The Husband Beside Me (The Devil Trilogy Book 2)

My Thoughts and Acknowledgements

The Wedding Dress

Ceremony

Reception

Uninvited Guest

St. Regis

The Wedding Night

A Broken Rule

Sorry

High School Revealed

Wounds

Christmas

Dinner

Painful Ache

Sofia

Unwelcomed Visitor

The Next Day

Sky-Blue Eyes

The Truth

Tomorrow

Inviting Him In

A Change

The Final Push

Deidra

The Funeral

Together

Family

My Gift

The Layover

Bora Bora

My Scar

Back To Reality

Linda

My Surprise for Daimon

The Truth

Now What?

Thank you for showing me true strength

I think it’s hard for most people, including myself to understand the whole process of writing. It’s different for everyone, but when I started down this path, I did it for me. I wrote a story that had burrowed itself inside my mind. Memoirs of an Immortal, was an adventure and a blessing. I don’t know if I’m blessed with the gift to write well enough for my readers. There are those who love my stories, those who hate them and after some soul searching, I realized that that was okay. They are my words and my characters, all of which express emotions and ideas that I cherish. That being said, love my stories or hate them but at least I am writing for me and for those of you who are joining me on my journey, I welcome you with open hands and thank you. Thank you for adding the silver lining to my cloud nine. xoxox

Part of the sales of this book will be going to charity; both my father and sister deal with this horrid disease. It’s been around me my whole life. Watching them both suffer and not being able to help, or to truly understand their pain, was very difficult for me. This book is dedicated to both of them. I cannot truly show you their strength and resilience but I can try but writing about it.  Happy reading and thank you.

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“Addie, is it true?” That was the first question Sofia asked me when I answered her Skype call.

“Is what true?” I asked, hoping she was alluding to something else.

“Some girl from my humanities class just came up to me and told me you were marrying Daimon Evans. She said he does business with her dad and they received an invitation and that I was mentioned in the announcement in the
New York Times
,” Sofia rambled nervously. I watched as she chewed at her bottom lip waiting for me to answer.

“I’m sorry, kiddo. I should have told you sooner, but with all that has happened, well, it kind of slipped my mind.” I shrugged, not knowing what else to say to her. What could I tell her? Daddy just got an operation and I had no money to pay for it? Or should I have told her I sold myself?
What?

“Addie! Why didn’t you tell me? I don’t like him!” she cried out.
That makes two of us.

“Sofia, I wouldn’t be marrying him if I thought he was a bad person. You have to give me credit for knowing what I want out of life,” I snapped at her, not realizing I was losing my temper. If she only knew she was one of the main reasons why I was marrying him.

“What else are you keeping from me?” she asked angrily.

“Why?” I asked, worried the girl from her humanities class might have told her more than I did.

“The diner and Dad? Tell me, Addie, is everything okay?” Sofia asked anxiously as she fidgeted in her seat.

God, this girl was too observant for her own good.
Why couldn’t she be self-absorbed like most girls her age?

“Dad got worse, and well, he had to have an operation. Everything is okay, better than okay. He’s no longer sick. Sofia, you’ll be so happy when you see him. He even gained weight.” I attempted throwing as much information at her before she completely lost me.

“What do you mean, Dad had an operation?” she began to cry, her eyes widened and lips quivered. Not exactly the response I wanted.

“Dad collapsed a while back, and well, the doctors said he needed the operation desperately. Once he got the operation, he became a million times better,” I smiled, trying to reassure her. Ever since Sofia left for school, I tried keeping most of it from her, wanting her to focus on herself and her studies.

“The diner?” She sniffled a little.

“I had to sell it. I needed to pay for Dad’s operation,” I lied. Sofia’s mind was at work; she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and straightened up.

“But the diner was in debt. How could you—? Never mind, are you seriously marrying Daimon next week?” she asked again. Sofia wasn’t the least bit pleased by anything I’d told her. I loved my little sister to death, but she drove me crazy with her constant questions, but like me after our mother’s death, we changed. The way Sofia dealt with things was with direct questions or complete avoidance. If she didn’t like the answers, she avoided it vehemently.

“Yes and you have to be there. Daimon said he’d drive you in and out so you won’t be missing school,” I smiled. Yale wasn’t far and I would need her to be here with me.

