Roman ...

The wedding day arrived like a whirlwind in a flurry of activity, nervousness, and excitement.

My parents were finally going to meet Hannah the morning before the wedding. When I announced our wedding plans to them, they wanted to visit immediately, but I needed to make sure that Hannah would be prepared for such an intimidating meeting. I warned Hannah the night before that they would arrive.

When the doorbell rang, Hannah and I were waiting in the dining room to greet them with breakfast prepared on the table. My father entered the room first and we hugged before my mother entered, commenting on how well I was keeping everything in the house, including myself.

"This must be our soon-to-be daughter-in-law," my father said with a grin as he and my mother swarmed Hannah, taking in her beautiful appearance and telling me what a lovely young woman she was.

When we finally sat down to eat, Father was at the head of the table with my mother on his right, me on his left, and Hannah beside me.

"I nearly fainted when Roman called us to tell us that you’re engaged," my mother said to Hannah. "I thought, ’she must be a very special woman to win Roman’s heart so quickly.’"

Hannah smiled and blushed. "Roman is very kind and courteous,"

Hannah said. "Any woman would be lucky to marry your son." I discreetly placed a hand on Hannah’s thigh and gave it an encouraging squeeze. It must have been hard for her to say those things, whether she meant them or not.

"You’ve shown yourself to be more than capable of being a responsible businessman," my father said to me, "and I hope you fulfill your role as a dutiful and caring husband as well."

"Roman has done more for me already than you may realize, Mr. Thaddeus," Hannah said, glancing at me.

"Please, call me Preston," my father said to Hannah. "And I would expect nothing less from him."

Throughout the duration of breakfast, Hannah genuinely laughed at my father’s jokes and my mother admitted that she was proud to call Hannah her daughter-in-law.

On the way to the museum, Hannah and I made out in the backseat of the car and held each other as we got closer to our destination. "This is it," I said to her as the museum came into view.

"If someone had told me last year or even last month about the events surrounding my wedding," Hannah said, "I would never have believed them. Not in a million years."

I heaved a deep sigh. "I know the feeling," I said to her. "If we can get through this day together, later we can take a deep breath and relax."

I was stroking Hannah’s hair as she laid against my chest. The car stopped in front of the museum, and we reluctantly pulled apart.

"I need to go find Lori and Lauren," Hannah said. "I’ll see you later."

"Later," I said, winking at her. Hannah closed the car door, and I watched her walk up the steps and into the museum. It was still early, but Hannah had a lot to go over with Lori and Lauren before the wedding could begin. I still had to go pick up Hannah’s rings.

When I returned to the museum and stepped inside, every detail that Hannah, Lori, and Lauren had planned came together in a beautiful and elegant picture of wedding perfection.

I hurried to the west wing of the museum to meet up with my groomsmen Nick, Wade, and Gabe. They had my suit ready, but I could have gone without the verbal barrage of marriage jokes. When we were dressed, Wade pulled

out a small bottle of vodka and we each had one shot together to celebrate my last moments as a bachelor.

The huge main foyer was packed with people. All the chairs were filled and there were people standing along the columns that flanked the center.

A small group of musicians played tranquil classical music, and the organist took over as our wedding party began to file in. My parents accompanied me up the aisle first, and I waited for them to take their places in the front row before I stood at the front of the room with

the wedding officiant.

The crowd of people took pictures and smiled in delight as Lauren came forward draped on Nick’s arm. They parted and took their places at the front with me.

Next, Lori walked forward with Wade and Gabe flanking her on either side. She looked radiant in her pink dress, and I had to hold it together as Wade and Gabe both whispered something in her ears. Lori blushed, but she smiled as she took her place next to Lauren.

The moment had arrived for me to see my bride walk up the aisle. People were chatting quietly and glancing behind them at the door. As soon as Hannah and her brother appeared at the doorway, the organist would begin the bridal march and the crowd would stand.

There was no movement in the doorway, although plenty of time had passed for Hannah and Freddy to appear.

I shared a puzzled look with Lori, and Nick leaned close to me, asking if Hannah was OK.

"No!" I heard Hannah’s distant shout just outside the massive foyer doors, and I immediately broke into a run down the aisle to see what was wrong. Wedding superstition be damned, I was going to make sure my bride was safe. "I don’t even want you here," Hannah was saying as I whipped around the corner to see Hannah and her father, Court Macalester, in a head-to-head standoff. He had his finger in Hannah’s face, and I nearly lost control of my anger.

