Page 9 of Treasured By 3

“Are you wearing one dress or two?” Lief asks, still on his tablet.

“What?” we all ask.

He blinks and looks up at us. “Some women purchase a dress for the wedding and one for the reception, one that’s lighter and shorter for the reception, so it’s easier to move.”

Valerie’s lips part, then she shuts them. “I’ll see if something shorter catches my eye.”

We get to the bakery and the cakes are laid out in front of us. They’re small slices, thankfully. Hunter grabs the chocolate, but Valerie’s eying one that says, caramel almond, Lief grabs the carrot cake and I grab a simple buttercream with a raspberry middle.

Valerie pouts after one bite and gently pushes it away. I rub her thigh. “You don’t like it?”

Lief blinks at her as he chews. “You like caramel.”

“It’s just not the right sweet to not-sweet ratio,” she says. “I bet Hunt would like it.”

I like the buttercream, and Hunter loves the chocolate. Lief sets the carrot cake to the side and we all choose a second cake. Hunter chews, then turns to me and offers me the fork. “Try this.”

“That’s not the way-”

“I need to see if you think the same thing as me,” he says.

I take a bite. It’s like a strawberry milkshake and cake. It’s light, the cake is moist, it’s delicious. “Strawberry milkshake,” I say. “But ... with whipped cream.”

Hunter nods. “Exactly! How crazy is that?”

Valerie feeds Lief some frosting on her finger, and his eyes heat. He makes a face and looks at the cake in accusation. “Lemon.”

“You don’t like sour?” Valerie asks.

“No,” his simple reply. Then he feeds her a bite of his. Before she can swallow, he kisses her, then continues down her neck. “It’s orange and cocoa.”

“It’s ... it’s good, but I’m biased,” she sighs.

We pass the plates around, trying the approved one, but I see Valerie light up for the strawberry one. She touches her mouth and blinks a few times, then lets Lief have a bite. Before she moves on, I see her taste some kind of franken-cake: the strawberry frosting with the chocolate cake.

She moans so deep, licking her lips, that none of us looks away. We fight to have the same taste and just like that, we’ve settled on a venue and a cake. It’s progress in the quiet period, which is more than I dared to hope for.

FOUR

Valerie

Since my lastsession was canceled, I spend time checking off the wedding things. We decided on the cake and only doing the one we all liked–the guests will love it anyway–and the venue. I know Lief contacted a floral shop to see their orchids and their recommendations for wedding centerpieces featuring them. We have the caterer and sent them the date. We even made the deposit.

We’ve accomplished so much in a week, but there’s still a long list. Choosing the bridesmaids and groomsmen, finding an officiant, getting my wedding dress, getting our rings made, and the big one, the one that’s larger than anything else: who am I marrying on paper?

I nibble my bottom lip as I stare at it. I’m still nervous about having the Volkov name tied to me. If I choose Hunter, Chase might be upset. If I choose Chase, Hunter will be upset. But Chase is the Mafia boss, so how can I ignore that? Isn’t it expected that I’ll marry him? Marrying Lief on paper would be easiest. I’d take his last name, or keep my own. Sure, it doesn’t have the same ring as Valerie Volkov, but won’t it be safer that way? Not that it’s not obvious I’m with them all now.

I groan and drop my head to the desk. I stay like that for a long moment before remembering Sophia was in this position. I call her quickly.

“Hey, I thought you’d still be at work,” she answers.

“Want to be my maid of honor?” I ask.

“Yes! I didn’t want to put any pressure on you, but of course! I can’t wait,” Sophia grins before gushing about her wedding day and how meaningful it was.

“Um, I’m going to ask Elaine to be a bride’s maid, but how about Danny too? I like her. We text every now and again. Do you think she could make it from Italy?” I ask.

“She would! Massimo loves weddings and I’m sure they’d love to join,” Sophia agrees.

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