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“The ceremony will take place tomorrow,” he said. “A judge I trust has chambers available at eleven.”
“I’d like it to stay small,” Alessia said.
“Family only,” I agreed.
My heart swelled at least three sizes because tomorrow, Alessia would become my wife.
CHAPTER 22
Alessia
Nothing said romance quite like a bomb dog inspecting the judge’s chambers while my future husband checked the windows for the third time. The corridor outside Judge Ward’s private rooms already held enough armed men to defend a small country. Morozov security controlled the stairwell and both elevators. Two Bellandi men my father trusted had taken the floor below.
No one pretended the circumstances were conventional, but the Morozov women still refused to let me get married beneath fluorescent lights wearing whatever I had grabbed from my closet.
Amy had brought a simple ivory dress to the townhouse before sunrise. It had long sleeves, a narrow waist, and a soft skirt that moved around my legs without making me look like I had wandered away from an actual wedding. Sloane had pushed a blue sapphire pin into my hair and declared that some traditions were allowed. Riley carried a small bouquet of white roses and greenery she claimed she had arranged herself, though the ribbon was too straight for me to believe her. Amy had clearly fixed it when Riley wasn’t looking.
“You look beautiful,” Riley said, handing me the flowers.
“You sound surprised.”
“I’m surprised you let Amy put you in ivory.”
“I considered black.”
“You’re not attending your husband’s funeral,” Sloane replied.
“Not today anyway,” I smirked, earning some side-eye.
Judge Ward entered through the private door behind her desk and looked over the gathered Morozovs, the armed security outside, and the secure screen waiting to connect to my father.
She didn’t appear impressed by any of it.
The judge was in her sixties, with silver hair. She wore her black robe over a dark blue dress and carried a thin folder containing our license and the agreement we had signed the night before.
“I was told this would be a small ceremony,” she said.
“It is,” Maxim answered.
Judge Ward’s gaze flickered over the people in the room. “I’m concerned about what your family considers large.”
“This is only immediate family,” Riley explained.
“That’s what concerns me.”
Raffaele’s secure connection opened before anyone could reply. His face appeared on the screen near the judge’s desk, afternoon sunlight falling through the shutters behind him. Giulia sat off camera, ready to file the trust amendment the instant the marriage became legal.
Sergei came to stand in front of me.
He wore a black suit rather than a tuxedo, his salt-and-pepper hair freshly cut and the notch in his left ear clearly visible. Nothing about him looked uncertain except for the way his right hand opened and closed once at his side before he reached for mine. His palm was warm as our fingers wrapped together.
Aleksei stepped forward and handed him the ring. It was a simple platinum band, smooth and unadorned, exactly the sort of thing Sergei would have selected if the jewelry stores had been open when he proposed.
“My contribution,” Aleksei offered.
“You sent someone else to buy them,” Amy pointed out.
“I selected the jeweler though.”
