40. Konstantin
KONSTANTIN
“W ho thought a Christmas wedding was a good idea?”
Of course, it was my favorite brother-in-law. Sasha Nikolaev would drive me fucking bananas. I was too old for his shit. Fuck, he was too old for this shit.
“Shut up, Sasha,” Alexei said, his voice flat. He might as well be telling his brother to get a drink of water. “Nobody whined when you had a Halloween wedding.”
“Doesn’t it bother you that he's marrying your baby sister?” Sasha asked nobody in particular.
“First he knocked her up, then he kidnapped her, married her on the fly.” His eyes darted around the room only to land on me and slitted to a glare.
“Literally on the fly. He took her to Russia and my baby sister doesn’t like Russia in the winter. And now, here we are.”
Massaging my temple, I let out a tired sigh. Our airplane wedding was so much better. Easier. Quieter.
But I wanted this for Tatiana. For her memories. For the stories we’d tell our children.
St. Patrick’s Church was filled to capacity. Family. Friends. Members of the Omertà. Kingpins. Billionaire Kings. Liam Brennan with his family. Cassio King and his gang. My wife was right. We were stronger together than fighting this battle on our own.
Sofia Volkov was an enemy to us all.
She had disappeared. We didn’t know where she was, but we knew she was alive.
The frustration clawed at my chest. It pissed me off to no end that I couldn’t find her.
Nico Morrelli and I built a facial recognition app that we’d attached to every known database.
The fact that the program hadn’t spotted her anywhere in the whole fucking world had me on edge.
The crazy bitch knew how to hide though.
She had been doing it for so long, it was probably part of her DNA.
Just like Alexei always strategically placed himself by the nearest exit, Sofia Catalano Volkov’s instinct was to always hide.
But I refused to let that ruin my day. My wife’s day.
The sound of “Canon in D” began and without prompting Sasha and Alexei took their spot behind me. The first bridesmaid came out. Isla. My baby sister. She avoided looking in my direction and I gritted my teeth. It turns out, my sweet baby sister was as stubborn as me.
Isabella Nikolaev followed behind Isla and my eyes drifted to the back of the church, waiting to see my bride.
I waited, holding my breath until I caught a glimpse of her.
Our eyes connected and Tatiana’s lips curved into a wide smile.
The light shone through the church windows, making her hair glow like spun gold.
At this very moment, she looked like an angel coming to meet her devil.
The white Valentino dress hugged her curves, her little baby bump visible. I fucking loved that she didn’t hide it. She wore it proudly, like a badge of honor. And she’d slay anyone who threatened our babies. Just as I would.
My chest grew warm, watching her take every step closer to me. Willingly.
Her steps were in sync with Vasili’s until they both reached me. Her big brother gave me a small nod and handed me his sister.
“Take care of her.”
I nodded, my eyes locked on my bride. The way her eyes sparkled. The way she watched me like I was her whole world, just as she was mine. If the whole church erupted into gunfire, I didn’t think I’d be able to peel my eyes away from her.
This time she gave me her words with conviction and with love. This time she looked at me the way I felt about her.
This time, I knew she was in it like I was.
“I love you, Tatiana Konstantin.” Pure devotion shone in her pale blue gaze. There were no words needed to know she loved me. “You are my future. My love. My life.”
“And I love you, Illias Konstantin,” she murmured softly.
Forever.