All facts.
I nod.
“But,” Spike says quietly, “I also know that no one will ever love her more than you.”
His voice hardens.
“No one will protect her harder. Support her more strongly. Or cherish her the way you do.”
My chest tightens.
“So yes, brother,” he says. “You have my blessing to ask my sister to marry you.”
Relief crashes through me so hard I almost laugh.
“On one condition.”
“Name it,” I say.
“Let me pay for the wedding.”
That… is not what I was expecting.
“Not gonna happen, Spike,” I shake my head. “My woman. I provide. Besides, I’d be surprised if her paying for half the wedding isn’t one of her own stipulations with the kind of money she makes.”
“Let me pay,” he repeats.
I open my mouth to argue, but he lifts a hand and stops me.
“Our Uncle’s gone,” he says quietly. “Who the fuck knows where our dad is.I’mthe one walking her down that aisle to you.”
His voice isn’t loud, but it carries a heavy weight.
“I’m the one who raised her and Samual when I was still a damn kid myself,” he continues. “I worked. I bled. I sacrificed so they could have something close to a normal life.”
He looks me dead in the eye.
“I earned that right, brother.”
My chest tightens.
“Tradition says the bride’s father pays for the wedding,” he goes on. “And I’m damn sure going to do it.”
His voice softens just a little.
“So let me pay.”
He pauses.
“Do this for me.”
I study him for a long moment.
This isn’t about money.
Not really.
This is about a man who lost his parents too young… trying to give his little sister the one thing she deserves.
