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“Belle,” he said, voice rougher than usual.
“Hi, Papa.”
“You look—” He stopped and rubbed his jaw. “You look—”
“Use your words, Cardez.”
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” The emotion was clear in his voice.
“Please don’t make me cry. You know these pregnancy hormones been fucking with me,” I whispered.
“I don’t care.” He kissed my forehead, careful not to mess up my makeup.
“You clean up nice too,” I said.
Marco cleared his throat behind us. “Photographer’s ready whenever y’all are.”
We took the photos in the hallway with the golden hour light doing all the work. The photographer guided us through poses, and in between shots, Cardez kept leaning in, whispering all the nasty shit he had planned for me later.
“Stop,” I whispered. I was biting the inside of my cheek, struggling to keep a straight face.
“You really want me to stop telling you how I can’t wait to get into that extra juicy pussy when we get back home?” His voice rumbled low in my ear.
I slapped his chest as my cheeks grew hot.
My nerves had settled by the time Lorelei came to get us for the ceremony. Cardez squeezed my hand once before we split up.
“I love you,” he mouthed.
“I love you too, Papa.” I smiled
A few minutes later, I stood behind the doors to the main room a few minutes later with my bouquet trembling in my hands as my entrance music began to play.
The doors opened, and I spotted my mother in the front next to Walter. Siani was next to Tariq and Jody sat with Marco. Orlando sat on the opposite side with Priest and Yomi, all of them in perfectly tailored suits. Members of the Table were scattered throughout the rest of the seats.
And Cardez.
We didn’t break eye contact as I made my way down the aisle. Each step felt heavier than the one before it. He took my hands when I reached him.
The officiant kept his remarks short. Somewhere in the middle of him speaking, I looked over at the crowd. I didn’t forget that Dez was expecting Solomon to blow this whole thing up. Everything looked fine and nothing looked out of place.
Except one of the guards in the back kept checking his watch.
It wasn’t abnormal, but something about it didn’t sit right with me.
Cardez squeezed my hand and brought my attention back to him.
“I, Cardez Felix Montague, take you, La’Belle Mafia Evans…”
His vows weren’t long. He didn’t need a lot of words when he’d spent months showing me how much he loved me.
By the time it was my turn, my voice was unsteady. “Six months ago, if you told me this is where I’d be standing willingly, I would’ve said you were a damn lie.” That got some laughs. “But I do. I’m choosing this and I’m choosing you, Cardez. Because I want to, every single day, for the rest of our lives.”
“You may now kiss the bride.”
Then the world went white and silent all at once.
1 Listen to Here I Stand by Usher
