Page 94 of Convenient Mafia Vows

Abigail is wearing a white dress covered in embroidered daisies that pick out the green and amber flecks in her brown eyes. Her hair is loose and reaches almost down to her waist, and she looks more like me than ever.

She is staying with Moira and Terry while Caleb and I go on a honeymoon to Europe. Mason has gone to Florida to stay with Mom and Quincy for a while. After the abduction, he broke down in the hospital and confessed to his gambling addiction being out of control, so we’re hoping that some quiet time with Mom will help to get him back on track. He’d lost his way somehow, lost sight of what was important as the debts started accruing, but I have a good feeling about his future now.

“I know how to take care of her. Emily told me what to do. She’s learning to be a vet.” Abigail’s expression is serious; looking after a bunny is an important job. “Emily will help me clean out the hutch, but I can move her into the run myself so she can eat the grass.”

“I’ll have to come meet her when I get back from our honeymoon.” I kiss the top of her head and stand up. “What do you think of the ballroom?”

Abigail peers all around, wide-eyed. “I like the fountain,” she says before skipping off to join Emily, who seems to be her favorite person these days.

Cash and Bash came in while we were discussing Snowy. They stand on either side of me and kiss my cheeks. “We didn’t get you a wedding present yet,” Bash says.

I smile. “Guys, you really don’t have to. I think Caleb has everything we could possibly want in his apartment.”

“Ah, but does he have one of these?” Cash ducks underneath one of the food tables and comes back out with an inflatable unicorn, inflated, complete with golden unicorn’s horn on its head.

I burst into giggles and take the unicorn, pretending to inspect it closely. “Indeed, he doesn’t. We’ll give it pride of place in the pool, and every time Caleb falls off it, I’ll think of you.”

“My turn.” Bash copies his brother, disappears underneath the table, and returns with a curious transparent cube. I chew my bottom lip trying to guess what it is so that I don’t make him feel bad. “It’s an egg-cuber,” he announces proudly.

“An egg-cuber?” Caleb takes the gift and turns it around, his brow furrowed. “Just what I always wanted.”

“I knew it.” Bash grins. “I thought that if ever there was anyone who would want to make square eggs it would be my seriously square big brother.”

We all laugh as the ballroom continues to fill with guests.

The twins have eased my anxiety a little, but my heart is still drumming dramatically. I’ve barely known Caleb for a few weeks, and his world and events like this are still so alien to me I feel like a deep-sea diver stumbling upon an underwater city without an oxygen tank.

“Hey, I’ve got you. You’ll be fine.” Caleb’s arms snake around my waist from behind, and he kisses me on the lips as I lean back against him. “Have I told you how beautiful you are?”

“No.” I shake my head, twisting my mouth away from his lips in feigned confusion. “Have you told anyone else?”

Caleb turns me around and places both hands on my shoulders. His face is so close to mine our lips are touching. “You are, and always will be, the most beautiful woman in the world to me, and don’t you ever forget it.”

I slant my eyes and tease him with a sly smile. “Out of curiosity, what will happen if I forget?”

His lips tickle my ear as he whispers, “I will withhold my cock and make you beg for it. Naked. On your knees with your butt in the air.” He pulls away.

My face is flushed, and I can feel my nipples hardening. “I’ll bear that in mind.”

Sienna navigates her way across the slowly-filling room, and Caleb chuckles. “Saved by your best friend. We’ll resume this conversation later.”

Sienna looks stunning in a floaty green-and-gold dress with a high neckline and long floaty transparent sleeves. Her red hair is piled up on top of her head, with long curls framing her face, but the first thing I notice about her are the flushed cheeks.She looks happy, and seeing my best friend happy is the best wedding present ever.

“Wow, look at you.” She holds my hand and twirls me around. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you wearing anything other than jeans. What have you done to her, Caleb?” She smiles. “I mean, wow.”

My cheeks flood with heat, and I hold onto Caleb’s arm.

Even I see a different person when I look in the mirror now, and I told myself it was because of the designer labels stitched inside my new outfits. But it isn’t. It’s knowing that Caleb feels about me the way I feel about him. It’s knowing that he will always be by my side, and that our future is together. It’s like the real me was hibernating until the sun came out, and Caleb is my sunshine. My oxygen. My Prince Charming.

“Where have you been?” I ask Sienna, deflecting the attention away from me. “I haven’t seen you for a couple of days.”

“I’ve been busy … looking at art galleries.” She pauses. “I think I’ve found one.”

Kyle wanted to help her start her own gallery, but Sienna refused his offer. She’s keeping him at arm’s length. It’s survival instinct, and I can’t blame her for that. She almost died in that car wreck, and I can’t even begin to imagine what horrific images appear inside her head when she closes her eyes at night.

But Caleb kept his word and is funding the gallery on the provision that she repays him with one of her paintings when she’s a famous artist charging millions for a picture of a sunflower.

“I can’t wait for you to see it, V. It’s perfect.”

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