My dear little broccolis 💚💚💚

💚 So remember that this pic is RATED M, and it is not only for the sexy times. Some dark moments will be approached in this story, and they can trigger some people. This is a fair warning to remind you that this story sets place in a dark world, which means it is bound to mountains dark themes.

Love, Mina 💚💚💚

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Chapter 31: Wedding Bliss (4,1K)

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💚 So, I really hope that you enjoyed that last chapter … Because well, it was to be enjoyed … Mouahahahaha

💚 Also, I just wanted to point to that, though Ana did not say it, it is implied that her father has to approve of whoever would be her husband. She says she doesn't want to have to choose between the two of them, and it goes both ways.

💚ALSO! In case it wasn't clear enough, it's been several months since Ana and Christian have been together. Since the end of September, and we are now in May.

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Christian's PoV

Doing his best to not appeared bored out of his mind, Christian watched Katherine Kavanagh (now Cohen) open the dance with the man she had just married, up until this day, he had tried to get out from this particular event, but he had had no valid excuse. Especially after Katherine herself put an invitation in his mailbox. He felt like it would be disrespectful to ignore her like that when she personally invited him (as personal as it could get given the fact that they did not know each other that well), and when she several times helped Ana and he get together.

Mia had come with him, though it was because she had been invited herself by Katherine after Ana introduced the two girls to each other. Mia only stayed for the ceremony, spring break being behind her, she was submerged by papers and due dates and did not want to mess up her first year. But she still took a few hours to come to Katherine's wedding, and gush about the dress to Christian during the ceremony. Though all really he cared about that dress was how impracticable it seemed to be.

Still, he had to admit that Mia being with him made the time pass quicker. They had this game where they would try to guess what other guests were saying by reading on their lips, improvising after it turned out that Mia was really bad at reading lips. And now that Mia was gone, Christian estimated that he had to stay at least a couple of hours at the reception, before leaving without appearing like a total jerk.

He was sitting at the couple's table, which he actually found odd since he never exchanged more than five words with Katherine, but when Raymond moved seats to sit beside him whilst Eamon took his daughter away from her new husband, he suspected that his boss had some saying concerning his table placement.

Raymond did not say a word for a while, watching his Goddaughter smile with glee whilst talking and waltzing with her father. Christian glanced at his phone, repressing a grimace as he saw that barely ten minutes had passed. These were going to be the longest two hours of his life.

Whilst he kept his eyes locked on a spot in front of him, his peripheral vision watched Ana dance with Paul, her face serious and apparently very invested in whatever the two of them were talking about. She was wearing a short pink dress that only had one sleeve on which there was a flower, which seemed appropriate since the theme of the wedding was floral pink.

If he were honest with himself, Christian was slightly annoyed that Ana had chosen Paul yet again as her plus one. He knew that he was just her cavalier for the night each time and that she chose him because he was her easiest choice, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He couldn't exactly pinpoint what was bothering him about him. Maybe it was the way he looked at Ana, or maybe it was the fact that he had the possibility to take her out, without fearing consequences either from Ana or from Raymond.

"I am going to get my dance with Kate before it's too late, and she complains about her feet hurting," Raymond said, getting up and walking to his Goddaughter, to replace Eamon as her dance partner.

Mister Kavanagh placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead and left her in the hands of his friend before coming to sit back at their table, where Raymond used to sit. Christian said nothing, still wondering what he was doing there when he was obviously out of his element, and not in his place.

"I think Raymond is jealous," Eamon suddenly said, tearing Christian away from his lethargy. He turned his head to the older man, not sure if Mr Kavanagh was talking to him, or to himself. They weren't that close, after all.

Eamon had a small smile, his eyes looking away from his daughter, to land on Ana now dancing with his youngest son.

"Ana has always wanted to have this kind of fairytale wedding. But as time passes, she's not presenting any possible princes to the dragon. So I guess Raymond got around the idea that he would have to wait a while before giving his daughter this sort of happiness."

