin’-ever... and even longer than that.”

He slides a band of diamonds onto my ring finger.

I stare down at it.

“You may now—”

The sentence goes unsaid because Slash wraps his hands around my waist, and I squeal as my feet leave the ground. Even though I’m not a small girl, Zeke has never had any issue carrying me around, but there’s something borderline scary about being lifted straight off your feet by someone who stands six-foot-eight tall. It’s a complete loss of control. A dependency on their strength that I’ve never experienced before.

A trust fall in reverse.

“Kiss me, duchess,” Slash orders as he makes me wrap my thighs around his waist. The dress I’m wearing has a flared skirt, so hopefully I’m not flashing my bits to everyone seated near us. “Taste your husband’s love. Breathe in my adoration.”

“Slash...” I try to caution him that this isn’t real. “Don’t...”

My protests die when he makes me do exactly as he demanded.

He kisses me hard. I resist. Refuse to return his ardour. I can’t let him take us down this path. Grumbling when I won’t allow his prodding tongue access, Slash balances me on the arm he has curled under my backside, then snakes his hand between us to cuff my throat. I sigh as he cuts off my breath, parting my lips as I empty my lungs. He seizes the opportunity to deepen our kiss, and that’s when it happens.

I taste his love.

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