EPILOGUE
Kazimir
I never imagined I would be nervous on my wedding day.
Heck, I never imagined my wedding day. The awareness of a day when I would walk down some aisle to repeat a bunch of words I didn’t mean was something I’d always known, but other than that, I never thought about it.
Yet here I was, fiddling with a fucking wristwatch two weeks after launching an attack that cost two lives on our part and fifteen on the opponent's.
“Fucking piece of metal,” I cursed when the clasp fell off again.
Lev walked up to me, wordlessly fastening the clasp with ease before giving my shoulder a pat.
Nikolai had gone to deliver my last gift to Genevieve because some fucking idiot decided seeing my wife the morning before the wedding was bad luck.
How did people ever believe that? You couldn’t convince me that seeing her at any point in time was bad luck; hell, I’d cut off a person’s lips if they mildly suggested that.
But somehow, every idiot before me had adapted to it, and now I had to go along with it because Anna had decided to upgrade her role from best friend to personal bodyguard.
Our relationship wasn’t the best, but at least she didn’t stare at me like she wanted to gouge my eyes out with a fork anymore, so I guess that counts as a win.
“She hated it,” Nikolai announced the moment he entered the room. “Her entire face scrunched up and she looked like she would throw up when she opened the box.”
“That’s not possible,” I countered, my tie suddenly feeling a little too tight. “She spoke about the jewelry nonstop, she can’t possibly—”
I lifted my head in time to find Nikolai grinning hard.
“Fuck you.”
“Ew. I’ll tell Gen you’re hitting on me.”
From the corner of my eye, I could see Lev smiling, but he didn’t join the conversation.
“Go fuck yourself,” I cussed, catching my reflection in the mirror.
A year ago, I would have laughed if someone suggested I would spend an afternoon debating the shade of ivory roses that should decorate my wedding.
A year ago, I believed marriages were contracts. Necessary and strategic at best.
I had been born into a world where vows were measured in territory instead of devotion.
Where wedding rings represented alliances and affection was a weakness clever men exploited.
Love had never been part of the equation.
Then one stubborn receptionist wandered into my elevator.
The memory arrived with startling clarity.
She had looked terrified when she saw me, almost dangerously close to bolting, but the elevator rattled, the lights dimmed, and her fear turned to a level of boldness I could not resist.
I smiled despite myself.
I had convinced myself I was completely in control and only indulging in a moment of fun, but the truth was, that kiss had destroyed the life I thought I wanted.
It had given me the one I never knew I needed.
“Is that a smile?”
And of course, Nikolai’s voice ruined a perfectly good moment.
I pulled on my suit jacket. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I refused to use the moments leading to my wedding to indulge an idiot.
“You looked…” He searched for the word.
“…happy.”
I ignored him, looking through the window at the decorated garden below.
Happy.
That was a word I’d never given thought to, feeling it belonged to fools. Only fools sought happiness.
Real men knew all that was needed in life was power. With the right amount of power, everything else followed, but I couldn’t deny the alien but comfortable feeling that had occupied my chest lately.
It felt warm, and I found myself reaching for it every waking hour, and it also intensified when Genevieve was in the room.
“It’s time,” Lev announced.
I looked back at the garden to find a few people settling into their seats.
It was an intimate wedding with some trusted colleagues, Genevieve’s brother, and a few friends from college and work.
The thought of work colleagues reminded me of the image of Rose almost passing out when I handed her the invite and Caroline standing mute for a whole minute.
I nodded at Lev, smoothing the invisible crease on my jacket with my palms as we made our way downstairs.
The florist had done exactly what Genevieve wanted.
Simple elegance, white roses, and soft greenery, while the orchestra played a soft tune in the corner.
Nothing extravagant.
“I don’t want people to remember how expensive my wedding was,” she had said when Anna tried to talk her into a more elaborate display. “I want them to remember how it felt. Besides, I’ll be too pregnant and tired for most things.”
I had smiled at the comment, but it stayed with me longer than it should’ve.
Money had solved every problem I’d ever faced.
Until her.
She reminded me of how the expensive things in life were the ones money could not buy. A statement I had thought completely foolish at the time.
Another sentiment to place some fake level of morality on humans. Everyone had a price—it was common knowledge, or so I thought, until she completely changed everything, including the way I saw the world.
I walked up to the stage, my back to the aisle because Nikolai said it was the way it should be.
I felt my heart stop when the orchestra began playing the classic entry tune for the bride.
Nikolai glanced at me. “I can’t believe she came. I told her to run.”
I ignored him, focusing on steadying my breathing till I caught a whiff of jasmine and vanilla.
Throwing Nikolai’s advice to the wind, I turned before she could reach out for me and felt what was left of the very little oxygen I’d been surviving on leave my lungs.
She was ethereal. More divine than I imagined, with angels jealous of her.
Leo walked her down the aisle, his eyes barely meeting mine, but when they got to the podium, he was able to sustain a few seconds of what I figured to be a warning look before handing his sister over to me.
Under different circumstances, I would’ve found space for a comment or two, but I was impressed by his ability to try to seem intimidating even when he knew he could barely touch me.
My relationship with him was hardly the best; I still catch a flinch whenever I get too close, but he’s her only family, and I intend to make it work, one way or another.
“Thank you,” I acknowledged him with a subtle nod, taking Genevieve’s hand.
“Hello, husband,” she smiled, wrapping her soft hands around mine.
I cleared my throat, choosing to smile back despite the incessant thudding of my heart. “You’re the most beautiful sight I’ve ever had the pleasure of beholding.”
Her lips slanted. “You never told me you were a poet.”
I held out my palm to her. “I’m only finding out myself.”
She joined me on the podium, and the minister began his ministrations.
Between trying not to gawk at her and failing repeatedly, I didn’t hear a word of whatever the minister had to say.
I couldn’t believe she thought she would look like a whale in the dress. It was absolutely beautiful, and her bump only added to the beauty of it.
It was finally time for the vows, and the officiant turned to me.
“Do you, Kazimir Ivanovich, take Genevieve Sinclair to be your lawfully wedded wife…”
The voice once again dulled into a distant sound as I looked at the woman who had walked into my life like a mistake I was never meant to survive.
And I answered without hesitation.
“I do.”
Her breath caught—it was a quiet sound, but I picked it up anyways.
The officiant turned to her.
“Do you, Genevieve Sinclair, take Kazimir Ivanovich to be your lawfully wedded husband. To love and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?”
She didn’t look away from me.
“I do,” she said.
I felt my chest deflate as she smiled.
I slid the ring onto her finger, watching her face as the metal settled perfectly in place.
She picked up the gold band she had picked out for me and proceeded to slip it onto my finger, and only then did I whisper the part of the vow I felt the minister missed.
“In life, in death, and in the world beyond.”
Her eyes widened, her lips slowly parted.
“You may kiss the bride.”
I didn’t wait for the words to settle before I swooped her into a kiss, a noise erupting from the audience I had long forgotten.
When we finally pulled apart, she lifted her eyes to mine, echoing the words I had just said.
“In life, in death, and in the world beyond.”
“If y’all make me cry, I’m gonna shoot your husband,” Nikolai hissed, causing her to smile.
“My husband is not a man you can shoot.”
She flashed me a cheeky grin, and for the first time since I learned what love was…
I didn’t feel like I was losing control; I felt like I had finally found it.
The music rose again, drowning out the audience and entrapping me in her beautiful smile. I never wanted to look away.