3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
The night sky seeps through the dining-room windows like a dark sea held back by the bulletproof glass.
The black tide dances around the edges of the dining hall, flirting with the candlelight, stretching into creepy shadows that dance along the vaulted ceiling.
I imagine them taking shape into something more sinister than black clouds.
I picture them morphing into demons in the form of black snakes with shiny scales ready to drag me to hell as if I’m not already there.
This house reminds me of the creepy old houses the Scooby Gang would investigate in the cartoons I used to love. Lynette always said she was Daphne, and I was Velma but truthfully I wanted to be a Hex Girl.
Nico clears his throat, and I’m brought back to the meeting happening.
Before the wedding takes place, my father and Nico have to finalize the deal they are entering into. One of his men stands guard at the door. No one enters, and no one leaves until both parties are satisfied.
My parents play their parts across the table from me, smug smiles.
Nico sits at the head of the table, a dominating force that commands the attention of everyone in his presence.
Even my little sister, Gissette, can’t stop staring at him.
Not that I can blame her. My husband to be is distractingly handsome.
I shouldn’t care that he hasn’t looked at me since I took my seat.
He’s like a puzzle that I’m missing the pieces to.
I should look away, and yet, I want him to meet my gaze.
I pretend to be interested in his conversation with my father.
My appetite is lost to the stress of what the night will hold, but I force myself to take small polite bites of the cookies he offered.
I haven’t eaten a thing and am worried I’ll have low blood sugar during the ceremony and do something tragically embarrassing like faint.
“I assure you, the Triads won’t be an issue,” Nico says, his voice filled with certainty.
My father nods. “That’s what I like to hear.” They continue to discuss business and territory. Things I have zero interest in.
“We wouldn’t trust her with just anyone, you know,” my mother gushes, fawning over her future son-in-law.
Her laughter is too rehearsed and as fake as her acrylic nails.
She reaches across the table to pat my hand, a gesture meant to control my reaction, not to comfort me.
Unease tightens inside me, winding around my bones like coiled wire.
Like snake about to swallow it’s next meal.
“I’ll treat her with care,” Nico replies. His gaze lands on me but doesn’t linger, as a sharp smile crosses his lips. A smile I wish I could read.
By the end of the night, I’ll be bound to him like my father’s signature on one of many papers that passes between them.
I sip on wine, listening to the conversation turn to terms and timelines. “You’ll have the numbers,” Nico says. I can’t decide whether his tone is meant to be a promise or a threat.
I tune out of their ongoing conversation, growing more bored as the evening carries on. I should consider myself lucky that I’m marrying someone so powerful and respected.
Only I’m terrified.
“ Everyone knows he murdered his first wife ,” Lynette hisses in my ear, but she’s not here. She abandoned me. Doomed me to her fate.
I look at Gissette, wondering if it was her whispering in my ear, but she’s got a mouthful of cookies.
Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me. This much anxiety would kill the average person. Or maybe I need a proper meal.
I feel ridiculous sitting here in a wedding dress while my father negotiates contracts. I guess a bride change means the deal changes.
Headlights flicker across the windows.
The man guarding the door touches his ear, then walks over to Nico and says, “The guests are arriving.”
As if I’m not nervous enough. Now I’ll have a full audience of strangers to witness this whole facade.
“If you will give us some privacy. There is only one more thing to seal this deal.”
“Of course.” My father jumps up, bumping the table with his stomach as he goes.
“Stop stuffing your face, child,” my mother snaps at my younger sister.
Everyone leaves the room except Nico and his guard. “You too, Paulie.” The man’s head snaps up, but he does as he is told.
We’re alone. I stay seated, waiting and wondering what he wants with me.
I don’t have to ponder long.
“How are you, Odette? I can’t imagine it was easy to learn that you were to marry me in place of your sister.”
“It’s fine. I’m fine.”
He nods. “You don’t have to lie to me. Honesty is very important in a marriage. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“It should be, but I know my place. And not to ask questions I already know the answer to or that I don’t truly want the truth of.”
“You’ve been trained well.”
“More like observant. I’ve watched my parents make mistakes and hope not to repeat them.”
He chuckles dryly. “I like you.”
“I’m pleased to hear so, sir.”
“Call me Nico.”
“Okay. Nico, you have me alone. What other matters are there to address?”
“I’m afraid it isn’t pleasant, but I’ll be gentle.”
I gulp. This is the part my sister warned me about. My mother wouldn’t dare speak of such things. Now I’m wondering if Lynette told me on purpose to prepare me for this very moment. I push my chair back, but he stops me from standing, pressing a hand to my shoulder.
Dark and deadly, his heated gaze finds mine as he drops to his knees and kneels at my feet. “May I?”
I nod while biting the inside of my cheek. What would he do if I put up a fight and told him no? Would he do this act of savagery anyway?
His hand engulfs my ankle, his eyes never leaving mine as he slides his palm up the smooth skin of my calve, carving a fiery trail to my thigh. My breath hitches in my throat. No one has ever touched me so intimately.
He takes my hand with his free one, pressing his lips to my knuckles.
“Don’t be scared.” I swallow hard and suck in a breath as he pushes my knees apart.
“Spread your legs, sweetheart.” He hooks a finger in the side of my underwear, rubbing his knuckle along the seam before touching me where no one has dared before.
