I’d dropped to one knee and pulled out the same ring I’d held onto for eight years. It wasn’t the first time I’d asked Lissa to be my wife, but it was the first time she’d said yes, and hearing that word had almost fucking broke me.
“Pretty Boy,” Lissa said with a light smile when she reached me.
My heart slammed into my chest as I took her hands in mine. My eyes were for no one but the woman standing in front of me as I took in every feature of her gorgeous face and prepared to tell the whole fucking world what I’d known for ten years… Alissa Bedford was the only woman I’d ever love.
***
LISS
I smoothed a palm over Lola’s clammy skin, sweeping the damp strands of hair back off her forehead with a kiss to her rounded cheek before handing her over to Riley.
“She was so good today,” I whispered with a smile, my eyes soft as they trailed over my goddaughter’s perfect face.
Riley tucked her daughter into her chest and gazed lovingly down at her. “She really was.”
“Wife.”
My head spun to the sound of Leon’s voice. The sight of him standing with his hands pushed into the pockets of his dress pants, his tie loose around his neck and those heated blue eyes locked on my face, was enough to suck all the oxygen from my lungs. I licked my lips as I met his gaze.
“Husband.” The word rolled off my lips and sent a wave of giddiness racing through me. I’d never allowed myself to imagine it.
It had always felt one step too far to tie him down. I’d wanted to leave him with that option, that get-out should he ever need it, despite the fact he’d asked me to marry him four times and told me for ten years he was going nowhere.
Leon sauntered towards me, slowly closing the distance between us until he loomed over me, his gaze intense as he trailed a thumb over my cheekbone. “Mrs. Bradshaw,” he murmured, his eyes softening, mouth curving. “Suits you, baby.”
I reached up and closed my hand around his, turning into his touch. “You suit me.”
He tipped his head with a smile.
Standing here as Leon’s wife, it seemed impossible to believe I’d ever felt anything other than the soul-deep love I had for him now. This man had taken my greatest fear and turned it into my biggest strength. He loved me so hard, he’d left me no room to remember how afraid I’d always been of the emotion. He’d never let me doubt it.
Instead of dragging me down, Leon’s love had lifted me up.
Every day.
Including the dark ones.
Even the darkest.
When it happened; when my mom’s blue eyes met mine and her face showed no signs of recognition. When her brows had pinched together tighter the longer I’d stared at her, her confusion growing with each passing second. When she’d rejected my touch because I was effectively a stranger to her—
“Hey,” Leon crooned, his hand closing around my jaw. He knew. He always knew.
I blinked, pulling my gaze up. I missed her. Every day. But especially this day. It broke my heart that she didn’t get to see this, but she’d made me promise that I wouldn’t let the bad blight the good. That I wouldn’t let sadness overwhelm my happiness.
Tears sparkled in my eyes and I tried to brush them away with the tip of a finger. Leon dipped to press a soft kiss to my lips.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.”
I nodded, folding my arms around his neck.
“She’s here, baby. She’s with you today.”
I squeezed my eyes closed and pushed up onto my toes, pressing my nose into his throat. God, I loved him. “I know.” I breathed him in.
“Wanna get out of here?” he asked, voice low.
I leaned back and met his eyes with a half smirk. “You want to leave our guests at our wedding?”