Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Elaine was nervous as I’d shared the news with her. Her beautiful blue eyes were filled with reluctance along with her pride at my father’s admission.
“Of course he needs you back,” she told me. “You’re too incredible for them to do without you.”
I loved her faith in me. I loved the joy in her smile.
It was only a few hours later that her reluctance reached the surface.
“But will we make it there?” she’d asked me. “Will we be okay there, Lucian? I mean really be okay there? In New York with everyone in our family’s?”
I’d been certain of my answer.
“Yes, we’ll be okay there. We’ll be okay anywhere we go, princess. The world is ours.”
The world would be ours with her at my side, devoted to each other, husband and wife.
I was surprisingly nervous as my wedding day began, pride of place in Bishop’s Landing, back on home ground. I woke up alone in bed with a strange rush of flutters in my stomach, still scarred after all these months from taking the bullet. Hunter and Clark were downstairs in the breakfast room, still looking groggy from their drinking the night before as they guzzled down black coffee. Devon was telling them about his insurance empire when I stepped in to join them, clearly still tired from his flight across the Atlantic. All three of them let out a cheer and gave a little applause as I sat myself down at the breakfast bar in my dressing gown, giving them a smirk that matched my mood. A happy one.
“Here comes the groom!” Hunter said, reaching over to punch me in the arm. “Never thought I’d see you getting hitched. Sure as fuck never thought it would be a Constantine!”
“Anyone would want to marry Elaine,” I assured him with a smirk. “Even if she is a damn Constantine.”
None of them disagreed with me.
We still had a few hours before the ceremony. The guys started on the whisky as soon as we were dressed up and ready for the service, but I was still sticking to mineral water, very much enjoying being in their company as they enjoyed being in each other’s.
The caterers and wedding planners had already been at work on the manor for hours. The marquee looked even more incredibly grand than I’d expected as we set off in the limo for the local church, and it should. I’d invested the very best into the very best celebration life could offer.
The church only had a few guests in their seats when the four of us arrived and made our way inside. Clark and Hunter took their positions at the entrance, ushers standing proud, and I gave them a thankful nod as I left them to their duties.
It was Devon I’d chosen to be my best man, his place feeling very natural at my side as we stepped into the front pew.
“I’m weirdly fucking nervous,” I confessed to him, and he did his best guffaw laugh.
“Never thought I’d see you nervous, Lucian. It’s a damn novelty.”
The nerves only heightened as the benches filled up. Elaine’s friends were filling up her side of the aisle just as mine were filling up mine.
Yes, the room was most certainly filling up.
My father ushered my mother down the aisle, to a seat in the front. Family power struggles were private. They wouldn’t show the world any weakness in our family.
My siblings were next. Leo came in with Eva, delighting at the way people turned their heads to look at him. To see what he’d do. Nothing, at my wedding. Sit quietly and clap at the end. He turned back once to keep a protective eye on Daphne and make sure the rest of them followed. They filed into the row behind my parents.
They were one reason I was glad to be back in Bishop’s Landing. I would have left them for Elaine, but I would have felt terrible about it. Already, they had taken too much abuse when I was younger. Because I couldn’t feel pain, my father saw no amusement in beating me. He would beat them instead, no matter how much I tried to stop it. When I failed to protect them, I tried to harden my heart against them, to distance myself from them. Ultimately the reason why I want Morelli Holdings isn’t for myself. I can take care of myself. It’s for the family. I may not care about my bastard father, but the company also cares for my mother and my sisters.
The church was almost full when I saw them. Elaine’s sisters. Vivian and Tinsley, looking spectacular in pastel gowns. My heart thumped even harder when I saw Harriet, her cousin, stepping in to join them.
Still, my thumping heart had nothing on the fucking speed it thumped when Caroline Constantine, Elaine’s utter bitch of a mother, came into view and took a seat alongside them.