That he sang to me while we danced made it such a perfect moment that I knew I’d remember it for the rest of my life.
With every tender caress of my face, both the audience and I waited with bated breath for the kiss, but my new role had a schedule to keep.
After Vanni was done, he addressed us personally with a bow. “Congratulations, Your Highnesses,” he said.
Auggie and I bowed in return. I was tempted to blow him a kiss, but those things could no longer be spontaneous and fun. Every single action had to be mentally reviewed to see if it would be acceptable.
I suspected it would not.
After Vanni departed, the crowd turned its attention skyward as the Queens Royal Air Force began a dramatic flyover, starting with WWII biplanes and ending with a fleet of fighter jets that screamed across the sky just as Auggie turned me into his arms.
“You are the love of my life and my wife that I love,” he said before his mouth lowered towards mine in a long, heartfelt, passionate kiss. The crowd erupted in jubilant applause as fireworks exploded overhead and the bells once again began to peel from the tower.
I supposed that this moment had been worth the wait. I practically wilted right into his arms. We addressed the crowd again as the balcony began to empty in the same order it had filled, with the queen exiting first and us exiting last. Before we left, he kissed me again, lifting me up into his arms to the delight of the frenzied crowd. With one final wave, we disappeared behind closed doors for our private reception.
Chapter Seven
The second we reentered the castle, Jorge, Darcy, and Clem were there to wrangle me for the second wardrobe change of the ceremony. I had hoped that Auggie and I could get a moment alone, but those hopes were dashed as I was pulled away by my Glam Squad and Audra directed Auggie to follow her for whatever schedule she needed to keep.
It was probably for the best. If I had gotten Auggie alone, they might have had to have the reception without us. I groaned when I thought about how many more hours stood between me and my wedding night with my husband.
In one of the grand bedrooms, I traded my wedding gown for an organza dress in the faintest purple, with black roses woven through green shimmering vines that circled my protruding baby bump. Darcy had lovingly called this her Beauty in Bloom. The long sleeves were sheer, covered in tiny, shimmering crystals, to add a touch of royal sparkle.
Jorge styled my hair up, with flowers and crystals. He replaced my tiara on top when he was done. I could barely recognize the woman staring back at me from the full-length mirror.
“Your Majesty,” he grinned.
“Not yet,” I reminded.
“Soon,” he corrected.
I stared at the new Peaches. That was her destiny now, thanks to the rings on her finger. It was still so hard to fathom.
Spontaneously I hugged Jorge tightly around the neck. “Only if you move to Aldayne and style me exclusively.”
He grinned as we pulled apart. “For you, Princess Peaches, I would do that very thing.” Again, he bowed before he and the rest of the team took their leave.
I was still trying to make sense of my reflection when Auggie entered the room. I watched as he walked up behind me, awed by my appearance. He wrapped his arms around me, cradling Jack as he did so. “How did I ever get so lucky?” he pondered.
I turned into his arms. “I ask myself that every single day.”
He bent for a kiss I would never deny him. Without the cameras rolling or the crowd watching, it was much more intimate and much more passionate. I could feel the effects it had on him through the kilt he still wore. I giggled.
“No secrets in that thing, are there?”
He laughed, too. “It’s kind of liberating. I think I like it.” He swirled me around. “Dash said he might even trade in his tutu.”
“Never,” I rejected with a shake of my head. I thought about the little kids from the Dance Academy. “It’s iconic.”
“So is he,” Auggie pointed out. His eyes focused on my lips. “So are you.” He bent for another kiss.
The heat of it swept over both of us. Just before I was about to ask if we could lock the door and take advantage of the four-poster bed, there was a knock at the door.
All we could do was laugh. “Duty calls,” he reminded.
“Duty calls,” I agreed.
We opened the door to Audra, who escorted us to the elegant banquet hall where the reception was being held. The room was enormous, with portraits on every bright yellow wall and a grand sculpted fireplace in pristine white, with angels carved into the wood. Eight elaborate chandeliers were hung from ornate ceiling medallions evenly spaced across the room.