“Addie…”

“Just be happy for me, please?” I wanted her probing to stop. I was worried if she pushed any further, I might just tell her everything. “Dad’s here. Do you want to speak to him?” I knew she’d want to see him, and it was a perfect excuse to get away from her and this conversation.

“Yeah, I want to see him,” she replied, choked up.

I smiled and called out for my father. He waved the moment he saw her and started asking about Yale, but Sofia wasn’t having any of that; she wanted to know how he was doing. He pointed at his belly and smiled. “Don’t I look great? I'm finally fat.” He smiled and I laughed.

My phone chimed. I picked it up but didn’t recognize the number. Opening the text message, the sender introduced herself as Jessica; apparently, my wedding planner. She asked to speak to me as soon as possible. I looked nervously at my phone not fully knowing the whirlwind events that were just waiting for me on the other side. I left my room and the conversation that my father and Sofia were having and let out a heavy sigh. Pressing the number attached to the message, it rang out.

“Yes, Ms. Sakis, this is Jessica Somer. I’m your wedding planner extraordinaire,” she gushed. She sounded like a take charge type of person.

“Yes, how are you?” I asked shyly, wanting nothing more than to run and hide away from the call and all it entailed.

“Well, at the present time, pretty swamped by your wedding details. Mr. Evans is pretty demanding and very specific. He said this wedding must be exactly the way you want. He instructed all that matters is you being happy and that money isn’t an issue.” Jessica sounded out of breath; I could hear her shuffling papers from the other side of the phone.

“Daimon said that?” I was somewhat surprised. Here I thought Daimon would just let me choose my dress and maybe not even that.

“I just need you to come down to my office, and please hurry; time is of the essence. I need to know what you like and dislike. Once I have everything I need from you, I will take over and organize everything. Can you be at my office in an hour?” she asked.

I knew there was no avoiding it. I sighed, resigned to the fact. “Yes. Where exactly is your office?”

****

I stood in front of an older building in midtown. I walked up the steps to a chic looking office that was filled with pictures of various events including weddings.

“Ms. Sakis?” A short blonde woman came out of her office and held out her hand to me.

“Yes, Ms. Somer?”

“Just Jessica.” She smiled as we shook hands. “I figure you should use my name since you’re going to be seeing me more than your husband-to-be,” she said as she waved at the seat in front of her desk with a smile. “So, Ms. Sakis…” she said as she sat down at her desk.

“Addie,” I corrected.

“Okay, Addie, tell me what you like? Extravagant? Opulent? Do you want the world to fawn at the sheer lavishness of your wedding? Colors! What colors do you like? Theme? Flowers?” Her run of questions did nothing but overwhelm and confuse me. My heart rate sped up to the edge of panic.

“I don't know really,” I said quietly, since I hadn’t really thought of anything.

“Okay,” she sighed, she seemed somewhat annoyed. “What do you imagine your wedding being like?” She waited, putting her hand to her chin.

“Elegant and simple,” I replied, twisting my engagement ring. “Nothing too over-the-top or luxurious.”

She nodded, listening to me. “Okay, I didn’t expect you to be so easy. Don’t you want the wealthy New York wedding?” she asked in disbelief.

“No. I want it to be effortless and classic. Nothing too pretentious or grand,” I said honestly.

“I actually like the idea. Young humble background marrying for love. It’s just you took me by surprise. Marrying Daimon Evans, one of the wealthiest New Yorkers, one would expect an ostentatious event, to show your wealth to the world.”

“I'm marrying Daimon, not his money.” I almost cringed, hoping lightning wasn’t going to hit me.

“Seeing you now, I know exactly the type of wedding I'm going to plan for you,” she said confidently, sitting tall in her chair, and picking up her cell phone.

“I feel like I should be nervous,” I smiled at her with a light laugh.

“You shouldn’t. Daimon got the best and I'm the best. You just leave it to me,” she winked and gave a reassuring smile. “I’ll be texting you the various appointments that I’ll need you to attend with me, starting with your dress. I’ve made an appointment for you at Kleinfeld, tomorrow morning at eight. You have to choose it tomorrow. Each day counts now.”