38. Carina
CHAPTER 38
Carina
I ’m finding it to be incredibly difficult to keep the utter disdain and deep hatred from twisting my features as I stand beside Savio before walking down the aisle.
It takes a monumental effort to remain the facade of the daughter he had handed off in an agreement to marriage all those months ago.
Savio is unaware he has lost the strings. I’m no longer his marionette. No longer Luca’s pawn. Gone is the docile woman he groomed me to be.
I’m The Fiore Famiglia’s reckoning. And they will answer for their sins before they die by my hands.
“This dress is a disgrace,” he comments with distaste. He eyes the black embroidery and lace with disgust.
It brings me great pleasure that this dress in particular is a gigantic middle finger to his traditionalist ways.
“Perhaps if it displeases you so you shouldn’t look at it,” I respond coolly. I smooth my hands over the ebony with a gentle caress. As if I’m comforting the dress from his harsh commentary.
“Watch your mouth, Carina,” he threatens tightly.
I raise a brow. “Or what? You’ll have me another ten lashings at Luca’s hand? Do you think red will pair well with the black and white?”
It’s a mistake on my part to respond with a sharp tongue. I’ve never been this brazen before.
But I’m no longer afraid.
How freeing it is to no longer be shackled by fear.
The air thickens and the area drops in temperature as Savio crowds me. How very un-Catholic of him.
“Do you think just because you will be married to Constantine that you can disrespect me and get away with it?” He questions coolly.
I arch a cool brow with a cocky smile. “Si.”
His eyes hold such malice. I can’t remember a time where they didn’t.
I always felt discarded. Cast aside in the shadows so his boys could shine brightly.
Savio starved me of affection. Denied me the love of a papa. Made me find comfort in the cold embrace of the cement floor. Forced me to suffocate on loneliness.
The very same in which he had done to mamma.
“You’ve become Icarus, Carina. Your wings are about to be burned. Are you prepared for the fall?”
“Quite hilarious, I was just about to ask you the same.”
His laugh is sinister. “You have no idea, Carina, but you will.”
“I don’t take threats kindly.” Not having fear is allowing me to have a spine. One I so often neglected.
And he knows it. In his eyes he can see the difference in me. Evil knows evil. Just as to take down a monster you must become one yourself.
I’ve finally become one with the darkness inside me. I’ve tasted sin and become a glutton. I’ve danced with the devil and fell in love with him.
And no man, especially Savio Fiore, will have me become fearful again.
“Only a couple of months spent with Constantine and you believe yourself someone worth to be taken seriously,” he scoffs. “I’ve never accused you of being dense but I’m finding it hard to believe otherwise.”
It burns. To know that because I am a woman he isn’t taking me seriously. I could have a gun pointed to his head and still he wouldn’t find me a threat.
The ignorance festers like an open wound.
But I have to be patient. There is a plan in motion and my emotions cannot take control.
I will relish his face when he sees his master plan and manipulations have been for naught.
A woman will be responsible for the downfall of The Fiore Famiglia.
The strikes of the chords on the organ playing the wedding march hushes the inside of the church.
Savio dons on the mask of a loving papa as he entwines his arm with my own to lead me down the aisle. I fight the urge to recoil from his touch.
The church doors open and the people in the pews rise.
And it’s foolish of me to not take in account all of the faces here. To try and discreetly spot the hidden men Savio surely has placed for when he decides to place a bullet in my soon to be husband’s head.
But the moment I step in the church the overwhelming large crowd becomes nonexistent as my eyes meet Constantine’s.
It’s impossible for him to be any handsomer than he already is, and yet as he stands proudly and eagerly awaiting my arrival he’s never been as beautiful.
My heart gallops at a frightening pace.
Excitement as well as a desperate need to be beside him floods my bloodstream.
Completely out of tempo with the march my legs have a mind of their own as I stride down the aisle. Savio, much to his dismay, tries his best with slowing me down. But to no prevail he fails.
Even through the thin white veil with a black bordered embroidery Constantine’s eyes pierce right through me.