Christian nodded, not exactly sure if he was expected to give his opinion. He could understand what Eamon was saying, and see what Raymond could be jealous about, but that did not mean he had to have a say in it.

The two men watched Raymond pass from Katherine to Ana, making his daughter brightly smile and laugh at whatever he told her; and Eamon continued, probably trying to make conversation with Christian and make him feel less out of place,

"Though I understand that Ana's suitors aren't that eager to meet her father. I remember almost shitting my pants when Elena introduced us. And Elena is not his precious and only daughter."

This ought to catch Christian's attention. Though he kept quiet, he fully turned his upper body to Eamon, silently asking for more, and Eamon seemed only too eager to talk. Christian watched him take another glass of champagne, wondering if it was the alcohol that made him so chatty.

"I met my wife when I was working as a receptionist for Robinson Inc', probably five years after they skyrocketed in the business market. I didn't even know who she was, just that she would drop by every once in a while, without ever needing a pass or an ID. One day, I gathered the courage to ask her for dinner, and one thing leading to another, we dated for six months.

Strangely, at that period of time, I got promoted to secretary, but I didn't see it as strange at the time. Just as luck striking me again. And most importantly, I didn't know who she was to Raymond and Eric, which were my bosses.

So when Elena said that if we wanted to go further, I would need to meet her childhood friends, I thought nothing of it. But when I saw at that restaurant table that Raymond Steele and Eric Lincoln were sitting beside her, I almost fainted.

The new generation might be more scared of you, and more oblivious of Raymond, but back in the day, it was never good news to go up in his office. And though everyone pretended otherwise, everyone knew of the nasty rumours out in the streets concerning that man.

Needless to say that I barely spoke during the meal. I didn't eat much, and I probably sweat too much. Eric did try to be friendly, but Raymond can have a nasty glare that can freeze Hell over. Though I survived dinner, and I was happy to see the next day that I wasn't fired either."

Christian kept on looking at Eamon, though he noticed from the corner of his eye that Raymond had finished dancing with his daughter, and had disappeared somewhere.

"I asked Elena to marry me six months later. And the very same night I did, I got home to find Raymond waiting for me in my apartment. He scared the living crap out of me. I think the only other time he scared me like that was when Elena got pregnant with Ethan. Raymond is a scary man when he protects the ones he loves."

Eamon nodded to himself at this conclusion while Raymond took a seat next to him, a jovial smile on his lips. A waiter put down a small barrel, and Raymond gently tapped his friend's shoulder as he friendly inquired,

"Talking trash about me?"

"Always," Eamon retorted with a mischievous smile. It was clear that he was no longer the man who feared to cross his girl's brother (or substitute of it). He had grown to respect Raymond not out of fear, but out of the love they shared for the same woman, no matter how different their relationships to that person were.

Raymond took two whiskey glasses and poured some brown liquid out of the barrel on which Christian noticed a small date scribed. After giving one of the glasses to Eamon, Raymond explained,

"What Eamon fails to mention, is the fact that he was a lady's man back then. I was not going to let Elena get her heart broken like that."

The two men laughed together, their eyes falling back on the dance floor with a satisfied sigh. They took a sip out of their glass while Christian resisted the temptation to check his phone once again. He knew that the more he checked, the slower time would seem to be.

When he took his glass of water to his lips, mostly to busy himself, Eamon exclaimed with indignation, 'Water! Raymond serve him some whiskey! How can you let him drink water on a day like this?"

"Christian doesn't drink," Raymond said before Christian could even think of protesting in a way that wouldn't seem offensive. Eamon stared at him, dumbfounded, before shaking his head with sadness,

"Poor boy. You need to loosen up. It's not healthy to be uptight like that."

Christian did not retort anything, though he distinctly heard Raymond chuckle at the taunt. He was used to people saying that he was too rigid, judging solely on his social skills and diet, but he had learnt to not care the least in the world.

