Brutal Vows (Queens & Monsters #4)(51)

When he finally breaks away, I’m gasping and unsteady, woozy as a drunk.

My eyes drift open. I find him gazing down at me with blazing eyes, panting, his parted lips stained red with my lipstick.

He breathes in astonishment, “Fucking hell, woman.”

There’s a swell of noise. Clapping. Hooting and laughter, stomping feet. I turn my head and blink at the riotous crowd, unable to understand what’s happening because my brain is still floating somewhere in outer space.

Then Quinn’s handing me a ring. It’s an unembellished band of dark matte metal, black on the outside and gunmetal gray within.

He says, “I took the liberty of buying my own wedding ring, considering nobody asked me what I wanted. Put it on.”

Concentrating hard on maintaining consciousness, I take it with shaking hands and slide it onto his left ring finger.

He stares at it for a moment, his expression pensive as he examines it.

Then he looks up at me and grins. “I just wifed a viper.”

My laugh is faint and disbelieving. “And I just married an insect.”

“Arachnid,” he corrects, eyes sparkling.

“Excuse me. That’s much better.”

He kisses me again, grabbing my face between his big hands.

The priest lifts his voice to the congregation. “Dearly beloved, I give you Mr. and Mrs. Quinn!”

The roar from the crowd is deafening.

That’s when my knees finally give out.

Before I can hit the ground, Quinn sweeps me up into his arms and carries me off, hollering for Declan and Kieran to follow us.

To me, he says, “Take me to your brother and Lili. I need to get that sorted.”

I can’t find my words, so I point in the direction of the dressing room.

Quinn strides down the aisle with me in his arms, nodding at people in the crowd as we pass. I consider the possibility that I’ve been drugged, or that he put me into that coma he teased me about, but decide I wouldn’t feel quite so much if this were all just a hallucination.

I didn’t know my body could contain so much emotion. It must be bursting out of me, seeping from my pores, visible for everyone to see. I feel achingly alive and sick and terrified, and I long for somewhere to hide so I can think all this through to try to make sense of it.

But there’s nowhere to go.

Not now. Not ever.

If there’s one thing I know about Quinn, it’s that he’ll never let me run away and hide. He’ll be in my face, challenging me and forcing me to expose myself to him for as long as we’re together.

A little voice inside my head whispers that if things get too bad, I know how to get rid of him, but I push that aside and focus on giving directions to where I left my family in shambles before heading out to get married to the Mob.

Quinn sets me on my feet outside the door. Then he bursts into the dressing room with me, Declan, and Kieran right behind.

We startle Gianni, who’s leaning against the wall, glowering at Lili and Juan Pablo who are huddled together on the sofa. She’s wearing his brown leather jacket over my black dress.

Mamma, nodding off in a chair by the window, sits bolt upright with a snort. She sees the four of us and cackles.

“Ha! Now we’re having fun!”

“Be quiet, Mamma. Lili, Mr. Quinn wants to talk to you.”

He says, “I understand your father threatened to kill you. Tell me exactly what he said.”

Gianni looks at Declan, Kieran, and Quinn in flat-out horror. “No, no, no,” he starts to protest, but Quinn shoots him a lethal glare that makes the words shrivel up and die in his mouth.

He snaps, “When it’s your turn to talk, I’ll tell you. Now shut your piehole before I shove my fist in it.”

Gianni looks to Declan beseechingly. “Mr. O’Donnell, please let me explain—”

Declan interrupts with a hard “Guess you didn’t hear my lad tell you to shut your piehole, Caruso, but if you don’t hear me, I’ll put a bullet straight through that unibrow of yours.”

Gianni wants so badly to shout something about disrespect, but he wisely keeps it to himself. He sags against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest and seething.

Meanwhile, Juan Pablo is on his feet.

“She doesn’t have to tell nobody nothing!” he shouts, glaring at the three Irishmen. “She doesn’t take orders from you!”

I’m about to start pleading with him to be reasonable, but Quinn steps forward, holding up a hand to silence me.

He tilts his head, looking Juan Pablo up and down. He gestures to Lili, cowering behind him. His voice calm and low, Quinn says, “You’re in love with this girl?”

“Yes! And I don’t fucking care who knows it!”

“Tranquilo, amigo. Cálmate. We’re only talking.”

Clearly confused by Quinn’s gentle tone, Juan Pablo glances at me. I nod encouragingly.

Quinn looks at Lili. “And you’re in love with him?”

Tears streaming down her face because she probably thinks they’re both about to die, she says in a broken voice, “Yes. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me, lass,” says Quinn softly. “I’m not angry with you. The heart wants what it wants.”

Declan chuckles. “Isn’t that the bloody truth.”