Page 20 of Forgotten Deeds

“Most definitely. Red flags are my love language,” she says with a laugh. “Please, sit.”

I take a seat on the couch, and Kat sits cross-legged on the floor next to the coffee table as she goes through the paperwork. “How do you have all this?” I ask.

“My friend works at the Registrar’s office,” she explains. “There’s a mandatory seventy-two hour waiting period to get a marriage license. My friend will need you and Darius to fill out the application so she can get it backdated and filed. Don’t worry; we’ll get the love birds all squared away.”

“Great.” Catching myself wringing my hands, I drop them in my lap.

Eying me with a concerned look, Kat says quietly, “Listen, I don’t know what’s going on here, but if you really don’t want to marry him, tell me now.”

Darius said not a word to anyone; besides, unloading on this woman—who seems really nice—only puts her at risk. “I’m just nervous,” I answer, which isn’t a lie. Accepting the application and pen, I get to work answering the questions. “So Darius is your cousin?” I ask.

“Yep. Our moms are sisters. His lives in Greece; mine here. He got the better end of that deal.” She shakes her head with a smile.

“Does he have any siblings?” I ask, feeling like that’s something important I should know about the man I’m marrying.

“Only child. How about you?”

“Only child,” I answer, handing her back the completed application.

Kat smiles brightly. “See, you’re perfect for my cousin.”

I give her a dubious look. “For Diávolos?”

“He’s a sweetheart, once you get past the scary-as-shit exterior.” She looks over the form I just filled out, signing as the witness. “Everything looks good. We’ll get Darius to fill out his portion, and it’s ceremony time.”

“Ceremony? I thought it was just paperwork?” Paperwork feels less formal; a ceremony makes it real.

“Of course there’s a ceremony. I’ll have you know I’m an ordained minister,” she says dramatically.

“Really?” I hear minister, I think stuffy old preacher in a suit.

“Online ordained,” she clarifies with a chuckle. “I just officiated my friends’ wedding last weekend. Yours and Darius’ will be my second.”

“Do we have to go though the whole ‘till death do us part’ bit?” I ask.

“We do,” Darius answers, appearing from the hallway in a different white T-shirt and running shorts, his curly black hair wet from the shower. He’s holding a bag with his crime scene clothes, and the events of the evening come crashing down on me like a baby grand piano playing the Wedding March.

“Darius, I need you to fill this out.” Kat hands the application and pen to him, and he makes quick work of it. “What date do you want on the marriage license?” she asks when he returns the paperwork to her.

“Backdate it to three days ago,” he instructs her, and she fills it in.

“Let’s see, so that would put the application date six days ago.” Kat makes a notation on a sticky note. “Now, let’s talk payment. My friend will need the twenty-eight dollar filing fee, as well as a thousand dollars for her trouble. Next, my officiant fee is also a thousand dollars.”

“You trying to extort me, little cousin?” Darius narrows his eyes.

“Perjurious fillings and expedited weddings are extra.” Kat smiles sweetly.

He mutters something in Greek, pulling a wad of cash secured by a rubber band from his pocket. Counting out hundreds, he slaps them on the coffee table. “Two thousand, one hundred. Keep the change.”

“That’ll work. You two stand together over here.” She points to a spot in front of the fireplace.

Oh my God, this is really happening. I stand with shaky legs, walking to my spot; Darius joins me, taking take my clammy hands in his.

“We are gathered here today to join together as one Darius Angelos and Lily Grant,” Kat announces.

It feels like I’m having an out-of-body experience watching myself get married to, at best, a man I don’t know, and at worst, a man I don’t want to know.

“Lily,” Kat says, jarring me from my thoughts.

---