Page 93 of The Devil

Lucius

“What?!” I snap at Nate, who is standing beside me while I battle with heart palpitations. Jesus, I’ve never been nervous like this; my hands are sweaty, and I can hear the thud, thud, thudding of my heart beating between my ears.

“Nothing,” he smiles smugly, “just never thought I’d see the day Lucius Hastings being this nervous over…well, over anything!”

“You wait,” I gasp as I try to breathe in and out slowly, “it won’t be long until you’re in this position and I’m going to revel in it!” The bastard just laughs even harder. “I mean, where the fuck are they anyway?”

As soon as I say those words, the music begins, and I hear everyone getting to their feet. It’s finally happening and I’m a dripping mess. Maybe I’m not supposed to look but screw it, I have to see her; it’s the only thing that will calm my damn nerves.

I walk to the top of the aisle where I turn to face her. Jess is out in front, looking beautiful in a navy floor-length dress. As soon as she sees me, she rolls her eyes over my need to go against formalities. When she eventually reaches me, she leans up on her tiptoes to kiss me on the cheek. The crowd gushes over the sight of my little girl giving her old man some affection.

“Gross!” she whispers. “You’re all sweaty, Dad.”

Jess calling me that still sends butterflies around my chest. It took a good eight months before she felt ready, so it’s still fairly new for both of us.

When she moves to the side to stand opposite her youngest uncle, I look ahead to see Cameron leading Helena down the aisle in a simple ivory gown. She immediately takes my breath away. I am clearly doing a piss poor job of hiding my awe, seeing as she’s now giggling into the top of her bouquet.

It seems to take an age for her to reach me, but when she does, I grab hold and wrap her up in my arms for as long as possible. The minister coughs rather loudly, but even then, I ignore him and cling to her all the more tightly. I don’t hear the congregation laughing or Cameron tutting, I only hear her breathing softly against my ear.

“Lucius,” she whispers, “can I finally marry you now?”

I release her and take her hand in mine before practically running up the remaining aisle so I can make that happen. At last, she really is all mine.

Helena

Being married for real hasn’t really sunk in yet. This time around is obviously a very different affair to that of the first wedding I had. This one is full of happiness and love, whereas my first marriage was full of complete sadness, regret, and hopelessness. I vow to never make Jess feel like I did when I found out things had taken an abrupt turn in my life. I will be there for her no matter what. She will never have to think she has to do anything to please me, ever.

Evan’s body was recovered from an old burned-down barn in the middle of nowhere. They told me it was most likely gang related; he had managed to piss off a lot of people in a well-known drug-ring. He had unpaid debts, and the state of his body was in keeping with others they had murdered in the past. I want to say that I felt bad, but I didn’t, not even a little bit. He deserved what he got, and I promised myself to not think about him ever again. In the end, we both got the endings we deserved.

As for my father, he is slowly getting back into my mother’s good graces, but I know they almost didn’t make it. They also don’t share a room any longer. Their relationship is none of my business, much like my relationships should never have been any of his.

I didn’t want him to walk me down the aisle. He did it so proudly when I married Evan, I couldn’t bear the thought of him repeating it, knowing that he did his best to keep Lucius and me apart. He also lost the right to do that when he lied to me and my daughter about who her true father is. We speak civilly now, but I don’t think we will ever have the same relationship we once had; the same goes for him and his sons.

“Lucius, Helena?” a small voice says to us when we find five minutes away from the crowd of wedding guests. “May I have a moment of your time?”

Lucius looks at me for the answer, though his lips have grown into a tight, thin line. After a moment’s thought, I gently take hold of his hand, then give my father a nod.

“I know I’m not exactly at the top of your list of favorite people,” he says, prompting my new husband to scoff over the understatement of the century, “but I really did think I was doing the right thing for everyone at the time. It seems a ridiculous thing to think now, especially given everything we know.” At my silence, he pauses, then looks to the ground while shuffling his feet about uncomfortably. “I have always loved you, Helena, you were such a quiet, thoughtful, little girl, and in my ignorance, I thought you still needed protecting, even if it was from yourself.”

“There’s no excuse for what you did, Dad,” I finally say. “Even if Evan had been the best candidate for me at the time, even if I had been madly in love with him, you kept a man from knowing he had a child. Moreover, you lied to that child for years.”

“I know and I owe Lucius a lot. I am so sorry for my arrogance, Lucius,” he says, now facing my new husband. “It wasn’t for me to judge you and to make that decision for Helena and Jess. I will never get involved again; I swear.”

“You won’t ever have the chance to,” Lucius begins, sounding cold and unforgiving, but when he looks at me, he seems to relent a little. “But I appreciate the apology.”

“Thank you,” he utters.

“Dad, Jess was never told anything about your involvement in all of this; you are her grandfather. However, I don’t know if I will ever see you as my father, not in the way I once did. This is going to take me some time, I’m sorry.”

He nods his head sadly, before smiling and walking away. I feel horribly guilty, but it was the only answer I had for him.

“Was that really callous of me?” I ask Lucius quietly.

“No, just the truth.” He kisses the top of my head before Cam and Lily come walking up to us, holding their new addition. Lily had a baby boy, Matthew, and looks thoroughly exhausted, but so happy. Cameron is positively gushing over his son.

“So, you guys going to give Jess a brother or a sister?” Lily asks rather bluntly.

Lucius and I look at each other, never having spoken about it. To be honest, I have already reconciled the fact that Jess will be my only baby.

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