That was when Bradley pointed and Crysis hurried up the stairs to his person. Jason bent and untied a ribbon on the dog's collar to retrieve a ring. The ring. Standing back up, he pushed it onto her finger.
"Then repeat after me," the man told Jason.
Logan couldn't hear all the words from where he sat, but it didn't matter. It was the typical "with this ring" stuff. The legal bullshit. The real part had been what Jason said before, because those words had been real. Logan could imagine all the things he'd say to Riley, but not like this. No, he'd whisper them to her when she was fragile, needing a reason to pull herself back up.
And then it was Zara's turn to talk. "Jason," she breathed, "I love you. I tried to count the ways, but I don't know the numbers that high. All I know is that you are my safe space. My shoulder to lean on. My reason to remember that I can be brave. They say that marriage makes us into two parts of a whole, but we did that on our own. Together, we found ways to heal ourselves and become so much more. I want, more than anything else, to keep growing with you, keep falling in love with you, and to always be the soft place you can fall when life gets to be just a little too hard. I love you broken, I love you whole, I love you for just being so beautifully real. You have a heart that is so big you need a dog to carry part of it around. And I know that's what Crysis is really for."
Jason laughed. "I can go with that."
"This is the first day of our forever," Zara continued. "I think we've already been through the 'for worse' parts, so how about we start working on the 'for better' from here on out?"
"Definitely," Jason agreed.
"Will you, Jason Raige, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? In sickness and in health..." The man paused to smile. "...In good times and in bad?"
"I do," Jason breathed.
This time, Bradley stood up and headed to Zara, holding out a small box. She took it from him and pulled out the ring. While Bradley went back to kneel by Crysis again, Zara slipped a gold band onto Jason's hand.
"Now repeat after me," the officiant said.
Logan quickly opened his camera app, aware that so many people around him were doing the same. Then, when Jason stepped in, they all began snapping pictures while he kissed her with the kind of passion that couldn't be faked. That wasn't lust. It was a promise between them, and the way Zara's hand lightly touched his cheek and Jason's arm braced her back was honestly beautiful.
Logan kept pressing the button to take another shot, then another, until they both straightened back up. "And now," the officiant said, "I am pleased to present Jason and Zara Raige, husband and wife."
The entire crowd began to cheer and clap. The smiles on their faces were bigger than Logan had ever seen on either one before, but his eyes naturally moved to Riley. She was beaming as well, but her eyes were glassy. Murder moved beside her to wrap an arm around her shoulder, and that was when Logan was sure of his plan.
There was a crazy man on the loose who hated her. They were all going to spend the next week doing everything in their power to piss him off even more. And most importantly, this was Riley. She didn't know how to hold her tongue or keep her silence. Logan loved her because she spoke her mind - often loudly - and damned the consequences. She was real, brutal at times, sensual at others, and the most amazing woman he'd ever known. She was his dream come true, and he was going to make that just as real.
So when Jason and Zara ran down the aisle between them with people throwing lavender petals at them, Logan leaned forward. "Hey?" he asked Knock. "I need a favor. Find me when you can? No Riley."
"Will do," Knock agreed.
Their chance came as everyone waved Jason and Zara into the white limo for their trip back to the hotel and the official reception. Knock stepped aside and Logan followed, watching Cade intercept Riley for a moment.
"What's up?" Knock asked.
"I need a favor. Well, a few, but it all adds up to one. Help me plan