Her father just grunted, shook his head, so Annie said, ‘Are you going to be able to walk me down the aisle? Because I’ll go alone, if I need to.’
She could see her father was actually contemplating that, which gave a good insight into how much he was against the wedding.
‘Come on, Dad,’ she cajoled. ‘It’s just a quick ceremony, and then it will be all over.’ Or just beginning, for Annie. But to her relief, her father put his hand on her forearm to lead her deeper into the suite.
When they stepped into the main room of the suite, Angela and Maria stopped talking and came to Annie, hugging her. It all felt so performative, though. Annie would never have chosen this for her real wedding day, but that didn’t matter because this was just a performance.
It was part of what Theo required, and she’d go along with it, purely to get what she wanted: help with the business.
The wedding itself was to take place in the hotel ballroom. They rode down the lift as a group, and then walked through the corridor to a large set of double doors. Several staff members stood there in suits, and a woman with an earpiece and clipboard nodded her approval when Annie appeared.
‘Right on time, excellent. Are you ready?’
Annie nodded.
‘Good. Bridesmaids, here, and here.’ She pointed to the carpet near the door, then turned back to Annie. ‘I’ll tell you when to go.’
Annie turned to her father, then slid her hand into the crook of his arm. He looked grey beneath his tan and a pang of remorse filtered through her. She’d do anything to spare him this pain, only it was the lesser of two evils. Allowing the company to become bankrupt would utterly destroy him. She couldn’t do it.
The doors opened and there was a huge amount of noise as the assembled guests—goodness, there must have been four hundred people, at least—stood as one, like a tide rising, and turned to face the door. A familiar classical song filtered through to them, and then, Angela and Maria began to walk down the aisle. They obstructed Annie’s view of Theo, so it wasn’t until they were almost at the front of the assembled guests that shesaw him, flanked on one side by two men in dark suits. But she barely looked at them, except to see if they were familiar—they weren’t. Her eyes were trapped by Theo, locked to him in a way that made her whole body tingle.
He wore a jet black tuxedo, with his dark hair brushed back from his brow, and his face was hawk-like—studying her, perhaps wondering if she was going to bolt. Not likely.
She straightened her spine, squeezed her dad’s hand, and then, began to walk, slowly, as though she were enjoying it, down the aisle, even managing to shape her bright red lips into a curve, as though she were genuinely jubilant to be there. Wasn’t that the point? To sell this as a love match?
But the closer they got to Theo, the more her heart started to ram against her ribs, the more her knees felt trembly and her pulse weak, so that by the time they came to him, she was barely aware of the way her father’s body had grown tense and rigid.
‘Elliot,’ Theo said, voice gruff, eyes glinting with something that Annie knew to be triumph. He reached out and took Annie’s hand from her father’s, a symbol of his removing an object deeply valued, so she wanted to shake his touch off her—but she didn’t. She was playing a role. She did, however, turn to her dad and kiss his cheek, and say, ‘I love you, Daddy,’ smiling at him encouragingly.
The older man’s eyes slid to Theo’s, and for a second, Annie wondered if he was going to say something. As far as she knew, this was the first time they’d come face-to-face since the conversation Theo had only recently enlightened her to having taken place, three or so years earlier. He didn’t, though. A moment later, Elliot Langley turned and walked to his seat at the front of the audience.
Annie moved closer to Theo, and then, staring at him, her heart almost gave out, because this felt so close to what she’dfantasised about, so often, she couldn’t believe it was happening—and like this.
He leaned closer to her, and murmured in her ear, ‘You look beautiful.’
It was the last thing she’d expected him to say. Kind and flattering—she hadn’t thought him capable any longer.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered.
He pulled his head back, turned to the celebrant, and nodded.
‘Dearly beloved…’ Annie tried not to think about the wedding beyond being a scripted event. She didn’t want to think about what would come next, about the night ahead, about the next eighteen months. She repeated the lines as required, smiled, and almost went into a form of stasis. But when Theo lifted her hand to slide the wedding ring in place, his touch was electric, shocking her out of the almost sedated state she’d fallen into.
And then, of course, came the kiss.
That part she’d prepared for, braced herself for. They’d kissed hundreds of times, so she knew what kissing him felt like.
At least, she thought she did.
But when this Theo swept her into his arms, holding her body tight against his, and dropped his head, the whole world began to spin way too fast. He smelled so good and felt so strong, his presence was overwhelming, right down to a cellular level. She simply parted her lips and then he was kissing her, his mouth not gentle, not brief, but rather, possessive and dominating, his lips parting her mouth wider, his tongue clashing with hers, his body shifting her slightly to shield them from the view of the audience, for the most part. It was not a long kiss—perhaps five seconds at most, but it was earth-shattering, regardless. When he lifted his head, she stared up at him, dazed, in a fog of need that he’d stirred so easily.
It was such a different kiss to before. Almost as though back then he’d treated her like she was young and innocent.As though he hadn’t wanted to break her, when now, Annie realised, she wanted that. She wanted rough and hard and flooded with passion—it felt appropriate, in their vitriolic new relationship.
‘If there were not five hundred people staring at us, you would be naked by now,’ he muttered, eyes dragging from hers to her mouth, to her breasts, which had peaked nipples and were flooded with tingling awareness.
‘That’s a little presumptuous, isn’t it?’ she said huskily.
His laugh was hoarse and mocking. ‘No. Nice try, though.’