Twenty
Her Destiny
Sin
The place was fucking packed. Liv invited whomever she pleased, and we approved without a glance at the guest list. Whoever accepted attendance, we’d deal with them if we had to. This was all about her because we wanted her to have everything. She desired a goddamn engagement party; she got it.
The only exception?
It was Saint and Sin style.
We shut down the damn club. Tonight was about us at Sinful Saints Nightclub.
I hired the best psychic this city offered. We made sure we ordered an exceptional catering company with the highest five-star reviews. Saint got the finest decorator to adorn the darker elements we envisioned precisely.
A séance.
We desired a nightmare-inducing setting because ghosts haunted the club. Which was one reason we loved this place, and we got to wander with ghosts of the past. It was a dark place where we fit in and mixed our innermost treasured features. The bad, the ugly, and the most dreadful pieces of us.
Liv fit right in. She was darker than she’d imagined. Plus, she beat us at laser tag.
Saint three points. Liv forty-two, and me a lousy one. But I think she let me have the point.
Beginner’s luck.
“The scene is frightful.” I sipped the glass of whiskey and glanced around. “Such a glorious sight. We did good. Didn’t we, Saint?”
“Damn right.” Saint raised his glass. “A toast.”
“To what?” I asked.
“To us.” Liv clinked her glass against ours. “To finding each other.”
“To true happiness.” Saint flashed his perfect teeth, and his silver mask covered half his face. “Inside the dark.”
Liv, our beacon of light within the madness, wore a radiant black dress. The fluffy tutu made her appear as if she were a monstrous ballerina, but her angelic smile lit everything up. She made me feel alive. Even the spirits within these walls bowed to her; she had earned all she’d dreamed of.
“I couldn’t agree more.” Liv stood on her tiptoes and pecked Saint on the mouth. “I love you.”
“I love you too, darling.” Saint brushed a kiss against our girl’s forehead, and the black feather sticking up from her dark mask tickled his face. “But I hate this fucking feather. The damn thing keeps getting in the way.”
“What?” Liv moved her head and purposely teased Saint with the feather. “Like this?”
Liv giggled. The soft symphony filled the air and mingled with the music. She was a divine sound.
“Quit it.” Saint chuckled as he swatted at the feather, but he couldn’t contain his smile.
“There’s the lovebirds!” Gloria announced with champagne in her hand. “I’ve been searching everywhere for you three.”
“Oh, Mrs. Valencia.” I pecked one cheek and the other in greeting. “Happy to have you here.”
“Gloria.” She pointed a finger at me, and her breath hit my face. “Your mother-in-law. Remember?”
Drunk as a skunk. Whatever. Anything to get her through the fucking evening.
“We couldn’t forget.” Saint smiled and took her hands.
“Frank, dear, don’t be shy.” Gloria waved her hand at her husband. “Come say hi.”
“Gentlemen.” Frank shook my hand and gave Saint a nod. “It’s a pleasure to be here.”
“We’re glad you could make it, Mr. Valencia,” I said.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Frank smiled at his daughter. “After all, my little girl is getting married.”
Gloria cleared her throat.
“To my future sons-in-law,” Frank added.
Frank was uncomfortable. I couldn’t blame him when his wife showed up for every wedding occasion plastered.
Gloria probably came home with a nasty hangover after she went out with the girls, searching for a wedding gown.
Nothing wrong with diving into the booze early, but Gloria only did it to clear her conscience of her past wrongdoings for being a shitty parent.
Frank should take notes because he was the one who got them into ruin.
If it hadn’t been for us, they’d be penniless.
I still had a sore spot for how Liv’s parents treated her, but we were there to pick up her broken pieces. I had to let the past rest and move on. We all had to for the woman we all cared about.
“Right back at yeah, Dad.” I smacked the old man on the back.
Frank grunted and shot me a half-smile. Fake or not, I didn’t give a damn. I was marrying his daughter. I helped save her and brought her back to life. If anything, he owed us, but I expected nothing from him. Real men required nothing in return.
“Oh, look, dear! A fortune teller!” Gloria took off toward her future reading. “Let’s go get a reading.”
“I’ll be right there.” Frank glanced between me and Saint. “Can I have a word?”
“Absolutely,” Saint said.
“I’ll go see”—Liv cleared her throat—“if Raven needs anything.”
Liv sensed the tension between us men, and her eyes pleaded with me to go easy on her father. I squeezed her hand and let her go. She retreated into the crowd.
Frank sighed. “Look. I know there’s strain between all of us—”
“An understatement,” I cut in.
“Fair enough.” Frank gave a curt nod. “There’ve been grave misgivings. Mistakes.”
“Okay.” Saint crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Go on.”
Frank added, “On your part.”
“Come again?” I raised an eyebrow.
“On all our parts,” Frank replied with a shake of his head. “Fellas, what I’m trying to say is, I don’t deserve a Father of the Year award. I never did. But I want to start.”
I’d let the blame Frank cast on us slide. The error of his ways was for him to fix, and he was trying to mend the situation. I let him go on even though I wanted to shake him like a goddamn rag doll.
“I want to be a better man for Liv.” Frank opened his arms. “So, I want to welcome you both to the family.”
Saint went right in for a hug. I didn’t.
I stood there in shock, certain my fucking jaw was on the floor.
The acceptance from Frank knocked me off balance, and I was honestly expecting more of a fight.
Not a smile and laughter as if everything was right in the world.
I expected to have to go to war for our relationship, which hung in the balance, until my last dying breath.
The Valencia family was tricky, and there had to be a catch.
“Wait. Let me get this straight.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “You hated us being with your daughter, but you’re willing to let the resentment go in order to be the father your child has always deserved?”
“Yes, goddamn it.” Frank smiled and waved a hand at me. “Come on, son, don’t make this any more awkward than it already is.”
I grabbed Frank by the shirt collar and pulled him in close.
“Sin,” Saint hissed and grabbed my arm. “Let him go, man.”
I didn’t. Leery of Frank’s intentions.
“You sure?” I questioned through clenched teeth with my breath against his face. “I don’t want Liv upset because of you again. Ever.”
“Trust me. Neither do I,” Frank admitted.
The glint of honesty swirled in his eyes.
“Sin?” Liv cut in. “Is everything okay?”
Suddenly, Liv was by my side. Her sweet-as-hell tender touch grazed my arm, and I loosened my hold on Frank’s shirt. I pretended to brush something off his clothes.
“Everything is peachy, sweetheart.” I smiled. “Your dad was welcoming us into the family.”
“Good.” Liv glanced with questioning eyes between us. “Daddy? Mom is waiting for you.”
Frank fixed his collar. “I’ll go find her.”
Frank walked away.
“Do you want to tell me what’s really going on?” Liv whispered to me.
I glanced around the room until my eyes stopped cold. The chatter of the crowd drowned out as I zeroed in on someone I hadn’t seen in a long time. Full regret hit me.
Fuck. I should’ve taken a goddamn peek at the guest list.