occur, like I said, the most beautiful bride to ever exist.
My sister’s beauty is all-encompassing. It’s not just the prettiness of her face, it’s what she holds inside. She’s golden; from her heart and soul to the picture-perfect face people pay money in search of.
I choose to watch Parker as Codi approaches. Their happily ever after within their grasp. I lose myself in the affection softening the severity of his features.
His gray eyes shine like silver, a possessive devotion watching Codi without blinking.
The strong line of his jaw shakes, his throat swallowing the emotions ready to spill forth, back down.
The stiffness in his posture relaxes into relief. She’s here. She’s standing in front of him ready to promise her forever to him and only him.
I’ve never seen love this up close and personal. The way a man and a woman lose themselves in one another. It’s intense. The potency in their feelings. Their lives forever entwined as they carve out large chunks of their hearts to hand over to one another. A sacrifice to a legacy they will build together.
I was starved of its realness as a child. My mother and father didn’t care for one another in this way. Their feelings staked in obligation and regret. Sure, my father loved Codi and me. But romantic love is different when it’s true. The friendship nurtured, an eternal flame of devotion sparked with a simple look between two people destined for forever.
Unable to stare at its vividity any longer, I glance away as Parker recites his vows. My eyes falling to the man standing behind him.
His best man.
His brother.
Rocco is watching me unabashedly. His eyes too afraid to look directly at the adoration in front of us. Scared of what it will do to him.
I watch him as candidly as he does me. My eyes drifting over his appearance in a greedy need to drink him in.
My armor, weakened by the love in the room, wanes enough for me to recognize the beauty in the beast standing before me. A warrior; his body built for combat. Height and muscle intimidating to regular mortals. Rocco Shay is his own shield. His blonde hair is styled away from his face, sides shorn close to his head, bringing my focus to his well-groomed beard. Cheekbones are carved out like a contour you couldn’t fake, bracketing the line of his beard. Icy gray eyes look at me so deeply, I’m certain he’s sliced open any guard I’ve managed to build, seeing everything I’ve keep sacred. I know his teeth to be a perfect shade of white, his incisors a little sharper than the rest. His smile is rare, a sight on the verge of extinction. But when I catch a glimpse; goodbye heart, farewell ovaries; I’ve lived a good life and died by the prettiest of knives.
Dressed in a suit identical to Parker’s, he looks dangerous. To my life. To my heart. The currency the same, knowing he could claim them both and destroy them without hesitation.
My tongue peeks out, wetting the dryness in my lips. The discomfort at my feelings is both alarming and exciting. His focus drops to my mouth, eyes recognizing the way I tasted.
I kissed him. A fact neither of us has spoken of. My lips have pushed against his in a desperate need to feel grounded and he didn’t pull away. I don’t regret it. On the contrary, my eyes eating him up, I wouldn’t mind doing it again.
As though he can read my thoughts, his teeth bite at his tongue, grazing against it in need. Something I’d never imagine I’d see. Rocco Shay holding an arrow of desire and aiming it my way.
The clandestine line of love and hate now blurred by lust.
I hated him until I didn’t.
I was indifferent until I wasn’t.
I was content until it all shifted.
Now I’m wanting and I’m afraid of how that morphs going forward.
Hate was our beginning, but that surreptitious line has been erased. Leaving me in a trap I never imagined I’d find myself in.
Love.
Chapter Twenty-One
Rocco
Random fact, my brother is whipped.
Beyond saving.
Tied around the pinky of his new wife like a tattooed thread. Lost to the promise of eternal love.
Companionship. Support. Affection. An endless supply of your preferred pussy.
I don’t blame him. Shit, I’m pleased as fuck for him. He’s happy. An emotion I didn’t see him wear until we barged into Codi’s life; swords of revenge at the ready. Now it rarely shifts. It oozes from his skin, a charged current