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Tori

Chapter 4

3months later

They sayyou should never skimp on a professional wedding photographer, because the day speeds by so fast that you need to look at the pictures later to remember it. I’d never believed it before today, but as I sank onto a silk sofa in an empty room, white satin heels in my hand, I realized it was true. I’d hardly had a chance to take it all in, and now it was over.

Stefan and I were married. I was hiswife.

I still couldn’t believe it.

The last thing I really remembered in detail was peeking out into the packed event space, my heart in my throat, taking in the heady white scent of Stargazer lilies and the sea of faces. Everyone was whispering to each other excitedly, most of them either unknown or newly introduced to me. After that it was mostly a blur.

Our ceremony had been brief—the sooner to get to the lavish reception afterward—but to my surprise, Stefan had written his own vows. Or at least, someone had. I was so nervous that I only processed every few words, and they were all the usual ones about honor and support and facing new challenges together as we entered the next chapter of our lives.

But after the officiant had turned to me and said the last line—‘As long as you both shall live?’—I froze. The entire room was holding its breath expectantly, awaiting my ‘I do,’ but I was completely paralyzed, my vision going dark at the edges.

Was this what they called cold feet? Was I going to faint at the altar?

And then Stefan leaned toward me to whisper something in my ear, something that only I could hear. Something I knew I would never forget.

Alis volat propriis, he said softly. Then he stepped back and smiled.

It was Latin.She flies with her own wings.

Realizing what he’d just said to me, everything came back into sharp focus. Suddenly my mind was completely clear.

I returned Stefan’s smile. “I do, too,” I said.

And then we kissed.

Later in the evening—I couldn’t even say when—I’d been formally introduced to a large portion of the extended Zoric family. There was Stefan’s father, of course, who I had spoken with only briefly on the night Stefan and I became engaged, but also tons of cousins, elderly relatives, and even a few young kids. The best moment, however, had been finally meeting Stefan’s younger siblings, Luka and Mara.

Luka seemed to be quite the ladies’ man, exactly as Stefan had described him, flashing his dimples at every female in sight—though he was nothing but sweet to me. Mara, the globetrotting photographer who had once loved Cinderella, threw her arms around me the second we met and insisted I call her Emzee like everyone else in the family did. With her dark, tumbling hair and kohl-lined grey eyes, she could have been one of KZ’s models.

And then there were scores of other friends and relatives and my father’s political acquaintances, so many names and faces I couldn’t keep track. I wished someone had given me flashcards to help memorize all the names and pertinent information in advance, like I’d often gotten before my father’s events. I could only hope I’d get to know everyone better later on, once Stefan and I had settled into married life. It was going to take some getting used to.

My dress rustled, echoing in the private room that had been set up for me just off the hotel’s ballroom. It was the first moment since the day had begun that I was alone, and I just needed a second to let things sink in before I joined Stefan—my husband, I reminded myself—to say goodbye to our reception guests and then head upstairs to our room.

Ourroom.

The wedding suite.

I swallowed. Hard.

Everything had happened so fast that I hadn’t had a chance to feel nervous about my wedding night yet. But it was finally sinking in.

“You bitch.”

My head snapped up and I turned to find my friend Grace poking her head in the door, a look of absolute glee on her face.

“Hey you,” I said, smiling despite my exhaustion.

“This day was a-may-ziiing!” she sing-songed. “Everything was so perfect.”

“It was all Michelle’s doing. And thanks for coming. It was nice to see a familiar face.” It wasn’t a lie. “I don’t even know half the people we invited. I think the paparazzi even snuck in.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.” She sashayed over in her flouncy dress, tugging her heels off and sinking to the floor beside me. “Stefan is fucking gorgeous, Tori. I danced with him twice during the money dance—not that you guys need it—and totally swooned. But don’t worry. He didn’t take his eyes off you the whole night.” She grinned mischievously. “I think I finally understand why we need human cloning trials.”