Heat fans across the back of my neck, spreading like a wildfire on the apples of my cheeks. I’m on fire everywhere.
Without warning, he glides his finger up and down the slit of my sex, then inserts his thick, rough digit inside me, knuckle deep. I tense up at the intrusion, embarrassed by the small whimper that leaves my lips. A smile crosses his face. I close my eyes, biting my bottom lip.
“Good girl.” The way he says it all deep and husky has the center of my belly going all warm and melty like hot wax.
He removes his finger, putting my underwear back in place, then sniffs the one he had inside me before licking it and making a sound that’s sinful.
He stands as I stare at him wordlessly, unable to form a coherent thought. Did he just…taste me?
“Shall we?” He holds his hand out and takes me by mine.
A man I’ve known for a few hours just has his finger inside me, and I’m smiling as though any of this is normal.
Nico delivers me to my father, who is standing in the hall. “See you out there, Fiore Mio,” he says, calling me his flower as he walks away.
I stand at the back of the enormous white tent that is set up behind the manor, legs unsteady, spine straight enough.
My father grips my elbow firmly as though he’s afraid I will bolt at any second.
He’s not uttered a word to me. Embarrassment divides us.
I know he knows Nico made sure I’m a virgin.
Is this why Lynette ran? Was she afraid Nico would know she wasn’t a virgin and would call the whole thing off?
It doesn’t matter now. I’m mere minutes away from becoming his wife.
The wedding march starts up, and the curtains are pulled back.
Row after row of chairs are filled with people I have never laid eyes on a day in my life, but as more people turn to gawk at me, I recognize a few familiar faces.
Some of my father’s associates are here with their wives.
Women who have brought their children over for birthday parties or been members of Mother’s book club.
Which was really only an excuse for her and the other women to get drunk and gossip.
I wonder if I’ll be the topic of their next meeting?
I hold my head high and keep my face expressionless. Trying not to think about how it felt when Nico touched me. Will he be as gentle tonight when we consummate this union?
My mother smiles big from where she sits in the front with Gissette. Where I should be sitting, but I’m not.
I take a step followed by another and another. I float toward Nico, ready to get this over with. Everyone knows that this isn’t a love match. It isn’t the greatest day of my life.
More like the most humiliating. I’m a consolation gift. The other sister. The spare. I wasn’t chosen like some prize. Nico isn’t marrying me because he is in love with me.
My father hands me over quickly. He can’t give me away fast enough.
The wedding officiant goes through the lines as old as time. Words he’s said a million times.
The only words that matter are the two I must speak.
“I do,” I comply. My voice comes out confident, but I know Nico can feel the trembling of my fingers as I slide the silver band onto his ring finger.
“You may now kiss your bride.”
Nico flashes me a playful smile. My heart beats a hundred miles a second as slides a hand around my waist, drawing me in close.
My body presses against his. Pinching my chin between his thumb and forefinger, he forces my head up.
His lips descend onto mine hard and fast. If I blinked, I’d miss it.
My first kiss. No sparks. No magic. The guests clap, and I’m whisked into another tent for pictures and dancing.
I pretend to be the happy, blushing bride.
I stare at my husband as though I’m completely in love. Head over heels. Smitten as a kitten with a new ball of yarn.
I play my part, pretending I’m not on the verge of tears.
The diamond weighing down my finger feels as foreign as my husband’s touch, and yet my mind keeps drifting back to when it was only the two of us in that room and he touched and tasted me. There was something so intimate and erotic about it. Forbidden.
My father skips out on the father and daughter dance, leaving me to put on another fake smile to pretend that he didn’t break my heart by expecting this of me.
Champagne flows. Men stand in the shadows, armed and ready to protect. Death before disloyalty — their code.
I’m in a room full of people and have never felt more alone. I slip away into the garden. The crisp fall air burns through my lungs, reminding me I’m alive and not lost in a nightmare I can’t awaken from.
This is my life.
I can’t help but think of Lynette and wonder if she’s okay. Is she happier than ever?
Will I learn to like Nico?
Will I one day even dare to love him?
I glance back toward the tent, but a light glowing from the fourth floor captures my attention. There’s someone there, just behind the curtains. Perhaps a servant or one of his men.
I walk a bit more, trying to come to terms with this now being my home. My lavish prison. Leaves crunch behind me. I turn expecting to see one of my husband’s soldiers. He’s a man, but he’s older than the others.
He lifts his chin but doesn’t speak; he wears a grim expression. One that matches my melancholy mood.
I offer him a weak smile and follow the pebbled path into the trees, hoping he doesn’t follow me.
When I glance back, he’s gone. Vanished into thin air.
I take a seat on a nearby bench and gaze up at the starless sky.
I can’t help but feel like someone is still watching me. The moonlight creeps between the trees and shines on a gravestone.
I abandon the bench to investigate. I brush the fallen leaves from the top.
“Ouch.” Something poked me. Droplets of my blood drip onto the marble stone.
I suck on my finger trying to stanch the blood, but my scratch is forgotten when I read the name.
Catherine Moretti. Nico’s slain bride. The woman he allegedly murdered.
“There you are,” Nico’s voice cuts through the dark, startling me.