A Quartet of Desire

Chapter 35: I'll Wait For You

*Ryan's POV*

As far as weddings go, Justin's may have been one of the best that I have attended. It felt great watching him get so excited and jittery over his bride. Attending weddings where the couple was truly in love was far better than the ones that were more business-like.

Having never been in a wedding party before, the extra duties were a bit tedious, but both Sean and I were more than happy to participate for Justin's happiness. Before, I had never understood why Mam didn't try harder to arrange a marriage for him with a woman already a part of the mob family. Now, after watching him with Maria, it all made sense. She didn't push because she couldn't find someone like Maria.

Maria was the epitome of everything that Justin needed in a spouse and life partner. I said almost as much in my toast to them, ending it with welcoming Maria into our family. Sean kept his speech shorter but still pleasant enough. He ended it with a joke about her being his favorite sibling already, prompting another round of laughter from the rest of the room.

Sean and I were set at a table with our fiancées and parents, while Justin and Maria had Greg and Monica on either side of them at the head table. It was a struggle to keep my eyes off of Claire the entire afternoon and evening, and now that all of our duties were over, I knew I could finally relax and truly enjoy the beauty next to me.

"You really outdid yourself, Mam," I commended our mother. The rest of the table quickly agreed with me.

She laughed as she leaned back in her chair with her glass of wine. "Thank you, dear. Now that this one's over with, I'm excited to really get going with both of your weddings."

I glanced to Sean and our fiancées to see their reactions. Both Sean and Saoirse had a placid smile on, both finally resigning to the idea that this was going to happen. Claire smiled politely, but I could see the sadness in her features.

My own good mood faltered at the sight of her sadness. I didn't want that for her – she should be happy and excited about her upcoming wedding, just like Maria was. Suddenly, I felt incredibly guilty about the past week.

After dropping her off at my parent's home, I had lunch with her that day then hadn't had a chance to see her after. There was some follow up work to take care of in regards to the Russians. Between that, our regular work schedule, and Justin's wedding prep, I had been booked solid and unable to spend any time with her over the past week. I had resumed the good morning and good night text messages with her, but we didn't actually speak to one another. Even last night at the rehearsal I had chosen to keep things professional with her, not kissing her hello or doing anything outside of holding her hand.

I thought I was being conscientious of her shy nature around groups of people, but now that I thought about it more, it seemed that I was only alienating her further. Reaching over, I took her hand in mine under the table and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Her eyes glanced to me, so I flashed her a large grin. "I'm looking forward to it, Mam."

Confusion and panic replaced the sadness I had seen in her eyes moments ago, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she politely smiled and nodded her head slightly.

"I'm glad to hear that," our dad replied. "Alright kids, your mam and I have to go schmooze all these folks. Have fun tonight and enjoy yourselves."

We all bobbed our heads like a group of bobblehead dolls as our parents stood and moved away from the table to greet the guests. Taking a glance around the room, my blood began to boil as I spotted a table in the back of the room.