Page 112 of The Broken Vows

“What?”

He nods, his face contorting in torment. “Yep. I know I need to break it off, but I keep thinking of her doing everything I’ve taught her with someone else, and I just…fuck. The idea makes me sick. I should’ve just walked away when I saw that damn list.”

I shake my head as I study him, realizing he’s fucking smitten. “It’s not too late to do that,” I say, shrugging. I know he won’t — I can tell by the look in his eyes, but it’s fun to mess with Archer. He’s teased me endlessly about how in love I am with Celeste, and it’s about time I get to make him understand how fucking annoying it is.

“Zane?” Celeste calls as she walks up to me. Archer steps away to make space for his sister, and I instantly wrap my arm around her waist. She rises to her tiptoes to kiss me, making her brother turn and walk away in disgust. “Did he tell you?” she asks, her expression eager.

I laugh and pull her closer, my hands wrapping around her waist. “Why are you so nosy, Celestial?”

She pouts, and I lean in to kiss her again. “I just wanna know,” she says. “He won’t tell me anything about her, but it’s so obvious he’s in love. You’re one of his best friends, so even if he won’t tell me, he’ll tell you.”

I take her bottom lip in between my teeth and bite down softly. “So you want me to betray one of my closest friends for you?”

She leans back in my embrace and nods. “Of course.”

I burst out laughing and press a kiss to her forehead before telling her everything Archer just told me. I can’t keep a secret from her, and everyone knows it. She gasps in outrage, her eyes twinkling with mirth.

“You’re so beautiful,” I whisper, the thought leaving my lips subconsciously. “Do you have any idea how lucky I feel? It’s insane that I get to call you my wife.”

She laughs and shakes her head. “No, Zane. If anyone is lucky, it’s me.”

The craziest thing of all is she seems to genuinely believe it, and she tries to prove it to me each and every day.

Ten Years Later

Zane

“How could you possibly still be nervous?” Lex asks. “You marry the same woman every single year, and you’re still acting like she might not show up. It’s beenten years.”

I shift my weight and straighten my bowtie as I stare at the floral aisle we crafted on the beach on our private island. It’s rapidly become one of our favorite places to come when we want to be alone and focus on nothing but each other. “You don’t understand,” I tell him, shaking my head. “Every day, she has a choice, and every day, I’m grateful she chooses me. I won’t ever take that for granted.”

Dion sighs and throws me a smile. “Just let him be. We all have our little quirks.” I grin at him, understanding passing between us. Dion learned to fly a plane, despite his intense fear of flying, so he could take Faye to a different honeymoon destination every year — he gets it.

Marriage takes constant work, and the little things matter as much as the big things. It’s facing your fears and giving someone the power to destroy you, but trusting that they won’t.Trust. It’s something we took for granted until we lost it, and it took us years to rebuild it, but rebuild it we did. I’ve never felt more loved than I do with my wife, and the bond between us has never been stronger. She’s my partner in crime, my better half, and I don’t ever want her to feel like I take her for granted. It’s so easy to get caught up in life, to forget what matters most — and that’s exactly why we renew our vows every year.

Faye begins to play the piano, and I suck in a breath when the most beautiful girl in the world walks down the aisle, her pretty updo unable to contain all of her wild curls. My beautiful little Calista gets that from her mother. My daughter grins at me, and my heart skips a beat. She’s so gorgeous, my little baby, in her dress that no doubt matches her mother’s. Callie throws her rose petals around with such joy, and my heart warms. She’s got my green thumb, and our favorite activity is gardening together in her mom’s rose garden. Just the other week, I showed her how to create roses with colored edges using food coloring, and she was so enchanted. Celeste says I spoil her, but I don’t think that’s true.

“Daddy,” she says, her hazel eyes twinkling — her eye color is a perfect blend of Celeste’s and mine, but her smile, that’s all me. I lean down to lift her into my arms, and she giggles. “Daddy,” she chastises. “You know the rules. I have to stand next to Uncle Lex.”

“But princess, you’re so beautiful today, I’m not sure I can let you go.”

She laughs and wraps her little arms around my neck, hugging me tightly. I thought I couldn’t be any happier than Celeste and I were after our second wedding ceremony — but then Calista came into the world, and I realized there was so much more love left in me. I’m not sure what I’ve done to earn as much happiness as I have in my life, but I thank my lucky stars every single day.

Ares takes Callie from me, and she goes willingly, instantly creating a huge argument between all her uncles, who all want to carry her. I glance over my shoulder to find that Lex won, his gaze victorious. Callie told me not to tell anyone, but he’s secretly her favorite because he’s always handmade cool toys for her. Just the other day, Raya and Lex rocked up with a tiny excavator for her to ride in and dig shit up in the observatory. It was a nightmare, and I had to create some ground rules quickly before Celeste found out about all the damage.

Everyone falls silent, and I inhale sharply when my wife appears on her father’s arm, wearing one of Raven’s stunning creations. The press has a field day with our vow renewals. It’s become a game of sorts to guess what Celeste might wear each year, and after the photos inevitably leak, the dress sells out within seconds.

Celeste smiles at me when George places her hand in mine, and I grin back at her, my heart racing. It’s crazy how in love I still am with her. Every year, I fall a little harder. There’s something so beautiful about sharing your life with someone — about growing together and discovering new parts of each other in every stage of life. I love who she is as a businesswoman, a wife, and a mother. Neither of us is perfect, but fuck, together? This is as close to perfection as anyone can get. I just know it.

My stunning goddess squeezes my hand, and I lose myself in her eyes. She’s my best friend and the love of my life. Knowing that she loves me the same is so fucking surreal.

“Celeste,” I murmur. “On our ten-year anniversary, I have ten vows for you.”

Her eyes widen, and I know right there and then that she’d had the same idea. We’re still so perfectly in-sync, it’s crazy. She chuckles, and I wrap my arms around her waist, my heart overflowing with love.

“I vow to love you a little more each day, to appreciate you, and to honor you always. I vow to be faithful, and to be your partner as we navigate our ever-changing life. I promise to take your side and stand by you, to uplift you. I promise to be there when you need me, even if you don’t want me to be, and to push you to be the best you can be. But above all, Celeste, I vow to be yours, forever and always.”

Her gaze is filled with such love, and it’s a beautiful sight. “You stole my idea,” she says, laughing as she cups my cheek. “I, too, vow to love you forever and always, Zane. I vow to respect and honor you, to be faithful and appreciate you, to make you laugh, and to nurture our relationship. I vow to be your best friend, and to never stop challenging you, but above all, I promise to put you first, and to choose you every single day, even when you make it difficult by spoiling our daughter rotten.” She narrows her eyes then. “I know about the excavator, Zane.”

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