Chapter thirty four
Nadia
Isaid no. The first time, the second time, and a few more times after that.
But I did keep the ring. It was fucking stunning.
A simple band with small details that made sense to us.
Something I would never take off. I only said no because I knew it was a bad idea.
Things with Pop and the LBC were shitty; I was living outta a bag and in his clothes, and he was still a Phantom. But he was my Phantom.
That’s why I’d dragged him outta bed at the crack of dawn. Ignored him as he pestered me for answers, his hand holding my thigh possessively. Two towns away from Stonebridge, somewhere where not a soul would recognize us. To a place where I wasn’t an LBC and he wasn’t a Phantom.
Right now, we are just Nadia and Riven.
“What is this?” He asked as I pulled up to the courthouse.
“Happy wedding day, baby. We’re gettin’ married.” I pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek and hopped out of the car, leaving him sitting there stunned.
I rounded the hood of the car, only to find him still sitting there, staring at the courthouse like it personally offended him.
His dark hair was a mess from me waking him up so early, tattoos peeking out.
beneath his white tee. For once in his life, Riven Devereaux looked speechless. It was adorable.
“You’re joking.” He says as he opens the door, one leg on the pavement, the other planted firmly in the car.
“I got all dolled up, never looked more beautiful than I do right now, and that’s the first thing you say to me?” I scoff dramatically. Granted, I was only wearing a new pair of leather pants, a cropped white tank, and a leather jacket. His eyes narrow.
“Nadia.”
“What?”
“You said no.”
“Well,” I shrug.
“Now I’m sayin’ yes.” I tilt my head, hands resting in my back pockets. His jaw flexes hard enough for me to see it.
“That’s not funny.” His throat bobs.
“Who said I was joking?” I watch as the realization hits him in real time. Slow at first. Then, all at once. He gets out of the car so fast he nearly slams the door off its hinges.
“You’re serious.”
“Terrifyingly.” I tease, but I meant it all the same.
Clouds rolled overhead, but they weren’t enough to block the sun shining down on us today, the wind tossing strands of my hair across my face as I look up at him.
For a second, he just stared at me. Like he doesn’t know what to do with this. Which was funny considering this man usually had approximately three emotions:
angry
horny
obsessed with me
Now, though, he looked genuinely overwhelmed.
“I had a whole plan.” He finally mutters. I blink.
“What?”
“A real wedding.” He frowns like this deeply offended him.
“I was gonna do somethin’ better than this.”
“This?” I gesture toward the courthouse.
“Wow. Way to make our wedding sound romantic.”
“Nadia.” He drags a hand down his face.
“You just kidnapped me into a marriage.” The irony was not lost on me. He forced me into a relationship, and now I was kidnapping him into a marriage. What a pair of fucked up idiots we were. Idiots in love, at least.
“You loved every second of it.” I narrow my eyes.
“That’s not the point.” He refutes, biting back a smile.
A grin broke across my face. God, I love fucking with him.
Especially because beneath the irritation, I could see it.
Happiness. Real happiness. The kind Riven rarely let himself feel because somewhere deep down, he always expected the people he loved to leave him eventually, seeing nothing but a deeply broken man.
I step closer slowly, hooking my fingers through the belt loops of his jeans.
In turn, he flicked my navel piercing and grabbed both my hips.
“You wanna know the truth?” I ask quietly. His eyes drop to mine instantly.
“I got tired of pretending this wasn’t inevitable.” Something in his expression shifts. Softens. Dangerous and gentle all at once.
“You sure?” He asks hesitantly, unsure if this was real.
And honestly, I didn’t know if it was real either.
But I fucking hoped it was. His question almost wrecked me.
Because beneath all the attitude and possessiveness and insanity that made up Riven Devereaux, there was still that terrified part of him that needed reassurance.
Needed to know I was choosing him too. I reach up and touch his jaw gently.
“There’s nobody else for me,” I admit, barely louder than a whisper.
“There never was.”
The look he gives me after that nearly takes me out at the knees.
Like I’d handed him the fucking moon. His hands slide around my waist instantly, pulling me off the ground and twirling me like we were in some cheesy eighties movie.
I laughed, the colors around me blurring.
When my feet return to the ground, I see the small but genuine smile on his lips, and he pulls me flush against him.
“You realize this is insane, right?” He murmurs against my forehead.
“Oh, absolutely.” I nod, unable to stop grinning.
“Our gangs are gonna lose their minds.”
“Mhm,” I say into his neck.
