While Terry regaled the woman on how they’d chosen the colors for the wedding, she headed for the other side of the suite to dress. As Jo slid the thigh-high silk stocking up her leg and attached it to the garter belt, she saw that Terry was right, Jo’s hands didn’t tremble with nerves. Her stomach didn’t clench in fear. Everything about this moment felt right.
Rhys had sealed his fate the second he’d taken Jo in after Terry was shot two years ago. Even though he was turned on, he didn’t press Jo for anything. He held her. Offering nothing but comfort and safety as he allowed her mind and body to shed the terror of leading her best friend into an ambush that had almost gotten the woman killed. Jo might not have known she was in love in that exact moment, but looking back she knew that was when she fell. The second his love for her overcame their passionate need for sex she knew Rhys was the right man.
~ ~ ~
Jo stood behind Terry as she was the matron of honor with her sisters arrayed ahead of her. From Abigail, her half-sister through Maddy and Carl, to Jenna, Juliette, and Karma, her three half-sisters from Joseph. They all looked gorgeous in the black and silver satin dresses.
The simple decorations fit Jo and Rhys to a tee. White and green arrangements with bands of sheer black and silver ribbons wound through them perched at the end of the row of chairs her mother and brothers sat in. The colors carried over into the display at the archway overlooking the gardens. The gardens were the on full display and bursting with colors from innocent white to the lush pink. Black lined with silver carpet runners flowed down the main aisle stopping just short of the archway.
“You ready?” Carl asked from Jo’s right.
“Yes.” She linked her hand through Carl’s elbow and then turned and did the same with Joseph’s.
It might have seemed odd having her adopted father and her biological father walking her down the aisle, but she didn’t care. Joseph had saved her at five when she’d been kidnapped, then he’d protected Rian after Rhys had been abducted during the Skinned case, and he, Carl and Maddy would be there to watch over Rian while Rhys and Jo took their honeymoon.
He might not have been in her life, but based on the stories her mother shared and the pictures decorating Joseph’s house he had always been a part of her life. He deserved to be by her side just as much as Carl did, and she loved the two men hadn’t made her choose. Instead, both stood proud beside her as the music swelled and they stepped onto the runner.
The whispers from hers and Rhys’s family and friends as they shared in the event made Jo smile. Then her gaze landed on Rhys, and she forgot to breathe. Forgot the three hundred plus guests surrounding them. Forgot everything except her love for him.
When she tried to hurry to him, Carl and Joseph kept her walking sedately up the aisle. Her smile turned to a scowl, and she narrowed her eyes on her two fathers. “I want Rhys.”
Carl chuckled and patted her hand. “And we want to get you there safely. If you go tearing down this aisle, you could trip over that skirt and hurt yourself.”
“Then where would you be on your honeymoon?” Joseph added, making Carl laugh that much harder.
She jabbed both of them with her elbows. “No talking about sex and Rhys. At least not with you two.”
It felt like hours but couldn’t have been more than a few minutes before her hands were clasped in Rhys’s and her fathers melted away. They had kept the traditional vows, omitting the obey part as there was no way would Jo obey anyone. She might listen to Rhys, but she had a mind of her own. Luckily, her fiancé agreed with her. Her favorite word through the whole ceremony was cherishing.
She cherished Rhys. His quirks, like watching bad police dramas, and his love of golf. She cherished the way he calmed her when she would rage at a criminal getting off because of a technicality. But most of all she cherished him as her haven. When the job took her to the deepest pits of hell, his arms and his love pulled her back from the brink. Put her back together so she could battle on against the demons of humanity. He was far from perfect, but he was perfect for her.
The rest was a blur filled with his shining eyes that sparkled like champagne. When they kissed, it was as electric as the first time his lips touched hers but so familiar. A few steps led the group into the reception hall. Tasteful touches of silver and black with floor to ceiling windows that brought in all the colors of the rainbow were more than enough decoration.
“Only one cake?” Rhys asked.
This was one piece she kept as a surprise. The cake. She had not been able to decide on one kind but had enjoyed the taste of several. Instead of choosing just one, she had picked several flavors.
“I didn’t like a bride and groom cake. I wanted our cake.” She pointed to the various tiers. One was decorated with mini handcuffs and her badge. His was decorated with a stethoscope and a panda Band-Aid. There were other pieces of their life together. A small gaming
