"I was never supposed to fall in love with you."A wry, self-deprecating smile tugs at the corner of his lips."But I did a very long time ago.And I don't want to spend another day pretending that I don't or that I can live without you."
He sinks to one knee, right there in the dimly lit chapel, framed by the flickering glow of a plethora of battery-lit candles.
"I've been waiting for you to come home so I could tell you."His lips curve."And while I had a hand in making that happen a little faster than it should, it was always going to happen.One way or another, you were going to come back to New Orleans.You were going to come back to me because I am where you belong."
A shaky breath escapes me.
I had no idea Gabriel had harbored these kinds of feelings for me all these years.He was my brother's rival who had gorgeous girls dropping their panties at any given moment.Why would he even pay me any attention?
"Marry me."He slides his thumb over the ring, a reverence in the way he holds it."I know you probably don't feel the same, but love will come in time.Wear this, and I promise you that I will never allow your father or anyone else to bully you again, or I'll die trying."
The world slows, the weight of his words wrapping around me like a vow all on their own.
I don't know how long I stand there, heart hammering, breath shallow, before I whisper the only word that matters.
"Okay."
"Okay?"he parrots back hopefully.
"Yes."
The moment the word leaves my lips, Gabriel surges forward, crushing me against him, and kisses me like he's branding the promise into my soul.
And maybe, just maybe, he is.
The moment our ceremony ends, I barely have time to let the weight of what just happened sink in before we face my father.
Marc Pierre Fabre.
He watches us with the stillness of a predator, the candlelight casting ominous shadows across his sharp features.His tailored suit is as crisp as ever, his expression unreadable in that way that's always made me nervous.Around him, men in suits—his men—stand like silent sentinels, waiting.Watching.
So does Nicole, my stepbrother, and the rest of our families...from a distance.
Gabriel, my new husband, doesn't flinch.
His grip on my waist is firm, his presence solid as stone beside me.
"Daddy."My voice is steady despite the storm swirling inside me.
His gaze flicks to me, then back to Gabriel.A beat of silence stretches between them, thick and suffocating, before he speaks.
"You were over an hour late for your own wedding.Did you try to run again, Josephine?"His voice is smooth, but beneath it lies an edge honed from decades of command."I told you there would be consequences if you did."
A chill runs down my spine, but Gabriel only tilts his head, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
"With all due respect, sir, Naomi is here, and she married me.No consequences are necessary."
The room stills.
The men shift slightly, fingers twitching toward hidden weapons.
"Oh, it's Naomi now, is it?"My father lets out a low chuckle that doesn't reach his eyes."You marry my daughter and think you can challenge me now?"His cold gaze sweeps over Gabriel.
"This isn't a challenge, sir.These are facts.She's my wife now.Naomi LaRoche.And the debt is paid."
I flinch at the coolness of Gabriel's tone, but I shouldn't overreact.I know this isn't just a blood debt to him.I am much more.He said his true vows to me downstairs in the chapel, and I believed them.
"Do you know how many have stood before me with that same defiance?"My father smiles.It's not a pleasant one."Ask your father how that worked out for him."
