III. Epilogue
I let the kimono robe hang loosely across my chest. I read the news on my tablet while I drank coffee. I had located to the dining room. The bridal suite was unbelievable. I was incredibly proud of my design team. This room was only a small representation of the details in every room at the Crescent Towers. I admired the deep gray grass cloth on the walls and the crystal chandelier.
My fiancée was in the shower. I sighed. In only a few hours, he would be my husband. I held the ring up in the morning light. God, there were enough rainbows in this room to be mistaken for a disco.
I stood from the long formal table and looked out at the city. I loved this location. It was perfect for the casino. It had been all along.
Luka walked toward me with a towel strategically tucked at his hip. I eyed my husband to-be. Still sexy as hell. Always going to be sexy as hell.
“Good morning.” He took the coffee mug out of my hand and placed it on a nearby sideboard.
“Good morning.” He pushed the robe off my shoulder as he brought me into his arms. His skin was still warm and damp from the shower. But he smelled incredible. I always loved the way Luka smelled.
“Mmm.” He kissed my neck and throat. “How was the shower?” I asked.
I tugged on the edge of the towel. It dropped to the floor. It looked much better there.
“Lonely,” he answered.
“I should have joined you. But I was sending a message to Katya. I need something special for our wedding.”
“Shh.”
Luka lifted me onto the table. Before I could tease him back, he was inside me. Oh shit. He filled me. Stretched me. He pushed my knees wider, sending his shaft deeper. My breasts jutted forward. His tongue lashed over one and then the other.
“Oh shit.” I felt the sweet pain hum in my body. He’d take care of me. I knew he would.
I braced myself on the mahogany with my palms, watching his beautiful chiseled body move in and out of mine. There was a new passion between us since he slipped the ring on my finger. A new hunger. We couldn’t stop. I’d lost count of the orgasms last night. We had sex seven times. Maybe it was nine. Numbers didn’t make sense when I was reeling from one orgasm after another. Like the one he was drawing from me now.
“Luka. Luka.” I tried to support my body as he thrust with possessive strokes. It felt as if we could never get enough of each other. A new fire had been lit. It was a flame we were only now discovering.
I breathed heavier, trying to quiet the scream in the back of my throat. But there was no use. He was driving deeper and faster and the moment he began massaging my clit, I was under his spell. Under his control. I screamed his name. The chandelier rattled above us.
He grunted before catching my mouth with a kiss that was as powerful as any we’d ever had. The heat from the new blaze burned hotter and faster. I clawed at his shoulders. I didn’t know if I needed him to release me or save me. I didn’t know if I wanted to go under or float. Whatever it was, I wanted to do it with him, with his body, with his cock inside me.
The smolder in his stare was all I needed to give in to the next tidal wave. He thrust again. One. Two. Three. He came in powerful waves. We crested together. It was incredible.
I smiled lazily at him. He helped me to the edge of the table.
“There are a lot of rooms for us to visit in this suite, I notice.” He kissed my cheek. “By visit, I mean fuck in.”
“Are we staying here for the honeymoon?” I asked. I threaded my arms through the sleeves of the kimono. Luka, however, left the towel on the floor. He stood at the floor to ceiling dining room windows.
“I want to take you to France.”
“Really?” I blinked. And then I thought about the work. “What about Noctem Global? We just finalized everything. What about Katya?”
He turned around. “Noctem Global will survive if we’re gone for a couple of weeks. Barbara and Paul will be fine. And your new assistant might have the hang of it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Ben isn’t up to speed yet.”
“He’ll get there. But I don’t give a shit about Ben. Katya and the baby are doing great at your house. She loves it there. I think it’s the perfect time to go.”
I wrapped my arms around him. “You think it is?” I didn’t want to question his romantic spontaneity. But I had never left the office for two weeks.
“We leave tomorrow.” He waggled his eyebrows. “It’s not a question any longer.”