"I'm serious," Eamon insisted, pouring himself another glass of whiskey. "You need to appreciate the good things while you're young. And the good things don't like stick-in-muds. Did you ever even had a girlfriend with that sort of attitude?"

Christian barely gave Eamon any attention, though he glanced at the barrel, wondering how strong could that beverage be to untie Eamon's tongue like that. Raymond seemed to have followed his gaze because he explained,

"We opened the barrel this morning with coffee. And it has to be finished by tonight when Kate gets to her limo. The whiskey has been put into the barrel the day of her birth. I have one like that for every single one of them."

He pointed to the dance floor where the three Kavanagh were, as well as Ana. Katherine was dancing with her little brother, while Ethan was spinning her mother around. Ana, her, was waltzing with Elliott, animately speaking with him.

"The barrel is already half empty," Raymond added, which explained to him the friendly and open nature of Mr Kavanagh. After all, it was a happy day for him, alcohol made him even lighter. Raymond on the other hand barely seemed affected by the alcohol, though Christian suspected that he had stronger resistance to the amber beverage than his friend.

"Aren't you jealous, though?" Eamon asked, and Raymond shook his head, knowing what he was referring to.

"My time will come. And when I will walk Ana to the altar, I will ask you back that question," He replied with a smug smile.

The two of them laughed while Christian tried to not overthink what he could be doing instead of being here. Maybe he should have listened to Mia and asked Jose to come with him at the reception. At least, he would have someone to talk to while people danced, and their boss got drunk with the bride's father.

His eyes fell on the girl in question, who looked right back at him, something gleaming in her blue eyes before her older brother asked a dance from her. She smiled and took his hand letting him lead her back to the dance-floor.

"Your kids are doing this whole thing out of order, though," Raymond commented, his eyes also on the couple of siblings. "Shouldn't Ethan be the first one to get hitched, carry on the legacy of the name, and all?"

"Yes. I had always hoped that Ethan would get married first. In order, you know. Even though Elliott was a done deal since forever, I had always hoped that Ethan would beat them to it. Or at least, I figured I would know my future son-in-law by now."

"What do you mean?"

"He's been seeing someone for at least two years. And though he introduced us to all his past boyfriends, he keeps this one in the loop. Why would he keep us away from this particular relationship? I smell trouble!"

Though Christian pretended otherwise, keeping his eyes on the ever-moving dancers, his whole attention was on the conversation. He had no idea why Jose did not want to come out, but he didn't want Raymond to come to snoop around and out him before he was ready. And if Raymond started getting suspicious that his Godson was in some kind of trouble, he was definitely going to lead an investigation on that.

"Do you want me to look into it?" Raymond asked with seriousness, and though Eamon served himself with yet another drink, Christian could tell that he was serious as well.

"I don't know. It's his life, and I don't want to intrude. He is entitled to make his own mistakes, even in the love department. And Elena would kill me. But … what if the guy is just after Ethan's money? Or what if he's on drugs, and is trying to pull Ethan down with him? Or what if he's a guy toying with his heart, and cheating every chance he gets?"

"I'll look into it. If the guy is bad news, I'll have someone send a message. otherwise, we will wait for Ethan to tell us on his own," Raymond proposed, though everything in his tone was indicating that it was more of a statement. No matter what Eamon would say, Raymond would try to find out who Ethan was dating.

Subtly, he moved on his chair, hoping to catch his boss's gaze, and not even a second later, Raymond declared, "I could have Christian look into it. Ethan would never notice."

Christian repressed a smirk of victory, having led his boss to say exactly what he wanted, and he played the two men just as he planned, leading them away from that idea of finding out who was Ethan's boyfriend,

"The boyfriend is not bad news. He's just not out of the closet, yet."

The two men looked at him with suspicion, though Eamon seemed more relieved than suspicious. Christian held Raymond's gaze, knowing that every breath was important from now on and that he was in more danger than being under a lie detector.

