Page 217 of Masters of Control

It was also true. The ceremony had been lovely. She didn’t have anything to compare it to other than movies, and she’d never seen a movie with a Persian wedding. The blend of traditions from Cyrus’ and Anna’s families had been beautiful, made even more so by the love shining from the two of them. Morgan had gotten a little teary when they were saying their vows to each other. Asad had been beaming with pride for his little brother.

“Yes, it was.” Asad winked at her, wrapping his arm around her. “Now I’m starving, and Anna and Cyrus are going to be at least another half hour. What’s good?” He looked at the stations set up for the cocktail hour and the servers walking around with trays.

“Everything,” Morgan said honestly. All the food had been incredible.

Asad chuckled. “Sounds about right.”

With him at her side, the cocktail hour didn’t feel so awkward. There had been plenty of friendly people asking how she knew the bride and groom, but small talk was not her forte, and everyone she’d gotten to know during the week had been taking pictures. Asad’s mom had tried to get Morgan to go with them, but she had begged off.

She wasn’t Asad’s real girlfriend. She didn’t belong in the wedding pictures. Lena wanted their relationship to be more than it was, even after Morgan’s explanation last night that they weren’t making plans to get serious. Considering Asad had brought her to the wedding, when he’d never introduced a girlfriend to his family, made her task more difficult, but she’d tried.

The cocktail hour was much more enjoyable with Asad at her side, chatting easily with acquaintances, introducing her, finding topics of conversation that everyone could be involved in, and making everyone laugh. She could relax and let him take the lead, not just in the sexual Dom way, but in a way that allowed her to be herself.

By the time she went into the reception, she was feeling much better, even though she had to walk in on her own. Asad and his family were being announced before Cyrus and Anna came in.

Finding her table, she was a little nervous about sitting down by herself, then was relieved when Anna’s sister’s husband, Kirk, joined her. They hadn’t talked much, but at least she knew him. The rest of the table would be filled once the wedding party came in—it was her and Asad, his parents, the grandmothers, and Anna’s parents and sister.

“This is beautiful,” Kirk said as he took his seat, looking around at the tables and flower arrangements. The location itself was practically a work of art, with a vaulted ceiling, columns going up the entire length of the walls, and greenery lit with twinkling lights decorating the balcony that looked down on where the tables were arranged.

The table linens were bright white, set off with gold chargers underneath white plates. Gold and white vases were in the center of each table, tall enough that they didn’t block much of the view of the rest of the table, but huge enough at the top to have giant arrangements of white flowers that spilled over the edges. She felt like she’d stepped into a fairy tale.

“It really is,” Morgan agreed, looking around with appreciation. She’d discovered that when in doubt, for wedding small talk, just comment on how lovely everything had been.

Thankfully, they’d barely spoken before the music started, and the DJ asked everyone to be seated so he could introduce the wedding party. Morgan smiled and clapped along with everyone as first the grandmothers were introduced, then the parents, the wedding party, and finally Cyrus and Anna. Asad dropped a kiss on top of her head before sitting in his seat, making her smile.

She knew he was just posturing for his family, but she was realizing how much she liked those little gestures of affection. That was a good thing to know for when she got a real boyfriend.

On the other side of Asad, Darius sat down and Lena next to him. Morgan was next to the grandmothers, who both cooed over her and told her how beautiful she looked. She couldn’t help but preen at their compliments and returning them. Despite the very different styles of their dresses, they both looked incredible.

“Well, what a day,” Lena said brightly, reaching for her glass.

“What a week,” Kirk commented with a chuckle, making everyone laugh.

At another table, someone started tapping their glass, the sharp sound cutting through conversation, especially as it was quickly joined by many glasses being tapped with silverware. Everyone turned to look at Cyrus and Anna, who shook their heads but obligingly leaned in for a kiss. Cheers erupted through the room, then everyone went back to what they were doing as servers began to move through the tables, carrying salads.

“So, son, how has work been?” Darius asked Asad. There was a moment of awkward silence as Asad blinked, looking as if he wasn’t sure he was hearing correctly. On the other side of Darius, Lena smiled at her husband approvingly. Apparently, she was implementing some of what she and Morgan had discussed the night before.

Morgan smiled and elbowed Asad.

“Good, uh, I mean, it’s been good. I just finished up a big project.” As Asad spoke and Darius and his mom listened with their full attention on him, Morgan grinned. It felt nice to do something good for someone else.

Asad

His parents had been replaced by pod people. It was the only explanation.

Here they were at Cyrus’ wedding, and all they wanted to talk about was… him. Not in a bad way, either. His dad didn’t make one remark about how he could have come to work for the family or how well Cyrus was doing at the accounting firm.

The whole conversation was completely focused on him.

At Cyrus’ wedding.

He felt as if he’d stepped into an alternate reality.

Once the music started, he dragged Morgan out onto the dance floor with him. Granted, he loved to dance, but mostly, he just needed to escape his parents’ attention. It had been one thing at the aviary, especially since conversation had revolved around the exhibits; it was another thing at the wedding reception.

Wrapping his arms around Morgan, he swayed with her to the romantic slow song, knowing the ideas he was putting in his mom’s head but deciding it was the lesser of two evils.

“You said something about my mom wanting to spend more time with me?” he murmured as they moved together.