Along with a smattering of smaller tables in the center of the room, long tables stretched along three walls, with the queen front and center of the one in the middle. We would be seated next to her, with Fiona, Mariel and Giz on the other side. Fern, Gav, Audra, Archer, Dallas, Dash and Oliver would sit to my right, with my mother and father at the end of our table.
The Byrnes sat to the left of Giselle, which annoyed the hell out of me. I wanted them nowhere near her.
But from the look on her face, I could see that she was both used to the Byrnes and adept at deflecting their disdain. In fact, she held herself as though they were in her house and had better respect her place in it.
Which, of course it was, and they did, at least by all outward appearances.
It helped that she sat next to Riona. It touched my heart to see how Giz tried to engage her, and how Riona was so desperate for that kindness that she started to come alive under Giz’s attention.
She not only smiled, she laughed at one of Giz’s jokes.
Maybe there was hope for her after all.
After the family was seated, the VIPs were brought in, first to greet us and then to take their seats at the tables along the walls to our right and left. The serving staff used this opportunity to serve the first course, the hors d'oevres. We had opted for quail eggs and caviar along with sea scallops in lobster sauce. While sparkling Yaars bubbly flowed for the rest of our guests, I stayed faithful with sparkling water that the staff served to everyone in crystal goblets with frozen auberries.
I was introduced to some of the most important people in the world, presidents, dignitaries, celebrities, and the like. I also got to meet some of the most important family dynasties in Aldayne, including the Strong family, who provided the Yaars wine for the wedding, as well as the Benowitz family, world-renowned chocolatiers who had immigrated to Aldayne at the start of Hitler’s rise in Germany.
They provided an assortment of chocolate truffles for the mignardise, and final, course.
My face felt perpetually frozen into a smile, so much my cheeks began to hurt with each new person who approached the table to wish us well. Fortunately there were enough courses to keep them busy, as each server brought out trays of tiny white plates with no more than a bite or two of the food provided by some of the finest chefs and restaurants in the country. The second course was a pumpkin bisque with smoked gouda, served individually in one-half of a hollowed-out miniature pumpkin, followed by more appetizers in the third course, caprese bites and mushrooms stuffed with crab. There was a warm salad and a cold salad in the fourth course, and then the fish course followed, with individual crab cakes topped with a zesty pepper aioli in honor of my dad.
It was a lot of food, which made the seven-tier wedding cake on the opposite wall a lot more daunting. I had always dreamed of having a red velvet cake for my wedding day, but that was nixed by the queen. She argued that a traditional fruit cake was more appropriate, and that with its longevity, we could actually cut up whatever remained and have it sent to people all across the country so that they could have a token of our special day.
Given there was three hundred pounds of that fruit cake, I figured that was probably the best way to dispose of it.
Just over four hundred guests had joined us for our special day, with about two hundred
eating with us in the grand banquet hall and the overflow spilling out onto the back terrace facing Queen’s Quay, where a live orchestra played.
Auggie leaned close. “How’s Jack enjoying the food?”
I chuckled. “I’m going to have heartburn for days. Fair warning.” To help prevent any digestive overload, I only allowed myself a bite or two of the plate before I pushed it away.
There was braised lamb shank for the meat-eaters and butternut squash ravioli for the vegetarians, and then for the seventh course, the palate cleanser, one had an option of a glass of prosecco or a dish of auberry sorbet. Some folks opted for both.
The eighth course was a cheese dish, with a soft cheese and a hard cheese, candied nuts and more of my prized auberries. The ninth course was dessert, which signaled our next scheduled performance: cutting the cake. I followed Auggie to the monstrous cake that was elaborately decorated with gold detailing and candied auberries. The top tear was a birdcage, secured with mesh to keep dozens of colorful butterflies inside. As the fanfare sounded, Auggie withdrew his saber and deftly, but quickly, freed the latch so that the butterflies flew free. With another decisive slice, he cut the first piece of the cake for me.