"What do you mean? Do you know that guy?"

Christian kept his eyes on Raymond, as he said the most naturally in the world, "I saw them a couple of times together, and I saw the guy several times going into the building, or out. And he seems to be the kind of guy who is still in the closet. I think that your son is just waiting for his friend to come out to tell you."

Those were the exact words Eamon needed to hear. He heavily sighed with a relieved sigh and poured himself another glass of whiskey, celebrating his son's healthy relationship. Raymond, on the other hand, kept his eyes on Christian, probably scanning his very soul.

"For how long have you known?"

"A while. But it's not my business to talk about those kinds of things."

"And you're right! Ethan will tell us when they will be ready," Eamon jovially exclaimed, cutting short any further interrogations Raymond could have.

Christian returned his attention to the dancers, sensing that Raymond was still looking at him, but he pretended to ignore it. His eyes quickly fell on Ana who was dancing with Ethan, the two of them laughing. He kept looking from couple to couple, seeing that Elliott was dancing with his mother-in-law, and suddenly stood before him the bride.

For a second, Christian wondered if he should get up and pull a chair for her, but all his thoughts of chivalry died when she presented her hand to him, expecting him to take it. He stared at it, slightly confused. They did not know each other well enough for them to dance together.

"You can't come to my wedding, and not dance with me. I would be deeply offended and create a trend out of this on Twitter if you refuse."

The two older men snickered at Christian, clearly enjoying his lack of choice in the matter, and so he stood up, straightening his suit a little before following the blonde in white to the dance-floor. After a few steps, Katherine tilted her head up, forcing him to look down so he wouldn't appear as rude.

"Enjoying yourself?" She brightly smiled, and he gave her a small smile, that he knew convincing, despite the fakes behind it.

"As this is my first wedding, every experience is new and will forever be forged in my memory."

She smiled, flattered, before her brows suddenly furrowed, understanding what the sentence really meant.

"Gee! Ana is right. You are the master at eluding. A simple no would have sufficed. I know that men only come to weddings to get girls, and you already have one crazy brunette on your hands."

Christian simply smiled, noting in a corner of his mind that Ana apparently shared with her friends her thoughts on him. He didn't mind, but he had been curious to know, because though she often talked about her best friend, Ana never mentioned if she talked about him to her. On the other hand, he never even told Ana that Jose knew about them…

"What did you get me?" Katherine asked with a childish cantor, and for a second, Christian felt like it was Ana asking. They had the same way to scrunch their nose, using the same cute little voice and having the same sparkles of wider in their eyes.

"There's an envelope with my name on the back on the gift table," He eluded with a devious smile.

If there was one thing he knew he did right about this wedding, it was the gift. Mia had gone for matching personalised mugs, but Mia knew Katherine more than Christian. He knew that the three girls had already spent a few nights together, which made him laugh because Mia was always the one saying that she didn't have time to socialise with her studies. She even spent the night before with the girl, celebrating Katherine's bachelorette party.

He, on the other hand, he went after the only thing he knew for sure would please the bride. He had no idea how the groom would feel about it, but to be honest, he did not really care. Ana had mentioned at Christmas that her friend would be more than happy to get the cat back if he didn't want it, and so he got the now Mrs Cohen her own kitten.

It was a different breed than Bastille, but he made sure to take him young. And before going to pick up Mia, he snuck into Katherine's apartment and let the cat there in his cage, evident on the dinner table.

"Though, I think you might enjoy this present more than your husband will," Christian warned. Katherine beamed at the word 'husband', but swiftly squinted her eyes at Christian, warning him,

"If it's a coupon, I will come by your place, and throw it back at your face!"

"I truly hope you won't do that," He earnestly said, imagining the pain that he would be in if a cat was thrown at his face.

