Page 102 of Cardinal

"I was a huge mess for my wedding, so I don't know how you're so chill about it all right now," Evie mentioned with a chuckle.

"You threw a whole ass party with like two hundred people. Of course, that's stressful as fuck. Honestly, how you didn't lose what marbles you had left in your head is a wonder of the world to me. Hell, how Aidan put up with you is the bigger question." I seriously couldn't fathom how Evie and Aidan managed to throw such a big wedding together and have it run smoothly.

Well, there was a small hiccup with some of the guests who decided to wear white, but nothing some red wine didn't fix. Besides the small group of haters, everything went rather smoothly with their wedding. However, their wedding really drove me to solidify my decision to have a small and intimate ceremony with Luciano when the time came. Fuck all that stress with planning and managing a big, fancy ceremony. Wedding planner or not, that was a circus I refused to put on.

"Where are the boys anyways?" Evie asked, peeping up from the couch like a meerkat to scout the empty house.

"Off on their last-minute bachelor party for Luciano." Leah mused with a chuckle and roll of her eyes as she joined Evie and me on the couch with the other girls in tow.

"You really trust them after what happened with Aidan's bachelor party?" Jade, Ares's wife (that's a crazy story for another time), questioned with a raise of her eyebrow as she picked up a glass of champagne off the coffee table.

A chortling scoff from Naomi—Sebastian's wife and Leah's younger sister—had our heads turning towards her as she looked knowingly at Jade. "Says the person whose man is the troublemaker of the group." She remarked smugly at Jade.

"Oh, as if Sebastian is a saint himself." Jade snapped back with a flat glare at the younger woman.

"Listen," Leah spoke up, cutting the rising tension with her authority, "Let's all agree to disagree that we have the worst and best taste in men."

"Says the one who trained her husband to be the perfect man," I muttered under my breath with a roll of my eyes.

"Hey, just because Nikita is younger does not mean I had to teach him shit." Leah defended herself with a sarcastic scoff and click of her tongue. "He was just a little rough around the edges and needed some smoothing out, that's all." She muttered into her glass of scotch before sipping at it sullenly.

"Okay, come on, no more talking about the boys. They can handle themselves out there," Evie said with a clap of her hands. "Tonight is about our little Juliet here, who is about to get married… Again?"

Waving a dismissive hand in the air, I took a few sips of my drink before replying, "It's just the ceremony, guys, nothing to make a big deal or fuss about." Maybe I was a little too nonchalant about this whole thing, but I really didn't see the big deal about it.

Yeah, I was excited and nervous about it, but I wasn't freaking out about it. Granted, Luciano was pretty chill about it all too, kind of. He got snappy a little toward the end, but I wasn't on the receiving end of it. So, I didn't care.

"I strive to be as chill as you for my wedding," Leah commented with a dry chuckle.

"Speaking of your wedding," I dragged my words out as I turned my body to face Leah fully, "Does Nikita plan on proposing any time soon?"

"I mean, we've talked about it…" I sensed a but to follow from how solemn she looked. "He's told me he plans on it… But… I mean… Would it be mean of me to be a little pushy about it?"

Absolute silence filled the area as we all took a gross interest in our drinks. We were probably the worst people to answer that question because half of us got married rather unconventionally. Luciano and I married legally after months of being with each other, and even then, it just kind of happened…?

Luciano did end up proposing to me, the whole getting down on one knee and getting sappy bit, but it was something we both saw coming. But again, legally, we've been married for all these years, so it wasn't a big ordeal of tears, screams, and 'oh my gosh' and shit.

I didn't feel the need to 'push' for marriage per se, so I really couldn't advise Leah on anything. Also, my advice probably wouldn't be any good.

Leah's younger sister and Jade wouldn't be any help either because Naomi was forced into a marriage with Sebastian, and Jade kind of fell into a similar situation as me. Neither of us pushed for anything or needed to, nor did we really think far about marriage because we didn't need to.

Thankfully, sweet Evie broke the ice for all of us. "Uhh no? I mean, if you two love each other and are sure about it all, then I don't see why not?" Evie didn't have to push for anything either because she and Aidan somewhat planned things ahead.

"I just… Nikita is still young, and I don't want to seem like a nag." Leah sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair.

Giving off an unsure hum, I awkwardly shrugged my shoulders. "A little nudge won't hurt him, and he's not that young." Nikita was in his late twenties last I checked, so he wasn't 'young' in my opinion. Compared to Leah, yeah, he was young, but she was up there with Luciano and the others.

"Just… Let Nikita take his time unless it's too long and sweet, then shove a ring into his hands and kick him to his knees." I added my final piece before sipping some more of my drink.

"Alright, come on, no more serious talk. It's supposed to be a fun night before our girlie here gets hitched tomorrow." Evie said with a few claps of her hands. "So, everyone, grab some drinks, and let's get wasted!"

And that's what we proceeded to do. Well, what the others proceeded to do. I remained stone-cold sober, along with Leah, who wanted to be responsible for looking after the others. It was probably a good thing we stayed sober, though, because the other three ended up passing out after the long night, and Leah and I had to put them to bed… And we had to help them through their hangovers the next morning.

"I hate alcohol. I'm never drinking again." Evie groaned into the toilet as she hugged it.

"Yeah, we'll see how that goes tonight at the reception," I told her in a sarcastic voice with a pat on her back. "Leah has some kind of hangover concoction for all of you in the kitchen, so go take it and drink some water. Once you are done nursing the hangovers, I'll set out all our stuff for you guys to change into."

"Nope." Leah's voice peeped up from behind me, making me turn my head back. "You don't lift a single finger for us. It's your day. You're the bride. So, you go park your ass in the makeup chair for the makeup artist and hairdresser to do you all up and pretty." I had no choice in this matter, judging by her insistent tone. Either I went willingly, or she'd drag my ass into the chair.

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