Refrain (Soul Series Book 3) (19 page)

I blink up at him. Thrown and dazed and still lightheaded. I cup his chin and find a way, even in this torrent of emotion, to smile.

“I am.” I wiggle the finger weighted with my engagement ring.

He gives a swift shake of his head, his face set in familiar determined lines.

“No, tonight. Marry me tonight. I don’t want to wait.”

“Rhys, you don’t have to—”

“I have to. I want to.” He takes my lips sweetly, whispering against them. “Don’t make me wait. We’re in Vegas, the only place it can happen
tonight
.”

“Is this about Dub?”

He narrows his eyes and tenses into stone.

“You really think I’d let him dictate anything in our life?”

“No, but you have to admit the timing is odd.” I reach up to caress his jaw, wanting to loosen the tension Dub’s name introduced.

“I told you before I didn’t want to wait, Pep.”

“But I-I, well, I thought you wanted the ceremony,” I stutter. “The dress. Our family and friends. Our . . . all of it.”

“I do want all of that, and we’ll have it. Later. But the marriage, I want that to start tonight.” He feathers kisses over my face and down my neck. His mouth is a persuasion. His heart hammering into mine, an offer I can’t refuse. “Baby, say yes.”

“But, Rhys, if we—”

“I won’t be any more certain in a few months than I am right now. Than I am tonight,” he says. “We’ll work everything out later. All the plans and the schedules and the details. It’ll happen. I’ll give you the wedding of your dreams. I promise. But tonight, let’s just jump.”

He tips my chin up, eyes imploring.

“Leap for me, Kai.”

Everything heavy—the fear that has hung over me like a cloud since that night in the parking lot, the panic today thinking someone wanted to hurt him, everything that would hold me back, falls away at the love in his eyes. At the promise sketched in every line of his face. A smile, so wide and so irrepressibly sure, fights its way through the emotion swelling in my chest and settles on my face. And I don’t think before I speak.

I just leap.

“Yes.”

“YOU ARE ONE CRAZY ASS MOTHERFUCKER.”

Not exactly the words you want to hear from your would-be best man before the wedding. I scowl at Marlon lounging on the cream-colored leather couch in my suite.

“That’s all you have to say?” I take a sip of the bottled water from the refrigerator. Just thinking about what happened in that kitchen a few hours ago has me wanting to fast forward through this ceremony and to start the honeymoon. Not that we get an actual honeymoon yet. Maybe we should have done one of those drive-thru weddings.

“Dude, you call me an
hour
ago and say you’re getting married tonight? In Vegas.” Marlon chuckles and shakes his head, setting the dreadlocks around his shoulders into motion. “It’s crazy.”

It may sound crazy, but I know it’s right. In the corridor earlier and then when Kai and I made love on the dining room table, everything crystallized for me. I knew it. I’ve
known
it. Kai didn’t take me seriously when I told her I didn’t want to wait. This would have happened sooner or later. There’s no way I’d wait to plan the elaborate ceremony we discussed. Marrying Kai is like a mandate in my heart. We’ll have the flowers and the perfect setting and all our family and the whole shebang. I want it too. But more than all of that, I want Kai as my wife, in every way that counts. And I want it tonight.

“If you think it’s so crazy,” I tell Marlon curtly, “You don’t have to be here.”

“It
is
crazy.” Marlon flashes a grin. “But then you’ve been crazy about this girl from the beginning. I’ve never seen you this way about anyone. About anything. Why would I expect your wedding to be any less crazy?”

His smile fades and his expression loses most of its humor.

“And I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

We’ve been together through every stage of our lives for the last decade or so. The ride I’m on wouldn’t have been the same without him. My circle has always been tight, and almost from the beginning he’s been closer than anyone else.

“Marlon, man, that means a lot. There’s nobody else I’d have standing with me.” We man-hug fast before things get any heavier. “Glad you’re here for it.”

I break up the moment by walking over to the desk drawer and retrieving the marriage license. Getting married in Vegas is easier than getting your driver’s license, but you still have to appear in person before a Clark County marriage clerk. That whole “in person” thing was a small hurdle. Ella helped pull together some light disguising for us, and Gep was the only person we took with us to the clerk’s office. There was no line and only a few people milling about and minding their own business. None of them recognized us. Bristol found one of those wedding packages where the officiant comes to you. She’ll probably line his pockets to ensure he delays filing the documentation as long as legally possible. That should give us ten days before our marriage becomes public record.

It’s been a whirlwind of loose ends and details, but I think we’ve checked all the boxes. The biggest box was Aunt Ruthie. She wasn’t happy with us when we called to tell her our plan, but she was happy
for
us. She’s on the other side of the country and can’t drop everything and get to Vegas in time, but we promised her we’ll do it big soon. Kai had to leave a voice mail for San, who’s back in Turks and Caicos on assignment. I’m glad she’s going ahead with the wedding tonight even though the two people who are like family aren’t here. I felt a moment of remorse, but it passed. I’m too thrilled that this is happening tonight. As much as I wish Aunt Ruthie and San were here, as glad as I am that my friends can be, tonight—it’s for us, for Kai and me.

Ella comes from down the hall, smiling.

“She’s almost ready.” Her expert eye runs over me from head to toe.

“What?” I glance over the dark suit I bought an hour ago. I even have on a tie, the equivalent of wearing a unicorn around my neck it’s so rare. The tailor did wonders on such short notice. “This is Armani. You don’t approve?”

“You look very handsome.” Ella plucks a white rose from the vase on a side table, snapping the stem and slipping it into the lapel button hole. “Nice touch, huh?”

I murmur a “thanks” and burrow my hands deep into my pockets. My heart hammers my rib cage. My palms are sweating. Now I’m pacing. I rake my fingers through the hair I just combed. I don’t care. Kai’s seen my hair a mess.

“Where the hell is Bristol?” I clip the question out. I’m dialing her when the suite door opens, and she steps in waving her key card.

“It’s just me.” She gestures behind her. “And Reverend Mason. We were lucky to find him.”

Kai insisted the wedding be officiated by a minister. I guess that’s her Baptist upbringing kicking in. Shrek could perform the ceremony as far as I care, as long as it’s legal and binding.

“Hi.” I step forward to shake the reverend’s hand. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

“No problem, Mr. Gray.” Reverend Mason’s face reddens a little. “My daughter is a huge fan, by the way.”

“Um, you know you can’t mention this to her, right?” I try to keep my voice even and friendly. “Did Bristol talk with you about—”

“Reverend Mason has already signed the NDA. We’ve gone over everything, Rhys,” Bristol interrupts. “We can trust him to be discreet.”

“Thanks.” I relax my expression into a smile for the reverend. “I’d be happy to sign something or give your daughter anything you think she’d like. If you could just wait until later to give it to her.”

“I’ll handle all of that.” Bristol brushes her fingers over my by-now-unruly hair. “Ella, can’t we do something with this?”

“I don’t give a damn about . . .” I catch the reverend’s eye and grimace. You’d think being around Aunt Ruthie would curb my profanity reflex, but my tongue is as unruly as my hair. “Forget about my hair. Can we just do this?”

“Before we do,” Bristol says. “I need to speak to you and Kai privately.”

Impatience draws a quick breath through my nostrils and tightens my lips.

“Bris, can’t it wait?”

“No. It’ll be quick.”

I motion for her to follow me down the hall toward the suite’s master bedroom. Even though it’s my bedroom, I knock. Who knows what kind of bridal shit Kai’s doing in there?

“Come in.” She sounds . . . nervous? I guess I am too.

“Hey, babe. Bristol needs to—”

I stop at the threshold, and the words dry up in my mouth. Maybe the words actually fall out since my mouth is hanging open. Kai looks . . . I can’t imagine she’ll be any more beautiful when we do the fancy ceremony for everyone else than she does right now. At least not to me. An ivory dress nips at her narrow waist and sheathes her curves, falling to mid-calf. The dress shimmers with something that looks like gold dust. I know it can’t be, but that’s how it looks to me. Like she’s been gilded. Ella piled all of her hair up, and even wove a few golden threads into the dark strands. The dress is strapless, displaying the sweet curves of her shoulders and the elegant line of her collarbone. Her only jewelry is gold studs in her ears, the nameplate necklace I gave her last Christmas, her grandmother’s gold chain, and the sapphire I put on her finger not even two weeks ago. She’s wearing more make-up than usual, but it’s just right. I need to buy Ella something outrageous to thank her for the job she’s done.

“Rhyson.” Kai gives me a half-exasperated glance. “I know this isn’t a traditional wedding, but it’s still bad luck for you to be in here.”

“Fuck luck.” I step forward and close my hands around her waist, drawing her into me. “You look . . . God, I can’t even put it into words.”

“Oh, this old thing.” She leans into my chest and smiles up at me. “There’s this great vintage shop a couple blocks up. I wouldn’t be me if my wedding dress wasn’t older than I am. Well, at least my
first
wedding dress. Ella saw it and thought it was very Doris Day in
That Touch of Mink
.”

“I have no idea what that means, but you look perfect.” I lay my nose to the spot behind her ear, inhaling the scent of pears and cinnamon. “And I promise we’ll do something elaborate and over the top later for your
second
wedding. Thank you for marrying me tonight.”

“Thank you for asking.” She runs her nose along the line of my jaw.

“I hate to break this up, but we need to chat before the ceremony.” Bristol’s eyes soften when they rest on Kai. “You’re a beautiful bride.”

“Thanks, Bris.” Kai smiles warmly and looks between the two of us. “What’s up?”

Bristol clears her throat. Again, that always means she’s about to say something she knows I don’t want to hear. It may as well be a battle cry because it always ends with us brawling.

“We just need to sign some paperwork before the ceremony.”

“What kind of paperwork?” I stare at my sister, who is all of a sudden preoccupied with the clasp on her bag and avoiding my eyes.

“Um, well your lawyer sent over an, um . . .” Bristol doesn’t finish the sentence. She just thrusts the small stack of papers at us. Neither Kai nor I make a move to take them.

“Bristol, that better not be a pre-nup.” I keep my voice low, but anger pounds the blood in my ears.

“Rhyson, just hear me out. I—”

“Dammit, Bris!” My fingers drive into my hair, landing on the back of my neck where pressure builds “Why would you do this?”

“Rhys, it’s okay,” Kai says softly.

“The hell it is.” I look down at her, the purity of her face, her sweetness, making me feel even worse about this ugliness marring what was supposed to be perfect. “Do you think I need a piece of paper to protect me? From
you
?”

“No, I don’t think that.” Kai’s eyes drift from my face to my sister’s. “I don’t think Bristol actually believes that either.”

“I don’t. I trust you, Kai.” Bristol grimaces. “I mean, now I do. When we first met, I wasn’t sure what to make of you. I know you love my brother, but my job is to protect him from anything that could ever go wrong, to be prepared for any and everything. I had to contact your lawyer, Rhyson, to let him know this was happening.”

“You
had
to?” A bitter laugh chafes my throat. “If you think she’s signing—”