“I know it is,” she answered confidently. “I’ve seen judges give the wrong people a chance because family on paper was all they saw. This is just another layer of protection.”
“This is crazy,” I muttered more to myself than anything.
“I’m not disagreeing, Eliana. But this is to protect Zoya, to prevent all the shit that will come with a protracted custody battle. Therapists. Social workers. Supervised visits with her stepfather.” She sighed heavily, gaze bouncing between us. “Unless you have another woman who would look better on paper?” she asked with a knowing smirk.
“I don’t,” he bit the words out. “We need a minute.”
Kendall stood, every move graceful and powerful, and left us alone.
Silence filled the room for a long moment.
“You don’t have to do this,” he finally said, breaking his silence. “I’ll figure something out.”
His voice was rough and anguished, full of so much emotion he would never share. I looked at him and all the emotions he held back appeared on his face. He was scared for his daughter and will to do anything, even marry a woman he didn’t love to keep her safe. “I know.” But with those words, my answer settled in my chest like the last piece of the puzzle. “What are our options, Sledge?”
He swallowed hard, throat bobbing as he fought for control in his moment of uncertainty. “That’s my problem, not yours.”
“She’s not my daughter but I love Zoya and I won’t let something happen to her. I won’t have another trauma stealing her childhood.”
His inhale was sharp, like the touch shocked him.
I held his face in my hands, brushing a kiss to his lips. “We can do this together. Yeah?”
His hands slid around my waist and pulled me closer until our foreheads were pressed together. “You sure about this?”
I grinned. “About marriage?” I let out a dry laugh. “Hell no, but I am sure about keeping Zoya safe. I’m serious as fuck about not letting her go back to the man who did this to her in the first place.”
“I love that you’re so fiercely protective of my girl.” His lips were on mine then, kissing me hard and slow as if therewasn’t a high-powered attorney waiting for us on the other side of that door. Sledge didn’t rush, he took his time with the kiss, savoring every inch of my mouth. Every moan he swallowed. There was weight and gravity to the kiss, mixed with more emotions than either of us was ready to deal with. “You’re incredible,” he whispered.
Tears stung my eyes and I blinked quickly to send them back to where they came from. A nervous laugh escaped. “You have to say that.”
His brows dipped. “Do I?”
I nodded. “Yeah, don’t you know? Happy wife, happy life.”
His low laugh bounced off the walls and when he leaned in to kiss me again, his growl vibrated through both of us. Our tongues touched and I forgot about everything except that kiss.
Chapter Nineteen
Sledge
“Inow pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
Those werenotwords I ever expected to hear in my lifetime, yet I stood in the tacky-as-hell Vegas chapel with Elvis on one side and my club brothers, Diesel, Rocky, and Maverick, and their women on the other. Eliana stood in front of me with a shaky smile on her face. My wife.
I didn’t wait for permission, I just pulled her close and kissed her long and deep, until she melted against me and let out a little gasp. I kissed her until her body softened against mine, until everything about the last week—the fear, the uncertainty, the constant edge—quieted for just a moment. When we broke apart, she was smiling, her cheeks were flushed and she was breathless.
She was also mine.
Legally. Officially.
Permanently.
At least if I had anything to say about it.
Elvis stood between us as Priscilla snapped a few pictures of all three of us and then a few of just husband and wife. Husband and wife. That shit was still a trip, but she was my wife. She was too young for me, too naive to the ways of the world despite her childhood trauma, and most of all, she was goingplaces in this world. Places I was sure I’d never fit in, but now she was mine and I knew without a doubt that I wouldn’t let her go.
I wasn’t ready to name this feeling, but I knew it was the reason I felt possessive, protective, and ready to claim her for real. I couldn’t have predicted this was the way shit would unfold when the guys forced Eliana on me. But despite the danger Zoya was in, the shit Trish had pulled, and all the rest of it, I was happy.
