My beautiful little raven was distraught when she came home two nights ago after dinner with her mother. My heart breaks for her, but relief sits above it all because she is still going ahead with the wedding despite her mother’s disapproval. She hasn’t spoken to me about it yet, about why her mom is so against it, and I’ve decided that the best thing I can do for her is to not mention it unless shewantsto talk to me about it. I think it is especially best to wait until after the wedding to face that drama and try to smooth things over with her mother.
I think once the woman meets me, I will charm her into seeing that I am good for her daughter.
Regardless, her daughter belongs to me. With or without her approval.
I won’t let some old bitch stand in the way of my happiness.
She was quiet the whole of yesterday too and I just gave her the space and reassurance she needed to process things.
My little pet left early this morning. The wedding is tomorrow, and she has a few things she needs to do before then, so she asked Neve to help her with the last-minute arrangements. I’m happy she is integrating herself into my family. It means a lot to me.
The more she shifts into my world - the less she will even need that mother of hers.
Still, I will try - for her sake - to win the mother over when the time is right. But from tomorrow,myfamily is her family.
Today my task is to finalize everything for our honeymoon and our wedding night.
I’ve booked a yacht to meet us on the beach after the reception. We will sail off into the sunset, and our first night as a married couple will be spent beneath the stars on a luxury yacht just off the shore, where we can still see the beautiful city lights glittering. I can’t wait and I know Misha is going to love it. She loves the ocean and the beach.
The next morning, we are sailing to Majorca in Spain where our around-the-world trip will begin.
A full year of traveling with the love of my life. That is how retirement should be spent. Exploring, adventuring, all with the most beautiful girl by my side. We can choose our next destination based on our mood. We can go anywhere and do anything.
It’s perfect.
And I can’t wait.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Misha
With everything else that is going on, the one thing that I knew I had to do before the wedding was talk to Celso.
My brother.
Myhalf-brother.
I heard the other guys teasing him at dinner about not having the same mother and he told me in the kitchen that night too.
And everything I felt when I first saw him, a deep instinct, right in the center of my heart - I just know it - he’s, my brother. He said his father forced his mom away before he got to know her. Does he know what really happened? Was that why he got so emotional in the kitchen at the family dinner?
I bite at the inside of my cheek, chewing at it so much that I taste blood.
I’m so nervous to tell him what Ithinkis the truth.
But if he is my brother, he deserves to know that his mother is still alive - and he can meet her if he wants to. The thought makes my head spin, so I have to take several deep breaths to calm myself.
Vincent thinks I’m arranging a last-minute wedding thing with Neve and Celso is just tagging along for the fun of it. ButNeve isn’t even going to be there. I asked Celso to meet me to help me arrange a surprise.
In secret.
I pull up outside the coffee shop and see Celso sitting alone at a table near the window, stirring his coffee slowly. He looks so intense. So serious.
My anxiety triples.
I chose a public place because I figured it was safest. He can’t overreact and he can’t lash out at me. I don’t know what to expect. I hardly know him at all.
But heismy brother.
