Page 10 of Passion

I nodded as he continued. “That’s my baby. Take care of her.”

“You don’t have that to worry about. I don’t slack on taking care of what’s valuable to me. I can already tell that she is one of a kind.”

He smiled slightly. “That, she is. Welcome to the family.” He glanced to his side when the woman I assumed to be Giselle’s mother walked up. “This is also Doctor King.”

She smiled politely. “I’m Solé King.”

I nodded. “Gentry Fleming. What type of doctor are you?”

“Psychiatrist. Welcome to the family. We can talk later. It’s time for your pictures.”

I nodded and turned my attention back to my beautiful bride. I wanted to just soak up as much information as possible, but I didn’t want her to feel like she was on a damn job interview. She stared at me, and her gaze was just as intense as mine probably was. Our chemistry was high upon sight. I just hoped it would stay that way once we knew each other.

I grabbed her hand and brought it to my lips. After kissing it, my eyes remained closed, just soaking in her aura. Kerri had this shit right as hell so far. “What are you thinking about?”

I opened my eyes and gazed into her brown ones. “How perfect this seems already. I’m extremely attracted to you.”

She blushed. “I’m attracted to you too. I told Kerri that I have to be able to stand looking at you, and damn. She did me right.”

I chuckled. “That was why she was chuckling so much during my interview. We somewhat had the same answer.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “Kerri interviewed you too? No wonder this happened so fast. I was expecting it to take longer, at least a couple of weeks.”

“Yeah, me too. I could tell by her mannerisms that she had someone in mind though. Actually, y’all look alike.”

Giselle chuckled. “I thought we did too.”

I pulled her closer to me, and I could feel the shudder go through her. I kissed her forehead, and before I could proceed, my brother said, “They are ready for pictures, man.”

I nodded. “Giselle, this is my brother, Emerson.”

“Nice to meet you, sister-in-law,” he said as he extended his hand.

She shook it and smiled. “Likewise.”

We made our way back inside the space to take pictures. The guests had all been directed to the reception area. Hopefully, they had enough food to serve them all. At least thirty extra people had shown up. Once we made it to the front, the photographer smiled and began taking pictures. Since our parents were here, they got pictures with the four of them. I noticed they seemed pretty friendly with each other. That was a plus.

Mrs. King seemed extremely friendly. We took quite a bit of photos, but then she wanted a photo with her brothers. While the one that looked more like her and her mother seemed somewhat mild, the one that she said was from Houston had the swag of a whole ass gangsta. While I wasn’t no weak ass nigga, I was nowhere near the streets.

They stood on either side of me, and we took pictures with just the three of us. They were quiet as hell. I only suspected that they were being protective of her. When she joined us to take another picture, it seemed both of their demeanors softened for a bit. The one standing next to me said, “I’m Vegas. I live in Houston, but I can be here faster than the speed of light. You feel me?”

I glanced at him. They were indeed being protective; I had sisters, so I understood. “I gotchu, boss. I have two sisters, and I’m the same way about them.”

He nodded, then we gave our attention to the photographer for the picture. Before he walked away, he shook my hand. Her other brother came to me and introduced himself. “I’m Daniel. That’s my wife, Jorielle, over there and my daughter, Jream. We live here in Tallahassee, so we’ll be seeing you around.”

I nodded as he walked off. There was no handshake or any pleasantries. My sisters couldn’t make the nuptials since it was somewhat last minute. I turned to Giselle, and she slowly shook her head and chuckled. “I swear he thinks he’s my bodyguard. I’m sorry.”

“I assume you’re talking about Daniel.”

“Yeah,” she said and rolled her eyes.

“It’s cool. I have two sisters, so I get it. They couldn’t make it today. One lives in Miami, and the other lives in DC. My brother came from Texas, but he works for himself.”

“What part of Texas? Joel… I mean Vegas lives in Houston.”

“He’s not far from Houston. He’s a professor at Prairie View A&M University.”

“Oh, cool. Yeah, I think they may be close to an hour apart. So if we ever go out that way, we’ll both have someone to visit.”