Vincent didn't let me out of his sight when we returned home from our eventful experience at Trinity, shadowing me when I checked on Mr. Pearlman and making conversation with him while I cleaned up Mr. P's dinner dishes and emptied his nasty ashtray into the trash compactor.

In the hallway, we ran into Charleton and Lucy as they headed out to enjoy dinner at their favorite restaurant. I thought Vincent might tell them about my excursion under the church, but he didn't, and it made me wonder if he'd become more secretive with his family to protect me.

Once inside our apartment, Vincent fed Bonnie and Clyde while I threw together a plate of veggies and hummus, and we sat in the living room, relaxing with our snack.

"Show me the goods," Vincent said as he crunched on a carrot, appeasing Bonnie with half of it. Clyde had no interest in carrots, and he barely lifted his head from the couch to observe blandly.

"Who said anything about goods?" I shrugged, pretending to look confused, but I didn't make Vincent wait long before I hopped off the couch to retrieve the lapel pin from the pocket of my jacket. When I returned, I set it on the coffee table in front of him. "I found a whole basket of these in the vault. I only took it because it looks like the pin your father wore."

His eyes widened as he picked up the piece to give it a closer look. "It's exactly like the one my father wore. There is only one other known to exist among the gollums, and it's locked in a cabinet in the high magister's home."

"Did your dad belong to a club of some kind?"

"No, he didn't, but the pins were worn by members of an order that broke up years ago. They wore them to show their commitment to the cause... protecting the innocent. My father's great, great grandfather Juno was a member, and when the order was disbanded, all the pins were turned in to the council, with one pin withheld as a reminder. It wasn't until Juno lay on his death bed that he admitted to keeping his pin, and he passed it on to his son."

"Wow. So, your dad owned a true relic."

"Yes, and Charleton handed it down to my father when he became magister. Rather than hide it in a strongbox, my father decided to wear it. Because of his high standing on the council, no one bothered to take issue with it."

"Your dad sounds like he did his own thing regardless of popular opinion."

Vincent nodded. "In every respect."

"Well, he instilled that quality in his oldest son." I smiled at Vincent just as a crazy idea came to me. Yeah, another one. "What if we convinced Marco this was Roberto's pin?"

Vincent's eyes snapped to me. "I'm listening."

"If Marco does have the pin, and he thinks we snatched it from him, he might retrace his steps and lead us to your dad's pin."

Vincent's eyebrows quirked as he let things process. "But that wouldn't help us prove his guilt to the council. We need visual or audio evidence."

"We could film him walking to the location where he hid the pin." I offered a weak shrug, feeling less confident about my crazy idea as Vincent picked it apart.

"That sounds too risky and labor intensive. We can't keep twenty-four hour surveillance on him."

"Why not? You did it with me." I smirked, but he didn't offer much reaction. He had his CEO hat on and there was no distracting him.

"I don't know how well we could pull off a scheme like that, but you're definitely onto something. I'm sure we can use this pin to our advantage. I think it's time I submit our petition to be mated."

Finally.

Vincent's serious gaze softened as he focused it on me. "Have you chosen a wedding date?"

"Um, no. Should I? I thought we were leaving it loose for a while... until things calm down a bit."

"We have known each other two months and things have not calmed down. Think of it as going into battle, but the less bloody kind."

"You're comparing a wedding to a battle? Geez. Maybe I need to rethink this." I held out my ring finger to eyeball the pear-shaped gem inside its halo. "But I do love the ring."

"Great. Let's do it before December thirty-first, if possible."

"Of this year? You're kidding, right?"

"I rarely kid."

I waited for him to meet my gaze before I offered him the smirk he deserved. He knew he would get what he wanted even if it cost extra to do it, and I knew he would give me the world if I asked for it, so we stayed even in that respect. "You are incorrigible to a fault, Mr. Valentino."

"You have made that point before. So, how do you feel about the Waldorf? I know they will have an opening on December thirtieth."

"How do you know they'll have an opening? It's Christmas time."

"The couple who booked it for their engagement party have broken up per a formal announcement on Facebook. It included a photo of my friend getting into a limo with two half-naked women, neither of whom are his future bride."

"Yikes. So, what day of the week is that?"

"Sunday. That's good, right?"

I smiled at playful Vincent as he thumbed across his cellphone screen, probably pulling up the Waldorf's number. He actually seemed excited about this tradition humans called weddings. 

"Sure. Between Sylvie, my mom, and the Valentinos, we should be able to pull off a Manhattan-style wedding in under two weeks."

"Perfect. And we'll have Sam feature the nuptials in the magazine. They always do a wedding piece in June."

"What? No. That's too much. I thought gollums were supposed to lay low. You're the only one they've let run amuck because you've got a multi-million dollar business to command."

"Exactly. I take the burden off the other domi so they can function incognito. Twelve, to be exact."

"Twelve domi benefit from the Valentino success?" I asked incredulously. Why didn't I already know this?

"Yes. The enterprise started with Charleton's grandfather, Jorge. He endeared himself to the governor by saving his son from kidnappers without having to pay the ransom. Once the money was there, Jorge knew exactly where to invest it."

"Hmm. It seems my initial impression of gargoyles was all wrong. Not only are they sexy, they're also smart. I guess I have an important phone call to make."

"Your parents?"

"No, I'll call them second. I need to tell Sylvie first."

~ ~ ~

"December thirtieth! Are you nuts?" Sylvie screamed through the phone as I held it away from my ear.

"It'll be fine, Sylvie, although I'm sure everything will cost twice as much. I want you to be my maid of honor."

