Before He Was Mine (Before Series, Book 2)

From Theo

A THEO POV

Theo wondered how his sister and goddamn brother-in-law thought he would manage sitting across from Adelaide throughout this entire wedding meal without going insane.

She'd walked into the parlor at Rosecrest Manor—regal and beautiful—and time suspended itself.

Time stopped, but love had remained.

Because if the past year had taught Theo anything, it was that love wasn't something that followed the laws of man. And at that moment, Theo wasn't going to follow the laws of the ton either. He'd be damned if he wasn't going to kiss her. It hadn't mattered if there was a room full of people watching.

And now he had to sit, staring at her, for the entirety of this ridiculous meal.

Theo was actually quite pleased about the meal, seeing as though it meant that Emilia and Will had finally married. It was over two years too late, but perhaps that made it all the more significant.

But as Theo watched Addie take graceful bites of her custard dessert, licking along the edges of her ripened lips, he could care less about the formal affair. He reckoned he wasn't the only one wishing it to end either, not with the way Will kept shifting in his chair.

Theo preferred not to think about that, however. He didn't want to venture into the thoughts of Will Graham as he looked at Theo's sister with longing. Though that fool of a man deserved to wait. He'd made Emilia wait too long for this day. It only proved the goodness in Emilia's heart that they'd been able to come to this point.

Yes, Will deserved his uncomfortableness. But what had Theo done to deserve such blissful torture?

Refocusing his attention on Addie, he admired her poise. She took a deep breath, drawing Theo's attention to the flesh that rose above her bodice. Lord help him, but Addie had grown considerably more endowed in the time since he'd last seen her. Theo didn't think he had groaned aloud, but the princess flicked her blue eyes upward, catching his own with a mocking smile on her face. How was it that she knew how to tease him in any situation?

It had been too many months since he'd seen her face. And this distance between them right now—all two meters of it—was much too far. It felt like a waste of such an opportunity. To be in her presence without touching her was an awful penance that Theo had served over and over again. He couldn't wait for his sentencing to be over and to start living as Addie's husband.

Emilia and Will had played a cruel trick by seating Addie and Theo so far away from each other. If they were sitting side by side, everything would be considerably more manageable. For God's sake, Theo simply wanted his hands on their child. What if the babe were kicking right now, and Theo couldn't feel it because this wretched dining room table was in his way?

When the whole ordeal ended, Emilia disappeared from the room. She left a desperate-looking Will behind, staring at the door she had gone through.

"Just go," Theo said to Trotten, feeling thoroughly exasperated. "Put me out of my misery from having to watch what you're thinking. Christ, after hiding treasonous secrets for two years, you'd think you'd be able to mask your thoughts better."

"I'm done pretending about anything, Theo." A pleased grin began to spread across Will's face as he took two strides toward the door. Then he stopped, swiveling toward Theo again.

"I love your sister," he said, his expression and voice suddenly solemn. "I don't know if I've ever spoken it so plainly to you before. I don't just want her or even need her, Kingfield. I love her."

"I know, Will," Theo said, equally earnest in his words."Otherwise, I would never have let you get close to her again. Now go."

Will disappeared, and Theo took that as a license to disappear as well. He would always worry about Emilia in some way, but he knew he didn't need to. Not with her own brilliant mind and the protective arms of her new husband.