Page 219 of Brutal Savage

She whimpers. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Because someone has to be.”

Her bottom lip quivers. I can tell Fionn is affected.

“Come on, let’s get you settled into a new room.”

She nods, walking beside him, yet keeping a safe distance.

“Do you like weddings? Because one of my brothers is getting married in about three hours and I can use a date.”

That gets her laughing a little, and I don’t hear the rest of it as they disappear inside the hotel.

“Wow.” Cillian chuckles. “That was…”

“Fionn?” I offer.

“Yeah.” He shakes his head. “Jesus. I mean, he could break her.”

“Or maybe he can make her stronger.”

“Well, weirder things have happened,” Devlin adds. “I mean, Elara did fall in love with you.”

“Fuck off.” I punch his shoulder, returning to the bar.

In a few hours, she’s going to be walking down the aisle to me, and I can’t wait until I see my wife again.

ELARA

I stare at myself in the full-length mirror of the bridal suite, rolling my hands up and down the Chantilly lace of my mermaid gown.

My hair lies in perfectly styled Hollywood waves, the ends tickling my bare back. The dress was made just for me by Dolce & Gabbana, beautiful embroidered flowers all over the gown.

“You look so pretty!” Eriu dabs her eyes.

“You know you’re too good for Tynan, right?” Iseult teases. “If you’re thinking of running, I have a car ready for you.”

I laugh. “There’s no more running for me. This time I’d like to stay.”

“Good.” She tilts her face up with a smirk. “I was just testing you.”

I shake my head. “I’m afraid to know what would happen if I failed.”

Before she can respond, someone knocks at the door.

“Who could that be?” Iseult heads to open it while I stay where I am, just in case Tynan tries to sneak a peek again.

“Tynan!” she scolds. “I told you, you can’t see her.”

“Come on, just for a second.”

“Nope. Can’t see the bride before the wedding.”

“You’re terrible,” he tells her, while I stifle a laugh.

It makes me so happy that he’s so eager to see me.

“It’s what they tell me. Now go! Oh, hey, Brody,” she says. “You can come in.”

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