Page 27 of Black Wedding

Bree takes hold of my cheek and forces me to look at her. “Hey...all I want is you. I told you about me not having gone to a fair before weeks ago, and not only did you remember, you made it your mission to change that. You have made a little girl’s dreams come true today, so don’t you ever think any less of yourself. But there is one thing you can do to help make a grown woman’s dreams come true,” she states.

Before I can ask her what she means, she leans towards me and presses her lips against mine. As with all our kisses, what starts off sweet ends up being sizzling and sexy, full of passion. When we finally pull apart, we look around and see we are stopped at the top of the Ferris Wheel, looking out at the stars and the lights of the nearby towns.

“Now you have made my dreams come true,” she mutters, and I ask what she means. “I’ve always wanted to be kissed amongst the stars at the top of a Ferris wheel.” Her smile is incandescent, her fiery red hair illuminating in the moonlight with the bright lights from the fair hitting her at every angle.

“I’m a lucky guy,” I say, giving her a sweet but short kiss as the wheel starts moving.

“I’m the lucky one. You are a pretty great guy, Liam Doughty. Kidnapping aside, obviously,” she jokes just as the ride pulls to a stop at the bottom.

The ride operator looks horrified at her words. He’s looking at me like I’m a psychopath, and he is considering jumping me. He looks like he is in his mid-teens and has absolutely no muscles and several patches of acne dotted across his face. Although he would stand no chance with me, I respect that he is concerned enough about Bree to consider it.

“I didn’t mean that how it sounds. It’s an inside joke between us. I can promise you I am not being held hostage or in any danger. He’s my boyfriend,” she explains and as she says the last word, I feel my body tensing.

Nobody has ever called me their boyfriend before, I never go that far, but really, we are so much more. Technically we are engaged, but that was supposed to just be for business. I think when Bree calls me her boyfriend, that’s how she really sees us, and for once, despite how much it freaks me out, I am all in. I have no idea if we together will cause more harm than good, but I think I am falling for the fiery redhead. I will burn down the world around us as long as we can stand together through it.

After being shuffled out of the fair by the bosses who were closing, we climbed into the car, and I felt myself release an audible sigh I didn’t know I had been holding. We had been on our feet, going from ride to ride for around four hours, and I was so bloody knackered. I look over at Bree to see her shyly trying to hide her yawn. Then, with a smile, I start up the engine and start the drive home.

We had been driving for around half an hour when Bree finally plucked up the courage to speak. She had been casting glances at me, looking like she wanted to say something since we got in the car. I was just waiting for her to see how long it would take her.

“Did it bother you when I called you my boyfriend? You kind of froze?” she whispers, looking down at her leg that has started to bop, this time out of nervousness.

“I’m not going to lie; the word caught me off guard, but not for the reasons you are thinking. When I heard it, I waited for myself to freak out. I have never been a boyfriend to anyone before, never wanted to be, and whenever a girl has suggested it in the past, I would bolt. So, yeah, I was waiting for that moment, but it never came, far from it. I think I actually may have liked being called your boyfriend,” I explain. I know she believes me because her restless leg stops moving, and she tucks it under her bum as she turns as much as her seatbelt will allow so that she is facing me. The smile she has worn all night is now firmly back on her face.

“It just slipped out for me too, but I didn’t regret it like I thought I would. I have feelings for you, Liam, really fucking strong feelings, and that scares the shit out of me. I planned on just keeping this a business deal, no emotions, but that is so fucking far out of the window that I don’t know what to do.” The words rush out of her mouth like she can’t entirely control what she says, but they need to be heard.

“I have feelings for you too, Bree. As far as I am concerned, this doesn’t change anything except make it better. I have never dreamt of getting married or anything like that, so doing it for a business arrangement and to help you out seemed like an easy decision. But after talking it through with Kellan, I would have said no to anyone else, but with you, it was easy. So maybe we need to just go with the flow and see where things go. If this turns into a real marriage, then that’s a bonus. But, at the moment, I get to marry my friend and the only woman I have ever thought was capable of ruling her own syndicate.” I speak with confidence and conviction, making it clear I mean every word I say.

“I think I am one lucky lady,” Bree replies, and I can’t help but lower the tone.

