The Bourbon Diaries ✢ The Vampire Diaries FanFiction ✢ TVD FanFic ✢ TVDU FanFic

Chapter Sixty-Three - Stefanie Salvatore

One month later

Outskirts of Charlottesville, VA

Set on seven hundred acres of woodlands, meadows and lakes, Montague Veil was the perfect setting for Adam and Zara's wedding. However, the exclusive-use booking of the neoclassical mansion hotel almost never happened. Arranging a meeting with the hotelier at short notice was bad enough, but when the British gentleman greeted him and introduced himself as Richard "Call me Dick" Thrust, Adam found himself having to restart the compulsion several times due to repeatedly cracking up laughing. He had to be careful. If his behaviour started to resemble that of Phoenix, he'd be divorced by the end of the year.

The Heritage Chamber was where the Nikah was performed. Sitting on a baroque-style, white tufted bench, an arch of pink Juliet roses covering a stone fireplace behind them, Adam spent the ceremony holding Zara's hand reassuringly beneath the glass table in front of them. She kept her facial expression pleasant towards the Imam, but her returned grip was involuntarily tight. Getting tighter. Bone-crushingly tight. Nevertheless, he didn't let go. Adam's touch was the only thing keeping her together. There was an unwelcome guest at the ceremony, ruining her dream day, and Zara's composure was struggling.

She visibly relaxed the moment she was officially married. There was no chance of the intruder objecting to her marriage now. That's what had frightened her. It was important to her---and to Adam---that they did this properly. Her focus diverted to her new husband, her smile becoming warm and genuine. He was her soulmate, her rock, and a soppy mess with thick tears in his eyes. She wondered if she'd broken his hand. That wouldn't have been ideal; she was going to need those hands shortly.

Ceremony over, Zara finally pushed through the double doors leading out into the foyer, tugging Adam along with her. She was tense, wound up, and there was only one solution for that.

"Aren't you going to greet your brother, Zara?" a low voice said from behind her.

Zara spun around. He hadn't put a stop to her wedding like she'd feared, so she'd been willing to ignore his presence for the rest of the day and continue with the celebrations. Obviously, he wasn't going to let that happen. She glared up at her brother angrily, and---with him being six foot six---she had to tilt her head back high. "I don't know what my father was thinking, appointing you as my Wali, but your part is done, Karim, so go back to whatever criminal underground you came from."

"How much did Adam give you for the dowry?" he asked.

Zara was shocked into silence, anger boiling inside her, a snarl forming so viciously that she wrestled to keep herself from transitioning.

"That's none of your business," Adam growled tightly, stepping between them. Honestly, he'd transferred her every penny, not that she knew that yet. The Mahr was the only part of the wedding she hadn't cared about. But everything he'd had was hers now, because nothing would ever be more valuable to him than his wife. Besides, he would enjoy kissing her feet for an allowance. He would enjoy that very much.

Karim turned his attention to Adam, cocking his head, eyeing him judgmentally. "If you were a worthy husband to her, you wouldn't mind her transferring some over to her brother."

"Whoever said I was worthy of her?" Adam challenged.

Zara finally found her voice. "That's the only reason you didn't object to the wedding, Karim? You want money?" she barked.

He shrugged. "I know how much he earned. A hundred thousand an episode... fifty episodes... I may have been in juvie when I should have been in high school, but I can do basic math, Zara." A scheming smile drew across his lips. "Ten percent and I'll leave right now. Fifty percent and you'll never see me again."