Chapter 55
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
ANTON
THREE WEEKS LATER
I never thought I’d have this. A woman who loves and accepts me for who I am and what I’m capable of giving. But Thora is all that and more.
As I stand at the altar on her family’s estate in Texas, waiting for her to walk down the aisle and officially become my wife, I feel a strange pressure behind my ribs that takes me too long to name.
Happiness.
It’s a dangerous thing, because once a man knows what it feels like, he also knows exactly what he can lose.
I spent my life avoiding anything that could become a weapon against me. Then Thora Whitlock walked into my path, looked at my scars, and decided I was worth loving anyway.
My brothers stand off to the side, dressed in black tuxedos. A smug look rests on Aleksei’s face.
“Just know…” he whispers. “I will never let you live this down.”
I elbow him, and he groans, chuckling as Konstantin gazes between us with a hint of a smile.
Lev stands beside me as the ring bearer, holding my hand with one of his while the other clutches the small black box containing our rings.
He glances over at his father, who looks at him proudly, giving him a wink.
Greer stands on the other side with Blair next to her, who has sort of come around to me marrying her friend. She gives me a warning glare, like she’s saying hurt her and I’ll end you.
If I hurt Thora, I’ll save her the trouble.
The string quartet begins playing, and everyone rises. My attention moves to the end of the aisle.
Then she appears with her father beside her, and every thought in my head disappears.
Thora walks toward me in a strapless lace dress that hugs her body before falling softly around her legs, her dark waves swept back from her face, eyes pinned to mine as if no one else exists.
Her mother wipes tears away while Harlan walks her forward, beaming with the kind of pride I once would have found unbearable and now almost understand.
I stand corrected. This is happiness: watching her walk toward me, knowing she’s choosing me.
When she reaches the altar, Harlan places her hand in mine and keeps his palm over our joined hands, his expression turning solemn as he silently entrusts her to me.
“Take care of my girl.”
“I will.”
His eyes remain on mine, making sure I understand the weight of that promise, before he kisses Thora’s cheek and steps back.
I turn to her, and my chest gets tight all over again. “You’re beautiful.”
Her smile trembles. “You look handsome. Though you don’t seem as nervous as I thought you would be,” she whispers, eyes glittering as she looks up at me. “And just FYI, I expected you to cry when you saw me.”
I lean closer, my mouth near her ear. “Trust me, I’m crying on the inside. And I thank my mother every day for sending you to me.”
Thora’s breath catches, and her eyes fill too fast. “Well, that’s not fair. Now I’m crying.”
She says it too loud, and a few laugh, while Greer presses her lips together, trying not to smile.
Father Pasha clears his throat, and Thora squeezes my hand as we turn toward him. He begins the ceremony, talking about marriage, loyalty, faith, and the kind of love that survives the worst things.
With her by my side, I know I can survive anything.
Thora’s thumb strokes once over mine, and I look down at our hands, at the woman who saw every dark part of me and stayed. I don’t know how I can ever repay her.
When it’s time for the vows, I say the words Father Pasha gives me, but they feel inadequate for what she means to me, so I add my own.
“I never expected to find you,” I tell her. “I wasn’t even looking, but you came to me in a very surprising way, and I’m thankful I didn’t let you go. You gave me a new purpose, Thora. A beginning when I believed all I had left was the end.”
Her lips part, already trembling.
“My life never mattered to me before you, but you saw things in me I never knew how to find. I still wonder why you chose me, and why you stayed. But I will spend every day making certain you never regret it. I will love you in every way I know how. And when I don’t know how, you’ll be there to teach me. ”
Her breath breaks, and she presses her fingers to her lips, laughing softly through her emotions as she tries and fails to compose herself.
“That wasn’t fair.” She wipes beneath her eyes. “I didn’t prepare anything, and now you’ve gone and said all that?” Her words give out, and she shakes her head, looking at me as though I’ve broken her open. “God, Anton.”
She reaches for my hand. “You keep asking why I chose you, but I wish you could see yourself the way I do. You were worth choosing long before you ever believed it.”
I brush a tear away with my thumb, and she presses her lips together, trying to hold herself together, then gives me her vows.
“I knew from the moment I saw you that you were different. In a good way, of course. Every time you pushed me away, I only pushed harder, sometimes to my own detriment.”
Aleksei laughs, and several others join him.
“But even then, I knew you were worth fighting for.” Her fingers tighten around mine. “You are the best man I know, Anton. And whenever you doubt that, I’ll be there to remind you how special you are, how deeply you’re loved, and that you are the sweetest man who has ever lived.”
I groan playfully, drawing a laugh from her.
“I know, I know.” She waves me off. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone that.
But it’s true. You might not always love with words, but you show it in everything you do, and words are meaningless without that.
” She looks at me with so much devotion, I don’t know what to do with it.
“So thank you for loving me, even before you knew that was what you were doing. And thank you for letting me show you how much you deserve it.”
By the time Lev hands me the ring, my throat feels too tight, and when I slide it onto Thora’s finger, she stares at it as if it means everything. She slips mine on next, her hands shaking slightly, and I close my fingers around hers once it’s in place.
Father Pasha looks between us. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
“Net problem.”
I grin, pulling her into another kiss, this one with more force, one hand at her waist and the other at the back of her neck as she melts against me and kisses me right back.
More cheers break out around us, and when we pull back to face everyone, her hand stays locked in mine, our rings catching the Texas sun as applause rises around us.
This is my family now. My future. All of it standing beside me in white lace with tears in her eyes and my name on her lips.
For most of my life, I thought darkness was all I would ever know. Then Thora found me there, reached her hand into it, and pulled me out into the light.
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