I used a regular ol’ knife and server to return the favor.
I was surprised by the richness of the fruitcake, which had been soaked in auberry brandy, so it was moist and flavorful. I took only a bite since I was already bursting at the seams.
Those who didn’t want a piece of cake were served crème brulee. Some folks wanted both. I had no idea where they put it.
Several guests retired to another room to smoke their complimentary cigars and drink more of the Yaars brandy. To my great delight, most of the Byrnes went with them.
By the time we got to the chocolate truffles, I had to leave it uneaten on the plate. I just couldn’t force another bite, my apologies to the Benowitz family.
“Let’s get some fresh air,” Auggie suggested.
I nodded, allowing him to help me to my feet. We headed outside onto the terrace to greet our other guests. It was there that I met Vanni’s wife Andy, who sat at a table with Vanni’s assistant and Graham Baxter. The tension was thick at the table, but I couldn’t figure out if it was because of said assistant, Meghan, whom I met in Philadelphia, or the more severe looking mogul. It was clear to see that Meghan was still over the moon for Vanni, something she couldn’t really hide even when his wife was sitting right there at the table.
I thanked the Good Lord above my rock star had given up that lifestyle. Because I knew right then and there that I would never be able to deal with it.
As raunchy as my Duke of Mayhem had been prior to the day we met, he had been a perfect gentleman and devoted partner ever since.
I turned to Graham. “Thank you for allowing my folks to take care of Maggie Farms,” I said. “It is truly a lovely place where I have so many fond memories.”
His jaw clenched a little. “They were a tremendous help to me,” he acknowledged somewhat painfully. “I will be sad to see them go.”
He turned back to his food. Andy offered a helpless shrug and small smile. I nodded her direction before I pulled Auggie along to leave them in peace so we could meet with our other guests, including little Ryan and his family.
Protocol be damned, I gave that sweet kid a big American hug. “You did so good!”
He laughed. “I did well,” he corrected me, which made all the adults laugh.
“Yes, you did,” I grinned.
“Look,” he said, holding up an awfully familiar rainbow tutu. “Dash said I could have it.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “He did?”
Ryan nodded. “He said I have to practice so that we can start dancing together. We’re going to do it every week!”
My brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“We’re moving to Aldayne,” his mother, Jackie, said. “The Duke ensured he got a scholarship to the Sofia Agassi Dance Academy.”
I turned to Auggie, clasping his hand.
“And I’m going to go to the Princess Giselle Independent Living Academy,” he said slowly, precisely. “So, I’ll get to see you all the time!”
I gave him another big hug. “I’ll hold you to it.”
We met Alexander Fullerton and his wife Rachel, as well as their children, a handsome teen son, Jonathan, a younger son, Max, and their twin daughters, Rain and Skye. “We are so thrilled you could make it,” Auggie told him. “Titan is the pride of Noxbury,” referring to a hotel resort that Alex and Graham Baxter owned together. “I only wish I could have played there before I retired.”
Alex laughed. “I suppose those days are over. Congratulations on your new family, by the way.”
“You as well,” Auggie said as he indicated Rachel’s own baby bump as he pulled me close. “Perhaps you both can share baby tips with us.”
“It would be our pleasure,” Rachel smiled, reaching for Alex’s hand. “We’ve already purchased a summer home near Unity Lake. Such beautiful countryside.”
“The most beautiful in the world,” Auggie agreed. “But I might be a little biased.” We all laughed. “I hear you’re a horseman.”
Alex nodded. “I’ve actually been looking into working with some Aldaynese horses if you know anyone who could use a trainer.”
“Me,” Auggie offered. “The royal family has a number of them for personal use. I was thinking of bringing a few home to Castlewick since Pea’s brother has always wanted to learn to ride, and her father has horses in his blood. We could always use another expert.”
