The Consequence

by Giana Darling

  It made sense, of course. Elena was so alone and even though she had played a large part in her isolation, it was my fault that it had become so starkly defined. I’d taken the love of her partner, the support of our family and any friends she had made through Sinclair. It disturbed me in a third person kind of way that the greatest consequences felt by my affair had landed on my own sister.

  “Okay, we are all happy and together, hurrah hurray! Now, let’s get down to the business of making this girl into a bride, hmm?” Candy said, flouncing off the bed to drag me into the bathroom. “Wait until you see the dress your man picked out for you.”

  “It’s a bit indecent for a traditional wedding but I guess this is a beach ceremony,” Brenna allowed, her Southern born conservatism showing through.

  Cosima snorted. “You will look like a vision. Sin won’t know what hit him.”

  I smiled at the thought but I still hadn’t absorbed the blow that the presence of the best women in my life had dealt me. How long had Sinclair planned this for? How could he have known that this was exactly what I needed our wedding to be, in Cabo to bring everything full circle, with all our loved ones and no one else to judge what we had. If I hadn’t known Sinclair loved me, there was no way to doubt it now. He was the man who turned all my dreams into realities, spun all my fears into golden desires.

  He was the man I had always been destined to marry.

  Chapter Twenty Five.

  I knew immediately why Sinclair had chosen the dress for me. It was a delicately constructed mermaid-style dress with an open back, a v in the front that exposed a deep swathe of cleavage and slight capped sleeves that frothed over my shoulders. The open weave, off white crochet and lace patterned, exposed flashes of skin without being indecent and pooled behind me in a slight train. It was bohemian, utterly unique, and gorgeous, but most of all, with my hair tousled in waves over my shoulder, I looked like a siren emerged from the depths of the Pacific dressed in sea foam come to find her sailor.

  My bridesmaids and Mama went to shore first in a small motorboat after long minutes of reassurances, tears and embraces. I waited, fidgeting in the other boat that would take me to the beach, nervous as I’d ever been even though it was ridiculous to feel anything but excitement.

  When I arrived on the sand, there was an aisle bracketed by small shells and coral leading up to the wedding arch and Sebastian waited for me in the shallows to help me out of the boat. The cool ocean water kissed the bottom of my dress even though I held it up but it felt appropriate to meet Sinclair with golden slippers of sand on my feet and salt spray on my skin.

  “You look like a dream,” Sebastian whispered as he took my arm, gently tucking it into his.

  “Seb, you’re crying,” I noticed, shocked.

  We hadn’t had an easy childhood, one filled with violence or at least, the threat of it, poverty and fear. Through none of it had my brother -- the man of our house since the tender age of seventeen but really, the true patriarch long before our father disappeared -- cried.

  His smile reminded me that he was a movie star before his words even registered. “I’m an actor, Giselle. I’m man enough to cry and I’m damn pretty when I do it.”

  I laughed, the tension that I hadn’t been aware of drained from my shoulders.

  “I love you,” I reaffirmed.

  “Sempre,” he confirmed. Forever. “Now, are you ready to become a Sinclair?”

  I squeezed his arm and dragged him forward in answer, startling a laugh from him. Sinclair’s eyes were on me, had been tracking every one of my movements since I appeared on the horizon, but I took a moment to check out the guests lining the aisle because I knew once I locked eyes with my Frenchman, he would be all I saw.

  Cage grinned hugely at me, his arms crossed over his huge chest in a smug way that told me he thought he had played a vital role in bringing Sin and I together. I tipped my head to him, acknowledging the truth of it.

  Dante was there too, bigger even than Cage but not as imposing as the man that stood beside him. I recognized Alexander Davenport and as I watched him watching Cosima instead of me, his eyes trained on her with a degree of possession and dark desire that was uncivilized, I knew that he was the reason for her disappearance, that she wouldn’t have been allowed here without his permission and, apparently, his presence.

