Chapter 44
Alessandro
Wedding Day
H ow is a man supposed to feel the morning of his wedding? No matter how hard I think, I can’t come up with a good answer. This wedding was one of obligation, not love, or that’s what I thought it would be.
I throw on a pair of sweats and head downstairs for breakfast as people run around, getting ready for today. This is exactly what Luci described. I imagine how the blue in her eyes would sparkle as she takes it all in. The day couldn’t be better, sunny and surprisingly warm for October. The garden and house are superb. Hues of blues, purples, and greens surround the house and garden, bringing her vision to life. The flowers in the garden are different from the one it was modeled after, but I told her this will be her dream wedding and I stand by that. Marco, Andrea, and El are in the kitchen when I get there.
“Hello, groom. When is Luci coming down? We need to get her beautified!” Only El is this chipper in the morning. She might as well take shots of espresso before drinking her morning coffee.
“Luci is in the extra bedroom. Geno said it’s tradition that I don’t see her the night before the wedding.” The three of them share a cautious stare before El responds.
“Umm . . . doll. Luci isn’t up there. Marco let me in and we assumed that you came and snatched her in the middle of the night.” Damn, that would have been a great idea. The magnitude of the situation suddenly crashes down.
Fumes could be barreling out of my ears with the fury fizzling in my body. “What the fuck do you mean Luci isn’t up there? Where was Enzo?”
Marco is the next to respond, since Enzo is his responsibility. “Enzo was up there. He said he heard noise in the bathroom, then what could be Luci pacing and opening drawers or cabinets before silence. He assumed Luci was asleep. If you hadn’t turned off the cameras and insisted that no one watch them, I could have given Enzo a tablet to check on her.”
I put my finger in his face, snarling in between my teeth. “You’re telling me it’s my fault? Fuck you.” I break off running for the bedroom, letting myself in as I scan for any sign of where Luci could have gone. Instantly I see a piece of paper on the bed and walk over to it, trying to keep my hands from shaking as I pick it up.
Alessandro, I couldn’t do this. I don’t love you and I can’t marry a man I don’t love. Please don’t search for me. I’ve made sure you can never find me. -Luci
The short letter sets off a bomb through my body and I throw anything and everything close. I know that Marco, Andrea, and El are in the doorway, but I don’t care. They can stand there all they want.
I reach over to the dresser to grab something and see a distinct white stick on the ground. I pick it up, flipping it over, and El speaks before my brain processes what it says.
“Oh fuck.” Her eyes are wide and her jaw might as well be on the floor. She knows something.
“What? What ‘oh fuck’? What do you know that I don’t, El? Don’t fucking lie to me.”
“A few days ago when we were doing our fitting, Luci mentioned that her period was supposed to come that morning. Since I’m a girl’s girl, I got her a test to ease her mind. I guess she took it last night. What does it say?”
Reality moves in slow motion, then stops when I see the positive pregnancy test in my hand while my face twitches with anger. “Find her.”
Marco realizes I’m speaking to him as he answers. “Me? What am I supposed to do? She obviously doesn’t want to be found.”
“I don’t fucking care if she wants to be found, you will find her. She’s carrying my baby and there’s no way in hell she can run from me.” The three of them freeze as I continue to yell. “What are you waiting for? Andare!”
When the three of them scatter off, I stop El before she can run away. “Not you. Give me every detail of every conversation you and Luci ever had.”
“Can we do this later? I think Marco said he needs help.” El goes to step away, but I grab her arm, keeping her in place as she stumbles in her heels.
“You and I both know Marco didn’t say shit to you. Now you can sit down and talk to me or I’ll drag you downstairs and tie you to a chair in the basement.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time, doll. Of course, I don’t think Andrea would be too thrilled with that, but whatever that’s beside the point.” This woman. If I don’t stop her, she will ramble on all day.
“El, sit the fuck down and stop calling me pet names.” She saunters over to the desk chair, crossing her legs. When she tilts her head and raises her eyebrows I can practically hear her say, ‘Are you done, grumpy pants?’. “Parlare.”
“Okay. Well, everything between you two has been a stereotypical enemies-to-lovers story. On Wednesday, she was so adorably smitten. She was ridiculously hot in her dress, of course, because never expect anything less from me. Then when she realized what day it was, she freaked because her period was supposed to start that morning. I told her it was delayed, not late, even though they’re the same thing, but delayed sounds less scary. Anyway, when she didn’t believe me, I went and got her a test to calm her nerves. Then as I was leaving, Marco got in my way and you know he’s been acting stupid. I swear if he ever comes here without any balls it’s because they’re cut off hidden somewhere because—”
“I don’t care about your issues with Marco. I care about what happened with Luci!” I don’t have the patience for El’s rambling.
“Fine. After I got back, I gave it to her and told her to take both of them. She wanted to wait a few days in case it showed up. That shows it didn’t, and here we are. I promise, though, on Wednesday she showed no signs of having cold feet, only nervous about the whole delayed period thing.”
El knows nothing she could say would make things better, but I know she’s telling the truth because the girl isn’t afraid of me. Marco and Andrea come running into the room, preventing me from throwing my fist through the wall.
“Tu ne croiras jamais ?a.”
“Non ci crederai mai.” Both men speak at the same time, and I can only assume they’re saying the same thing.
Are we pausing for dramatic effect? “What? Tell me.”
“Somehow a random line connecting our security cameras was cut. Very impressive if you ask me. But you know how I set up those cameras past the property line? This is what they caught.”
Marco turns the tablet and I see none other than Aldo Bonacci going into our property, somehow avoiding guards, climbing into this room, then leaving with Luci. She’s pregnant, and he had her climbing out of a fucking third-story window, climbing down old vines? He’s a dead man. “Where did they go?”
“That’s the thing. There’s no way they would go back to their house. It’ll take time to search through street cameras to find his car, then things get complicated from there. Who knows where they went? Who knows how they got there? They could technically be anywhere. Of course, I can do it. It’ll take some time though.”
“Then start working on it! I’ll go tell Geno what’s happened while El calls people canceling the wedding. El, can you do that without taking twenty minutes per phone call?”
“Debatable, but I’ll try.”
I walk off, hunting down Geno as my heart races, envisioning his response when I tell him that for a second time, a Leone man has let the Miani debt disappear.