Laughing, she pushed him gently away. “As exciting as that all sounds, I think they’d kill us if we did that. Especially Danika, she’s a frightening, little demon bug.”
Black eyes sprinkled with stardust twinkled merrily. “Aye, I suppose she would. But I’m here to confess something to you.”
Here stomach sank and for a second a terrible thought gripped her. “You don’t want—”
Chuckling, he shook his head. “Do you honestly think I’ve come down here to break your heart? Have you already forgotten my vow? Silly, little bird.” He flicked the tip of her nose.
Rolling her eyes, she stuck out her tongue. “Then what’s wrong?”
He sighed. “Last night I went to Kurt Smith’s house.”
“What?” She blinked, that’d been the last thing she’d expected to hear. Swallowing hard, she grabbed her stomach. “Why?”
“Because I had to, because you deserved that. Jacqueline deserved that.”
“What did you do?”
Clenching his jaw, his eyes never swerved from hers. “I punched him. Warned him to never do it again, and then I carved my initials into his chest.”
Her mouth dropped. He’d said it so casually, like it was nothing, but she could only imagine that it’d been much more savage. And as much as she didn’t like violence, she also couldn’t lie and say it bothered her. Kurt deserved worse, much, much worse.
“Why didn’t you tell me what you were going to do?”
“Because if I had would you have wanted me to go?”
“No.”
“Are you mad I did?”
“No.” She smiled, framing his cheek. “I’m not. But since you’re here, I have a question to ask you now.”
His brows lifted, silently urging her to continue.
“Peter.”
He inhaled sharply.
“Now that we’re getting married, what are you going to do about him?” She bit the corner of her lip, immediately sensing his anger at the mere mention of Peter’s name.
“What do you want me to do about him?” His fingers were firm on her wrist, his voice clipped. Like he was asking, but dreading to hear her answer.
Her lips curved. “What would Neverland be if Hook didn’t give that boy hell?”
Laughing, he pulled her in for a quick kiss. “I do so love you, Trishelle Page. And I couldn’t agree more.”
*
The wedding march started and Smee looked at her. Hook had left just minutes ago, sending his first mate in. It would be Smee that walked her down the aisle.
“Are you ready?” His Irish brogue lilted with good humor.
Holding her stomach, all she could do was nod. A year ago she’d been alone in her apartment, crying because her sister would never come back. She’d felt alone and thought she would always be. How wrong she’d been.
Today, she was marching down the aisle as guests (many of whom she didn’t know) stood, turning to stare at her. The ship was festooned with a multitude of flowers, starfish, pearls, and coral.
Fairies were gliding all around; their wands were out and pointed up, shooting bursts of colorful fireworks through the azure sky. A cat floated beside his seat with a jaunty top hat angled on his head.
Wizened women in robes and chubby twins wearing striped clothing beamed at her. Standing at the head of the ship were two groups—the men and women, members of hers and Hooks personal party. Besides Betty, her maid of honor, she didn’t know any of the others apart from the hasty introductions Danika had made earlier. Next to Betty stood a blonde with deep blue eyes, the one they called Red, and next to her was a Latin bombshell named Paz.
There was supposed to be one other couple, Alice and the Mad Hatter, but Danika had told her earlier that they’d be unable to make it due to a personal matter, but that they had something to share with everyone and wished to do it face to face. It was too bad, because Trisha had been really curious to meet the legendary Mad Hatter and his Alice, but the other ladies were nice enough.
Red had seemed sweet but she hardly talked. Just clung to a shaggy beast of a man with a wicked scar called Wolf. She’d been shy at first, but had eventually opened up, especially when Wolf had begun reminiscing about how they’d first met. A secret twinkle had filled their eyes and Trisha had had to look away before she started blushing from the heat of their gazes.
Paz she really liked though, she was also a human. They’d immediately hit it off, talking about how hard it’d been to believe in the unbelievable. Although Paz admitted it had been easier for her since she’d been dead when she’d met her Jinni.
The women’s mates were standing beside Hook. And while they all looked scrumptious in their black ties and suits, it was only Hook that she had eyes for.
Standing tall and erect, head held high, he was a proud pirate and her heart burst with so much love and desire that it brought tears to her eyes.