Lizzy Pajori
Lizzy followed the wedding party into a large office, staying near the back of the crowd with Georgie.
Rae’s civil wedding was held in a law office downtown in one of the skyscrapers of Paris, which was evidently unusual. There was much bustling and hand-shaking when a tall man with frost at his temples arrived, and Wulf-The-Dom and Rae were introduced to the Mayor of Paris. Rae looked composed and sweet, even though Lizzy knew her expression meant that she was shy and overwhelmed.
At the wedding, Lizzy watched Wulf-The-Dom.
He was as polished as smooth alabaster, shaking the mayor’s hand, going through pleasantries, introducing Theo, who produced documents like the Certificat de Coutume, a Certificat de Celibat, some long-form birth certificates that he had translated into French, and some other paperwork that he made leap out of his briefcase with a snap of his fingertips. Through the whole thing, Theo spoke lilting, confident French that Lizzy couldn’t understand a word of. She preferred it when he spoke Spanish. At least she could pick up some of that.
The guy standing next to Wulf-The-Dom, his best man, looked familiar, but Lizzy couldn’t place him. He wasn’t a movie star or anything, too inbred-British looking, and well—Lizzy glanced at the guy’s thin blond hair and tried not to think ungenerous thoughts.
Wulf-The-Dom’s face seemed younger.
He had never looked old, but she had pegged him for his middle thirties, maybe. Certainly an adult.
Now, his small smile—so blissful, so easy—made him look younger. Late twenties, maybe. Maybe only a few years older than herself.
He moved differently, too. His posture had always been ramrod straight, but he had seemed stiff, like he was holding himself together with a hefty measure of control.
His shoulders, while still broad, seemed a fraction of an inch lower, and his chest seemed to move more easily when he breathed.
He seemed whole for the first time, like he wasn’t struggling to not turn away.
Not that all that had any bearing on Lizzy’s situation. Wulf-The-Dom had been hiding that he was spectacularly loaded and evidently connected to powerful people if he could summon the Mayor of Paris to officiate at his wedding with a day’s notice. Jeez.
Lizzy was hiding failure that she never wanted to relive.
It was different.
So different.