Katherine suspiciously looked at him, making Christian smirk, just in order to taunt her. And as he had expected, her reaction was similarly the same as the one Ana have had. But then, she shook her head, trying to regain her cool and she said,

"Ana says that she's spending her birthday with you." Though she had tried to sound detached, Christian still noticed the hints of sadness in her voice. She had probably hoped to spend her best friend's birthday with said best friend.

"She wants to go to Peru," Christian clarified. Because if Ana wanted to spend her birthday here, and then to Peru, it could be very easily arranged.

"That's her fancy excuse. But bottom line, she wants to spend her birthday with you, Christian. I mean, you're not stupid, you know that she can go to Peru whenever she wants," Katherine snapped, making Christian slightly frown.

This wasn't how he had seen this trip. Sure she had asked for his full attention, but he never saw the trip as an excuse to be alone with him. He simply thought that it was one of Ana's latest antics. She liked to travel, and Peru had famous landmarks that he knew she would enjoy.

Katherine seemed to understand how clueless Christian was, for she sighed, and explained, "Ana doesn't always say up front what she wants. That's how she is. She doesn't always say how she feels either because that's how Ray raised her. I'm not criticising my Godfather, I'm just telling you that Ana isn't used to speaking about her feelings, because her father never does.

And … well … She is getting attached to you. Even if she pretends otherwise, I can tell. And I know we don't know each other, but I'm asking you anyway. Don't break my friend's heart. She's already had her heartbroken by the loss of her Mom, and her grandad, and her brother. I don't want her to get her heart broken then again, and by love nonetheless."

This ought to be a surprise to Christian. He never expected his dance to turn out to be about Ana, and even less about him breaking her heart. It even seemed strange to assemble those words in that order in his head. He was about to assure Katherine that neither Ana or he ever intended to play with the other's heart when she shook her head, and precipitately said,

"You don't have to say anything or to promise me anything. I am not her Dad. I am just a friend looking out for another, and I am asking you this one favour. Please?"

Their song finished just as Christian acquiesced, and he returned to his table were Raymond and Eamon were animatedly talking with Elena about Jake's boarding school. Apparently, the two men were not that eager to send the youngest Kavanagh away, and he kept on pushing the issue with his mother. Christian noticed how Elena had a small smile when her eyes landed on the empty small barrel, and she played the two men in her hand like a pro, making them turn in her favour with an agile game of wording and timing.

Christian repressed a smile when he heard Raymond get beat down by Elena, at a game that he supposedly mastered, and he checked his phone for the time, feeling that he earned it. With a little luck, at least an hour would have passed, and now that he had danced with the bride, he could leave without being rude.

But when he lit his screen, he surprisingly saw that he had four missed calls from Jose, all rather close one to another. Without a word, he got up and headed to the bathroom, worried that something might have happened to his friend who knew where he was today, and he called him back as soon as he was alone.

Jose picked up at the first ring, and didn't even bother with the usual mundanities, "I need you right now, Christian. Please."

He ignored the bile rising in his throat at the panic clear in Jose's voice, and simply said, "I'll be at your place in half an hour."

Then he hung up and went back to his table, where Raymond and the Kavanaghs were now laughing. Christian didn't even bother knowing what it was about, he tapped Raymond on the shoulder, and whispered so low, that only his boss could hear,

"I have to check something. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

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💚Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed💚

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💚Cliffies! How I missed you! 😈😈😈

~ Anyway, question time:

💚What did you think of the moment between the three men?

💚What do you think of the wedding gift?

💚 What did you think of Kate's little talk?

💚What did you think of this chapter overall? And what do you think will happen next?

💚What was your favourite part?

💚Anyway, E L James owns the names of the characters from the Fifty Shades franchise, everything else is mine.

‼️FOR REVIEWERS‼️

Guest1: It seems that Christian fits that description, though we don't really know if Ray would approve of a mobster for his daughter.

Guest2: Haha, well, it seems that Ana is blind in that department, as for the rest ... we shall see...

Guest3: Well .. I did say that the sweet moments were gone ...

Love, Mina💚💚💚