  The Percys both smiled at me, Mortimer’s was wide and uncensored with pleasure and Willa’s was appropriately bashful. She had tried to derail our union at every turn but now that it was happening, now that I was carrying her grandchild, she had whole-heartedly embraced me.

  My Mexico crew, including, even, Margot and Antonio, all clapped as I passed, making me blush even as their approval filled me with joy.

  I was ready to look at Sinclair but his cool French tinted tones beat me to it.

  “Look at your future husband, ma sirene.”

  His words hooked my gaze and drew it directly to his. The blue of his eyes consumed me for a long moment. I would never find the right words to describe the vividness of the color, the shape of his lids or the beauty of his russet lashes, let alone the ones needed to explain the look in his eyes at the moment. Worshipful was the word that came closest to the swirl of love, possession, awe and gratefulness that seized him. I recognized it only because I could feel the very same thing sluice through my veins.

  Inappropriately, I wanted to get on my knees before him and show him how much he was revered with my lips, teeth and tongue, with long strokes of my fingers and sharp exclamations from my nails.

  Sin’s eyes flashed as the recognized the dirty path to my thoughts.

  Later, he mouthed through the wicked smile pulling his lips wide.

  My brother pressed a kiss to my cheek and carefully, appreciating the symbolism of it, placed my hand in Sinclair’s.

  “I’ve cared for her my entire life,” Seb said, half benediction, half warning.

  Sinclair surprised me by stepping closer, clapping a manly hand over Seb’s shoulder. “You’ve done so well, mio fratello. Rest easy now, I have her.”

  Seb closed his eyes, swallowed thickly and nodded. “Si, tu sei la sua.”

  Thank God for waterproof make up because I was crying.

  Sinclair smiled brilliantly as my brother stepped away and he turned to me fully. I laughed when he tugged me indecently close, our hips flush, one of his large hands at my hips and the other on my cheek, fingertips in the hair over my ear. His eyes bored into mine even when he said to the officiate, “You may begin.”

  I cried throughout the vows but happily, they were silent tears and when Sin dipped his finger in one that streaked across my face, bringing it to his mouth where he licked it away with sparkling eyes, I knew that he didn’t mind. His voice was hoarse when he declared ‘I do’ and when the officiator began to say that Sin could kiss his bride, his hands clenched and unclenched on my skin in restless anticipation.

  Finally, he hauled me tight against his body, his arm an iron band across my back and the other tightly woven in my hair so that he could angle my head to seal his mouth completely over mine. I moaned into the kiss, sucking at his velvety tongue as it dipped between my lips. Desire rocketed through me, heady like a drug rush and just as inappropriate to be experiencing at a wedding.

  “I cannot wait to fuck my wife tonight,” Sin said as he took my ear between his teeth and tugged.

  I hissed, my knees weakening so that his arms were the only things holding me up. He took my mouth again in a passionate kiss. Vaguely, I was aware of clapping and cat calling from our assembled guests but embarrassment was drowned out by pure lust.

  Just when I thought I was going to have to climb him, rip off his clothes and ride him like an animal in heat, he pulled away to place his forehead against mine. His uneven breath wafted across my lips, heady and smoky as his fragrance.

  Our friends and family were waiting to congratulate us, to party in celebration on the absurdly extravagant yacht that Santiago had lent us for the o
ccasion but for now, it was just us, Sinclair and me.

  “You look better than any fantasy I could have had.”

  I blushed.

  “And this blush…” His thumb trailed over my pink cheekbone. “My wife has the prettiest blush.”

  “Your wife,” I echoed, momentarily stunned. “We’re married.”

  “Yes, that is typically the result of a wedding,” Sin teased, his rare boyish grin appearing.

  “Do you think we deserve this, to be this happy?” I wondered out loud for one tremulous moment.

  His forehead pressed hard into mine, his fingers squeezed firmly where they clutched me. I knew if he had his way, we would be stitched together cheek to cheek, thigh to thigh, knitted forever as one person. That was how much he loved me, and more, how much he yearned to possess every inch of me. My mind spun with giddiness, pure euphoria.

