Page 25 of Unstable

She reluctantly fell into step beside Roman as they followed the sound of voices to the living room. Knox stood next to an older man dressed in a suit. As soon as they entered, he turned their way and a bright smile wreathed the man’s wrinkled face. “Ah. So here’s the happy couple.”

Oh, God. She knew this was all part of the plan, but it seemed to be happening so fast. Her steps faltered, and she threw a look at Roman. He met her gaze and gently squeezed her waist, urging her forward. “Breathe. Everything is fine,” he said quietly, for her ears only.

Heart pounding in her chest, she turned her attention back to the minister standing in the middle of the living room. “Nice to meet you, Reverend. I’m Irina.” She extended one hand, and he clasped it within his own.

“You can call me Bob.”

His eyes were kind, and a flurry of butterflies kicked up in her stomach. She didn’t know if Knox had told him the whole story, but she suddenly wanted to spill her guts about every terrible thing she’d done in her life to this man of God.

The reverend turned to Roman and shook his hand. “Are you the groom?”

“I am.”

She winced internally, waiting for a bolt of lightning or something equally ominous to appear for their deception. A small hand wrapped around the inside of her elbow, and she tossed a look across her shoulder at Vivi.

“You ready for this?” Vivi asked just loud enough for her to hear.

She swallowed hard and pressed one hand to her stomach in an effort to calm her riotous nerves. “I don’t know.”

Vivi studied her with those huge dark eyes for a moment, then smiled as she gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “Everything will work out.”

God, she hoped so, because things certainly couldn’t get any worse.

CHAPTER

NINE

Rina bounced in her seat as she stared out the window of the plane. “There’s so much water.”

She moved to one side as Roman leaned toward her and stared out at the vast expanse of dark blue ocean beneath them. “Crazy, huh?”

She turned to look at him, her big blue eyes pleading. “Can we go to the beach while we’re here?”

“We’ll see.” Roman thought it really wasn’t the best idea, so they would have to play it by ear, see how many people were around.

Her face fell, and she turned back to the window. “I’ve never been to the beach before.”

That surprised him. Rina seemed to be the kind of girl who had everything at her fingertips and had seen everything. “Seriously? You live forty minutes away.”

The plane began to descend, and she buckled her seatbelt then shook her head as she settled back in her seat. “I haven’t been here that long. I grew up in a tiny little town in Kentucky. I never even left the state until I was sixteen when I went to Nashville.”

Roman really didn’t want to have this conversation in public, but she had piqued his curiosity. “But you’ve been so many places.”

She lifted one shoulder and stared longingly out the window. “We’re always in a hotel or something. There’s never any time to go explore or do things.”

In that moment, he made the decision that before they left, she would get to see the beach. Exiting the plane took a long time, and almost thirty minutes later they grabbed their luggage from the carousel and headed toward the front doors.

“There should be a driver waiting for us.”

He scanned the people standing by the doorway, but Rina beat him to it. She lifted her hand and gestured toward the last set of doors. “Right over there.”

A man in a suit held a small sign with Roman’s last name, Incardona, written in big, bold letters. Settling a hand on her lower back, he guided Rina toward the man, pulling their luggage along as they fell into step together. The man smiled at them as they approached. “Are you Mr. and Mrs. Incardona?”

For a moment, Roman was completely caught off guard at hearing Rina’s name used in conjunction with his. The silver band on his finger felt a little too tight, and he clenched his hand into a tight fist.

“We are,” she responded with a huge smile, covering his blunder. “Sorry, we’re still getting used to the new titles.”

The older man’s eyes brightened. “Newlyweds?”