Chapter 33 Valentina
VALENTINA
I’m numb inside. I’ve lost all hope that anyone will help me. I’m on my own to save myself and my baby.
I stand just outside the main room where Maksim, a minister, and a few people wait for me to enter.
I’m dressed in white, knowing Maksim will make a sneering comment about not being worthy to wear the pure color.
Under my white dress, my knife sits strapped to my thigh.
I have no illusions that I’ll be successful, but what choice do I have?
A life with Maksim is no life.
Alessandro stands next to me, ready to hand me over to my fate. To my death, most likely.
“I hope this is worth it,” I murmur.
Next to me, Alessandro closes his eyes, and I see what I hope is guilt. “There are no weapons here today.”
“Why lie? I see your gun.”
“Just me and Maksim. That’s the deal.”
I look up at him, wondering what the point is. “Will you kill him?”
“Not me. No.”
I suck in a breath. I guess it will be me, then.
We step into the room. Maksim waits at the altar, his smile smug. He thinks he's won.
As I walk toward him, I play in my head all the ways I can kill him.
During the vows, I'll get close enough to slide the blade between Maksim's ribs.
If there are no other weapons here, maybe I can get away with it.
I do the deed and run, not just anywhere, but to Chicago.
To Cristian.
I scan the faces in the church, part of me foolishly hoping to see Cristian, though I know he's hundreds of miles away.
At least Luca took him in, the only kindness any of my brothers have shown me.
Luca is here, and I know why he didn’t bring Cristian.
It’s out of respect for Alessandro.
But maybe he can tell me how Cristian is doing.
Maybe tell him I still love him.
Tell him I’ll find him if I succeed in killing Maksim, or maybe later in Heaven.
Perhaps Luca will help me disappear.
Despite his loyalty to Alessandro, he was always the brother who respected me, protected me.
I pray I'm right.
If I fail, at least Cristian will know I tried. But I won't fail. I can't.
As I near the altar, my mind spins with more violent fantasies.
I imagine slipping poison in Maksim's champagne, watching his eyes widen as he realizes what I've done.
Or perhaps I'll wait until he's sleeping, take one of his own guns, and put a bullet through his black heart.
And I still have my blade.
I can slide it between his ribs while he thinks he's claiming me.
The thought makes my lips curve into what onlookers probably mistake for a bride's shy smile.
Alessandro's grip tightens on my arm, as if he can sense my murderous thoughts.
Does he know?
Can he tell I'm already plotting my husband's demise before I've even said "I do"?
I don't care. After tonight, I'll be free.
Alessandro leans in as we reach the altar. "Stay strong," he whispers, his lips brushing my cheek in a cold farewell.
His words feel like mockery as he places my hand in Maksim's.
Maksim's fingers close around mine.
His touch makes my skin crawl, but I force a smile.
Just a few more hours of this farce.
I catch Adriano's gaze from the front row.
His jaw is tight, body rigid.
He doesn’t like this, but he does nothing about it.
Luca sits beside him, equally as tense.
I notice Katerina and little Enzo aren’t here.
But why would they be?
This isn’t a celebration.
It’s a business transaction.
I scan the crowd once more, knowing Cristian isn't here but unable to stop myself from looking.
My heart aches for him.
I miss his strength, his tenderness, the way he looked at me like I was a precious gift.
The minister’s words drone on. "…two shall become one flesh.”
I catch Alessandro checking his watch, perhaps wondering how much longer until this business transaction is complete.
Adriano's gaze remains fixed on some distant point, deliberately avoiding my eyes.
The guests shift in their seats.
The minister clears his throat. "If anyone can show just cause why this couple cannot lawfully be joined together in matrimony, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."
The customary silence follows.
It’s an awkward moment of the ritual where no one ever actually speaks, but there’s the fear that someone might.
"I object."
The voice echoes through the church, and my heart stops. I know that voice.
Gasps ripple through the congregation as heads swivel toward the center aisle.
I turn slowly, afraid to hope, afraid this is some cruel hallucination.
But he's there.
Cristian.
Standing tall in a black suit, his face full of determination.
"This wedding is a farce," he announces. His eyes find mine, and the world falls away. "Valentina Dante is mine."
Maksim's grip on my hand becomes crushing. Alessandro is half-risen from his seat, his expression murderous.
But I can't look away from Cristian.
My heart, which moments ago felt like it was drowning, now soars.
He came for me.
Despite everything, he came.
“You told me he was dead,” Maksim barks at Alessandro.
“Maybe I’m a ghost.” Cristian takes a step forward, his gaze never leaving mine. "I won't let her belong to another man. Not while there's breath in my body."
I can't breathe as Cristian strides down the aisle.
His eyes burn with an intensity I've never seen before.
They’re wild, almost unhinged.
"She is MINE!" he roars, and the room goes deathly silent. "You think you can just take her from me?"
Maksim's men start moving toward him, but Cristian laughs, and it’s an unnerving sound that raises goosebumps on my arms.
"I warned her what would happen," he continues, pulling something from his jacket. Metal glints in the light. A gun. "I told her no other man would touch what belongs to me."
Alessandro stands, hand moving to his own weapon. "Bonetti, stand down."
Cristian ignores him completely, his focus zeroed in on Maksim. "You think you're untouchable? Nothing protects you from a man with nothing left to lose."
Maksim's head snaps toward me, his eyes narrowing to dangerous slits.
Fear grips me. "Cristian, stop!" I scream, trying to get between him and Maksim. "Please go. You can't be here!"
This wasn't the plan. Cristian was supposed to be safe in Chicago, far from this nightmare.
Now he stands before us, a walking dead man challenging the most dangerous criminals in New York.
I’m surprised guns haven’t been firing right and left.
Except Alessandro said only he and Maksim are armed.
Of course, for Cristian, that’s still a bad thing.
I lunge forward, desperate to put myself between them, but Maksim's arm shoots out, shoving me roughly aside.
I stumble and crash against the altar.
"You dare come here?" Maksim's voice is deadly. "On my wedding day?"
Maksim's lip curls into a snarl as his hand slides inside his jacket, reaching for what I know must be his gun.
Cristian doesn't flinch.
His eyes find mine for a fraction of a second, and I see everything there.
His love.
His goodbye.
His absolute certainty in what he's about to do.
"No!" I scream again, struggling to my feet.
But it's too late.
Maksim’s fingers close around his weapon.
Cristian's arm extends toward him.
The gunshot cracks through the room like thunder. Maksim’s head snaps back and red begins to ooze.
For a surreal moment, he remains standing, a look of shock frozen on his face.
Then his legs buckle, and he collapses backward onto the altar.
The church erupts into screams.
Alessandro is shouting orders.
Bratva men are rushing forward.
So are Dante men.
But none are armed.
Cristian lowers his gun, his gaze meeting mine across the chaos. "I'm sorry," he mouths, but why? And why isn’t he leaving? He just stands there, gun hanging loosely at his side, eyes locked with mine.
“This is your doing, Dante,” someone yells.
Alessandro moves closer, drawing his weapon.
At first, I thank God.
He can protect us.
He lifts his gun and fires.
The gunshot cracks through the air.
I watch in horror as the bullet strikes Cristian squarely in the chest.
“No!”
Cristian’s body jerks violently.
Confusion flickers across his face, then pain, then acceptance.
Blood blooms across his white shirt.
Our eyes connect one last time.
His lips part as if to speak, but no sound comes.
Then his knees buckle, and he crumples to the marble floor.