“What time is it?” I rushed to my tablet.
“Nine,” he answered.
“We have to go. Our wedding is at ten.”
He chuckled. “It’s only a piece of paper.” He threaded his fingers through mine. “You’re already my wife.”
I pushed up on my tiptoes to reach his lips. “I am.”
He grabbed my ass. “But let’s go. You know I don’t like to be late.” I swatted at him.
“You realize that the bride is going to need a minute to take a shower and get ready.”
“Are you going to wear the white dress?” he asked.
I laughed. “The crumpled one on the bedroom floor? No. I have something else.”
“Nothing? We could do a naked wedding.” He chased me to the shower.
“Get out,” I squealed at him. “We’ve already seen each other and had sex before the wedding. The least you can do is let me surprise you.”
“Fine.” He stepped back from the shower. I saw it in his eyes. It was what I was feeling. I didn’t want him to leave either. Even for a minute. Somehow, he carried himself out of the bathroom and got dressed for our wedding.
* * *
It was small. It was simple. It was fast. By 10:15 we were married. The justice who had met us at the Noctem Global offices seemed nervous to perform the ceremony. I wondered if he knew who we were or if was usually nervous. This place was fitting. It was where we had signed all our contracts. It made sense we would sign the one that would last the rest of our lives there too.
Katya stood next to me, while baby Enzo slept in a bassinet in the corner of my office. Nothing could wake that baby up from a nap, not even a wedding. Ciro hovered by the door, not thrilled with the plan, but not willing to miss it either. Barbara had brought a small cake and a bottle of champagne.
We exchanged the vows required by the state, knowing that the ones that really mattered were the ones we spoke to each other in the dark when no one else could hear. The intimate words. The private words that represented who were really were to each other. This legal document didn’t do it justice.
Barbara popped the champagne and filled glasses for everyone. Katya sipped hers.
“I’m glad you are officially my sister.” She hugged me. “I don’t know why it took him so long to propose.”
I eyed Luka across the room. He and Ciro were discussing something.
“I think the timing was just what everyone needed.” I smiled. We had everything ahead of us. The baby cooed in his sleep. I looked at him wistfully. Was that what was next? A baby in the office? Maybe two babies in the office.
“Thank you for bringing the dress.
“Of course. I’m surprised you didn’t want a big wedding.”
I shook my head. My husband winked at me. “No, this suits us much better.”
She exhaled. “I’m going to get more champagne and then Ciro promised to drive Enzo and me back to the house.”
“Good.” I drifted over to Barbara to thank her for putting everything together so quickly. Luka had entrusted her with the flowers.
“I hear you’re going to France for a couple of weeks.”
“Luka seems to think that since Crescent Towers is open it’s the perfect time before we break ground on the next project.”
Barbara shrugged. “If I had just married that, I’d go wherever in the hell he wanted me to go.”
I laughed. “I agreed.”
Our glasses clinked together in a toast. Thirty minutes later and the cake was packed up and the champagne was empty. Ciro carried the baby gear for Katya and she followed behind him with the baby.
Luka and I watched them leave in the elevator.
“Dinner tonight at Crescent Towers and then we leave for Paris in the morning.” Luka made it seem like a statement instead of an invitation, but I knew he was excited. He had been planning this surprise wedding attack for months.
“All right. But I need to pack. I’ve got to go to my house. It was sweet of your sister to bring me the dress for the wedding, but I can’t ask her or Bella to pack for the honeymoon.”
“We’ll buy all new clothes in Paris.”
I laughed. “That sounds great. But I have a pair of pajamas I want. And my toothbrush.” I eyed him.
“You’re not going to be wearing any pajamas on this honeymoon.”
He snaked his arm around my waist. “I’ve got to go. See you for dinner?”
“Yes.” I smiled at my husband. Our lips met. I lingered in the kiss, savoring how he tasted like wedding cake and champagne.
