Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Eight

The Chicago Court House was a tall, beauteous building that Antonio had always admired. There was a quintessential essence to the place, it was the reason that Maggie and himself had fallen in love with the place when they were selecting a location to do the deed.

That had been barely three months ago and now he was standing before the gleaming oak table in the Registry office in a tailored black suit, his hands clasped in front of him as he awaited the appearance of his bride to be. His dark hair was parted neatly on the right side, the small diamond in his ear glinting in the soft light from the glittering chandelier overhead. Beside him, his son and his best man Diego straightened his spine as that slow sweet serenade began to play and the double doors at the back of the room swung open.

Antonio's eyes fell upon his daughter as she entered the room in a stunning emerald green dress, her dark hair was pulled back into an elegant twist, artful tendrils falling over her familial features as she smiled contently at her father, a hand tied bouquet of cream colored roses in her delicate hands. Antonio couldn't help but grin at the sight of his daughter. Over the past three years she had grown into a vibrant, young woman with an intellect that rivaled his own. While he was street smart, Eva was frighteningly intelligent, she had already managed to score a scholarship into Chicago State, a fact Antonio was fiercely proud of. Eva took her place on the opposite side of him, alongside Kayla, Roman and their dark haired, azure eyed toddler Olivia.

Antonio tilted his head back towards the doorway as Maggie stepped into the room on the arm of her brother Gabriel. The sleeveless, white, lace dress hugged every single one of her athletic curves, skimming across the floor gently as she moved. Her chestnut, jaw length hair was wavy and loose, falling across her pretty features as those beautiful blue eyes of hers flickered upwards meeting his.

The world stopped moving and for a moment everyone else seemed to slip away, there was just the two of them here in this space. His heart thudded even harder in his chest with every single step she took forward and he remembered the very first time he had laid eyes on her, he hadn't known it then but he had started to fall in love with her. It had been her smile that had captured him, the same smile that lit up her gorgeous features as she strode down the aisle towards him.

She was his friend, his lover and in thirty minutes, his wife.