Page 67 of Savage Promises

I glance around the room. His brothers stand off to the sideandthe enforcer team they travel with. A few of my staff I asked to help serve look stunned, whispers rippling through the crowd like waves. I see the disbelief and shock in their faces. Mara hasn’t stopped blinking like she’s having a stroke.

I’m shocked more than anyone. I put this party together, not realizing I would be the one proposed to!

Shane’s eyes stay locked on mine, unyielding and sure. His confidence is dizzying. I take a shaky breath, feeling as though I’m caught in a dream.

The woman I want.

Me. Shane wants to marry me. Do I want to marry him?

“Yes,” I whisper to myself, the word barely audible.

And my self-admission just locked me into a marriage deal.

“Took you long enough, baby.” He slides the perfectly fitted ring onto my finger, every inch claiming me completely. “Tookuslong enough.”

“Is this really happening?” I glance up at his eyes.

“It really is.” Shane presses a soft kiss on my forehead.His warm lips linger on my skin, and his cologne has me wrapped up in knots. “You’re fucking mine.”

“To uniting the empire,” Griffin boasts, lifting a champagne flute, stopping Shane and me from getting right to the honeymoon.

Holy crap, I’m getting married to Shane Quinlan.Next week.

My father and Neve have joined the group. He raises his glass, nudging Neve to do the same. Her eyes take in the VIP area, and all the pretty details I put together to make this night special for her. I suspect she realizes that she might have enjoyed the fuss and attention, but now it’s all been ripped away from her.

And the spotlight is on me.

“We need to talk,” I whisper to Shane.

He threads his fingers with mine, tightly bound in a way that suggests he’ll never let me go. “Give me five minutes, baby.” He sips champagne and takes congrats from Connor and his cousins.

I look around. “Where’s your mother? Your sister?”

Shane clears his throat. “I told them not to come at the last minute.”

My heart falls into my stomach. “They wouldn’t approve? Of me?”

Shane whispers harshly, “I didn’t want my mother or my sister to witness the disgrace your sister made of me.”

I exhale sharply. “Oh. Right. I’m sorry.”

“No.” He grips my chin. “This is not your fault. We’ll go see my mother tomorrow.”

“Does she know you changed your mind? That you picked me?”

“Aye,” he says, smiling. “She’s thrilled.”

My shoulders fall from their high tense hold. “I’m so glad.”

“Me, too.” He puts his arm around me.

The celebration continues, although the atmosphere is heavy with tension and confusion. The servers start to cut the cake, and I gasp, realizing it still says Neve. Only when I get there, it doesn’t. Someone replaced my sister’s name with my own!

I glance around to pinpoint what insider on my staff is already working for Shane. Mara shoves a piece of cake in my hand with a wink, outing herself.

Congrats, she mouths.

Thanks, I mouth back.

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