Page 38 of Sinful Lies

“Congrats,brat,” Mikhail mutters as I move to stand beside him.

“Ready to sign your life away?” Danil chuckles.

I shoot my youngest brother a warning glare.

“Don’t make me regret choosing all of you as my best men,” I mutter under my breath.

Danil grins as he slaps me on the arm. “It wouldn’t be right not to have all of us by your side.”

I roll my eyes, but he’s right. We’ve gone through some shit, my brother’s and I, and I have a feeling it’s only going to get worse.

We need each other now more than ever.

I catch sight of Zara’s mother in the front row. She’s already wiping tears of happiness from her eyes and a pang of guilt hits me. But there’s no going back now.

“It’s time,” Alexei mutters in my ear as the room quietens and the string quartet begins playing the entrance music.

Bianca appears, wearing a pale lilac gown, her dark hair swept back off her face, holding baby Leo who’s wearing a tiny suit and bow tie. He’s half asleep in her arms as she makes her way down the aisle, and a huge smile spreads across her face as she looks at Alexei.

“You’re a lucky bastard, you know that?” I mutter to my brother who only chuckles at the sight of his wife and child.

“Let’s hope Leo stays asleep,” he replies.

As Bianca almost reaches the top of the aisle, Emily appears, carrying a bouquet of white and lilac roses. Her blonde hair is also swept back off her face, and she’s grinning madly as she makes her way down the aisle.

Any moment, Zara is going to appear in a white dress, and her father is going to walk her down the aisle and give her away to me.

I take a steadying breath, closing my eyes for just a moment as I try to calm the sudden wave of nerves. I drown out the sound of the music and let myself remember why I’m doing this.

“Here she comes.” Alexei nudges me in the rib.

My eyes open, and I turn to look down the aisle, and my jaw almost hits the floor.

Zara looks radiant. Her long, blonde hair is loose around her shoulders, and the dress is a simple design which emphasizes her waist and fans out in a long train behind her.

She’s clutching her father’s arm tightly as she slowly makes her way toward me, her eyes wide as she takes in all the people gawking at her.

And for good reason.

“Look at me,sladkaya,” I whisper.

As if she can hear me, her eyes flick up to meet mine, and it’s as if the room dissolves around us.

There is no one else but us. The music becomes nothing but a faint melody in my ears as I watch her take her first few steps toward me, and I can’t stop the smile that spreads across my face at the sight of her.

She’s stunning, and the way her green eyes light up when she sees me has my chest swelling with pride.

She’s going to be mine.

The sudden rush of emotion has me almost stumbling.

This may be an arrangement, but I can’t deny that I care about Zara.

How can I not when I carried her bleeding, broken body from a cell after she was captured by Gilanto? I sat by her bedside while she healed, feeling nothing but bone-crushing guilt at the knowledge that my family was the reason she got hurt.

And now the past might be repeating itself. Who knows how Massimo Conti is going to react when he hears the news of my sudden nuptials.

All I know is that I will make sure Zara is protected at all costs.

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