“I have that warehouse meeting in an hour.”
“Oh. I forgot with you know… our surprise wedding. It slipped my mind this morning.” Luka had made sure I had thought of nothing but him.
He chuckled. “I almost did too. But I don’t want us to miss out on this property.”
“Me either.”
He kissed me quickly. “I’ll see you tonight, Mrs. Novikov.”
“Should I call you Mr. Amato?” He gave me a warning stare. I shrugged. “You should think about it.”
He chuckled, not sure whether I was bluffing or not. I watched my husband walk out our offices. I didn’t want to take my eyes off him. He waved from the elevator. It was silly. It made me laugh.
For a moment I wanted to remember how today had gone. The flawlessness of it. The ease of getting Barbara, Ciro, and Katya here, even with the baby. It seemed so easy and natural. Tomorrow, we’d be in Paris.
I blinked. I tried to make out the man who stepped off the elevator. He didn’t work in our offices. I’d never seen him before. He was young. Striking. His suit looked expensive and as he got closer, I knew his shoes definitely were. He was headed straight for me.
“Are you Amara Amato?” he asked, stopping only a few feet from where the wedding cake had been. He had sandy brown hair and green eyes with long lashes.
“Yes. Do I know you?”
“Well, not yet,” he answered.
I tried to rearrange his face. I couldn’t figure out why he seemed familiar. He was young, but I guessed maybe in his mid-twenties. He wasn’t a leftover caterer or vendor from the grand opening.
“Have we had a meeting before, maybe?” I tried to offer a reasonable explanation. I set the tiny bouquet of orchids Luka had bought me on the table. “How can I help you?” I was sure I was going to have to point him in the direction of one of the department heads, probably on one of the lower floors.
He opened his phone and slid the screen to a picture. He held it forward.
“This is a little awkward, but this is my dad.”
I grabbed the phone out of his hand. “No, that’s my dad. Lorenzo Amato.” I handed it back to him. “Lorenzo died over four years ago.”
“Which is why I wanted to find you now. I had to be sure.”
I shook my head. I was in bridal haze. Luka lust. He was all over me. Clouding everything I touched or thought about. I didn’t want to be free of it. I didn’t appreciate this guy trying to break me out of my one moment to be a bride and smitten by my sexy husband. This guy needed to leave.
“See, I’m Simon. Lorenzo Amato’s son. Amara, I’m your half-brother, Simon Theroux.”
I gawked at him. “No, I have a half-sister, Simone,” I corrected him.
He shook his head. “Not a sister. A brother. Not Simone. Simon.”
“That’s impossible.” Ciro had given up the search at my request. I hadn’t had any new information in six months.
Simon took a step back. “I’ll take a blood test if that makes you feel any better. I’ll prove that I’m Lorenzo’s heir.”
It was then the honeymoon haze shattered. “I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but you are not my brother. And you’re not an heir to anything in New Orleans.” I stared at him.
He nodded. “I was hoping it might be easier than this. It could be.”
“Well, whatever you were hoping, pack it up and get out of my building.”
He grimaced. “I’m sorry that’s how you feel right now. Maybe I should give you a few days. Think it over and then maybe we could have coffee. Dinner. Talk about our father.”
“By the time I get back to New Orleans I expect you to be gone. Is that understood?”
“So you’re leaving town?”
I was hesitant to share a single detail with him. “I have business. I always have business.”
“As do I.” He walked backward. “Nice meeting you, sis.” He tipped an imaginary hat in the air and disappeared on the elevator.
I leaned against my desk. Holy shit. Was it true? Had there been a son all along and not a daughter? My hands froze over my phone. I didn’t know whether to call Ciro or Luka. I didn’t know if I should cancel the honeymoon and take care of this crisis. How did I tell my husband I wasn’t getting on a jet with him to Paris?
I stared out the window. I didn’t know how to answer any of those questions until I knew what Simon Theroux was after.
* * *