“Fantastic. I’ll leave time in my calendar open.”
Auggie nodded. “I will make sure we all have dinner sometime next summer, then. And we can arrange playdates for the children.”
“Sounds delightful,” Alex nodded. “I’ll look forward to it.”
With that, we left the Fullertons and moved on to another table, to greet Coralie and Devlin Masters, where I got to thank them both for the clothes and the music they had provided to complete our special day. They were gracious and poised and sophisticated. It was all more the wonder how Devlin, like Caz Bixby, used to be a male escort in his other life.
Riches sophisticated us all, I supposed.
Just like the afterparties he used to hold a million years ago in another life, Auggie made it a point to stop at every single table and greet all present. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time with them, it was impossible, but he wanted to make sure everyone felt welcomed and acknowledged, even if it was only for a few seconds.
It helped that Audra shadowed us, ready to move us along to keep things running smoothly.
Nobody argued with Audra.
By the time we made it back into the ballroom, my feet were aching and my back hurt. But we still had more duties to perform, namely the first dance for our wedding guests.
Devlin Masters once again took to the piano to play first the Emperor’s Waltz from Johann Strauss, which was slow and romantic and allowed Auggie to guide me through the more structured dance we were to perform for our guests. Without his smirks and winks, I might not have ever gotten through it, it felt so stiff and impersonal, like a show we were to put on for everyone else.
Which, I supposed, it was.
Devlin really showed off his chops with the next piece, Tchaikovsky’s Grand Valse Villageoise, known more informally as the Sleeping Beauty Waltz. His energetic performance of the complicated piece got everyone onto the dancefloor to join us in the elegant ballroom.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Giz and Dash dancing, which made me smile.
“How are you hanging in there, champ?” Auggie asked.
“I’m tired,” I confessed honestly. “It’s been a long day.”
By that point it had been twelve hours almost exactly since I boarded the carriage that began me on my journey.
He nodded. “Our exit is scheduled for eight o’clock,” he said. “Only a little more to go.”
I groaned. “I don
’t think I’ll make it.”
“Of course, you will,” he said as he spun me around. “You’re Peaches McPhee Quinn Agassi, for fuck’s sake.”
I giggled. “I do love that name.”
“And I love you,” he said, bending to kiss me for the whole room to see, damn the protocol. “I can’t wait to get you alone,” he whispered in my ear, sending a shiver throughout my body.
Alone meant his sporty purple Alda convertible, where he’d drive us to who knew where to officially begin our honeymoon. “Where are we going, Auggie?” I asked him again.
“Heaven,” he murmured before he stole another kiss.
As he lifted away, I lost myself in those deep green eyes. “Already there.”
The next dance I shared with my dad, while Auggie cut the rug with my mother. Like Auggie, Dad was concerned as he studied my face. “Are you sure you’re all right, Pea? You look a little pale.”
I chuckled. “Probably that aioli coming back to haunt me.”
He laughed. “The food was good. But I think I prefer some barbecue.”
I hugged him tight. “Me, too.”
I danced with Dash next, who met me with a formal bow. He took every step very seriously. “Someone’s been practicing,” I teased.
“Every day,” he nodded. “Gav taught me.”
“You are an exceptionally fine dancer and a superb gentleman. I heard about what you did for Ryan, giving him your tutu.”
He offered a small shrug. “He needed it more.”
I loved it when he said things like that. He was such a beautiful soul.
Archer managed to pry himself away from Audra long enough to get in line after that. I couldn’t help but chide him about it. “Glad you could find a place for me on your dance card.”
He chuckled. “Ditto.”
“So, what’s going on with that?” I asked, nodding towards Audra, who coincidentally couldn’t help but steal glances his direction.
He laughed out loud. “Right to the point, huh, Sis?” I said nothing, just gave him a pointed look. “I don’t know yet. Ask me in a month or two.”
The Duke Takes a Bride (The Rocking Royal Trilogy Book 2) Page 7
