Page 112 of To Have and To Hold

I scanned the room as we arrived at the beginning of the aisle in Valentina’s large living room. The right side was filled with the tables I’d seen earlier. The left side was filled with chairs—chairs filled with people. Everyone stood as the harpist played the wedding march.

My gaze immediately went to Em. In a custom suit that tapered from his wide shoulders to his slim torso, he was the personification of everything I knew about him—a murderer, a criminal, a gentleman, a man capable of extremes, and the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I didn’t have to imagine what was under that suit. I knew. And there wasn’t one inch of him I didn’t love.

With his clenched jaw and dark eyes, I saw an inferno, one about to burn out of control. He was looking at my father. My smile grew, catching his attention and dousing his fury. As we got closer to the altar, I mouthed ‘faith.’

Em smiled, his eyes showing a different kind of fire, the one of desire.

To my surprise, Noemi and Liliana were both standing on the right side of Father Gallo. Nick and Rei were beside Emiliano. Three of the top men in the Roríguez cartel. Three men who should intimidate me. Two men I now considered friends and the other, my husband.

Father Gallo spoke, but my mind was consumed with the tall dark-haired man staring at me, the most handsome of the lineup, the man who was already my husband.

“Who gives this woman to be wed?”

The room took a collective breath as Papà reached for my hand and passed it on to Emiliano. “With pride, her mother and I.”

Chapter

Forty-One

Isabella

It was only a little after eight p.m. when Emiliano and I made our way up the stairs. While most of the guests were gone, there was an informal meeting occurring in Andrés’s office. Something big had happened, but I knew I wouldn’t get details until we were alone. Em closed the bedroom door and turned the lock in the knob. He was handsome with his suit coat gone, his tie loosened, and the sleeves of his white button-down rolled to near his elbows.

I spun toward him and smiled. “I couldn’t be happier.”

He stalked toward me and reached for my shoulders. “Do you have any idea how fucking stunning you are in that dress?”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I’ve wanted to get you out of it since you appeared with your father.”

I took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

“For not killing him? You’re welcome.”

“For giving him another chance. He apologized to me. And when he gave me away, he said it was with great pride.” I wiped a tear from my cheek. “Yesterday, he told me I was an embarrassment.”

A vein in Em’s forehead throbbed. “I heard.”

“No, don’t be mad. Dario told me that you told him not to insist on my family’s presence.”

“Well, damn. He wasn’t supposed to tell you.”

I ran my palm over his cheek. “We tell the truth.”

“We tell the truth. I was just going to leave that part out.”

“I’m glad I knew because when Papà walked in here?—”

“Your father was in our bedroom?” Em grinned. “Where I fucked his daughter?”

I slapped his chest. “Where you’re not going to do it again if you don’t let me tell you what he said.”

He inhaled. “Then by all means, Mrs. Ruiz, tell me what your father said feet away from the bed where I took his daughter’s virginity.”

“You’re awful.”

“I’m not. What did he say?”

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