Page 44 of Wicked Angel

Doors opened to reveal the hundreds of people who now stood as the signature bridal song started to play. Elaborate white flowers hung over the ceiling in strings. I’d chosen the lilies, my mother’s favorite, but other than that, I’d had very little to do with the day’s preparation. The floral scent was nearly overwhelming. I didn’t know where they’d managed to get so many real flowers for the occasion so quickly, but someone had obviously worked very hard to turn the room into an interior garden.

Vines and leaves were woven over the chairs that had been set up and they even lined the walkway. Candles were lit, but overhead the chandeliers provided the most light. The room was devoid of windows, and it wasn’t lost on me that it was likely because the guests in this room—Gaven and my father included—were probably enemies to very powerful people who wouldn’t hesitate to see them dead, even at a wedding.

All eyes turned to my father and me as we made our way down the aisle. People I didn’t even know eyed me with a myriad of expressions; awe, happiness, judgment, and hate. There were more, but I couldn’t pick them all apart. All of them were focused on me. I knew, vaguely, who they all were. My father’s business partners, members of our family, and I was sure even a few enemies who wanted nothing more than to see a bullet in my father’s back. Perhaps one of them had even attempted to kill me on the street the day that Gaven had demanded the wedding to be moved up.

Whoever they were, they were not nearly as important or as all-consuming as the man at the end of the long path I walked down. All there was, was Gaven, standing straight and tall at the end of the aisle. A wolfish smile curled his lips with each step closer I took. I was about to seal my future with the man who scared me more than I’d cared to admit, even to myself.

The closer I drew to the end, the more nerves whipped through me. Slowing to a stop, we waited for the officiant to ask my father for his permission to have me marry Gaven.

“I do,” my father agreed proudly, kissing my cheek. With a final squeeze of my hand on his arm and passing off the bouquet to Gertie as she came forward and took it from me, he stepped away. Now, it was only Gaven and me. As the officiant ran through the obligatory lines, I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Gaven’s intense stare, and I wasveryaware of his hands holding mine.

“Please repeat after me, Mr. Belmonte,” the officiant prompted.

Gaven echoed each line with confidence, the words searing into my soul. “I, Gaven Belmonte, take you, Evangeline Price, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.”

I was frozen in place by the time he finished. Everything was finally coming to fruition. This wasn’t some sham or a simple business deal like my father had planned. It wasreal,and I knew that as Gaven said the vow, it was binding the two of us together. No matter for how long, no matter how far apart. I would forever belong to Gaven Belmonte.

“Now for you, Evangeline.” The officiant glanced at me, a reassuring smile on his weathered face, and I nodded, echoing his words each time until I got to the end.

“… from this day forward until death do us part.” The words sounded weird, steady, and smooth despite the slight tremble radiating through my body.

“Then I proudly pronounce you, Gaven and Evangeline, man and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Price. You may now kiss your bride.”

Gaven didn’t need any more encouragement to do so, closing the distance between us in the blink of an eye. Cupping my head with one hand and pulling me into him with the other, he ensured I was looking him in the eye for a long moment before finally pressing his lips to mine. Possessive and intense, I felt the significance of that single kiss all the way to the tips of my toes and in the deepest recesses of my heart.

I was officially Gaven’s.

Until death did we part.

19

ANGEL

Cocktail hour and photographs blew by in a flurry of activity. Posing this way and that with my new husband, greeting every single one of the hundreds of guests until finally we arrived at the reception.

“Here,” Gaven instructed, holding out a flute of champagne he’d snagged from a passing waiter’s silver tray. “You look a bit nervous.”

“Can’t imagine why,” I murmured behind the lip of the glass, sipping the tart, bubbly liquid. Gaven only chuckled at my response, his grip on my hand tightening slightly. I suppose it didn’t matter that I wasn’t twenty-one yet. It wasn’t the first time Gaven had given me a drink, and I doubted it would be the last before I was technically and legally allowed to. I’d hazard a guess that most people in this room had all done far worse than underage drinking.

“Why don’t we sit for a moment? I can’t imagine those heels are very comfortable,” he stated, eyeing the white stilettos I’d been wearing for the last few hours. Not trusting myself to speak, I let him guide me to our designated seats at the head table.

I didn’t want to admit to him or myself that despite the heavy weight I felt solidified during our ceremony, I was slowly becoming accustomed to the realization that I was now married. I was now attached to another person—a murderer for all intents and purposes—for the rest of my life. For some reason, it didn’t scare me as much as it had weeks ago. In fact, I could picture the future a little more clearly now.

As Gaven pulled out my chair for me, I scanned the room, taking in all of the talking, dancing, and crowd milling about. Everyone seemed to be having fun or was at least occupied, except for two. Jackie and my father stood off to the side of the room, my father’s frown hard as he glared at my sister. Jackie was dressed as pristinely as always. Her dress was formfitting, the back nonexistent with a lot of skin showing. At first, I thought that might have been the reason our father was so upset. She often pushed the limits of how he expected his daughters to dress, and I was sure he was saying something about her attire which was more appropriate for a nightclub than a wedding.

Unfortunately, there was no way to know what they were actually saying, but whatever it was, I could tell my father was not happy about it. That was nothing new, but what was new was the serene expression on her face as she spoke to him. Where he grew redder and redder in the face, hers never changed.

Whatever their problem was, it wasn’t mine right now. I had enough on my plate. I brushed it off.It was my wedding day, so instead of going over to smooth their argument out, I took another sip of my champagne and looked at Gaven. After a moment of examining his features, from the droop of his eyelashes to the chiseled cut of his jaw, his lips twitched and he spoke. “Staring isn’t very polite, you know,” he murmured, still not looking at me.

I shrugged. “You stare at me all the time, so I thought it was only fair to do the same,husband.”

His gaze sliced to me at that last word, and an intensity sparked in the depths of his eyes. “That mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble.” Heat laced his words, but instead of shrinking back, I merely smiled and took another sip of my champagne.

“Is that so?” I challenged in a soft whisper, earning a deep guttural growl from him as he leaned into me.

We were married now, and maybe I should have still walked on eggshells for fear of what might happen, only I couldn’t stop myself. Before the wedding, I had held on to a non-existent sliver of hope that it wouldn’t happen. That, by some miracle, I’d be cut free from this arrangement. Nonetheless, I wasn’t; I was now tied to him and my family’s life of crime, and somehow, that fear of him had lessened because of the fact that his ring now sat on my finger. This was my life now, and in spite of what Jackie had advised, I couldn’t let it consist of biting my tongue.

“Oh, absolutely,” he whispered, “and I’m going to enjoy every moment of punishing you for it. As will you. However, as much as I would love to fold you over my lap and paint that ass red for everyone to see, now is not the time.”

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