“We could literally start a war,” I add.
“Ah, so we’d be Mr. and Mrs. Anarchy. It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?” He pulls me impossibly closer.
That finally got a laugh out of me, and he joined in. Real, rough, and rare enough to make my chest ache. Then, he looks at me again. Really looks at me. Like he was memorizing this version of me forever.
“No takin’ it back after this.” He warns. I smirk.
“You say that like you’d let me.” My eyebrows furrow.
“Damn right I wouldn’t.”
_____
The courthouse smelled like burnt coffee and old paper. Real romantic. A tired woman behind the desk looks us over with the kind of exhaustion only government employees possess. Her eyes linger on Riven’s tattoos and the gun clipped to my belt before she sighs heavily.
“Appointment?”
“Nope,” I replied. She blinks once. Riven looks deeply unimpressed by the entire establishment. What a snob.
“We’re gettin’ married,” I add. The woman slowly lowers her glasses.
“Today?” “That is generally how surprise weddings work, yes.”
“Nadia.” Riven warningly mutters beside me.
“What?” I ask innocently. The woman stares at us for another long second before pushing paperwork across the counter.
“Fill these out.” Riven grabs the clipboard before I could and immediately frowns.
“Why is there so much shit?”
“It’s legally binding, sweetheart.” The clerk deadpanned. I nearly choked trying not to laugh. Riven shot me a glare while scribbling his name aggressively across the paper as the marriage certificate insulted him.
“This is your fault.”
“You’re welcome.” I shrug unapologetically.
“You kidnapped me into matrimony.” He huffs.
“You love me.” His jaw flexes.
“Unfortunately.”
“Aw.” I grab his face and kiss him loudly, more so to make the clerk clutch her pearls behind that desk than for us. I couldn’t help it.
“You’re so sweet.” I tease. He grips my wrist before I can pull away completely, eyes darkening slightly.
“Keep kissin’ me like that, and we’re not makin’ it to the ceremony.” Heat curls low in my stomach instantly. God, this man was bad for me. I love it.
An hour later, we stood in front of a judge who looked to be approximately ninety years old and mildly irritated to be here. Riven stood beside me, dressed in black jeans, combat boots, a white tee, and a leather jacket. Definitely not traditional wedding attire, but somehow it felt very us.
Chaotic. Reckless. A terrible idea. Perfect. The judge peers down at us over the rim of his glasses.
“Marriage is a serious commitment.” I look at Riven. He looks at me. Both of us are trying to refrain from saying anything offensive, or worse. Laugh.
“Young people.” The judge sighs.
“Sir,” I interrupt respectfully.
“With all due respect, we are deeply mentally ill and in love.” Riven snorts beside me. The judge stares at us for a long moment before muttering.
“I can see that.” That did it.
Riven fully chuckled this time, ducking his head briefly while rubbing a hand over his mouth. The sound hit me right in the chest. Because his
laugh was rare. And every single time I earned one, it felt like winning something sacred. Then, the ceremony started. Simple. Quick.
But somewhere between the vows and the rings and Riven staring at me like I’d hung every star in the fucking sky, something inside me shifted permanently. This wasn’t reckless anymore. This wasn’t temporary. This was real.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss-”
Riven takes my face in his hands before the judge can even finish speaking.
His mouth collides with mine hard enough to steal my breath instantly.
It’s possessive and desperate. Like he’s been waiting his whole life to do that.
I kiss him back just as hard, hands gripping his shirt while his ring presses cold against my jaw.
A matching one to the one he proposed with.
When we finally pull apart, the judge looks utterly exhausted.
“Congratulations.” He says flatly.
“Please leave.” Riven just grins, eyes still locked on mine.
Wife. The realization slams into me all over again. Holy shit. I just married Riven Devereaux.
“You’re smilin’.” He notices as we walk back toward my car.
“I am not.” I deny vehemently.
“You are.”
“Shut up.” I smack his chest playfully. His arm was wrapped around my waist possessively, dragging me into his side.
“You’re stuck with me forever now, daredevil.” I look up at him slowly, morning sunlight breaking through the clouds, catching against the silver band on his finger. For a second, everything else disappeared.
The gangs. Stonebridge. The violence. The war waiting for us back home. None of it mattered. Because right then? We were just two fucked up people in love standing in the middle of a courthouse parking lot pretending the world wasn’t eventually gonna come for us.
What was it he called us? Oh, yeah. Right then, we were just Mr. and Mrs. Anarchy.