Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
40
PIPER
And here, I thought our vacation in Vegas would be all about fun.
I hadn’t just been wrong. I had been stupid.
That’s the feeling I got when Leonardo, Matteo, and Cesare poured their heart out to me.
I was expecting them to take my clothes off and treat me like their very own, naughty royalty.
What I got was completely different.
It pulled at my heartstrings, leaving me at a total loss for words. Tears of joy rose up in my eyes during those moments. My men wanted to be more than just my lovers. They wanted me to become their partner in life. To guard me for the rest of my days. To shield me from anyone who meant me harm. For all my initial shock, as the seconds ticked by, I realized that this sounded like a dream come true.
They wouldn’t go anywhere.
They would stay right by my side.
Fierce.
Fearless.
Willing to destroy anybody who wanted to mess with their happiness.
I would have been a fool to pass on this.
“Okay. Let’s do it,” I finally told them, holding back a sniffle. Leo started to jog off, I had to thrust my arm up, palm facing him. “Not so fast. There are still some technical issues. For starters, I don’t have a dress for the occasion. Then, there’s the legal issue. I know all sorts of crazy things happen in Vegas, but you can’t expect the chapel staff to allow you all to stand up as a groom.”
“I get the dress part, but who gives a fuck about legal issues?” Leo asked. “Besides, since when did we do things the legal way?”
“We can bribe the chapel staff, Piper,” Matteo suggested, his lips curled into a cunning smile. “It’s nothing a few hundred bucks can’t fix.”
“There’s something else, too,” I pointed out. “The name on the marriage license. Okay, we can get it right away, but I love you all too much to decide whose name will be on that marriage license. Can you please decide?”
“Yeah,” Cesare nodded in agreement. “Listen, we’re going out to get you that dress.”
“How do we decide?” Leo asked, following the other two to the door.
“Move your ass,” Cesare ordered, his voice fading in my ears as his friend clicked the door shut behind him.
I blew all the air out of my lungs and sat down on the bed, running both hands through my hair.
I had managed to overcome my surprise when I offered them my take on the matter. Yet, that didn’t mean I had fully comprehended what I had agreed to.
Marriage.
With all three of them.
I hadn’t prepared myself for this. A casual trip to Sin City—that was all I had been hoping for. A few days full of fancy dinners, expensive drinks and sex.
Cesare and Matteo had been just as stunned as me when they heard Leonardo’s crazy suggestion, but they thought twice when he made his case. So, if I did object to this, I wouldn’t have just to confront Leo. I would have to confront all of them.
Nonetheless, with time ticking by, I discovered that confrontations were absolutely pointless. Why would I throw away something so precious to me? Those men had been my guardian angels. They had proven their love to me. That love was pure and selfless. Why should I have turned them down? Because this had come out of the blue? So what? It might have been decided in a snap, but it was a logical step. At least, as logical as it could be with my men.
Once they were back, they gave me the dress they had promised me. I laid it down on the bed and took a step back. I marveled at the lace hems, picturing the scene of my wedding. One bride and three men posing as groom. Part of me wanted to laugh out loud, and for longer than five or six seconds. It sounded so weird. So out of the ordinary. Something I would have made fun of a few months back. But then, a bigger part of me didn’t find this funny at all. It sounded amazing. I would have them all. Three, fantastic men, ready to fall into the fire for me. There were women out there who couldn’t find even one, but I had found three.
The next morning, I started getting ready in earnest. I called the hairdresser and arranged an early-afternoon appointment with her. Before that, I went out to town and bought me a pair of white heels for the occasion.
Matteo had texted me a list of possible venues to choose from, which was great. I knew there were hundreds of chapels in Sin City. Some of them were bound to be terrible. My hunch was proven correct when I laid my eyes on the first two. The funny thing was, they were top rated. Both of them featured professional Elvis impersonators as officiants.