Cadence

Epilogue

Five years later...
Cadence

"No, no, no, tak ne poydet, tsvety nuzhny segodnya." Anya groans into the cellphone in her hand.
(That will not do, we need the flowers today).

Glancing to her over my shoulder, she offers an apologetic smile and continues to argue with the florist on the phone.

It's my wedding day, and as Anya keeps on telling me 'without flowers there is no wedding.' She loves flowers more than her son I'm sure.

"Anya, it's fine. We don't need flowers, we could go pick some from the bushes." I say to her reassuringly.

After the amount of hours she's spent on helping to plan the wedding, I'm sure she's about ready to collapse. The doctors told her to take it easy, as her anxiety is causing detrimental effects. Though, she's too like Nicolas and refuses to change her life because a doctor says so.

"Nyet. tsvety ne podlezhat obsuzhdeniyu." She shakes her head at me and walks out of the room.
(No. The flowers are non negotiable.)

I sigh a laugh and smooth my hands down my white dress. The material is gorgeous. Many sized diamonds are sewn into the dress, mainly on my chest area and some at the bottom.

It hugs my waist and breasts perfectly, accentuating one of my favourite assets.

Dress below

As I look at myself in the mirror, I think back to the night Nicolas proposed. Different would be an understatement.

The man took me on a mission to kill a human trafficker, only to propose with the wedding band in the criminals severed hand. His exact words were 'I was feeling poetic.'

I said yes of course, then we went back to killing the sick bastards. What a night to remember.

"Did somebody ask for flowers?" Two voices ask from the door, turning in my white heels, I meet Jules and Hopes shining eyes.

They're both holding a bouquet of various different flowers that I have no doubt Anya picked out.

I squeal and run at them, I haven't seen them since I left for Greece, god how I've missed them.

"You look stunning." They say in unison.

A tear starts to wedge it's way out of my eye, a lump forming in my throat at seeing my best friends after so long apart.

"Hey, no crying. You're gonna ruin your makeup." Hope scolds grabbing me a tissue.

I smile at her and laugh. How did he get them here? Hopes been busy in Germany with Jamie and Jules has been in London for the past few years doing god knows what.

"You ready?" They ask, and I smile big.

"Yeah."

***

I've never been so nervous. What if he takes one look at me and decides he doesn't love me anymore. Is my makeup alright? I shouldn't have eaten that sandwich.

Blowing out a breath, I look to Jules and Hope, both of them in light pink bridesmaid dresses, picked out by Anya. I would've had them in red, but eh. I don't mind. They both look gorgeous nonetheless.

"Cadence." A voice says from behind me.

Turning around, I see Alexei standing in a suit. "Wow." He breathes. "You look really pretty."

I smile at him, "You don't clean up too bad yourself."

"I'm always wearing a suit, but Thankyou." He chuckles, walking up to me.

He offers out his arm and I instantly take it. We've grown so close after these past few years, especially in Greece. He helped me to find myself again after what happened with Nicolas.

I never told him it was Nicolas Volkov though, I knew as soon as I did he'd be running after me.

Alexei's like a big brother to me, always checking on me and what not. I've only ever had this type of bond with one other man in my life. Ben. I wish he was here today.

I wish he never got shot. That we never decided to go after James. But I know that if we didn't then James could be killing and hurting many more people. It was a small price to pay, but it hurt all of us more than anything.

"Shall we." He says looking down at me from his tall six foot seven.

I smile at him once more, "We shall."

Stepping forward, I watch as two bodyguards open the large double doors, white and gold hits me like a tidal wave. And many, many different coloured flowers placed strategically around the venue.

Hope and Jules walk first, as the song turning page starts playing. Holding brown baskets in their hands, they sprinkle rose petals onto the floor as they walk.

Once they've made it to their seats, I begin to walk, hearing gasps and quiet "shes beautiful's". Only, I don't look up until I feel Alexei let go of my arm.

He takes my hand in his and holds it out in front of me, I meet no longer cold eyes. But soft ones. Ones filled with nothing but pure love, and utter devotion.

It feels as though the world stops spinning, he looks at me like I'm the most beautiful girl on the planet, like I'm the only thing that matters to him. Then I see it. A small tear. Dancing the edge of his bottom lashes, until it falls when my hand lands in his.

The image shocks me to my core. And his tear sets my own off. Two tears drop from my eyes and I let out a shaky breath, standing next to him. He cups my face in his tattooed hand and says something that makes me fall in love with him all over again.

"Ty — prichina, po kotoroy b'yetsya moye serdtse, ty — tot, kto zastavlyayet moyu dushu ulybat'sya, vse, chto ya kogda-libo delal, — eto dlya tebya, ty — delo, za kotoroye ya srazhayus'.Eto ty malyshka. Eto vsegda bylo i vsegda budet.Ty."

He said it. He finally told me what those words meant.

( You're the reason my heart beats, you're the one who makes my soul smile, everything I have ever done is for you, you are the cause I fight for.It's you malyshka.It always has been and it always will be. You.)

I used to think that love was stupid and weakened you, but then I met him.

AN

Word count 1088

If you enjoyed this story then I'm sure you'll enjoy the following book Stone Cold, there are some scenes that have Cadence and Nicolas in them. Their story still isn't over yet.