Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 53428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Shivering again, I opened my eyes. “Amen.”
She smiled at me. “And let them name one of their beautiful daughters Gloria.”
I chuckled. “I will definitely keep that in my notes.”
“Congratulations, Kashmere.” Gloria hurried off with Lola. “Now we have to get ready.”
Chapter 17
The Wedding
Kashmere
Merik slowly guided me down the twisted staircase. “You should have worn slippers going down here.”
“Boy, I’m not wearing slippers on my wedding day.”
Five of my female soldiers wore gold tuxedos with red roses in their lapels. One by one, they held out my long train.
On my head, I wore a jeweled crown and an elegant veil.
Merik frowned. “I just hope your ass doesn’t fall.”
I held on to him. “That’s why you’re here.”
He frowned at me. “I can’t believe you made me leave my cane.”
“The cane was too much, Merik. Silver money signs, diamond cars, and gold naked women plastered all over it.”
“It was stylish.”
“It was going to make the guests’ eyes bleed and clash with my gown.”
“See. You’re hating.”
“How about this? Bring it out for the reception.”
“Perfect.”
We hit the bottom of the stairs and carefully headed toward the front door.
My butler Frederick stood by the door and smiled. “You look quite lovely, Kashmere.”
“Thank you, Frederick.”
Merik guided me forward. “We didn’t do a practice thing, but Tomasso walked through this shit seven times with me last night. I ended up dreaming about it. Then, I showed up this morning and he walked me through it again.”
“Good.” My bottom lip quivered. “Because not only do I not know where I am supposed to go, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
Merik stopped us in front of the door and glanced at me. “Doesn’t matter about the other stuff. Just say yes when the pastor asks if you want to marry Santino.”
“Okay.” I swallowed. “I got that part down.”
“Good. Because if you didn’t, I think Santino would shoot us all down.”
I grinned.
Two of my men opened the door for us.
We continued forward.
Outside, the setting sun was warm. No clouds filled the sky, and the air was mixed with the scents of perfume, flowers, and savory foods. The band’s music was soft, a song of celebration and serenity. Hundreds of guests spoke in hushed tones.
As I was heading down the stairs, I scanned the place. “Oh my God.”
Thousands of lit red and gold candles shimmered on the surface of Dream Lake, creating a sea of flickering lights. It was picturesque, like something out of a movie or a scene from a fairy tale.
Damn, Tomasso. You do not play.
Merik caught where I was looking. “Kash, I think the ghosts have given their blessing for the wedding.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Tons of white people were up on the lake today, putting those floating candles there. We tried to warn them. They ignored us. Either way, not one died.”
“That’s progress for sure.”
“Maybe, Santino really did make nice with the ghosts.”
“Please, don’t remind me.”
I gazed off at the rose garden, marveling at how different it looked today.
Tons of red roses outlined the long golden aisle.
On the right of the aisle sat, tons of white men in suits. That had to be many of the men from the DeLuca Family. To my shock, a good bit of the guys had Black women on their arms.
Merik chuckled. “They sure don’t have a race problem in this family.”
“Sure don’t.”
On the left of the aisle, tons of Killer Crows sat. There were so many that some even had to stand out in the garden. And it was a sea of luxurious red with tons of gold and diamonds.
I also caught sight of Dima, his mother, and a beautiful woman in a yellow dress that must have been Rose. Marcelo sat behind him with a woman wearing a huge curly afro. I spotted Lei’s aunts and some of their people, but not Lei.
Wow. So many came.
Merik kept his voice low. “Once you let my brother and the rest out of prison, everybody fell behind you.”
I held onto him as I continued forward.
“You’re the only Chairman to do it.” Merik nodded. “That shit meant something, bringing families together and what not.”
“I pray we remain united.”
“People see what you’re doing. Got the Diamond Syndicate going to war for you. Green, yellow, blue, and red was fighting because something happened to you. That says Killer Crows are stronger than ever.”
Tension gathered in my shoulders. I felt like I was carrying a heavy weight, but finally I was more than ready to bear it.
“I love Romeo and Chanel, but you’re going to go down in history as the most bad ass powerful Chairman that Killer Crows has ever seen.”
“Jesus.”
He chuckled.
The band slowly stopped playing their song and shifted to playing Here Comes the Bride. Those notes signaled all to end their conversations. And the guests did, turning around and placing all their gazes on me.