"Back the f*ck off, Court," I said, stepping up next to Hannah and pushing his hand out of the way. "If Hannah doesn’t want you here, then I don’t want you here either."

"Freddy is walking me down the aisle," Hannah added, "not you, Father. You couldn’t even be bothered to show up to the wedding rehearsal."

"If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be having this wedding, Hannah," Court shouted at his daughter. Freddy and Edward stood a distance behind Court, not saying a word.

"Don’t you dare take credit for what Roman did for me," Hannah shouted back at him. I gently took Hannah’s arm to try and help calm her down, pulling her toward me.

"That’s right, Roman, put your bride in her place," Court said. I snapped my attention up to him, feeling the heat of my fury take over.

"Excuse me?" I asked him, stepping in front of Hannah to get face-toface with Court.

"Tell her that as her father I have every right to walk her down the aisle," Court shouted around me at Hannah. I nudged his shoulder to indicate that he needed to back up.

"You’re not going to talk to Hannah like that," I said to Court, taking a step toward him. "You have no right to anything that belongs to her."

"Roman," Hannah called from behind me, "he’s not worth it, just make him leave."

"I’m not going anywhere," Court shouted, taking a step closer to me so that we were toe-to-toe.

"Please don’t do this you two, not here," Hannah pleaded.

Freddy stepped forward to the left of his father. "Back off, Roman, I’m tired of you sticking your nose in our family affairs."

"Whatever you have to say concerning Hannah, who is about to be my wife, you can say it in front of me, Freddy," I said to him.

"Don’t talk to my son like that," Court snapped at me.

"Well teach your son to use some goddamn manners," I said to Court.

My anger at him for what he had done to Hannah, his own daughter, was boiling over, and I wanted to hit him. "I didn’t even want to invite you to our wedding at all, you sleazy piece of sh*t."

Court swung a fist at me that I saw coming, and I stepped back, knocking his punching arm into Freddy. Edward stepped in to attempt to hold me back while Freddy caught the brunt of his father’s blow, but Court inelegantly gathered himself, pushing Edward aside to shove me.

"Stop it, please!" Hannah shouted, but I was running on pure anger and adrenaline. I was able to grab Court’s arm and yank him toward me, hitting him in the chin with an uppercut.

He staggered backward and his knees buckled while someone caught me from behind. When I regained my balance, I was about to introduce Court to my other fist when someone grabbed my arms from behind, restraining me, while Wade and Gabe stood between me and Court Macalester. Freddy and Edward were trying to help their father, but he shrugged them off, glaring past Gabe and Wade at me.

"I suggest you leave, Court," Nick said from behind me where he held my arms. "The police are on their way about a disturbance." With fury in his eyes, Court adjusted his suit jacket and glared at Hannah, who had moved to stand beside me. Nick released my arms and stepped forward to join Wade and Gabe as human barriers, protecting us from Court’s childish behavior.

"Just go, Father," Hannah said. "We don’t want you here."

"You’re such an ungrateful little girl," Court hissed at Hannah.

"Get out, now, Court," I said, "or I will physically throw you out myself." Court waved a dismissive hand, spun on his heels, and walked briskly toward the exit.

"Boys, come on," he shouted over his shoulder before he pushed the exit door open with a forceful bang and walked out of the building.

Freddy stared at us with an expression of disgust while Edward stood by his side looking more sad than angry. "I can’t believe you’re treating your own father that way," Freddy said to Hannah. "You could have just let him walk you down the aisle, it’s no big deal."

"No big deal?" Hannah repeated. "I tried to tell you what that man did to me, and you called me a liar."

"You’ve changed, Hannah," Freddy said. "And I don’t want to be around for you to start treating me like sh*t, too. Come on, Edward." Freddy turned away, leaving Hannah gaping beside me. I tried to pull her close to me, but she shook me off.

"You’re not walking me down the aisle, Freddy?" Hannah called after him.

"Father offered and you refused him," Freddy said. "Just walk yourself, Hannah."

The look on Hannah’s face was devastated, and my chest filled with anger to see her father and her brother treat her that way. "Edward?" Hannah said quietly, but he turned away from her, following Freddy out the door.

"Hannah," I said gently, reaching for her, but she sidestepped just out of my reach.

"Back off, Roman," she said. "Just leave me alone." My heart sank as Hannah lowered herself onto a bench in her elegant wedding dress looking disheartened at a time when she should have been her happiest. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed.