When it Raynes: Epilogue

“No, it’s bad luck to see the bride before she walks down the aisle,” Wynter snaps. Her icy blue eyes stare at me with frustration I can almost understand. After all, we organized a wedding in four days, and she’s been the one to run point for most of it.

“I don’t care. I want to see my bride.” I shrug. Today is the longest she’s been out of my sight since she was taken. By a lot. I thought for sure she was going to object when she was ushered out of the apartment this morning by my sisters with ten bodyguards, but she took it in her stride and happily went with them.

But she’s called me every hour to let me know she’s okay, knowing I would be going out of my mind with worry. She’s spent the morning being pampered, my sisters and mother doting on her which she isn’t used to.

“Let him in,” Emerson calls from somewhere in the room.

Wynter looks behind the door she’s using to shield my view of my wife-to-be and sighs. “Not my fault if you have bad luck because of this,” she mutters, letting go of the door and walking in.

As I push into the room, my eyes scan for Emerson, and when they fall upon the woman who is about to become my wife, I almost fall to my knees.

She looks like the queen I’ve always known her to be.

Her auburn hair falls against her bare back in gentle waves. The dress she wears looks like it was made only for her. The almost transparent lace bodice allowing peeks of her creamy skin, her curves on show under the tight material. The skirt drops around her legs, giving the illusion of her floating. An angel.

My angel.

Emerson looks over her shoulder at me, the sultry look in her emerald eyes makes me want to bend her over the edge of the chaise lounge my mother is perched on and fuck her within an inch of her life, but I stamp down the urge… barely.

“You look incredible, sweet girl,” I whisper, suddenly choked up with emotion, something that has never happened before.

“Thank you.” She smiles, turning back to look at her reflection in the mirror.

“Okay, you’ve seen her. She’s alive and you can leave now.” Wynter stands between us, her hands moving to my chest to push me back.

“Not a chance, sis.” I grin, glancing down at the light blue gown she wears. Her blond hair is pinned back, baring her shoulders and neck. It’s probably a good thing Everett isn’t one of my groomsmen because if he got too close to her looking like this, all bets would be off. He stayed away for her safety, but I now understand there is only so long a man can be kept from the heart that beats on the outside of his chest, and I suspect that time is coming to a close. He’ll be in the viewing area at the church, where there’s no chance of my sister catching sight of him.

“And you think you’re going to put up with this for the rest of your life?” Wynter asks Emerson.

She tips her head back and laughs, the most beautiful sound in the world. “I can’t wait.”

Neither can I, sweet girl. After all the bad I’ve done over the years, I don’t know what I did to deserve Emerson, how I managed to convince the world’s kindest woman to fall in love with me, but I’m holding on for dear life until the end of time. There’s nothing, and no one, who can tear us apart. Not the devil. Not God himself.

It’s Emerson and me against the world.

Long after our guests left, and I tore the pretty lace from her body, Emerson and I are dressed again, ready for me to show her my wedding present to her. She doesn’t look any less beautiful with her lipstick smudged and her hair tousled after the three times we made love after saying ‘I do’, wearing yoga pants and a sweater to keep the cool breeze from her silky skin.

I have to admit, letting her leave our bed was a tall order, but I’m excited to give her this gift, something she’s dreamed of for so long.

“Where are we going?” Emerson giggles from the passenger seat. Her hand wrapped in mine rests on her thigh, but she can barely keep still for long enough to settle it.

“It’s a surprise.”

“You said that before. I want to know what the surprise is!”

“Patience is a virtue, sweet girl.” I chuckle.

“Good thing it’s not my virtue you fell in love with.” She shrugs.

“Watch your mouth if you don’t want me to fuck it,” I reprimand, but I can’t keep the smile from tugging at my lips.

“All the more reason.”

“We’re almost there,” I tell her as I turn another corner and park on the quiet street before jumping out of the car and jogging around to her side to help her out.

Emerson looks around, her eyes bouncing from building to building as if she’s not sure what she’s looking at, but I remain quiet as I walk her to the corner of the street and turn her slowly to face the entrance to the building.

Chicago Youth Center

“I don’t understand,” Emerson whispers, looking over her shoulder at me and then at the four-story building in front of us.

“When I first started volunteering at the Center, you showed me the folder of all the plans you and your dad had dreamed up over the years, and at the top of that list was opening another site on the other side of the city for the kids that were too far away. That’s what this is.” I gesture toward the building. “It’s an old apartment block so kids can stay if they don’t feel safe to go home. Wynter has been in touch with the Department of Social Services to get a license for the Center to allow that. Renovations will take another month or so, but there’s a gym around back that can be fitted out.”

“Rayne,” she says quietly, her eyes set on the building.

“This is your dream, Emerson.” I tug the keys from my pocket and guide her to the front door, quickly unlocking it to show her the part that we barely managed to get sorted before the wedding.

“Does Dad know?”

“Of course he does. I brought him here the other day to show him the space. He’s really excited.” The hesitance written in her features disarms me a little. I thought she would be over the moon about the space. When it came up a couple of weeks ago, I knew it was perfect, but I didn’t expect for Emerson to be anything but excited.

I guide her to the plaque I had installed yesterday. It almost didn’t go ahead. The guy fucked me around getting it made, but once my sister got on the phone, it was done three hours later.

Dedicated to Emerson Saint James, the bright light in Chicago’s darkness.

Her breath catches in her throat and a sob racks through her body as she reads the words, and a moment later, she throws her arms around me. “Thank you,” she murmurs through her tears. “Thank you for loving me and thank you for helping me follow my dreams. This means everything.”

I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding. “You’re welcome, sweet girl. I want you to have everything you ever dreamed of.”

“I do. I have you.” She looks up at me through damp lashes, the green on her irises even more vibrant through her tears.

I grin down at her, holding her tight against my chest for long moments. “What do you want to do now, wife?” I ask.

“Well, husband, I can think of a few things.” She smirks and I quickly tug her out of the building, hastily locking the door behind us. The promise of burying myself back inside her was too good to pass up. “I didn’t get you a present. I didn’t know that was a thing.”

“Emerson, you gave me the greatest gift I’ve ever received. You gave me you. Your mind. Your body. Your soul.” She doesn’t realize how true those words are, but she will. We have a lifetime for me to prove just how much worth she has and just how serious I am. Because Emerson is everything. She’s the sun, the moon, and every single star in my sky, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make her happy.

I help her into the passenger seat and clip her seat belt in quickly before jogging around to my side of the car. The moment the engine turns on, my phone starts ringing through the car, and I reach to press the button to answer.

“Hello?” I smile over at Emerson.

“Rayne,” Wynter chokes on a sob.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Panic floods my senses at the sound of my baby sister’s cries.

“Mom and Dad were in an accident,” she sobs. “They were run off the road on the way to the estate. They’re gone, Rayne.”

THE END