Chapter 2
Elias
After what feels like a million years combined into a split moment, I force my gaze to the woman who tore my heart to shreds and then lit it on fire.
The second Harmony’s gaze clashes against mine, I can feel the tug of an invisible rope pulling me to her.
After four and a half years, I thought we’d severed all old ties, but I can still sense them anchoring us together.
I’m only here to complete a job, not accept defeat and welcome old resurfacing feelings.
A job where you need to get up close and personal with your ex.
I never should’ve accepted this assignment.
This padded bench wrapped up in thorny roses is a whole new level of hell I never thought I’d experience.
Fine, to be fair, the roses aren’t touching me, but I can feel their prickliness from where I sit sandwiched between two women who act like their next breath depends on the ceremony.
My tie feels like it’s getting tighter and tighter until I’m sure I’ll suffocate as I listen to the Justice of the Peace drone on.
I take a deep breath and finally allow myself to take her in. Some wisps of her light brown hair are down, shaping her face, while the rest is pulled back in some elaborate hairstyle that probably took hours to perfect. I almost look away, but I can’t tear my gaze off her.
“Do you, Victor Barlowe, take Harmony Worrik to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, or for worse, for richer, or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?”
“I do,” Victor says, his deep voice booming through the speakers and snaking its way into my ears.
My heart plummets. The moment is here, but I can’t tear my eyes off the train wreck happening right in front of me. Gasps erupt in the crowd. Chattering voices fill my head, but none of their words make sense.
Once upon a time, this was supposed to be Harmony and me. I was supposed to marry my high school sweetheart, just like my parents, but that seems like a lifetime ago. And it was before Harmony up and left me like I was last week’s news.
The Justice of the Peace turns to Harmony and asks her the same vows. How original.
She squirms, her hands still in Victor’s. His gaze never wavers as he looks into her doe-in-the-headlights eyes.
A woman sitting in front of me in a frilly dress leans forward and whispers, “Say I do,” as we wait for Harmony. She bites her lower lip, and her gaze roams over the audience. Her chest rises and falls rapidly. Shit. I may not have seen Harmony in years, but I know when she’s about to bolt.
“I’m sorry, Victor, but I do not.” Then Harmony hikes her dress up and flees from the stage. The room erupts into chaos, and I shove to my feet, ready to do my job, strike whenever needed.
People spill into the aisle as Harmony barrels past them, not pausing even though she bumps into audience members.
Tears fill her eyes as she nears me, but she wipes them away.
Heels click behind her, and I spot Serenity pushing through the thick crowd with Summer in her arms, but a lot of people impede their chase, slowing them down.
Rose petals on the floor scatter as Harmony hurries down the aisle, and I move lightning fast, falling into step beside her.
She’s made her decision, and now I’m pulled along for this ride, whatever the fallout might be.