Chapter 12
Laurie
At first, it felt like I had time, but damn, thirty minutes just flashed by.
Standing in a wedding dress made from soft silk that drapes loosely over my body, the expensive fabric flows as I walk to the door.
Delicate lace covers the sleeves and trails over the bodice in elegant patterns. It’s simple compared to the usual gowns I’ve seen in magazines, but there’s something understated and painfully expensive about it.
My sneakers are old and dirty, but at least the dress covers them.
Sucking in a fortifying breath, I open the door and step into the quiet hallway. I swear I can hear a pin drop as I walk toward the main area.
The pews come into view, then Little Ricky. He instantly notices me and grins as if this is a special occasion and not a forced marriage before starting to take photos like some proud family member.
He gestures for me to go to where Adriano is standing with the priest.
Now I understand the damn tuxedo the conniving bastard is wearing.
As I move closer, I’m filled with regret that I didn’t read every single word in the stupid contract.
How is this my life right now?
Everything that’s happened the past week flashes through my mind like some twisted movie.
Austin treating me like shit, making a show of cheating on me, and kicking me out like a dog.
Heather’s vileness and the joy she got from firing me.
The long cold night in the diner.
Actually considering stripping for money.
The deal, and the rollercoaster of emotions it has unleashed on me.
Laurie, are you seriously going through with this?
Ten million. Ten million. Ten million.
I stop beside Adriano and glance between him and the priest.
Adriano’s dark gaze slowly roams over every inch of me, then a smile forms on his face.
Not a grin. Not a smirk.
The first, honest-to-God smile, and it makes him look devilishly handsome.
“You can begin, Father,” he orders, his eyes locked on me while he takes hold of my hand.
Oh Jesus. This is happening.
A tremble moves through my body, and my breaths are nothing but quivering puffs over my lips.
“Adriano and Laurie, have you come here to enter into marriage without coercion, freely and wholeheartedly?” the priest asks.
Hell no. Adriano tricked me, but I don’t have a legal leg to stand on.
“I have,” Adriano replies, his intense gaze not leaving mine for a second.
Scowling at him, I mutter, “I have.”
“Since it is your intention to enter into the covenant of Holy Matrimony, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and His church,” the priest orders.
He’s already holding my hand, old man. Clean your glasses.
“I, Adriano Rizzo, take you, Laurie Barnes, for my lawful wife…” The promise in his tone gets my attention and my thoughts quieten down.
“…to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. I will love and honor you all the days of my life.”
A snort escapes me, stunning the living hell out of me, and making a scorching blush sweep up my neck and face.
“Hmm…” The growl from Adriano makes me blush harder, and feeling very embarrassed and awkward, I look down at his shiny, polished shoes.
“Do you need me to say the vows so you can repeat after me, Miss Barnes?” the priest asks.
“Uhm…yeah, please.” I look at him, avoiding Adriano, and repeat like a parrot, “I, Laurie Barnes, take you, Adriano Rizzo, for my lawful husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. I will love and honor you all the days of my life.”
The priest clears his throat before saying, “Please, exchange wedding rings.”
Adriano lets go of my hand and pulls a velvet black pouch out of his pocket and shakes two gold wedding bands into his palm before holding the bigger one out to me to take.
I notice an inscription, and my lips part when I see the letters A & L engraved into the gold.
He takes my left hand and gently pushes the wedding band onto my ring finger. “Laurie, receive this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
What love? He should’ve added insanity instead.
Just because it’s expected of me, I say the same thing while pushing the ring onto Adriano’s finger.
Then the priest announces, “In the sight of God and these witnesses, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
What witnesses?
I glance over the empty pews and only see Little Ricky and the other two men standing by the open doors.
Still trying to come to terms with what’s happening, I feel like I’m stuck in a twilight-zonish-daze.
The priest gestures toward a small table beside the altar where a thick leather-bound book waits open beside a stack of papers. “Please sign the register.”