They devour me. Promising me a night filled with wicked delights. It’s downright sinful how he’s blatantly peeling away the dress from my body with his eyes. I hear a few uncomfortable coughs from the pews but it doesn’t affect me. Nor does the scorn of Savio burn in my skull beside me.
Nothing matters but the man offering his hand to mine.
Before I can break all the customary rules Savio lifts my vail and places my hand in Constantine’s.
Clearing his throat he projects his voice for all intentionally to hear, “I’m entrusting you to take very good care of my daughter.”
It takes all of my best efforts to remain impassive. However, Constantine’s eyes dance with mischief. “I assure you, Savio, Carina has been very well cared for.” He even adds in a devilish wink to sweeten the innuendo. My lips tug in a smile as Savio silently fumes.
Savio responds with a grunt before plastering on a smile as he returns to his seat.
“Amore mia ,” Constantine beckons in a soft caress that liquifies my insides. I follow his lead as he guides me up the three steps to the altar. As we take our place opposite of one another his hand is still in mine. “You’re ravishing.”
Even with blush applied I feel the warmth spread and splash across my chest. “You’re even more handsome than the day I met you.”
His eyes twinkle with mirth. “Ah, so you always found me handsome. How my beautiful liar is confessing all her secrets.”
Father Frank clears his throat to proceed with the union. Constantine smiles, all too pleased with himself. Breaking tradition he raises my hand and tenderly kisses each of my knuckles. My heart pounds viciously as my breath hitches. Will there ever be a time with his lips on my flesh where I’ll have a normal reaction?
As he gives my hand one final brush of his lips I have my answer that I never will.
Father Frank clears his throat once more and by the force I can tell he’s displeased by us.
“We are gathered here today in the heavenly union of Constantine Donati and Carina Fiore. We stand here before the father, son and holy spirit and thank him for his blessings. We pray you will be enriched with his strength to be faithful to each other forever, and you assume all the responsibilities that come with marriage. And so I ask you,” he turns his attention to Constantine, and I can sense the apprehension before he speaks, “Constantine Donati, have you come here to enter marriage without coercion, freely and wholeheartedly?”
“I have.”
“Do you promise to love Carina in sickness and in health. For as long as you shall live?”
“Even in death,” he vows. Father Crank clears his throat once more in correction. He amends with a cheeky grin. “I do.”
“Carina,” he addresses me, “have you come here to enter marriage without coercion, freely and wholeheartedly?”
Funny, how months ago this marriage would have been against my will. I would have felt the shackles around my ankles. The confinement of cuffs cutting my wrists. The suffocation of life married to a man who I was led to believe would be my damnation.
“I have.”
“Do you promise to love Constantine in sickness and in health? For as long as you shall live?”
“I do.” I’ve never seen Constantine’s eyes burn so brightly before. But they’re dazzling now. So easy to get swept up into.
“The rings please,” Father Frank asks.
Rico, who has been entrusted to hold the rings, releases them to Constantine and not in the open palm of Father Frank. I hear a few appalled gasps from Savio’s side of the Famiglia .
“May you wear these rings as a reminder of the vows of which you have just taken.”
And breaking the tradition once more Constantine allows me to place the wedding ring on him first. A sign of respect, loyalty. A show of leadership, dominance. Once the ring is placed perfectly on his finger he places the wedding band on mine.
“You may now kiss the bride.”
He tugs me to him with his hand on my waist. Even beneath all the fabric his touch scorches me in the most delicious way.
His palm caresses my face as his lips nip at my ear before whispering, “You’re completely mine now, Carina.”
His nose skims along my jawline, his free hand coming to collar my throat, fingers pressing against my fluttering pulse.
“And you’re completely mine,” I echo back possessively.
He hums with pleasure. Pressing closer to me I can feel the hardness of him against me. And I ache to feel him inside me.
Tipping my head with his hand he meets me the rest of the way.
And as his lips press against mine consummating the marriage of Constantine and Carina Donati the fire of gun shuts ring in our marriage opposed to wedding bells.