safe enough to explain, “We don’t get to see each other that often anymore, so he sends me…presents.”
Evie crinkles her nose in obvious disgust, but she heaves herself off the bed anyway. “Still TMI, but you’re getting that hug now.”
“No!” I yelp again, placing my hand on the stomach that’s causing her so much illness to keep her at bay. “Tini didn’t put on the setting powder yet! I’ll ruin your white dress!”
Evie folds her hands over mine. It’s an entirely different feeling than our first meeting where we sized each other up. “Then, let’s finish getting you ready to surprise him.”
Alyssa snickers. “I think the surprise is actually going to happen later.”
I kiss her on the cheek and fold my hand over hers that’s resting in the crook of my elbow. “You look beautiful.”
She smiles then rolls her eyes, sniffling to keep obvious tears at bay before focusing on the closed double doors leading to the church sanctuary in front of us. “Is this where you threaten to castrate him if he isn’t the picture-perfect husband for the rest of our lives?”
“No,” I say, trying to soothe her palpable anxiety with a soft tone of voice. “He’s proven his worth. I know he’ll be good to you.”
“Really? Okay. Wow. Then, let me step into your shoes for a minute.” She turns a determined gaze to me. It’s the kind I’m all too familiar with after so many years of watching this woman dig her heels in to whatever problem faces her. “If she ever so much as makes you shed a single tear, I will rip her hair out, tear off her eyelashes, then maybe pull off her fingernails for good measure.”
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter then cringe—because we’re in a church and all. “You missed your calling as a CIA operative.”
Evie shrugs beside me. “Not really. I’m just not giving up my calling as your sister because I’m married.”
“Getting married,” I correct her.
A smile spreads across her face. The tension in her muscles bleeds away until she’s relaxed and poised beside me. “I’m already married. I have been for a long time. This is just a big party we’re throwing for everyone who missed the announcement.”
“If anything happens, we’ll pick up the pieces,” I promise, squeezing her hand and choking back tears of my own. It’s hard to imagine a world without her in it, but I respect the way she’s choosing her own risk this time. “Alex and I will be there even if you can’t be. We won’t let him face the road alone.”
“I know.”
That’s all she says before the doors open and the chords of a familiar piano tune fill the air.
The small church is full. All the guests rise as we take our first step into the center aisle.
“Remember when most of these people thought we would be getting married?” I whisper.
Her family watches us with sharp eyes and wide smiles. The time of mistaking me for her boyfriend instead of her adopted brother feels like forever ago.
“No,” she murmurs, her gaze locked on the man who’s waiting at the other end of our approach. “I don’t remember anything before Rob.”
Her sarcastic words make me laugh. There was a time she didn’t remember him either. Some circles can never be unbroken though.
I have never empathized with that idea as much as I do now. My eyes land on an extra bridesmaid. One who wasn’t supposed to be here. A woman who takes my breath away with a single glance.
This is Evie and Rob’s day, so I don’t want to question how or why Tori is standing at the front of the church with all our other friends.
I get an answer anyway when I place Evie’s hand in Rob’s.
He leans forward and wraps me in a bone-crushing hug. His words are a whisper in my ear, “Selfless, not selfish. Now, go get your own happily ever after and stay the hell out of mine.”
I laugh and tamp down the urge to cross to the wrong side of the aisle and kiss Tori senseless. There will be plenty of time for that later. Instead, I take my place beside Alex. “No hard feelings about who got to walk her down the aisle. I was here before you, buddy.”
His deep chuckle is drowned out by the priest chanting in Greek. “I get it. I know my place.” He glances at me for a split-second, but a world of promises drift between us. “We’re a team, Mitchell. For better