Adriano’s hand settles against my lower back, nudging me forward. Even though his touch is light, it feels like a controlled move.
As I stop in front of the table and stare down at the register, I notice how old it looks.
It’s filled with rows of signatures of people who probably got married because they loved each other, instead of being tricked into it.
My chest tightens when I spot our names already written neatly beside today’s date.
Adriano Rizzo. Laurie Barnes.
Dear God.
The priest first hands the pen to Adriano, and he signs without hesitation. Then he holds it out to me.
For a second, I just stare at him while panic crawls up my throat.
There’s nothing you can do. You already signed your life away. This is just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.
Adriano leans closer, his voice deep and rough. “Sign, Laurie.”
I swallow hard before forcing my fingers to close around the pen. My hand shakes as I write my signature.
When I finish, Little Ricky strolls over, looking way too entertained by all of this as he signs as a witness, followed by one of Adriano’s men.
That’s it.
No family. No flowers. No music. Just an old cathedral, an even older priest, signatures, silence, and the terrifying realization that I legally belong to a man I barely know.
When I aim to head back to the room so I can change, Adriano grabs my arm to hold me back.
“Paulie, bring Laurie’s clothes and handbag from the room,” he orders while tugging me down the aisle.
The guy at the door jogs toward the hallway, and when we step out of the cathedral, the sun is so bright, I squint.
I hear tires screech, and an angry shout cuts through the air, “Rizzo! Today is the day you pay for killing my brother.”
My sight adjusts in time to see a man storming toward us, a gun in his hand, which he aims at Adriano.
My brand-new husband yanks me to the side, and when he steps in front of me, I catch a glimpse of dark chrome metal as he pulls something from behind his back.
I don’t see what’s happening as gunshots ring through the air because my damn sneaker catches on the silk and I fall flat on my butt in the doorway.
I jerk with every bam, the blood and heat draining from my face as I watch Adriano take the steps down to the wounded man lying partially across the cobbled path.
“Noooo! Anthony!” The agonizing cry grabs my attention, and I see a sedan parked crookedly near the curb. A woman sits in the passenger seat, anguish carved into her face as she stares at the wounded man.
The second Adriano’s head snaps in her direction, she scrambles over the center console into the driver’s seat and floors the gas. The tires spin, leaving smoke behind as she speeds away.
While Little Ricky kicks the assailant’s weapon out of his reach, Adriano presses the barrel of his gun to the man’s head and growls, “Any last words, Castellano?”
Anthony coughs, drops of blood flying into the air.
“You think because you’re a capo… and have the Cosa Nostra behind you…
you can butcher men in the street… and nobody will come for you?
” He chokes on another cough, blood spilling down his chin.
“Your family… has rotted… this city… for decades. The uprising has begun… my death will be… avenged.”
The world tilts violently around me.
Capo?
Cosa Nostra?
I have no idea what capo means, but I think I’ve heard Cosa Nostra from the documentaries about Gotti, which Austin loved to watch.
Horror crashes through me as I stare at Adriano, who rises to his full height before emptying his gun into the man.
A scream tears from my throat, and when I glance over my shoulder and find the priest watching the horrific scene with a sad expression and zero panic, I realize just how screwed I am.
My survival instinct kicks in the second Adriano turns around with the grimmest expression I’ve ever seen on a man’s face.
Scrambling to my feet, I run into the cathedral, and when Paulie lunges for me, I somehow manage to evade him.
“Get rid of the body,” I hear Little Ricky snap. “And clean up the blood.”
Shit.Shit.Shit!
Gathering fistfuls of silk and lace, I sprint toward the door at the back, and slamming through it, I realize with a terrible sinking feeling it’s only an office and not an exit.
Spinning around, I see Adriano calmly walking up the aisle while tucking his gun behind his back and adjusting his jacket like he didn’t just execute a man outside a church in broad daylight.
My breaths explode over my lips as I frantically glance around. Making a desperate dash across the little podium where the altar is, I accidentally bump into the table and knock the marriage register with all the papers to the floor.
