Page 64 of Queen of Diamonds
“You’d love it here, Zoe,” he said. “I’m beginning a new life. Maybe you already know that, and if so, I hope that makes you happy. After I lost you, I thought I’d never smile again, but then Kinsey came along. She taught me that being happy again doesn’t mean I love you any less. You would have loved her, your new aunts and uncles, and your cousins. They’re very noisy, though.” He chuckled. She would have been delighted by the chaos of life among the Gentrys. “I came to this spot where it’s just you and me to make you a promise. I’ll never forget you, baby girl. You will always live on in my heart.”
He squeezed his burning eyes closed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I love you, Zoe,” he whispered. The melodious sound of a child’s laughter—so much like Zoe’s—reached his ears, and he shuddered. There had to be someone with a little girl nearby, but he walked away without looking for her, choosing to believe that Zoe had found a way to let him know she was in a good place and that she was happy for him.
When he reached the beach in front of the resort, three tall males stood on the sand, arms crossed over their chests, watching him.
He stopped in front of them. “If some kind of initiation into the family is about to happen, all I ask is that you don’t make me bleed. That won’t look pretty in our wedding photos.”
“Saw you sneaking off. Just making sure you weren’t running away, dude,” Alex said.
Court dangled handcuffs in front of Rand. “One way or another, our sister is getting married today.”
“Ignore these two clowns,” Nate said. He glanced over at the cove. “You good now?”
“Yeah. I am.” The Gentry brothers never missed a trick, and he should have known there was no sneaking away from them. They’d also guessed he needed a moment with his daughter and had given it to him but were letting him know they were here for him. He nodded. “Real good, in fact.”
“Then let’s go get you married.”
Rand stoodat the water’s edge under a sky painted in shades of pinks and yellows by the setting sun. He and his best men—all three Gentry brothers—wore tuxes and were barefoot. He’d thought he might be nervous, but the only emotion he felt was impatience to hear the words pronouncing him and Kinsey husband and wife.
He glanced at the only family members not in the wedding party. Rosie held Max, Court and Lauren’s baby, and Alex and Madison’s son, Michael, sat between her and Rand’s father. At the moment Harlan was showing something on his phone to Michael, probably pictures of fire trucks, the boy’s obsession. Rand’s mother looked on with faint amusement. She’d warmed up to the Gentrys some, which was impressive in itself.
Giggles preceded the flower girls. He grinned at seeing six barefoot little girls dropping rose petals on the sand as they walked toward him. Each wore a different colored pastel sundress, making him think of a rainbow. To prevent a mutiny, Kinsey had sealed her status as favorite new aunt by asking all six of Taylor and Nate’s daughters to be her flower girls. Well, five of them were dropping petals. Annie was picking them up and putting them in her basket.
“No, Annie,” Bri said. “The bride has to walk on them so her feet will smell pretty.”
“Nothing worse than a bride with stinky feet,” Alex murmured, making his brothers snort and Rand outright laugh.
Bri managed to get Annie to drop her petals, and when they reached Rand, they surprised him by curtseying. He gave them a formal bow, which made them giggle some more. The girls took the front-row seats that they’d been told were reserved for them. Well, except for Annie, who was tugging on Nate’s pants, wanting to be picked up.
“Annie,” Bri hissed. “You’re supposed to sit with us.”
“Don’t want to.” She lifted her arms up. “Hold me, Daddy.”
Nate’s eyes turned soft, something Rand only saw from him when he looked at one of his daughters or Taylor. Nate squatted and whispered something into Annie’s ear, then kissed her nose. Whatever he said worked, and Annie joined her sisters.
The Gentry wives stepped out from the tent that had been set up by the wedding planner. Their ankle-length dresses were the same and had all the colors of the girls’ dresses. Taylor, Lauren, and Madison held hands as they walked together toward him. Rand glanced at the brothers to see soft smiles on their faces as each looked at his own wife. The women took their places on the other side of him.
He was damn lucky, not only in finding and falling in love with Kinsey, but in the family that came along with her. More than just his fellow agents, the brothers were now his family, too, and he couldn’t have found more loyal and honorable men if he’d tried. And their wives were beautiful inside and out. He swallowed hard as it hit him just how fortunate he was.
The soft music that had been playing changed to the wedding march, and he turned his attention to the tent, his heart doing a dance in his chest as he waited to see his bride.
And there she is.
He exhaled a long breath. Beautiful didn’t seem adequate. She wore a long, cream-colored silk slip dress that had thin straps. Her hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders, one side pinned up by the silver comb her mother had given her. She held an arrangement of tropical flowers, and in her ears were the diamond earrings that he’d given her as a wedding gift. Her only other jewelry was her engagement ring.
As Aiden escorted her to him, her eyes stayed locked on his, and a smile of happiness curved her lips.Beautiful,he mouthed. Her smile grew. She’d asked Aiden to walk with her because she said she couldn’t pick just one brother to do it.
She stopped in front of him, and when he held out his hand, Aiden put her hand in his, then backed away and took a seat behind the girls. It was then that he noticed what her bouquet had been hiding. Wrapped around her wrist was Zoe’s necklace. He’d thought his heart was already filled with love for this woman, but it miraculously expanded, making room for more.
“My sunshine,” he whispered, then turned them to face the minister.
“Who is happy to see this woman be married to this man?”
“We are,” her brothers said in unison.
Rand grinned. Kinsey had refused the traditional words ofwho gives this woman, saying that she wasn’t anyone’s to give away.
If asked later what was said between now and when he was told he could kiss his bride, he wouldn’t have been able to answer. His heart, his mind, his very soul was filled with Kinsey, leaving no room for anything else. They’d been told this would happen, thus the video being filmed. He and Kinsey would watch their wedding video later tonight… among other things.
