Billionaire On Fire: The Complete Series (A Bad Boy Alpha Billionaire Romance) (65 page)

I rolled around the enormous bed in
delight at the thought of what was to come for the rest of the day. Zayden had
taken a different room, in favor of being somewhat traditional and separating
the bride and the groom the night before the wedding. That didn’t stop me from
being sorely tempted to walking over to his hotel room in just a robe and
nothing else and sliding it off. We had been abstaining from sex for the past
week so that our wedding night would be truly exceptional, but it had been so
much harder than I had expected, considering we slept in the same bed every
night.

And Zayden had the body of a Greek God.

But it was okay. It was all okay because
we were going to get married today. Nothing would ever be able to keep us apart
from each other ever again. I looked at my enormous ring once more and took a
very deep breath. This was really, truly happening. By the end of this evening,
I would become Mrs. Zayden Sinclair. I squealed like a little girl once more
and then got up to take a shower. Stacey, Fiona and my hairdresser would be
here in half an hour.

---

“Okay we have five hours to get you ready,”
Fiona said in a business-like voice when she arrived. “You are going to get
ready for the ceremony and subsequent reception so Fabio here will do your hair
and make-up so it lasts the next twelve hours,” she said pointing to a slender
and flamboyant man she had brought along. “Is your dress ready?” She eyed the
room looking alarmed. “I don’t see it anywhere.”

“I hung it up in the living room of the
penthouse. I won’t be wearing it until all of this is done, so I wanted to keep
it safe.” I smiled.

The truth was that the wedding dress made
me very nervous and not just because it was the most expensive thing I had ever
purchased – and it was, it had tiny bits of actual diamond studded across the
hem – but because it reminded me of everything that was going to happen today.
I wasn’t sure I would be able to handle the joy and excitement it brought me.

“Good thinking,” Fiona said curtly.

She was a rather interesting woman.
Everything was business to her, even the tasting of the variety of cake Stacey
baked for us one afternoon. We were literally just chilling and having some
beers at my old apartment while Stacey tried out different combinations for
colors and recipe and décor. It wasn’t very different from the usual evening we
used to spend goofing around at the apartment, except the part where this time
Stacey was baking my wedding cake. Fiona somehow managed to make it formal and
businesslike by constantly taking notes after every tasting, flipping her
binder non-stop and refusing to partake in the beer drinking. She did bring her
own champagne so the last part must have been just a matter of preference.

That said, I had taken quite a liking to
her and felt excited by the notion that she would be joining us again next year
for Stacey’s wedding. There was something about her that reminded me of myself.
Perhaps it was her sheer dedication to her work. She was much older than I was
and I felt like I had been learning a whole lot from her about running a
business as a woman.

I watched her direct Fabio in admiration
before getting seated for my hair and makeup.

Stacey came half-way into my make-up and
exclaimed, “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas!” we all exclaimed back.

“But more importantly,” she said, sitting
down next to me. “Happy wedding day to the best best-friend in the whole
world!”

“That would be you.” I smiled, which made
Fabio give me a stern look. I was supposed to be sitting still. “Can I have one
moment, Fabio? I want to look at my maid-of-honor.”

“If you must,” he said reluctantly.

“Stacey, you look amazing!” I exclaimed
upon turning around to look at her. She was wearing a bright purple dress of
her own choosing – I didn’t believe in subjecting my maid-of-honor to a hideous
dress of my choice – and her hair was tied up in a neat bun.

“Nothing compared to the bride of course,
you’re going to be turning heads in all of Central Park today, mark my words.”

I beamed delightedly. “We will be,” I
said, reaching out both my hands to grab hers. “I can’t believe this is
happening, Stace. I am actually getting married today!”

She joined my squealing, which made me
feel a whole lot better about me acting like a little girl all morning.

“Now let Fabio finish getting you ready so
you can go get married.”

---

When Stacey, Nick and I arrived at Central
Park – we had a separate limo sent to us than Zayden’s – nobody was there
except an old lady with bright blonde hair dressed in a designer red outfit.

“You must be Zayden’s mother,” I said
brightly approaching her. I realized it was the lady I had met at his house
that one morning.

“You must be his newest play toy,” she
said with a fake smile. “Good for you, hun. Make sure he gets to play well,
since you’ll be getting quite a lot of monetary advantage in this situation.”

“That is incredibly rude,” I said with a
smile still plastered to my face. “And under any other circumstances I would
have responded with an equal - if not more – sass, and believe me I may look
small but I am capable of a lot. However, it is my wedding day and you are the
mother of the most important person in my life, so I will be nice. Look, Mrs.
Sinclair, I understand you have your own little pre-conceived notions about who
I am and what I want from your son. And you know what, in a way it’s oddly
endearing. It means you care about him in your own little weird way. But make
no mistake, I care about him too and I will not have anybody questioning my
intentions. Of course, I can’t expect you to change your mind based on my words
alone – anyone can claim anything, after all, as you witnessed from the whole
disaster with Gina, a woman I believe you did in fact approve of for your son.
All I ask of you is you reserve some judgment until you get to know me. After a
month or two, if you still feel like I am using your son for money and don’t
actually care about him, feel free to hate me.”

“Bold. I like that. I should have known
Zayden wouldn’t be marrying some wussy,” Mrs. Sinclair said with an awkward –
but what I suspected to be genuine – smile. “And pretty too. Very pretty,” she
said those words with a sternness that almost felt like an insult. “Well, I
guess I can reserve judgment after all.”

