Page 78 of Breathtaking

Never in one day.

Possibly not even during the entirety of my life.

And considering my mother stood on the steps of the hospital hours after I was born and had pictures taken of her before she got into the car with my father, that’s really saying something.

“Please welcome the new Mr. and Mrs. Maddox Beneventi” is announced over the microphone, and Maddox looks at me funny.

“Where’s your title?”

I cup his face in my hands and press my lips to his. “I doubt I’ll have one tomorrow. Now let’s go before I get too heavy.”

He carries me onto the dance floor and carefully sets me down as our first dance is announced, and the band plays the first stands of “Ordinary” by Alex Warren.

I drape my arms around my husband’s neck, blown away. “Did you pick this song?”

His sexy smile comes out to play as he sings along softly and pushes me around the dance floor like a pro. “Gracie may have helped me.”

Before I know it, my feet are barely touching the ground, and Maddox is hamming it up like I’ve never seen him do before. He looks young and free in a way that brings back so many memories.

His brothers and Callen wrap their arms around each other’s shoulders and sing along, eventually joined by a few cousins and Grace and a few of her friends’ husbands like a grand choir. There’re hand gestures and a kick line at some point before Maddox finally puts me back down and kisses me like it’s the first time we’ve ever kissed. Like he can’t get enough and doesn’t care who’s watching. Until I’m certain I hear Rhys coughing and Atticus laughing. Until his hand slides down to my bump, and I rest mine on his. The song changes, and others join us, but I only see him.

He’s all that matters.

Eventually, I stand off to the side of the dance floor, wiping my eyes as Maddox dances with his mom, when Sam offers me a handkerchief. “Sorry. I didn’t think it was that obvious.”

“They’re happy tears,principessa.” He nods toward his wife and son. “You have nothing to apologize for. You love my son. That’s all a man can ask.”

“I do love him,” I whisper, pulling my eyes from Maddox and focusing on his father. “I think I have for a very long time.”

“Ahh... I know that feeling. I loved his mother for years before I could convince her to marry me. Some of the best love stories start that way.” He looks around with furrowed brows. “Nonna was looking for you. But I don’t see her now.”

“She was probably trying to get me to save her from Atticus.” My heart feels so full in this moment, I’m not sure I even care that once I told my brother to stay away from Maddox’s cousins, he took it upon himself to be Nonna’s date for the night. I swear the two of them have danced more than Maddox and me. “He’s trying to get her chicken parm recipe,” I laugh.

“Didn’t she give that to you last week when you were at the house?”

“She did,” I gasp. “But she made me swear on my son that I’d never share it outside of the family.”

“Your brothers are family, Lennon,” he assures me with a kind glimmer in his eyes that reminds me so much of Maddox’s.

Now it’s my turn to look around the tent for Atticus and Rhys, eventually finding them by the bar, charming two of Maddox’s cousins, no doubt. “They are. But I’m scared that it’ll be years before I see them again. I’m afraid they risked more than they realized by coming here. My grandfather is going to be furious when word gets out.”

“Sometimes we have to choose family and their happiness before everything else. Even the responsibility we hold. Take it from me, there are few things in this world an older brother wouldn’t do to make sure his brother... or sister is happy.” He steps back as the song ends. “Speaking of which...”

Rhys moves in next to me and offers me his arm. “Walk with me?”

I slide my hand into the crook of his arm and follow him away from the crowd. “When do you leave?”

“Tonight,” he tells me as we clear the tent and make our way to a beautiful stone patio under a pergola covered with blooming roses. “The less time we’re here, the less time the crown has to get in the way. By the time we’re home tomorrow, the outlets will already be running this as the lead story. And the blowback will be bad enough as it is. If I weren’t there to face it head-on, it would be worse.”

We sit down on a white stone bench, and I take his hand in mine. “I’m sorry you’ll have to face any blowback for me.”

“I’d do anything to protect you, kid. I’m fairly certain your new husband would too. He’s watching us.” Rhys doesn’t sound angry, but he doesn’t seem thrilled either. “Does he treat you well? Not just better than Monty. Does he treat you the way you deserve to be treated?”

I swallow down all the emotions that have been swirling all day in hopes of answering him without crying. Thank goodness for waterproof mascara. “I’m not even sure I deserve to be loved the way he loves me.”

“You deserve to be loved more than any person I’ve ever known, Lennon. Don’t let fear stop you. And have faith that I’ll do all I can to smooth things over with the king.”

Rhys looks so much older than he did even a year ago, and I realize just how much I missed by not coming home for so long. “Are you okay, Rhys?”

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