His nostrils flare as he takes a big breath in.
“You can exchange rings now.” The relief in the official’s voice is loud and clear. He wants to be anywhere but here. When no rings are produced from Ezra’s pocket, the poor man starts sweating again. “Rings? Anyone?”
“Here.” Noah rushes in, shoving a black velvet box into his brother’s hand. “I’ve got it.”
Ezra grunts something and opens the box. And this is the moment I’m faced with the biggest diamond I’ve ever seen. It’s gigantic. And covered in even more diamonds around it. And pearls. God, there’re pearls. There’s so much going on my eyes are starting to hurt.
When he picks it up, it even looks heavy. When I offer my hand to him on instinct, he pushes this enormous construction onto my ring finger. Oddly, it fits perfectly, and sadly, it weighs a ton. I swallow, imagining how I’ll be moving around New York without someone trying to cut my finger off. I’m sure this thing costs a lot of money. So much good could be done with it. So many items bought for the homeless shelter Jeff goes to sometimes. Money toward repairing the damage from the fire. A new boat for the captain.
I realize everyone’s waiting for me. And this is where I came unprepared. I didn’t even think about that.
“I don’t have a ring for you,” I whisper shamefully. “I didn’t thi?—”
“That’s okay,” he says back quietly and then adds for the official louder, “Please, move on to the next part.”
“Well,” the man sighs, “I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
“Oh,” I sigh, making a littleowith my mouth. His gaze drops to it. “Are we going to do that?”
“We’ve done this before,” he whispers, bringing his hand behind my lower back and pulling me closer to him.
I’m pressed into him so closely, I can feel the beating of his heart in his chest. His uneven breathing resonates with mine.
He lowers his face to me, and his lips give my mouth a quick brush. Very quick. I’m not sure I haven’t imagined it. Then he releases me just as quickly and steps backward. Cheers and congratulations erupt around us while my new husband wraps his arm over my shoulders and leads me to the side, away from the photographers.
My parents and Bea join us a moment later.
“Well, my boy, welco?—
When my father sees Ezra’s face, he loudly clears his throat before continuing.
“King, welcome to the family.” Then he turns to me. “You’ve been good for something after all. Color me surprised.”
Ezra regards him with such a hateful stare, my father starts coughing again.
“Anyway. I’ve made the order to transfer the shares to your name. Remember about the clause though,” he adds, laughing. “Don’t make me come back from my retirement due to your unwise decisions.”
Mother, trying to make the situation better, ends up making it worse. She jumps to me to envelop me in a hug, but quickly pulls away, scrunching her nose. “You smell like smoke and seaweed, honey. You need a shower.”
And these are my parents in a nutshell.
Someone’s phone rings. Noah. He picks it up, says a few words, and comes back to us.
“Martin said it’s all set.”
Ezra looks at his brother. “For good?”
Noah nods.
“Good,” Ezra says with a crooked smile and turns to my father. Grabbing the front of his jacket, he pulls him toward him. My father lets out a squeak and tries to pry Ezra’s fingers away from himself. “Listen here, old man. Nothing will stop me now from punching the ever-loving shit out of you if you ever disrespect my wife again. There’s no clause about that in the contract. This is the last warning.”
The atmosphere is daring. The air is heavy. While a million butterflies are flying inside of my belly. No one has ever stood up for me like that. No one. And it feels so good.
Or those butterflies are here because he called me his wife?Me and my body are so confused.
“I can take my shares—” my father starts.
“You can’t,” Ezra hisses in his face.
