“I think we can do better than that.Here.”He pulls a black velvet case out of his pocket and opens it to reveal a dazzling diamond necklace inside.
“Oh my God,” I gasp.The necklace looks like something a celebrity would wear on the red carpet.Or a princess attending a ball.I’m not a princess…I’m not even Cinderella.I’m one of the mice scurrying around, holding a clipboard, making sure the wheels don’t fall off the pumpkin.“Axel, I can’t accept this.”
“You can.”Axel is quiet, but he’s stubborn, and when he wants something, he gets his way.“It’s a gift from Matthias.I guess he robbed a bank or something.”He winks.“Turn around.”He sets the necklace around my neck and does the clasp.“Perfect.It matches the ring,” he adds, and I blush harder.
I can’t believe Matthias got me diamonds.A real diamond ring and necklace with the papers to prove it–not a cubic zirconia or something.Howdidhe get the money for them?
I can’t believe I’m really marrying him.I mean, it’s to protect me from some mob guy’s crazy plan, but what even is my life right now?
A few rooms away, a microphone crackles and a man’s voice booms out, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to welcome you folks to the little Las Vegas Chapel of Love.Let’s get this party started.”
“Who’s that?”I ask.
“Elvis.”Axel grins.He puts his hand on my back, guiding me forward, and we both glide out of the dressing room towards the chapel.
The triplets greet us at the door.I remember when they were gangly young guys with hands and feet that seemed too big for their scrawny limbs.These past few years, they’ve filled out.They’re taller than all their brothers besides Everest, and so big and broad-shouldered, I can’t see past them to the chapel behind.They’re all so handsome, too.
“Who's going to walk you down the aisle?”Hutch asks.
“I'll do it,” Canyon volunteers.Bern puts a hand on his chest and shoves him back.
“Maisy?”Bern looks to me.“You decide.”
“Axel,” I say.“You were my prom date, so you know the drill.”
He gives me a smile and offers his arm.I take it.
“We’ll be bridesmaids,” Bern announces.The next thing I know, they’re all holding matching bouquets of fake purple flowers.Where did they even get all this stuff?
Beyond the triplets, in the chapel, the wedding march starts playing.The triplets fight for a moment over who’s going down first but then fall into line and disappear down the aisle.
Then it’s Axel’s and my turn.At the altar, Matthias waits for me, with Darius and Teddy by his side as best men.The twins are identically gorgeous in black tuxes, but Matthias outshines them all.
And me?I’m wearing a designer dress and tens of thousands of dollars worth of diamonds about to marry my long-time crush.Not even in my wildest dreams could I have thought of this moment.
Axel must feel how tense I am because he leans close.
“It's no big deal,” he murmurs.“It’s just pretend, right?”
“Right.”I let out a shaky laugh.This will protect me.That’s the only reason we’re doing it.
But as he starts walking me down the aisle, it doesn’t feel pretend.
It feels real.
Matthias
Some moments feel like years.Doing my first surgical incision, holding a dying patient’s hand, breaking the news to my mom about her illness–those moments stretched on and on into decades.
Waiting for my dream girl at the altar while Faux-Elvis performs an exaggerated version of “Blue Suede Shoes” took a lifetime.All the while, I’m wondering if she changed her mind.If she’ll want to marry Axel instead.
It’s not real,I scold myself.The ring is real.The paperwork is real, but they are the only things about this that is.I didn’t even ask her to marry me–I told her.
She shouldn’t trust me.If I had my way, I’d take her forever.
If she called this off, I’d have to walk away, and I don’t know if I could do that.It’s a good thing almost all my brothers are here because it would take all of them to stop my bear’s rampage.
Then Maisy walks in, and all my worries disappear.The white dress and diamonds shine a spotlight on her beautiful face.Her blue eyes sparkle more than any diamond ever could.
