Page 15 of His Wife

Alexius meets my eyes, and like a giant wrecking ball, reality slams into me with a truth I’ve been trying to deny for weeks.

I’m falling.

I’m falling in love with Alexius Del Rossa.

* * *

ALEXIUS

My father’s using all his strength to keep steady on his feet, holding my mother’s hand in his as if it’s his most prized possession. The way he looks at her is like he’s never seen anything more beautiful.

He touches his lips to the top of her hand, and a tear slips down my mother’s face. “I have never loved you more than I do right now,” he starts, soft whimpers flowing from the guests surrounding us. “My love for you echoes from the emptiness I feel just thinking about what my life would have been without you. For thirty-five years, you have been more than just my strength. You have been the rhythm to which my heart beats every minute of every day.”

I look at Leandra and watch her dab the tears from her cheeks. While I listen to my father’s words, my mind is filled with images of us standing in front of a priest thirty-five years from now, renewing our vows like my parents just did. And I wonder what our life would be like up until that moment. Would the words pour from our hearts while our children stand beside us? Would we look back at our life and not regret a single moment? Somehow, the thought of it licks at the edges of my heart. I want that. I want that moment with her, far in the future, after a life lived together. But what trials would lead us there? How many regrets would we have after years filled with chances to make the wrong decisions? Would we love each other? Hate each other?

Would she be happy?

My parents kiss, and even though the crowd cheers, my world goes quiet. In that second, our family is frozen, all six of us standing together beneath the lights and in front of God. Many might think we’re a family with questionable morals and corrupted intentions. But when it comes to family, we have heart. We protect what is ours, and this family is ours.

Every emotion clings heavily to the air and drifts below the strings of lights. But it’s when my father takes her in his arms, hugging her and looking right at me, that I see the struggle. He’s hurting. His heart is aching because he knows his time with her has run out and that each second might be his last. My father is mourning, knowing that his path with her is about to end.

Nicoli presses his lips together as he glances at me, and I know we’re both thinking the same thing. We’re feeling the loss to come, the grief already nipping at our chests. This wasn’t just a renewal of their vows. This was goodbye.

Music starts to play, and Caelian and Isaia carry the arch from the dance floor while Nicoli and I walk to join Leandra and Mira at our table.

I take Leandra’s hand without thinking, without doing it intentionally, and pull her closer to my side. Her familiar presence and the scent of her perfume are comforting, calming. It pacifies the fear of knowing my father could be snatched away from us at any given moment, and it makes me want to clutch her tighter, to never let her go. With every squeeze of her hand, I draw strength from her, and my heart expands, filling my chest to the brim. Just looking into the depths of her eyes makes me want to forget about everything else. My father’s illness. How I’d support my mother when he’s gone. The murders. The clubs. Everything. I want to forget everything and just…be with her.

The next song starts to play, “Yours” by Russel Dickerson, and my mom waves for us to join them. With a smile, Leandra agrees, and I lead her onto the dance floor, catching a glimpse of Nicoli walking out while Mira stares after him with longing in her eyes. He’s such a fucking jackass.

Leandra’s palm touches my cheek, and I look at her, only her, and I realize I want it to be her always. Forever.

She places her arm around my neck as I settle mine on her waist, pulling her close, needing to feel her against me, our bodies slowly moving in the rhythm of the music. “Your parents found something that most people search a lifetime for,” she says, her lips touched with a tempting glisten.

“Maybe some people find it without knowing and end up letting it go.”

Long, beautiful lashes bat, brushing the top of her cheeks. “Because they don’t open their hearts, thinking love is nothing but a weakness.”

“And yours?” I ask, slowly drifting within the romance that’s bewitched everyone around us.

She bites her bottom lip. “My heart is open.”

“Even if the chance of you getting hurt is high?”

“Even then. There are so many reasons love could pass me by, but fear won’t be one of them.”

Her words penetrate deep into my soul, and the shiver that travels through my veins has me feeling like I’m only waking up now, alive for the first time. As if my life is progressing to something more than just money, power, and meaningless sex. It’s so much more with her this close to me, and it’s clear as fucking daylight. I want her. I want Leandra to be more than just the wife at my side with a pretty face and a willing body. I want her to be mine in every sense of the word. Mine, and only mine.

My hands slowly slide down her back, feeling the curve of every vertebra beneath my hungry fingertips. The subtle rush of air from her lips as I press her hips to mine makes me want to hear her moan and whimper, coming undone beneath my touch. I can feel the heat of her skin, see the delicate vein in her neck pulse to the rhythm of her racing heartbeat. She’s trembling against me, her eyes hungry and pleading.

I lean down, tracing my lips along the outline of her beautiful face until I feel her warm breath on my cheek. Finally, our lips meet, and I kiss her as if she could break, as if our kiss is fragile. Gentle. Slow. Easy. Powerful. My tongue begs for entrance, which she grants with a slight parting of her lips. She tastes like expensive champagne and sin, her body fitting mine perfectly as if she’s the angel made especially for the devil.

The song stops, and I inch back, our lips barely touching. “You’re moving into my bedroom. Tonight.”

ChapterSeven

LEANDRA

By the time the last guests left, Mr. and Mrs. Del Rossa had called it a night, and my things had already been moved to Alexius’ room—even my entire closet. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly Alexius can get things done. How, with a simple snap of his fingers and a single order, he could change the color of the moon if he really wanted to.

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