“Well, it ain’t. Marriage is never fifty-fifty. Sometimes it’s eighty-twenty. Sometimes its sixty-forty. But whatever the ratio, it will always be your job to protect your family at all costs, and that includes Elizabeth and Knox now. Do whatever you have to do to protect what’s yours and you will always be able to rest your head at night knowing that you’ve done your job.”
I stop primping myself and stare hard at my father.
“I think the topic of this speech is interesting considering that you were the one that put a bullet in that asshole Sergei’s head. How am I supposed to rest my head now knowing that you did my job?”
“You missed the entire point of my story.”
“Nah, I think I got it.”
“Not if you’re asking why it had to be me and not you who handled the Russian. You of all people know that I’ve worked my ass off, so I never have to get my hands dirty anymore, but like I said, a man can sleep at night knowing that he did everything humanly possible to protect what’s his. You have been and will always be my son, Roman, so I needed to handle that threat personally. I couldn’t trust anyone else to do it, even Ivan, so rest assured this entire incident has been put to rest.”
Joseph walks over to the bar in my hotel suite and pours himself a lowball of whisky before I can even say anything in response. In all sincerity, I don’t know what to say.
For years I worked as the muscle for Joseph in our business. I’ve done the dirty work even when it was hard. He has never once cut me any slack or given me a pass. I think the old man is getting softer with age, but you know what? I think I like it.
“You want one?” he offers. “Anxious about taking the vows?”
“Nah, old man. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. I’m calm as a cucumber.”
“I can’t believe that you won over Elizabeth’s parents. That father of hers is a pain in the ass. He always has been.”
“I wouldn’t say they’re completely won over, but we have an understanding.”
“Which is?”
“They understand that if they want to see their grandson that they better be polite to his father.”
“I guess Knox is a highly effective blackmailing tool.” He chuckles. “It’s the eyes.”
I stand in front of Joseph and take a deep breath, then silently go for it. We’ll probably be at odds with each other about something again one day, but not today. I wrap my arms around him and give him a tight bear hug. His body stiffens until I tell him what I probably should have said a long time ago. What perhaps every parent wants to hear from their children. What I hope to hear from Knox one day.
“Thanks for everything, Joseph.”
The overpriced wedding planner that Juliette just had to hire for us knocks once and peeps her head into the room.
“Are you ready, Mr. Masterson? Are you feeling any wedding jitters?”
Why does everyone keep asking me that shit?
I’ve been ready to make Elizabeth mine in not just body and soul but on paper too. It’s funny. I grew up believing that infamous lie boys tell girls about how there’s no difference between living together and marriage. I think we tell each other that horseshit because we’re young and dumb and we don’t want to think any woman has the power to control us or hold us back from “better pussy.”
Now that I’m older and wiser, I see the reality of things. Boys are indeed always worried about making a mistake or missing out on something, but grown-ass men know when they’ve got a good thing and if they’re smart, they lock down their women as quickly as they can. It may have taken a bullet in the gut to propel Elizabeth into wedding mode, but whatever works, right?
She’s mine.
“Ready.”
“Great! I’ll go check on Elizabeth then.”
“What do you mean, check on her?” A minor panic settles in the back of my throat. “Is she okay?”
“The bride always takes a little longer than the groom. That’s just par for the course. I’ll get a hold of her.”
I sit on the couch in my suite and lean forward with my head between my hands.
She’ll get a hold of her?
“Ready for that lowball now?” Joseph smirks. “Told you, you were getting soft.”
