Page 62 of Echoes of Sin

“Absolutely. Where’s Grandma Elena?” Elena had insisted on staying the night at the house with us and it was no hardship having her around. We’d grown close over the past six months, and she adored Karina, who felt the same, and she was even fond of Lara, who was the only person who could go martini for martini with the family matriarch.

“I am here,” she answered, and stepped inside my bedroom in silk lavender pajamas because Karina insisted we all wear purple for the all-girls sleepover. “Karina, sweetheart, where did you get the coffee?”

Karina stopped bouncing on her toes and turned to her grandmother with a sweet giggle. “I’m too young for coffee, Grandma. You know that.”

“I must have forgotten due to my lack of caffeine.”

Lara’s voice boomed loudly from the kitchen. “Coffee’s ready. And breakfast.”

All three of us rushed down to the kitchen in need of fuel and sustenance, fixing up cups of coffee before we gobbled up scrambled eggs and toast for me with the addition of bacon and sausage for everyone else. The room was mostly silent other than the sounds of eating.

Soon enough breakfast was over, and the hair and makeup team had arrived to turn all of us into royal beauties. Elena went first and then Karina so they could get to the church early and oversee the last-minute details, leaving just Lara and me behind.

“It’s your wedding day!” She grinned at me through the mirror. “How are you feeling?”

“Excited,” I admitted. “Nervous, but only because I don’t like being in front of a church full of people. But I’m ready to marry Ilya.” That was the only thing I cared about today, saying I do to him and making our love and our family official.

The morning flew by once I put my butt in the makeup chair. It was a blur of hands and arms, hairspray and eyeshadow until I looked the absolute best version of myself. I looked like a different woman altogether. More shiny and sophisticated than I’d ever looked in my life.

“Damn, girl, you look amazing.”

I smiled as tears welled in my eyes because this was it, the day I thought would never come. Almost a decade later, here we were, getting our happy ending. “I do look pretty good, don’t I?”

“Let’s get you tucked into that dress and get to the church before Ilya burns down the whole city looking for you.”

I laughed. “He’s texted about fifteen times to make sure I was awake, getting ready, and just now to make sure we were leaving for the church. It’s good to know he’s a little nervous too.”

“Not nervous, honey,” Lara whispered as she tucked the big white dress into the back of the limo and slid in beside me. “He’s eager as hell to give you his last name.”

“Me too,” I whispered, and watched as the limo left everyone in the dust as if the traffic had parted just to help me make it to my wedding on time.

Twenty minutes later, I stood at the back of the church on the other side of the pine doors with stained glass windows that cast a rainbow glow across my dress. My heart raced against my chest, but the moment the music began, a calm settled over me. I was ready. More than ready.

Ryan took his place by my side so he could walk me down the aisle and give me away. “You look beautiful, Brookie.”

I smiled at the nickname from my childhood. “Thank you, Ryan. And thanks for being here for me today.”

“We’re family and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” He leaned in and brushed a kiss to my cheek. “And I couldn’t miss the little princess in her purple dress that I’ve been told is aubergine.” He rolled his eyes as if he’d been corrected too many times already.

“She just likes saying aubergine,” I assured him before I hooked my arm through his and the doors to the church swung open.

“This is it,” Ryan leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Are you ready?”

“Hell yes, I am.”

“This is a church,” he replied with a smile.

“And I am who I am,” I responded with a wide grin. “I’m ready. Let’s get me married.”

Karina left first, tossing flowers down the aisle, before Lara practically danced behind her.

Then everyone stood and turned to face me.

The wedding march began, and my feet began to move, but I didn’t remember any of it because my gaze was hooked on Ilya. He was stunning in his black tuxedo. His blond hair slicked back expertly, his piercing blue eyes full of love and clouded with emotion. His full lips stretched into a gorgeous smile. It was that smile that helped me forget that many of the faces belonged to the bratva and other underworld organizations. I still wasn’t comfortable around many of them, but with Elena’s help, I was growing into my role as Ilya’s wife, his support, or as she called it, his backbone. I was determined to live up to what she saw in me, to be everything he needed me to be because that’s what he’d been for me.

Finally, I was at the altar with him, his arms wrapped around me.

“We’re not there yet,” the priest admonished, making the church laugh.

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