Chapter 7 #2
“Time to go,” she murmurs, helping me stand.
My vision gets blurry as I swoon on my heels, and Eva calls out for help from Tony.
“What’s wrong with her?” she asks, pretending she’s merely irritated people won’t see her incredible efforts as Tony lifts me into his arms.
“The boss slipped a sedative into her drink,” he grunts. “She can’t get cold feet. Soon, Rosa won’t even be able to say much, other than the most important words she’ll say for this family in her entire life. I fucking do. There’s too much fight inside her body, and we can’t take any chances.”
Blinking to clear my eyes as heaviness settles in my muscles, I rest my head on Tony’s shoulder, despite how much I hate him. The bond connecting Vero and I is weakening with each passing moment, and I find my father standing smugly at the bottom of the stairs.
“It worked like a charm, boss.”
Papa smirks as he twitches his fingers over my veil with a nod.
“You make things too difficult, mia figlia. It would be just like you to make some sort of statement and stab yourself on the damn altar,” he grumbles. “All you have to do is say two important words, and I know exactly how to make that happen. Let’s go before we’re late.”
My tongue feels thick in my mouth, and I can’t even growl back at him as I’m carried out to one of the cars.
Eva sits beside me during the drive there like she promised, the sedative settling further into my mind and muscles.
I’m not even sure how I’m going to be able to fucking walk until I’m forced out of the car and onto my feet.
The veil is pulled over my face, and my father presses his lips against the shell of my ear.
“Go where I tell you.” His alpha bark makes me whimper as he forces me to walk beside him, my movements almost appearing normal as I move in a flutter of white lace and tulle.
Papa speaks with family members as he leads me through the gardens in front of the cathedral, and everyone comments on how beautiful I look.
“Renzo, my niece looks so beautiful!”
My Aunt Genevra is my mother’s sister. She has no idea how terrible my father is, and continues to praise my very covered beauty. I may as well be a lace monster with how many layers I’m covered under. The dress is a full ballgown, and it’s a miracle I fit in the car earlier.
As much as I miss the woman my mother should have been, I don’t like to see her family as they’re cruel people.
“May I speak with her? This is an envelope for you, Renzo. It’s customary to offer a gift to the bride.”
I hide the disgust in my face with the ridiculous veil draped over me, as the gift is not for me at all.
“You shouldn’t have, Genevra. Thank you. Please don’t take long to say your piece to her. We must enter the church soon.”
“Yes, yes. Thank you, Renzo. My, my. You are stunning, Rosalia.”
I feel her press her body against mine in a hug, and she drops her voice as my father is distracted by someone else.
There are people all over the church lawn, making me believe this is my father’s way of allowing the family to see me before the wedding.
I am the main attraction, without a voice, so they can say whatever they wish.
“Girl, you caught yourself a gorgeous husband, didn’t you?
” she murmurs under her breath, fluffing my dress absently.
“I did you a favor by calling your father when I saw you running all around town kissing your stepsister. Honestly, girl, your father should have thrown her out when he put her mother out like a dog.”
The oxygen in my lungs freezes as I realize the person who ruined my life is chatting away as if she really does have my best interests at heart.
Aunt Genevra is just a terrible, gossiping old woman who has no life.
Her dark hair has steaks of white through it, and her makeup makes her look as if she’s frozen.
She’s always creeped me out.
“Why?” I croak out. My father gave permission to my aunt to speak with me, so it is either covered in his alpha bark, or it’s not working as well with the sedative in my system.
Drugs have been known to screw with alpha barks and scent matched bonds.
“I was walking with my friends past the park and saw you,” she hisses, her fingers digging into the bones of my wrist.
Fate definitely is laughing at me right now.
“You were flaunting yourselves, darling. It just wasn’t right. Your actions directly impact our family. I saved you from being ostracized or killed. We all know your father doesn’t forgive easily. This is much better. Go marry the man who is meant for you.”
Papa’s hand presses against my back to get me to move, and he murmurs his regrets to my aunt. Massive murder is sounding better by the second.
“Shh. Quiet your mind, mia figlia. I can almost feel the heat of your anger. Did your aunt tell you about how she called me the day I punished you for being a whore?”
