“Not before I taste those lips again, baby.”
I bent down, and she cupped my face in her hands, pulling me in as I pressed my mouth to hers. It was supposed to be just a peck, but who was I kidding? The second our mouths touched, I wanted to taste her, to pull her soul through her lips and keep it for myself every time I kissed her.
“Hum hum... Mr. Korven, can you hold off a bit? I spent all night to get this ceremony ready, and I want to get through it if you don’t mind,” the priest said, snapping us back to reality. He wasn’t wrong. Any longer and I would’ve fucked my wife right there in front of God and everybody.
I set Serenity down and faced her. She looked like a goddess wearing her afro crowned with flowers I put there myself. When she stared at me with those eyes full of love, I wanted to give her the world.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her the whole ceremony. Standing there with this woman, in front of everybody, I kept counting my blessings, knowing damn well I never thought I’d be this lucky.
“If you wrote vows, you can exchange them now,” the priest announced.
Serenity held my gaze, smiling, and then gave me words straight from her heart.
“I don’t know if I’ll make it through this without my voice shaking, because I’m overflowing with emotion and it’s worse since carrying your children. Konflict, I didn’t grow up believing in fairy tales. But I always believed in us. Even when everything looked impossible, even when life tried to teach me to give up on us, there was always this invisible thread tying me back to you. You’ve been my refuge, my strength, my rock. They taught me to hate the Korvens. But from the first second, your name, Konflict, always sounded like a promise of protection, of an unbreakable presence. You showed me that love can survive anger, pain, and loss. Our story’s never been easy, but nothing ever killed the trust I have in you. Since I was a kid, I knew, deep down, you’d always be there even when everything fell apart, even when you thought you needed to push me away.” She paused.
“Today, in front of God, I promise to love you harder every single day, to lift you up when you fall, to never stop believing in us even when you doubt yourself. I promise to stay by your side, in the light and the dark, to build with you the family I thought was impossible, and to give our children all the love they deserve. You’ll never have to be scared of losing me, because I’m the one you could never erase, the one you loved even when you thought you had to destroy me. Today, Konflict, I say yes to allthe uncertain days, to every stolen moment of happiness, to the love that burns us and saves us. I choose you, again and again. And I’ll love you until my last breath.”
She finished with tears in her eyes, and damn, I had to clench my jaw to keep from breaking down in front of everyone.
“Baby, you wanna fuck me up, huh?” I smiled, masking my emotions.
I reached out, wiped her tears with my thumb, and took a second to catch my breath before I spoke.
“Serenity, they say you fall in love slowly, little by little. But the first time I saw you, there was nothing else but you and what I felt. At twelve, I didn’t have words for it, but it was already there. I just wanted to be the one to protect you, to make you smile, to dry every tear. I got obsessed with you, and I never stopped. I can write a report about how your lashes flutter—about thirty times a minute, and fifteen when you want some dick and you’re trying hard to hide it.”
“Oh my God! Konflict, shut up!” she yelled, blushing.
I smiled.
“Nah. I’m not stopping. I love it when you want me to give you dick. And damn, mama wants it anytime, anywhere and you know I’m always gonna give it to you, eh? I love those quickies too, and goodnight pussy is always my favorite.”
“Oh God! You’re insane!” she tried to hide her face.
The priest looked horrified while everyone else busted out laughing.
“All this to say, you’re my everything, even when I tried to pretend otherwise. You quiet every heartfelt conflict in me because you’re my Sinful Serenity. I’d die for you and our kids. I promise to be there every time you need me, to make you laugh when you want to cry, to count your lashes when we’re old, and to love you until my last breath. Because above everything, you’re the one who makes even the silence of my soul vibrate.You’re the softness in my chaos, the light in the dark. You’re the first thought in my morning and the last caress that cradles my dreams. Even when my heart doubts, it beats for you with a certainty no one can kill. If I lose everything, as long as I have you, I haven’t lost anything. You’re the most secret, most precious, most real beat of my existence. I’ll choose you again and again, in every look, in every breath, in every eternity life wants to give us, Serenity. I love you,Je t’aime,my love.”
When I finished, her eyes drowned in tears. I didn’t wait for the priest. I cupped her face, wiped her cheeks, and kissed my wife.
“Well, since the groom is in a hurry, I now declare you husband and wife. You may keep kissing the bride,” the priest rushed, realizing I had no intention of going slow.
I pressed my mouth to hers, tongue searching, demanding her breath like I needed it to live. Her lips parted, and I dived in, tasting her, claiming her, losing myself in the way our hearts pounded together. My soul reached for hers, every part of me tangled with every part of her. The world fell away. There was nothing but her,nothing but us.
“I love you so much, baby” I whispered between kisses.
“I love you too, my love.”
“Man, leave that girl’s mouth for a bit. She needs to breathe, Konflict!” I heard D’s voice somewhere behind us. That’s when I finally let my wife go.
Applause exploded around us as we were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Konflict Korven.
The wedding turned into a full-blown celebration from morning till night. Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves, except Krash, who stayed off in the corner, still hurting from Valery’s betrayal. I knew it would take time, but he’d heal eventually. Sometimes I caught my wife crying too, because of what that bitch did. Honestly, if I could have brought Valery back just to put another bullet in her head, I would have done it.Whenever Serenity got like that, I did everything I could to make her forget, and I knew that, just like Krash, one day they’d both be over her.
D was across the room, already locked in with some chick, and I knew he would end the night with three or four women in his bed—same shit, different day. Crowhurst was lurking around the edges, those thick-ass glasses tracking everything like he was some kind of secret agent. Hollister was posted up next to Marquette, looking pale as hell. For months now, the man had seemed sick, and his health just kept slipping right in front of everyone.
Serenity told me Halley was worried sick about her husband, and it looked serious. Serious enough that they brought his son back from abroad, just in case he had to take over. He hadn’t said a word to the council yet. But if he really needed to step down as head of the family for his health, he should have done it already. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but wonder what it’d be like working with his son—a guy none of us had ever met, just showing up out of nowhere. Could he really be a good partner at that table? Was he gonna keep that old alliance between the Marquettes and the Hollisters alive? Too many questions, and we wouldn’t get any answers until the Hollister boy finally showed up at the Big Six council.
And speaking of Marquette, he had kept his head low ever since the Valery mess. He wasn’t pushing for a new sixth family anymore, which was just fine, because nobody had the energy or focus to bring new blood to the council right then. The old man was busy trying to fix his marriage, since Maureen had been freezing him out for months. He had let Valery play him, and if he had given me a heads-up sooner, my wife wouldn’t have been in that much danger. So at that moment, he wasn’t exactly on my good side either. The only thing that kept me from making him pay for his bullshit was the fact that I owed him my marriage toSerenity. If he hadn’t pushed for it back when I was still blinded by rage, maybe I wouldn’t have been standing here now, loving my woman and waiting on our babies. Just for that, I decided to let his fuckups with Valery slide.
