“If anyone here has just cause why Burton and Shanal may not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”
Burton fired a seething glare at the priest. “I thought I told you to take that out of the service.”
“It’s a requirement, dear boy, but don’t worry. Everything will be all ri—”
His words were cut off as the front doors to the cathedral clanged open and a loud male voice rang out.
“Stop the wedding. I object!”
Shanal sagged in relief as she saw Raif stride toward the altar, a look of grim determination on his face.
“Oh, not again,” the priest groaned, his face paling.
“Keep going,” Burton insisted, his own face suffusing with ugly, angry color.
“We can’t,” the cleric whispered back. “He has to state his objection.”
“There’s nothing he can say that can stop this wedding, trust me.”
“Let’s find out, shall we?”
The priest looked at Raif. Everyone looked at him, including Shanal, who had never seen a more welcome sight in all her life. Her eyes raked over him, taking in his disheveled hair and the determined light burning in those beautiful blue eyes of his. He stood there, tall and proud, dressed in a casual windbreaker and worn jeans and boots, and to her, he’d never looked more appealing.
“Young man, please state your objection,” the priest directed.
“Before I do, I need to know one thing.”
“What is that?”
Raif looked directly at Shanal, his expression intense and sure. “Shanal, do you love me?”
There was a collective gasp around the cathedral.
“Don’t answer him!” Burton interrupted, stepping forward, his hands clenched.
Shanal moved swiftly to insert herself between the two men. The air between them seethed with testosterone. She turned her back to Burton and faced Raif, her eyes meeting his. Love him? She hadn’t wanted to think about that through all of this, but now, with him here before her, she knew the truth without doubt.
She breathed for him. Her heart beat for him. Her body yearned for him.
“I do. I love you, Raif Masters, with all my heart and with everything I am.”
Raif’s lips quirked in a half smile that made her want to stretch up and kiss him with all the devotion and passion that dwelled inside her.
“That’s perfect, then. Because you know I love you, too.”
Two policemen appeared in the doorway to the cathedral, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Good, thank goodness. Finally someone with some sense,” Burton blustered. “Please, come and arrest this man. He’s disrupting my wedding and being a public nuisance.”
“I don’t think so, Burt,” Raif replied, his smile widening as he did so.
Shanal saw Burton bristle at the loathed shortening of his name.
“This is preposterous. Get this man out of here,” he directed the two officers, who’d drawn level with Raif.
“No, Burton, they’re not here for me. They’re here for you, and this time you’re not getting off without the blame that’s been due to you for far too long.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Burton stood even more upright, as if by doing so he could convince everyone what a model citizen he was. But Shanal knew better. She knew the darkness that lurked beneath the surface of his smooth facade. She understood the latent danger he kept well hidden under that apparently charming and debonair exterior.
Raif caught the priest’s attention. “Father, I object to this marriage on the grounds that this man is a criminal. His deliberate, spiteful actions led to the death of an innocent woman three years ago, after which he deliberately withheld the truth from a police investigation and perverted the course of justice by bribing others to hide the truth.”
Burton paled, his eyes narrowing at Raif as he directed the full force of his hatred toward him. “You’re lying. It’s all lies,” he said, his voice cold and deadly as finely honed steel. “You will regret this, Masters.”
“I don’t think so,” Raif replied just as smoothly. “You won’t get away with it this time. The police have a full statement from Noah. It seems he couldn’t live with hiding the truth.”
The officers stepped forward, one on either side of Burton. “Sir, you need to come with us.”
Burton launched himself toward Raif, a feral expression on his face. “You think you’ve won? You haven’t—you can’t win. I’m the winner. I remember how you mooned about her when we were at school. How lovelorn you were when you thought no one was looking. When she came to work for me I knew there was nothing that would stop me from getting her. I had had Laurel, now I have Shanal. She’s mine, I tell you!”