Page 70 of Saint

She slapped his arm. “I bet you are!”

The hacker grabbed her, reeled her in and kissed her.

Saint cracked open the bottle and poured a glass for Brax first. “This is much better than that,” he stated, nodding to the whiskey. “But we’re celebrating, so here’s to being double-fisted all night.”

He clinked his glass against Brax’s and wandered back over to the party as Aubrey called for Mia, who came out of a nearby apartment.

“Your man has fulfilled his ransom,” River declared, raising her glass. “To Saint and Mia! It may have been a short engagement, but that’s how we do it around here.”

Congratulations filled the air.

Not long after, a Russian Orthodox priest in full liturgical vestments showed up at the door, courtesy of Zane. Brax wasn’t sure how he’d managed to pull it off in such a short amount of time, but there he was, ready to marry the happy couple.

The ceremony, spoken in both Russian and English, turned out better than Brax could’ve imagined. Even so, he didn’t believe in marriage. Not anymore. He’d taken one disastrous trip down the aisle and had regretted it ever since.

He had no idea whether or not his teammates’ marriages would last. He wished them all nothing but the best. At the same time, his jaded side knew better. Incredible sex, undying love, endless promises made in the throes of passion inevitably faded. Eventually, people’s true colors came out.

Once Saint and Mia exchanged their vows, they placed plain platinum bands on each other’s right ring fingers, which was the Russian tradition. The priest declared them husband and wife—God, help them—and they exchanged a long kiss. Then the priest made a quick exit as the party erupted.

Braxton wished he could shrug off his funk and let loose. God, he felt like a crabby old man. As much as he wanted to go and hide in his quarters, he was their leader and it was important for him to be there, to show solidarity. However, he planned to sneak away at the first opportunity that presented itself.

“I am the official ‘Tamada’,” Zane announced.

“Dude, you spend too much time on the internet,” Ryland said.

“What’s a Tamato?” Gray asked.

“Not tomato, Tamada,” Zane corrected, and they all laughed. “The designated master of ceremonies. And the first item on the agenda is a toast for the new couple.”

“Cuz we haven’t done any of those yet,” Harper added with a hiccup.

Zane lifted his glass of vodka—at some point they’d opened a second bottle—and everyone followed suit.

“Okay, please make do with my shaky Russian,” Zane said and smirked.

“You’ve got this,” Saint encouraged him. “Besides, no one understands but me and River.”

“True! Okay, you guys remember what to do?” Zane asked, and there were nods all around. “Za-Molodykh! For the newlyweds!”

“Gor’ko!” Everyone shouted.

Saint burst out laughing then turned to his bride. “They just protested that the wine—er, vodka—is bitter. To sweeten it, we need to kiss for as long as possible.”

“I think that can be arranged,” she murmured.

“And if they don’t kiss long enough, we can demand they do it again,” Zane added mischievously.

Saint caught Mia’s lips in a heated kiss and, yeah, they didn’t need to demand anything. The kiss lasted far longer than anything Brax had ever seen. With a chuckle, he wandered back over to the island, set the vodka down and picked up the whiskey again. It was his drink of choice and went down in a smooth burn that he liked to savor.

Once he refilled his glass, he found a comfortable chair at the edge of the action and watched the party from afar. River’s furry feline made a beeline for him, jumped up and perched on the arm of the chair. The cat always seemed to find him. Brax absently stroked a hand down Neo’s back, eliciting loud purrs. It had been a long time since he’d had a pet and he’d forgotten the comfort they could provide.

Maybe one day. The cat began curling his claws into the chair’s fabric and Brax sighed. He’d definitely get a dog.

Zane kept the group highly entertained with jokes and games, and everyone offered toast after toast. They brought the food out not long after and dug into a feast Inda had prepared. The girls had even baked a wedding cake. Considering how tipsy everyone was, it was a good thing. They needed some food to soak up all the alcohol.

They deserve this, though, Brax thought. After months of fighting The Agency, his team needed to let some steam off and have a good time. There were still unanswered questions—like why the hell his name was on the list Zane and River had decrypted—but Brax knew they’d figure everything out. They didn’t have an option.

His phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket, checking the screen. Unknown. Curious, he opened the message:I have intel for you.

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