“You are a very lucky girl, Princess, and when we get home, I am going to show you just how lucky with my tongue, my fingers, and my cock.”

I’m awoken by a gentle touch, and my brain tries to quickly catch up with what I am feeling. I don’t know how it knows, but my body knows it’s in no danger and that I can stay relaxed. I realise instantly why that is; I can smell him. His peppermint, coconut, and just a hint of petrol, plus something that is all Liam. I feel almost encapsulated by his warmth and his scent, and as I open my eyes, I realise why.

I must have fallen asleep on the drive home, and instead of waking me when we arrived, he was now carrying me into the house. His arm is tucked under my legs, with the other around my back, while he lets my body lean against his muscular chest. I leave my head resting there, just listening to the sound of his heartbeat. If I stay like this for too much longer, it will drag me back into my slumber, and I want to give him the chance to make good on the promise he mentioned before I fell asleep dreaming about it.

Climbing the steps to the front door, I start to wonder how he is going to get the keys and open the door without putting me down. I suspect he knows I am awake given the way my hand has been stroking his chest, but it’s like neither of us wants to speak for fear it might burst the bubble we have thrown ourselves into. But before either of us gets the chance to make a move, the door flies open to reveal a very flustered looking Kellan.

Don’t get me wrong, he usually rocks the dishevelled look, but this is so much more. His hair is all over the place like he’s been running his hands through it constantly. The bags under his eyes look even worse. The frown lines look like they have been there so long that they will be permanent from now on, but I hope not. I have always thought his cheeky personality and looks were part of his charm. Whenever he decides to get out into the dating world again, women will go crazy for a guy as great as Kellan. Except right now, he looks almost scared.

“Where the fuck have you guys been? Why were you not answering your pissing phones?!” he yells, his eyes wide and almost feral looking.

Liam must have seen the same thing I did in Kellan’s expression as he carefully lowers me into a standing position. All thoughts of exhaustion are long gone, replaced with the adrenaline coursing through my body at the possibility of danger.

“We put the phones away after that fucked up call earlier. We didn’t want them to ruin our date,” Liam explains, making sure to keep our fingers interlocked. It may not seem like much but just feeling his fingers gripping onto mine is everything.

“Well, while you two were enjoying your fucking date, I have been here dealing with your father and his men, Bree,” he spits, anger coursing through his veins as he continues to pace.

Both me and Liam are equally stunned when he says it was my family causing problems; we had been expecting Liam’s. Liam tries to calm Kellan down and persuades him to come into the living room to explain what happened. Kellan refuses to move.

“Your fucking family put my baby girl and me at risk today, Bree, and I will not forget this. I am going up to my room, you can deal with this shit, and we will discuss this properly tomorrow. If I stay any longer, I will say or do something I know I will regret,” Kellan says, and both I and Liam shout after him, but he is in no mood to tell us what is happening. We look at each other warily. I think there would only be one reason Kellan wouldn’t come into the living room to have a sensible conversation with us, and I really hope I’m not right.

Leading Liam through into the living room, I am not shocked to see my father sitting on our couch, lounging across it as though he owns the place. He is dressed in his usual black suit, with a blue tie today. That’s the only part of the ensemble that he changes. His dark black hair is slicked backwards, undoubtedly to cover all the missing patches where he is going bald. To the outside world, my dad looks like an overweight, slimy businessman who does well financially but has nothing else in his life. They would be right. They must have parked their car around the corner or Liam and I would have spotted it out front.

Accompanying him, as always, is Jimmy, who is sitting on the only lounge chair, and Mouth, who is pacing near the dining table. Mouth has worked as my dad’s personal bodyguard for a little over ten years, I think, and I still have no idea how he got that ridiculous nickname. But whenever I call him Malcum, his real name, he never responds.

“Father, it’s gone one in the morning. What the hell are you doing here?” I asked incredulously.

“Well, Brianna, when I got here at nine, it was a slightly more reasonable hour, but apparently, you had a prior engagement. Do you really expect to be able to run this Family if you can’t find the time for a business meeting?” His voice is strained like he is trying very hard to remain professional. This theory is backed up by how his eyes keep flicking between Jimmy and Liam, both of which would not tolerate him speaking to me like shit.

---