Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 113142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
“Hi,” I whispered.
His gaze flew to mine, and he shoved his laptop to the side. “Hey.”
“Don’t stop what you’re doing.”
“It’s fine. I just finished getting some documents from my lawyer. I’ll print them in a while.”
“What time is it?”
“Seven.”
I sat up, feeling more alert. “I slept that long?”
He nodded, smiling. “It did you good. Feel better?”
“Yes. Thank you for staying beside me.”
“There isn’t anywhere else I want to be.” He paused. “Are you up for this? We’ll leave soon.”
I drew in a deep breath. The truth was, I never wanted to see my mother again. Especially knowing the depths of her deception. Bradley either. He had lied to my face for months. But I knew I had to face them. Show them I knew the truth and they had lost. With Adam beside me, I could do it. “I have to be. With you there, I can be brave and do this.”
“You are brave. You always have been.” He tilted his head, his voice becoming low and soothing. “I have something that might help.” He furrowed his brow. “I think, anyway.”
“Oh?”
He pressed a small box into my hand. “This has been waiting for you.”
I stared at the tiny leather box. My hands shook as I opened it. The light caught the delicate diamonds that were scattered around the intricately designed ring. “How?” I gasped.
“Mr. Freedman dropped it off. I kept it for you.”
Tears filled my eyes. “You kept it?”
“Of course I did. I gave it to you the same way I gave you my heart. It’s yours. Forever.” He assured me.
“You still—” I swallowed “—you still want to marry me?”
He nodded firmly. “As soon as we can. I’d marry you tonight if I could.” He hesitated. “If that’s what you want. If you want to marry me.”
“I do, Adam. More than ever.”
He tugged on my hand and slipped the ring on to my finger. “Then wear this. We’ll face them together with you wearing my ring.”
We looked down at the shining symbol of his love. “It’s perfect,” I whispered.
“It’s not as, ah, showy as…” Adam’s voice trailed off.
“I don’t want showy. I was never comfortable with that one.” I rubbed my finger over the surface of the gold. “I would pick this ring over any other ring in the world.”
“Ally.” His voice was nervous—a tone I wasn’t used to hearing from Adam. I looked up into his anxious gaze.
“Did you know, hundreds of years ago—even longer—a marriage was a simple exchange of vows between two people? No pomp or ceremony. No other guests. It was a private moment.”
My breath caught in my throat. “No.”
He nodded. “I’ll marry you anywhere you want. Maybe, though, you’d like to start with us? Today?”
My heart soared with his words. “Yes,” I whispered. “Us.”
He sat up straighter and gathered my hands between his. “Alexandra Robbins, I promise to love and honor you every day for the rest of my life. I will protect and cherish you and put you above all else. I give you my heart, my soul, and my life. I take you as my wife. Right here, right now, for as long as we live.”
My voice shook. “Adam Martin Kincaid, I promise to love you all my days. Nothing will separate us again. I give you my heart and my love. I give you me.” I swallowed as a tear ran down his cheek, my own spilling. “I take you as my beloved husband. Always.”
Our lips met in the sweetest of kisses. Love, adoration, and a promise of forever were in our shared caress. He crushed me to him as he kissed me, his mouth possessive and gentle at the same time. When we pulled back, his smile was brilliant, his eyes filled with love.
“You’re mine.”
“Yes.”
“We’ll do this in a more traditional way as soon as we can. But as of now, we’re married.”
Married. I belonged to him. With him. And he belonged to me.
“No one can take me away now,” I murmured.
“No.”
I looked down, frowning. “You don’t have a ring.”
He grinned. “You want to mark me as taken?”
I nodded, then gasped. “Wait!” I scrambled off the bed. “Don’t go anywhere!”
Adam chuckled. “Already issuing orders.”
I grabbed my bag and found my nightingale box, bringing it back to the bed where he sat, looking mystified. I opened the small pouch I had added and held up a thick silver band carved with Celtic symbols. At his quizzical look, I explained. “It was Theo’s. Aside from his wedding ring, it was the only piece of jewelry he ever wore. Elena wore his wedding ring around her neck, but she gave this to me and I tucked it away—it was in the box. She said I might need it one day.”
Adam laughed low. “Crafty old bat. She always knew.”
He held out his hand and I slipped on the ring, and we grinned when he declared it a perfect fit. “I’ll wear it until Mr. Freedman has the other one ready, and then I’ll wear it on my right hand, like Theo did.” His voice caught. “I’m proud to wear something that meant so much to Elena. To carry a piece of her life with me.”