“Thank you,” I said, trying to sound
softer. Somehow her approval of my boldness made me soften towards her a
little. She was an old woman and the thing that mattered most was that she
cared about Zayden. “I, on the other hand, don’t need to reserve any judgment,”
I said smilingly. “You seem to care about Zayden which wins my approval of
you.”

“I don’t recall asking for your approval,”
she said in a stern voice, but seemed somewhat amused.

“You didn’t have to.” I grinned. “Now if
you excuse me, I have to go get married to your son.”

I turned away, realizing a little too late
that the effect couldn’t have been as grand as I had hoped considering that Zayden
had yet to even arrive. I simply sat down on one of the benches by the tree
where we were holding the ceremony and admired the breath-taking view. Getting
married on Christmas Day was a stroke of pure genius, for New York City looked
like it had been embellished with the joy that I was feeling.

All the trees in Central Park were covered
in Christmas Lights, and the buildings on the edge of the horizon appeared to
be glowing in celebration of my big day. Everything was bright and shiny. The
crisp winter air of December didn’t even bother me – despite wearing a
sleeveless dress – because the happiness of the moment was enough to keep me
warm from within.

When Zayden’s limo pulled in and he got
out of it, I was sure my heart stopped for a few moments. He looked just like a
movie star in his tuxedo and I took a deep breath, unable to believe that this
was the man I would soon marry. The look on his face mirrored my awe and I
could swear I saw the hint of tears in his eyes. He wasn’t supposed to see me
yet, but since we were getting married in a park there was nowhere to hide.

My mother walked me down the aisle,
something I was very happy about. She had, after all, been both my mom and dad
for me the last few years and she deserved this honor. I hadn’t even thought to
look for my dad to invite him to this wedding. He had decided to run away and
with that lost all my respect. But mom looked radiant and proud as she took my
hand and walked with me right until I stood face to face with Zayden. Nick and
Stacey were next to me while Ned stood cheerfully behind Zayden.

The minister began the ceremony and
half-way through asked if we had written our own vows.

“Yes,” we both said. And I went first,
because I didn’t think I would be capable of speaking after I heard what Zayden
has to say.

“Today I am fortunate enough to be
entering a union with the love of my life and I doubt there is a single person
on this planet that is as happy as I am. I love you Zayden Sinclair and even
though I ignored your advances at first, somehow I feel like I knew this since
the moment we first met. You have the wits and charms to win over the heart of
any woman in the world, yet you chose me and fell for me, making me feel like
the luckiest woman in the world. You are as kind as you are handsome, something
not many people get to see because they haven’t spent as much time with you to
know you like I do. You practically saved my family and never asked anything in
return. You go out of your way to do little things for me, which in turn are things
of great value. The amount of time you spent going over my homework with me.
And submitting my paper to that journal. Things you had absolutely no reason to
do, except that you thought somehow they would make me happy, and you were
right. I have learned so much from you, Zayden, just from a few months of our
time together. I yearn for our days ahead when I will only learn and grow more
from your incredible company and our love, both personally and professionally.
You have made me feel like the luckiest woman on this planet and I want to
return your love by making you feel like the luckiest man every single day,
every single hour, every single minute for the rest of our lives. I love you,
Zayden Sinclair, and on our wedding day, I vow to always love you just as much
as I do right now, and a little bit more with every passing day, as we build a
life together and grow old together. And live happily ever after.”

Zayden beamed delightfully, as Stacey and
my mom began to sob into their handkerchiefs. Even Zayden’s mom looked
reluctantly moved. I found myself tear up as well, from the sheer power of the
words I had spoken. Because they were true and because we were in love and
because this was the most beautiful thing that had ever happened to me.

By the time Zayden spoke his vows, his
voice was trembling.

“Aria, Aria, Aria. I feel like there is
very little words can say that can describe just how ecstatic I am to be here
with you today, ready to make you mine forever. I think I have spoken enough of
why you are so extraordinary – which no one can argue that you are one in a
million – and of our past and how you made me fall in love with you so
hopelessly. Today, I want to speak of our future. Oh the beautiful, magnificent
future we are going to build together, Aria. I wish I could show you the things
we are going to be doing together, extraordinary things, both in terms of
business and our personal lives. I can’t wait to build my perfect family with
my perfect partner. We will have as many kids as you want and can have. They
will all take after their mom and be adorable little feisty trouble-makers. We
will buy a house in every State – and country – you desire so you are never
bored of a place again. Your mind is too grand to be stationed at a single
town. You are capable of so much Aria. I look forward to being your business
partner almost as much as I look forward to being a husband – which is still
not nearly close enough, cause God I have never looked forward to anything in
my life as much as I look forward to being your husband – and I know you will
take my life to its highest points and my business too. You will get everything
your enormous heart desires, before you even ask for it, before you even
realize you want it. I will take care of all your needs and always love you
with everything I have, more every day than the last. Even when we are old and
wrinkly and blind. No matter what. In sickness and in health. You are right,
Aria, this right here is exactly what fairy tales are made of. You are right.
This is our happily ever after.”

Everyone burst into applause, as I started
bawling as hard as Stacey and my mom. Even Nick was tearing up and Zayden’s
mom’s eyes seemed rather twinkly. I was so overcome with emotion that for a
moment, I had even forgotten where I was, until I saw that hundreds of
onlookers were gazing at our wedding. Strangers dressed in bright and colorful
Christmas outfits were clapping from meters away and tearing up and it was just
like all my favorite weddings from my favorite movies had coalesced into one
fantastical ceremony. Except the ceremony was mine and I was the heroine and in
about three seconds I would be married to the love of my life.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,”
the minister said at last. “You may now kiss the bride.”