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Chapter 22-The Christening

Miranda Barone's POV

"So what do you think?" 

Slade scrutinised me before running his hand through his hair, "I think it's okay. But it'll look better if you take it off."

I rolled my eyes before turning away and smoothing down my dress. "I'm playing with you. I think you look really nice."

Slade murmured as his arms wrapped around me from the back. I smiled and turned slightly to face him, "I hope so, I'm meeting your best friends and their family and they're like your family."

"I'm more worried about you meeting them." He grumbled as he tightened up his tie. My eyes wandered over to his suit. Why did he have to look so sexy in a suit? Stupid. He looked dangerously beautiful especially with his tattoos. Unfortunately his dragon tattoo on his torso was hidden by his dress shirt and jacket.

I smoothed down my emerald green day dress and slipped on my white heels. "Ready?" I nodded and took a deep breath. We had landed in New York only yesterday night and was staying in this hotel for a day before moving into Damien's home whom I had met before after the christening.

Slade drove us to a pretty elegant church and he tightened his grip around my waist as we stepped in. I straightened my back as gazes swung towards us. It seemed that all of New York's elite society members were here.

"You didn't tell me it was this fancy." I hissed at Slade who rolled his eyes. "I didn't know it'll be that important to you." He responded and acknowledged a nod from someone in the crowd. "I didn't know you knew anyone here." I murmured and tightened my grip on his hand. "I'm a business man as well Mel. Don't you know that?"

I nodded absently and clutched onto his hand tighter. There were too many beautiful woman that was eyeing Slade and I didn't like it. A smirk crossed his plump lips and he obviously knew what I was doing but thankfully he didn't say a thing. "I know but-"

I cut myself off when a pretty blonde woman holding a child approached us. "Slade!"

It was at this moment when a little boy crashed into me. "Oops sowry!" I looked down and almost melted at how cute and adorable the little boy was. I looked up and Slade greeted. "Hello Olivia."

The woman beamed at us before her gaze shifted to me with interest. "You must be Mel. Trevor dear, come here." The little boy ran to the woman and I glanced at her wildly, "Uh yes?"

Slade groaned annoyed before glaring at Olivia, "Would you just go away?"

Olivia smirked and smiled at me, "I'm sorry. I've heard about you from Adrianna. I'm Olivia Henderson, Slade's best friend's wife." She gave me a beam and held the hand of the boy who I assumed was her son. "This is Trevor, my two year old son. And this is Savannah." She beamed as she held the toddler in her arms.

"Hello." I greeted and Savannah shied away from me and snuggled into Olivia's neck while Trevor hid behind her legs. "Sorry, they're a little shy." Olivia gave me a grin and Slade butted into the conversation, "Drake allows you to walk around with the both of them?"

Olivia shot Slade a glare, "He doesn't have to know. Besides he's off doing godfather duties. Aren't you supposed to do the same? Go on, I'll keep Mel company." She shot Slade a challenging expression.

"Oh really? Damn, I was hoping I could sneak a quickie with you in the closet as Drake's not here." Slade said flirtily and smirked. My eyes widened and I knew Slade was kidding. His eyes had that sparkly mischievous glint in them. I had never seen him so playful with other people other than myself. It was a new side to him I had never seen before.

Olivia scoffed. "Yeah right, well then, maybe I could introduce Mel to my older brothers. I think they'll like her." Olivia shot me a wink and I held back a laugh. I was beginning to like her more and more. "Fuck off. I'll see you later. Ignore Olivia, she's just being bloody annoying." Slade rolled his eyes before pressing a kiss to my temple and stalked off.

I met Olivia's gaze and flushed, she had a knowing glint in her green eyes and she gave me an innocent smile. "So are you and Slade officially together?" I nodded, "Yeah. Is he your eldest?" I questioned as Olivia held onto Trevor. "Yes. Savannah here is my second, she's almost a year old and Trevor is reaching two in just a few months."

She beamed happily and I could see that she had a natural glow to her skin. "That's lovely. And they're both really adorable. Which is your husband?" I asked curiously and Olivia craned her neck and looked about. "There. That one. On the left of Slade. His name is Drake. The other is Damien. You should've met him before."

I nodded and observed Slade together with his best friends. He was laughing and joking around with them and I had to admit that he was the most good looking among them. Not that I was bias. Drake was good looking but he had an almost cocky appearance about him and he didn't have Slade's brooding and dangerous looks. Damien on the other hand seemed too polished and didn't have the dangerous quality that Slade had.