Papa’s hand moves to my hip and he steps slightly behind me to take my right hand as if he’s helping me up the stairs. Instead, it puts him in the perfect position to continue to speak to me since he’s much taller than I am.
“All abominations have their expiration date, my daughter. This was yours. Genevra was incensed. I would have been well within my rights to light you on fire to purge the evil inside of you, but I chose to spare you, so you could marry the alpha waiting for you at the altar. Don’t fuck this up.”
My chest heaves as my feet move against my will, and my lips tremble with the sheer anger brewing inside of me.
Still, he maneuvers me through the church doors and to the opening of the nave.
This service is going to be pompous and long, and I already find myself dreading it as I wait for everyone to take their seats.
The organ begins to play, and goosebumps spread over my body as my father threads my arm through his.
It only appears to be a loving gesture as he stands tall and proud with his salt and pepper hair perfectly coiffed into submission, and his beard groomed well.
His blue and cream tuxedo sets him apart as the father of the bride, and down the aisle, I can see Nico wearing a black tie tux as he waits for me.
“Walk, Rosalia.”
The power in his voice forces my heeled foot forward, and I find my pace beside his as we meander up the aisle to the music.
“If you look to your left, you may find a present,” he says under his breath conversationally. If anyone was watching, they’d think he’s trying to calm my nerves or tell me how much he loves me.
I know better.
My head turns as if in slow motion, and his other hand grabs my bicep to steady me when I trip.
I feel as if I’m in a horror movie of my own making, and there’s no fucking way out.
Verona sits in the pew, her red hair peeking out from underneath a heavy hood.
It may be cool inside the church, but she would never wear something like that in the summer. Not to mention, it’s black.
The oddest things fill my mind as I stare at her, soaking in every detail. Her hand presses against her side as she twists to gaze at me, tears streaming freely as she silently sobs.
No one pays her any attention, and it’s as if she’s a ghost. I can’t feel anything from the bond, even though she’s clearly hurt somehow.
“Shhh, mia figlia. Let the sedative I gave you give you comfort. Allow it to numb you or all feelings as you do your duty for your family. I had my men looking for her, and they found her sleeping on the street in an alley last night. How the mighty have fallen. Anything could have happened to her, and I chose to pick her up to allow you to see her one last time. Aren’t I a good father? ”
I barely feel the tears as they escape my eyes, keeping my eyes on Vero as I continue to walk achingly slowly. Papa wants me to sit with how terrible this feels. I thought she was safe!
“I kept her away from my men, but made sure she was stabbed before sitting her down in the second pew. It’s why we spent so much time in the front yard.
I wanted everything to be perfect for you, mia figlia.
I’ll leave her to die here, and she can have an unmarked grave, just like her mother. Verona should have left Savannah.”
If she dies, I want to die. I raise a plea to a god I’m not sure I believe in as my toes touch the stairs that’ll lead me up to my future husband. My heart thuds hard in my chest as the priest asks who is giving me away, and my father loudly tells everyone that he is.
“Do as your husband says, mia figlia.” This most likely is the last alpha bark I’ll ever experience from my father, but it still chafes. All I want to do is pull my gun from underneath my dress and shoot him.
Nico steps down to help me up the stairs, and my fingers twitch in his hand as I cling to him. He frowns once I’m standing at his side, but is pulled into the ceremony as the priest drones on and on. With each word, my body trembles as if it’s going into shock.
I’m very certain I’m experiencing what my alpha is, and that I’m going to follow her when she dies. Even a half bond has the ability to pull an omega into death with her alpha and vice versa.
Nico turns my body to face him as my teeth begin to chatter, and he lifts my veil quickly, ignoring everything else as he gazes at me.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” he whispers, nuzzling against my cheek. He wants it to look as if he can’t stay away from me for another second, while I am simply trying to stay upright.
“Second row,” I whisper back. “Behind me. She’s been stabbed, Nico. If she dies, I think I might too.”
His fingers squeeze my shoulders as he sees the truth of it in my eyes, his eyes flicking over to where I asked him to look without moving his head. Breathing deeply, it almost sounds like a hiss through his smiling, clenched teeth.
“Say the words that’ll bind you to me through the eyes of the law, and we’ll take her with us,” he growls.