  “There is no way in my mind or in the minds of anyone here today that we were meant to be anything but together. Fuck the consequences, fuck the right or wrong of it.”

  Whatever the inception of our relationship, we had evolved and grown into something bigger than morality. We had cheated and lied and caused inexorable heartbreak in each other and those closest to us. We were sinners, undoubtedly, of the highest order. There was no way to deny or forget those truths. They just didn’t matter anymore. Maybe it was about damn time the villain had a happily ever after.

  I pressed my lips to Sinclair’s, showing him how much I agreed with him, how much I only really cared about him, about us. How selfish my love was and how okay I was with it.

  When he pulled away again, his eyes blazed with glory, an athlete who had trained and trained and imagined the win and who now, finally, held his prize in his hands.

  “You are mine,” he said in fierce triumph.

  “Toujours.” I agreed.

  THE END

  Thank you for reading The Consequence and the entire Evolution of Sin trilogy! If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment to leave a review at your favorite retailer and on Goodreads!

  Love,

  Giana Darling

  About Giana Darling

  Giana Darling is a Canadian romance writer who specializes in the taboo and angsty side of love and romance. After living in the French Alps, Paris and various places on both coasts of Mexico, she lives in the gorgeous city of Vancouver, British Columbia with her Chef best friend and a cat named Persephone. When she isn’t writing, she hosts dinner parties, travels extensively and reads like it is going out of style.

  Follow me on Twitter:

  https://twitter.com/GianaDarling

  Like me on Facebook:

  https://www.facebook.com/gianadarling/

  Subscribe to my blog:

  gianadarling.com

  Follow me on Pinterest:

  https://www.pinterest.com/gianadarling/

  Follow me on Goodreads:

  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14901102.Giana_Darling

  Newsletter:

  http://eepurl.com/b0qnPr

  IG:

  https://www.instagram.com/gianadarlingauthor/

  Thanks Etc.

  I cannot believe we have reached the end of The Evolution of Sin Trilogy! I first conceived of Sinclair and Giselle’s romance when I was sixteen years old and I wrote it down in a notebook only to discover it years later. I loved the idea of pitting loyalty and blood against passion and true love. Sometimes, people are too obsessed with what is right and wrong instead of what is best for them. I admire both of these characters for having the chutzpah to face the consequences of their love and their actions; I hope you do too.

  I have so many people to extend my heartfelt thanks to for encouraging me throughout writing this series and throughout my first year as a published author. I have to start with Kiki and Amber at The Next Step PR; they supported me through rookie questions, family emergencies and three release blitzes. They are my writer’s guardian angels and I love them endlessly for going above and beyond for me!

  Najla Qambar from Najla Qambar Designs is a graphic genius. I loved everything she created for this series; no one could have more perfectly captured my vision.

  Patricia, my feisty editor and friend, has been a constant cheerleader and keen eye. She is the type of person I have met through writing that makes me so proud and grateful to be an author. You have here to thank for the lack of typos in all my manuscripts!

  My beta readers, Mela, Angela Plumlee, Eliza and Belle, thank you so much for reading my rough and tough first/second drafts! You ladies provide me with invaluable feed back <3

  I wouldn’t be a writer at all without the love of my best friends Belle and Kevin. They have encouraged me my entire life to follow my dreams, however unrealistic and potentially dirty they may be! I would be half a woman without you two.

  Even though it hurts, I have to thank the love of my life, H, for teaching me how to love, how to worship and how to let go even when it hurts. You are the context behind my romanticism and certainly behind my eroticism.

  And finally, my readers! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for being so patient as I dealt with all that life had to deal out to me this past year. You waited so long and so beautifully for Sinclair and Elle’s happily ever after, I hope I didn’t let you down. I cannot wait to share my next romance with you, a book about an older man/younger woman, a romance between a man and his daughter’s best friend. Stay tuned, darlings, and thank you again from the bottom of my heart!