I flit down the hallway, trying every door but only finding empty rooms.
“No!” I gasp, running for the last door, which turns out to be a kitchen.
Spotting a backdoor, I rush over and try to open it, but realizing it’s locked, I let out a frustrated cry that morphs into a choked sob.
“That’s enough, Laurie,” Adriano says behind me, still sounding as angry as when he shot that poor man.
Slowly and with jerky movements, I turn around to face the murderer I married.
I begin to shake my head, and giving him a pleading look, I whimper, “Please…”
His expression softens, and as he comes closer, I squeak like a mouse as I press up against the door while pinching my eyes shut.
When he takes hold of my arm, I begin to cry and continue shaking my head. “Nonononono.”
I resist and rear back as he pulls me into his arms, but he just uses more strength to overpower me, and I’m yanked against his chest.
Terror ripples over me like tiny thorns pricking at my skin, and still shaking my head, I look up and beg, “I-I-I w-won’t t-t-t-tell anyone. P-p-please.”
Keeping an arm clamped around me, he brushes his palm over the side of my face while his eyes take mine prisoner. “It’s time to go home, my wife.”
“N-o,” I hiccup before dissolving into a puddle of desperate tears, my legs going numb.
Adriano bends slightly, and without any effort, picks me up bridal style.
One of his hands is hooked beneath my knees while the other keeps me pressed to his solid chest, making it feel impossible to escape.
I can’t think straight as paralyzing fear fills my being. My sobs echo around us as Adriano carries me to the exit like I weigh nothing.
God, I can still smell the gunpowder clinging to him.
My stomach lurches violently as the memory of the man being killed flashes through my mind.
Once again, the priest just stands with his hands folded in front of him and a sad expression on his face while watching Adriano carry me out of the cathedral.
I’m going to throw up.
“P-please,” I try again, gripping the lapels of Adriano’s jacket. “Please l-l-let me g-go.”
“Shh…” His voice is calm, and it only terrifies me more when he says, “You’re safe.”
How can I be safe when he’s the danger?
I realize the body has already been removed when I see the blood being hosed off. It flows over the grass before sinking into the holy ground.
When we reach the SUV, Little Ricky opens the back door.
My eyes dart up and down the street, but there’s no one.
Not letting go of me, Adriano gets in, and the door is shut.
I stare at one of his men, who’s smoking a cigarette while Paulie tosses the hose aside.
Little Ricky starts the engine, and when the SUV pulls away from the curb, Adriano presses a kiss to my temple before saying, “You weren’t supposed to see that. I’m sorry, mia piccola farfalla.”
But I did see it. The sound of gunshots and Adriano killing that man without batting an eye will forever be ingrained into my mind.
Lost sobs drift over my lips as I blindly stare through blurry eyes at the passing scenery.
He adjusts the skirt of my dress, then taking hold of my chin, he forces my head back. When my gaze locks with his soulless one, the weird sensation that thorns prick my skin rushes over my body.
Adriano doesn’t look so angry anymore, and as he stares at me, the corner of his mouth lifts. “I finally get to kiss my bride.”
Still stuck in the ungodly trance, I do nothing when he leans down and presses a tender kiss to my mouth. It feels like it’s loaded with emotion, which is impossible because he doesn’t have a heart.
Lifting his head again, he gives me a tender look. “Mine.”
A bizarre mixture of a sob and laughter bursts from me. My body shakes, and I figure I’m losing my mind as I laugh and laugh until tears steam down my face.
Maybe the past week never happened.
Maybe this is just a freaky-ass nightmare.
Maybe I’ll wake up alone in bed, get ready for work, and watch Austin snoring on the couch before I leave to catch my train.
“Shh… It’s going to be okay. You’re safe, mia piccola farfalla.” With my face pressed into Adriano’s jacket while he rubs his hand up and down my back, his tone turns obsessive as he says, “I have you.”
God help me.