Another squeal echoed out of the speaker. "I've never been in a wedding. I don't have a clue what I'm supposed to do."

"I'll give you Amelia's phone number and you two can plan together. I'm going to ask her to be my bridesmaid."

"Do the Valentinos know about this shotgun wedding yet?"

"No, but Vincent is handling them. You're the first to get the news. I still need to tell my parents."

"Aw, I feel privileged. You know, your parents are going to flip. You've kept loaves of bread longer than you and Vincent have been dating."

"I forgot that loaf was in my pantry, and believe me, there is no one else I want sharing my bed than Vincent. I'm in this for life."

"Heaven help us. My best friend has gone Jane Austen on me."

Sylvie and I talked for almost an hour, discussing non-traditional bridesmaid's dresses and her ideas for a bachelorette party, but I nixed the party idea. I didn't need more opportunities to embarrass myself for the media.

By the time I got around to calling Mom, it was close to bedtime, and I caught her and Dad enjoying a coffee and Bailey's in front of the fireplace. It was a frequent ritual of theirs when the weather got cold. Mom complained about the rush to fit the wedding in before the end of the year, and Dad reminded her about the tax benefits. I considered it a win that neither tried to talk me out of it, but I ended up trapped inside Mom's party brain for another hour.

It was midnight before I had a chance to walk over to Amelia's to offer her the position of bridesmaid, and I caught her and Griffin already scouring wedding websites on the internet.

"This is the most exciting thing to ever happen to me," Griffin gushed as she pointed to a photograph of a five-tiered wedding cake. "Look at this amazing cake. Mother and I have done three layers, but I think we can do five."

"You don't have to make the cake, Griffin," I told her. "There are bakeries in town that specialize in wedding cakes."

Griffin looked stricken as she stared bug-eyed at me. "But, I want to do it. Please? I promise not to mess it up."

"Of course, Griffin, but I thought you'd want to be my flower girl, and I don't want you to stress about..."

"Flower girl! Really?" Griffin hopped off her barstool and wrapped me in a tight hug. "Thank you, Reese. I won't let you and Vincent down. I'll be the best flower girl in the history of flower girls." She stopped to take a breath, looking a little uncertain. "What exactly does a flower girl do?"

"Let me show you."

While I located a website with all the information Griffin needed to know about flower girls, Amelia made us hot chocolates, and we drank our beverages as we planned my wedding. Yeah, my wedding. It was two AM before Vincent and I resumed a relaxed position on the couch, accompanied by the dogs and a Blacklist rerun. That's when his phone rang with a call from a disgruntled brother.

"What is it, Colin?" Vincent said curtly.

"A text? You asked me to be your best man through a text?" Colin's annoyed voice echoed through the speaker, and I could hear the hurt behind it.

"Groomsman, and a text seemed appropriate since we've been doing a lot of that lately."

"It has been our only means of communication lately. You have relegated me to the fucking closet."

"Well, you seem to like closets."

"Get over yourself already and let me back in. I'm your second."

"Jonathan is technically my second..."

"Really? I thought we left the blows in the rec room."

"Did you call to tell me you accept, or was it something else?"

A moment of silence followed Vincent's question, and he spared me a glance as he held his phone away from his ear, keeping me in the loop.

"Yes, I accept. Now, will you to cut me some slack, or do I have to list all the women you've snatched out from under me?"

"Is that really where you want to take this conversation?"

Stubborn silence ensued. Then... "You can't keep me out forever."

Vincent huffed as his brother forced him to face his ego and overcome the behemoth. "Fine. You are no longer forbidden from coming around, but I don't want things to be weird for Reese. Can you handle that much?"

"Of course. It will be like nothing ever happened." Even through the tiny speaker, I could hear the falseness in Colin's tone. He would always remember what happened, and so would I.

~ ~ ~

Mr. Pearlman took my wedding news like he took all news, with an easygoing shrug and advice that sounded about as relevant as he was, but he promised to stay alive long enough to attend. Besides doing all the things a bridesmaid is supposed to do, Amelia handled the publicity for the wedding, while I hand-picked my photographers.

It was the wedding dress that had become everyone's biggest worry, but together with Amelia, Sylvie, and Mom, we found a dress that embodied the perfect combination of elegance and sexy. A dress that said I'm marrying this hunk because I deserve to, as Sylvie so eloquently put it. The only problem was the dress's location. Currently, it hung in the closet of a designer in Italy, and the decision to drop five thousand dollars on something that might look hideous on me was weighing heavy on my mind when Vincent's phone disturbed us during our mid-day nap.

"You already have a full council?" he said as he climbed out of bed, pulling on a pair of shorts as he talked. "Tomorrow? That'll be a stretch, but we'll make it work. I suppose Boris was among the volunteers."

Vincent's voice faded as he walked out of the room, disappearing completely when his office door shut. What was that all about? I rolled over and pressed my nose into his pillow, filling my sinuses with his scent as I waited for him to finish up and fill me in. There wasn't much we didn't share these days.

A few minutes later, Vincent returned to the bedroom, dragging his hand through his hair as he tossed his phone on the bed. "A hearing has been set by the magister council for tomorrow," he said. "We're required to attend."

"In Verona? What's the hearing about?"

Vincent looked uncharacteristically rattled as he stood at the foot of the bed. "It's regarding our petition to be mated, as well as the allegations I made against Marco Bourdain of insubordination, unclaimed paternity of my mate, and two counts of murder."

"What? When did all that happen?"

"Last night."

So much for sharing everything.