"How did you meet Slade at first?" I questioned Olivia as she led us to our seats. I was curious to know how other people saw Slade especially those that were really close to him. "Hmm, I first met him at my wedding. Damien couldn't be Drake's best man so he asked Slade instead."

"Oh I see." I murmured thoughtfully and helped Olivia to sit as she was still carrying Savannah and holding onto Trevor. "Thank you. Alright, enough about me. How did you meet Slade? All of us are very curious." Olivia probed and curiosity gleamed in her green eyes.

"All?" My eyes widened. Olivia nodded and Trevor started fidgeting in his seat beside her while Savannah was close to falling asleep. "Yes. Drake, Damien, Adrianna, Laura and I." Seeing the confusion in my eyes, she clarified, "Laura is Damien's mother and the minute Adrianna came back to New York from Chicago. You were the first thing that she told us about."

I laughed, "Wow." I uttered lamely, not knowing what to say. "We met in a parking lot." I offered and Olivia raised her eyebrows, "Really? What do you work as? You do know what Slade does don't you?"

"I'm a kindergarten teacher and yes I do. Slade is a mob leader and a business man." I replied and Olivia breathed out a sigh of relief and Trevor squirmed off the bench before rushing off amongst the crowd. "Trevor!" Olivia called out concerned and anxious. I readily stood up and was about to help Olivia find him when the man I recognised as Drake was walking towards us with Trevor in his arms.

His eyes strayed towards me and he smirked. "Drake. What are you doing here?" Olivia called out relieved when she spotted Trevor in his arms.

"I saw that Trevor ran off and decided to bring him back. And also we had a little talk about that didn't we Trevor?" Drake replied and gave a pointed stare towards the boy in his arms who nodded and snuggled his head in Drake's neck.

"Good. He has that habit. I think he saw the cake and desserts. By the way, this is Mel! You know Slade's girlfriend." Olivia introduced as Drake passed Trevor to Olivia.

Drake's eyes studied me curiously, "This is the Miranda? She's prettier than I thought she would be. Considering Kolosov is an ugly fucker." He smirked and Olivia gasped, "Don't swear in a church!" Drake responded by rolling his eyes and scoffing under his breath.

I flushed from the compliment and Olivia rolled her eyes, "Yes. And if you keep on flirting with her, Slade's going to kill you considering he's staring in our direction now." Olivia replied and Drake grinned. "I know. He's been hitting on you ever since we got married. What better payback than this?"

"Hello darling, what's your name?" He flirted playfully and I laughed, amused. Olivia snorted delicately and shook her head at Drake's antics. "It's very nice to meet you Mel." He greeted genuinely and I smiled, feeling more at ease now that Slade's friends seem to be accepting me.

"It's very nice to meet you as well." I smiled and Drake nodded and kissed Olivia's lips chastely.

"The ceremony is starting, I'll be back later. Mel, do me a favour and make sure Olivia doesn't carry both Trevor and Savannah at the same time. Thanks." With that he was gone and Olivia scowled in the direction he had gone. "Stupid overbearing man." She mumbled under her breath and snuggled Trevor as he gently fell asleep, his body on the bench and his head resting on her lap.

I laughed and we quietened down as the ceremony started.

***

The ceremony was beautiful and lovely. I had never seen a prouder set of parents other than Adrianna and Damien.

Now that the ceremony had ended, the reception began and most of the guests As ordered by Drake, I had ensured that Olivia did not carry both Trevor and Savannah. Eventually, I carried Trevor as he had attempted to run off several times. Olivia lead me towards the said parents who were holding one of the twins each with Slade and Drake poking fun at Damien's expense while Adrianna looked on amused.

This was definitely a new side to Slade, someone who genuinely cared about other people and also knew how to handle children. As we neared the group, I could hear the conversations going on and stifled a laugh at Damien's expression as Slade made a comment on his outfit.

As we reached the group, Slade's eyes swung to me and his eyes flickered an emotion before his signature smirk crossed his face and he went towards me. Immediately, the attention was on me and I shifted uncomfortably from it as Slade wrapped an arm around my waist.

Another thing I learnt while I had been here in New York with Slade was that he seemed to like to show that I was together with him by touching me. For example, putting an arm around my waist or kissing my head or intimate stuff like that and I liked it. It showed that he wasn't afraid of showing affection and I liked it. I really liked it. Drake reached over to take Trevor from me and he gave me a grateful grin.

"Hello Mel, it's good to see you here. I was worried that you wouldn't turn up." Adrianna beamed sunnily at me and I returned her smile. "Thank you for inviting me. The ceremony was really beautiful." I complimented.

