“We’re getting married again.” He clasps my hand in his and walks us out of the villa and down the stairs, starting down the aisle. Valentina hands me a bouquet as I walk past her. “I won’t have you walking down this aisle alone or being given away to me or whatever the fuck other traditions there are for unmarried women. We’ve been married for more than six years.That’show long you’ve been mine, not today’s date. This is about giving you the wedding you’ve always deserved, with your friends and your family.” I spot my mum sitting next to Tristan. “And now our children.”
We make it to the altar and I stare up at it in wonder, the beauty of the location and details rendering me speechless. I don’t know how they all kept this a secret from me, but I’m moved to tears.
“When we’re done here, we’re going to have a wedding dinner on the beach and we’re going to dance under the stars, just the way you love. And then we’re going to be the last to leave so you can finally cross that off your bucket list.” He smiles adoringly down at me. “I hope this wedding will be as perfect as you might have once dreamed it would be.”
“It’s already better,” I say, emotion choking me.
Dagny leans towards me. “Talk about full circle, me standing here. Can you believe it?”
Thiago rolls his eyes. “She didn’t give me a choice.”
She shrugs. “He shot me.”
Behind me, I hear her husband growl angrily. He doesn’t like to be reminded of what Thiago did.
“And are we even now?” Thiago asks.
She takes one look at the beaming smile on my face and turns towards my husband with a smile. “I think we finally are.”
She looks down at her notes, then back at us.
“Are you guys ready?”
“I am,” I say, eyes shining as I look up at my husband.
“I have been for six years,” he answers.
“Alrighty, let’s get this wedding on the road.” She clears her throat and starts reading the traditional wedding rites. Thiago speaks his vows and I improvise mine on the spot. It’s the easiest thing in the world to vow to love him for the rest of my life.
Finally, Dagny asks, “Do you, Thiago da Silva, take this woman, Tess da Silva, to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do,” he purrs.
“And do you, Tess da Silva, take this man, Thiago da Silva, to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do,” I answer. “I have.”
He makes a soft sound of satisfaction and squeezes my hand. Then he slips a new ring on my fourth finger, a diamond even larger than the first one.
“You may kiss the bride. Again!” Dagny exclaims.
Thiago tips me backwards, holding my leg up to his waist and balancing my back on his forearm.
“I love you,” he whispers, a smile tugging at his lips.
“I love you too.”
“It’ll be much harder to divorce me now that I’ve married you twice,” he jokes, lips hovering millimeters from mine.
My gaze drops to his mouth. “Do I get to whip your ass for saying that word out loud?”
His eyes twinkle with love. “Ask me nicely and I’ll let you do anything you want.”
I hear Theo yell, “Go, Daddy!” in the background before Thiago’s mouth finds mine in a searing kiss.Cinnamon explodes on my tongue.
And life is just perfect.
???
