Redeeming (Red Lips & White Lies Book 2)

Every eye in the room was on her,

but she fell in love with the only man who made her feel seen.

—Callen’s Secret Thoughts

“You nervous, son?” Dad asks as he fixes my tie.

“Not even a little bit,” I answer honestly. “Just ready to call her my wife.”

“Don’t ever forget this feeling, Callen. When you’re tired and stressed and you and Caitlin have been fighting for days, remember how you feel right now. Remember how she makes you feel after you’ve had your ass handed to you on the field, or when the weight of the world is weighing you down. You think life has been hard this year, but there will be some really great years, and there will be years that make this one look like a cakewalk. If you always put each other first, you’ll get through all those years together. It’s when you stop doing that, that things go off the rails.”

“Thanks, Dad.” I hug him, so fucking thankful he’s here for this.

Here for it all.

Not many people get the kind of dad I’ve had.

The kind of man I was given to look up to.

And with that thought, my brothers walk into the room, carrying the bottle of Maccallan I’m told is for the traditional pre-wedding drink in our family.

This group of men who’ve always been there for me.

My family.

“One more wedding in this house,” Cooper smiles, probably remembering when he married Carys here, where Caitlin and I will be saying our vows in less than an hour. Less people this time, but that’s what Caitlin wanted. No fuss. No muss. Just us, our closest family, and my brother Declan marrying us, like he’s done for a few of the people who will be here today.

Guess it’s kind of a good-luck tradition.

Not that it matters. We make our own luck. And when I look at Caitlin, walking down the makeshift aisle in our backyard an hour later in a soft white gown billowing around the beautiful body that gave us our daughter, I know I’m the luckiest man in the world.

This woman is mine.

She never actually gave up on me, even if I was scared she had.

Deep down, Caitlin loved us enough to give us this chance. Our second chance. And I’ll never stop making sure she knows how loved she is.

Her father stops in front of me and kisses her cheek before he gives me her hand. “You don’t need my permission, Callen. But you’ve got my blessing, and you’ve got my respect. You’ve earned them, and I don’t give either easily. Be good to each other.”

He shakes my other hand, then moves to sit next to Amelia, who has a sleeping Anastasia on her shoulder.

Caitlin and I turn to face each other, and her stunning smile splits her face. “You look beautiful, kitten.”

She leans up on her toes and brushes her lips over mine, and Declan clears his throat. “You’re supposed to say the vows first, Caitlin,” he teases.

But she doesn’t care.

Caitlin has never cared about what she was supposed to do.

“Then say the vows, Declan,” she tells him with her eyes locked on mine.

“Do you, Caitlin Beneventi, promise to love, honor, and cherish Callen, even during football season?”

She flutters her long lashes, excitement rolling off her in waves. “I promise.”

“Callen, do you promise to love, honor, and cherish Caitlin, even when she makes you go on a cookie run in the middle of the night?”

I silently laugh at that last part I have no doubt Cait snuck in at the last possible minute. “I promise.”

Declan starts to give his proclamation of the marriage, but my girl doesn’t wait for it. She steps into me, and I gather her face in my hands as our mouths meet. In the back of my head, I hear Declan say, “husband and wife,” but it doesn’t matter. No piece of paper changes that this woman is mine.

And moments later, when Amelia hands me Anastasia, and I hold my girls in my arms as the photographer poses us in front of the lake, I smile, without a doubt in my mind that I’m the luckiest man who ever lived.

Caitlin tips her chin up to me and kisses my jaw, then Anastasia’s head. “I love you, Callen.”

“I will always choose you, Caitlin. In every life. In every way. I will choose you to love. I promise.”