"It was no problem, besides I really wanted to invite you. You're Slade's girlfriend. And all of us are really curious about you." Adrianna grinned at me and Slade butted in before I could respond. "Would all of you just shut the fuc-"

I nudged Slade in the gut and interrupted him, "Well thank you. You could also say that I'm pretty curious about his friends as well." Slade grumbled but didn't complain and both Olivia and Adrianna exchanged excited and knowing grins while Drake and Damien smirked.

"I'm glad to hear that. But please excuse Damien and I for now, we have to go mingle with our other guests. But I'm definitely booking you for the whole of tomorrow so Olivia and I can get to know you better. Is that alright with you?" Adrianna beamed excitedly and I nodded. "That is fine with me."

"Great. I'll see you later or tomorrow." Adrianna beamed and with that Damien and her were gone leaving Olivia and Drake with us. "So Kolosov, how did you meet Mel?" Drake started and he shot me a wink. I stifled a laugh and Slade scoffed. "In Chicago. Did you know Olivia doesn't mind having a quickie with me later?"

Drake snorted and laugh, "Funny. Sorry but that sort of stuff doesn't work on me. It works on Damien more and Olivia loves me way more than anyone in the world." Drake grinned playfully and Olivia rolled her eyes and snorted delicately.

Slade shrugged, "True." I raised an eyebrow in surprise and Drake filled in the gaps for me. "Damien is awfully possessive and gets jealous easily. So when your boy toy flirts with Adrianna, Damien will turn this particular shade of red because he's that annoyed or angry."

I laughed and shook my head at Slade. "You should really give him some slack." He shrugged and rested his arm around my shoulders, "Yeah no. I love seeing him get riled up. It's fucking funny."

"Don't swear in a church!" Olivia gasped and Drake rolled his eyes at his wife. "Just ignore her. She's a little touchy because she hasn't got a piece of me yet today."

My eyes widened and Olivia shook her head and glared. "Drake Mitchell Henderson!" Both Slade and Drake shared a look before exploding into raucous laughter. I stifled a laugh and shook my head, both Slade and Drake were really sort of alike.

At this moment, Trevor who was in Drake's arms woke up and started grumbling because he was hungry. Being the attentive mom she was, Olivia nudged Drake with her free hand and gestured for him to feed him. "Okay, we have to go feed the monster who has awaken. I'll see you both of you around. It was very nice to meet you Mel." Olivia beamed at me and I nodded and smiled, "It was really nice to meet you too. I'll be seeing you tomorrow as well aren't I?"

Olivia nodded as Trevor started wailing and both Slade and Drake exchanged nods before the Henderson family left. "So?"

I raised an eyebrow, "So what?" Slade shrugged, "My friends and their family aren't that bad are they?"

A smile crossed my lips, "Yes. They're not that bad. In fact, they're genuinely nice. But why weren't you as open with Damien and Adrianna when they visited you last time?" I questioned and Slade clenched his jaw.

"They were in Chicago and there are a lot of other gangs around. Additionally your brother was on a rampage if you recall. I didn't want them to stay too long in Chicago if your brother retaliated at me." He says offhandedly.

I nodded and smiled up at him, "You know even though you have this rough dangerous exterior, you actually have a soft caring side of you even though you don't like to show it." I said softly and Slade met my gaze before shifting his and looking away, "Let's go."

"You're like a chocolate coated marshmallow. Hard on the outside and soft and squishy on the inside." I said thoughtfully. Slade flashed me a sexy smirk, "I can show you what's hard now."

I rolled my eyes and a small smile made it's way onto my face, "You're terrible." Slade gave me a crooked grin as his hand placed itself on the small of my back as he led us out of the church.  

***

A/N: Hey guys, so sorry for this update being late. I don't know why, but I had some difficulty writing this chapter that it took me longer than usual. Anyway, I hope this chapter is worth the long wait and I thank those who are patient with me and will read this. Love you guys! As usual, vote and comment! Ahaha. Really super sorry to keep you guys waiting! 

Also, being the idiot that I am, I forgot that I could dedicate chapters to readers. Ugh stupid. Anyway, I'll start dedicating chapters to readers depending on their comments and what not. Ugh stupid me. Totally forgot about this. 

So this chapter is dedicated to malak_ys for recommending my book to KatyDreams who in turn recommended my book to her list of books that you guys should read. Yeah. Oh! Don't worry, I'll go back to the other chapters and start dedicating them to you guys too!

xoxo