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“I raised my daughter to be strong. I taught her things that—” She paused and sipped her champagne. “Well. Cardez knows about that. I’m not proud of it. But I am proud of who she became in spite of it.” She looked at Belle, who was studying her plate. “Little girl, you broke the mold. Broke every rule and found a man that was worthy of your love. That took more courage than anything I ever taught you.”
Belle dabbed her eyes with her napkin. I squeezed her thigh under the table.
Regina turned to me. “Cardez, if you hurt my daughter, I don’t care how many guns you got. I will find a way to make your life very uncomfortable.”
“I believe you,” I said.
“Good.” She raised her glass. “To my daughter and son-in-law. And my grandbaby, who is the most beautiful child ever born. I won’t be accepting outside opinions on the matter.”
“To Belle and Dez,” the table said.
Walter pulled her back down and kissed her cheek. She swatted him away but was smiling.
“Not my mother threatening you,” Belle whispered.
“I expected nothing less,” I replied as Pops stood.
The energy shifted in the room the way it always did when Orlando Montague got to his feet. He looked at his glass for a second before looking at Belle and me.
“My son and I have had a difficult year,” he said. “I made choices a long time ago that hurt people which caught up to me—to us—in ways I didn’t anticipate. But Cardez stepped up to the plate and handled it better than I would have. For that I’m grateful and proud.”
His gaze flicked to Belle. “La’Belle…You know we didn’t start off on the best foot. I thought a lot of things about you, but I was wrong about most of them. You walked into a world that should’ve chewed you up and made it yours. You went toe to toe with my son. On top of that you gave me a grandson, which means you’re stuck with us. Blood in, blood out.”
“Lucky me,” Belle said, but her voice was thick.
“Audrey would’ve loved who Cardez became because of you.”
He raised his glass. “To my son. To his wife. And to Cassian Felix Montague, who will be spoiled rotten. There's nothing either of you can do about it.”
“Pops—” I groaned.
“Non-negotiable.”
After a few hours of music and dancing, everyone had started to head back to the villas. Including Priest with one of the catering staff.
Regina took Cassian out of the crib when he woke up, and insisted on taking him back to the villa with her and Walter so we could have a night to ourselves.
“Take care of your wife tonight,” Regina called over her shoulder as Walter wheeled the playpen toward their villa.
“Mama, please!” Belle said.
The beach was empty now, everything packed up save for the string lights that were swaying in the breeze.
I took Belle’s hand in mine. We walked along the shoreline without saying anything for a while.
“Remember that first night in the penthouse when I ate in the guest room because I wanted to stab you?” she asked.
“You fucked that food up, though.”
She shoved me playfully. “I hated you so much, Dez. Now we’re walking on a beach after our second wedding. I’m really in love with your ass.”
“And I’m in love with your scamming ass.”
Belle faced me when we stopped in front of the villa
“I’m happy, Dez. I don’t think I’ve ever been happy like this before.”
“Me either.”
