Page 13 of Inside the Maelstrom: Part Two
I looked at Sampson, and he shrugged like it meant nothing, but I could see the pride making his eyes shine. “It was his idea that you should have flowers.”
Otto smiled, grabbing one more flower from a tiny box. He pulled out a small white dahlia and pushed it into Hendrick’s buttonhole. “Let’s call it a team effort. Because we are a team, a family.”
The door to the registrar's office opened, and a woman ushered us in. Hendrick stood, pulling me up, his eyes searching mine. “Are you ready?” I nodded, and we walked in together, hand in hand.
The ceremony was a bit of a blur, but when the registrar asked if I, Aviva Robinson, was lawfully able to marry Hendrick Kenley, I felt like the whole fabric of reality warped. A month ago, I hated this man and everything he stood for. Today, I squeezed his hand and said, “I am.” And when she asked if I would take him as my lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, until death do us part? I said, “I do.”
And Hendrick repeated it right back. Then he kissed me hard, and that kiss was much more of a promise than his words.
I signed my name in a daze. Happiness and anxiety fought side by side, but happiness won out. We would overcome everything else—as a family, like Otto had said.
There were fifty-eight minutes between the moment I said yes to the idea of marrying Hendrick to the moment I said “I do.” At exactly 3:04 p.m., I walked out of the City Clerk's office as Mrs. Hendrick Kenley. What the fuck even was my life?
My whole body hummed as we stepped out into the warm NYC spring, before hopping back into the Escalade. By the time we got back to Sampson’s apartment, the movers and the delivery guys were back, as well as the Sheriff. He looked at us warily, but when Hendrick held out his hand, he handed over the yellow envelope and left.
Hendrick pulled out a huge packet of legal papers, giving me a sad smile. “What a wedding present, right?” He handed everything straight over to Tobias, who started poring over the documents, pulling out a notebook and making notes.
It took hours for all the furniture to be moved in, and once all the strangers had finally left, Otto pulled me into his arms. “Fuck, what a day. What a week!” He kissed me softly, breaking the growing awkwardness. I wrapped my arms around his neck and just laid my head on his chest. “We should order champagne and something nice. It’s the first day in the new house, and your wedding reception. Should we go out?”
I immediately shook my head. God knows we didn’t have a great track record going out to clubs. “Let’s just stay in. Just us.” I looked over at Evan, and he smiled, giving me a nod. “Now who else wants to kiss the bride?”
Chapter8
Evan
Despite the fact that a perfectly good eight-seater table had just been delivered, we ate the wedding feast on the floor of the library, with a brand new blanket spread out across the hardwood. We’d quickly realized that the fireplace was actually gas, so it was pretty nice. Romantic, even.
Otto had ordered Middle Eastern food, and it was being eaten straight from the takeout boxes, mainly because no one had thought to buy plates or cutlery.
When they’d all sat down, I’d drifted to the background, where I normally stood. But Chaos wasn’t having it. I should have known she’d make a stand.
“We may as well get it all out in the open now, considering this will be our life for at least twelve months. Does anyone have a problem with my relationship with Evan? Because I’d rather he wasn’t treated like the hired help.”
Otto smiled, and Hendrick tucked her closer to his side, kissing her hard. “I’m totally fine if Tall, Dark and Broody decides to eat with us instead of looming in the shadows, like he hasn’t seen each one of us drunk or naked—”
“Or drunkandnaked,” Otto added.
Hendrick grinned at me. “Exactly. Like he hasn’t seen us at our very worst. He’s never been the hired help to me. More like that responsible older brother who’s totally sick of your shit but loves you anyway.”
The uncomfortable thumping in my chest made me swallow hard. “I’ve seen your balls more times than I’m comfortable with, Kenley.”
“Fucking lies. My balls are glorious.” He pulled Aviva onto his lap. “Tell him, wifey.”
Otto groaned. “You’re going to be unbearable about this, aren’t you?”
Hendrick didn’t answer, just grinned more. My eyes slid to Sampson, and he held them in that way that made most people uncomfortable. But not me. I’d seen those eyes staring up at me in pain and fear once, seen them shining with relief, and wet with sadness. I knew him in a way that not even Hendrick and Otto ever would, not even Aviva.
That’s why this was so hard for him. Like if he lost control over our relationship—where he was the employer and I was an employee—all his secrets would come spilling from my lips. I would never, but he had to learn that for himself, I guess.
Finally, he shrugged. “It’s not like I rehired him, so no point standing guard. Sit down, Evan.”
I wanted to tell him he wasn’t my boss anymore either, so he couldn’t tell me what to do, but I let it go. Baby steps and all that. I sat down beside Otto, stretching my legs out in front of me. I was older than these guys, and my body would start aching from old war wounds if I sat on the floor too long, but it was nice to be down here with them. To be part of what they were creating right now.
Tobias had gone back to the office with a copy of the marriage certificate. Hopefully, he would do something to extricate Hendrick from this bullshit, but having met Senator Kenley, I didn’t think it was going to go down as smoothly as any of us hoped. He wasn’t a man who liked to be crossed, and he wasn’t above doing some shady shit to get what he wanted.
Aviva picked up some kind of bread stuffed with spiced meat and popped it in her mouth. “So, who’s volunteering to call my parents to tell them I married one of America’s most eligible, and notorious, playboys?” She looked around at each of us. “No? No volunteers?”
She was joking, but I didn’t envy her that conversation. Once again, she’d proven that her heart was so fucking big, if a little battered. She’d barely even hesitated when they asked her to do something crazy to save Hendrick’s skin.
