Chapter 28 #2
“That’s because you are, little dove. You’re my everything, and I’ll take care of you for the rest of my life.” I drag air into my lungs, lowering my mouth to her ear. “Later, I’m going to show you just how much I love you in this dress…and out of it.”
“Michael…there are literally a million people staring at us right now,” she says, her eyes darting to her left, where dozens of eyes watch us silently. “You can’t be saying things like that to me.”
I let out a barely there chuckle, squeezing her hand.
“Are we ready?” the priest asks, and she quickly turns around.
“Uh, yes, we are. Sorry.” She nervously laughs, and the guests erupt with their own round of laughter.
As the priest starts, I try to focus on what he’s saying, repeating whatever I need to repeat, but all I want is for this day to end so she and I can be alone.
I don’t know how long he talks for, but once I hear the part that involves kissing the bride, I clasp her face in both hands, staring deep into her eyes, and I show her all the ways this marriage is real.
ELSIE
I’ve never been to a big wedding. The last wedding I remember attending was for my aunt, a month before I was taken, and it had maybe a hundred people in attendance.
But this? I don’t even know what to call this.
The tents are set up with more tables than I can count, vases with peonies and lilies at the center, hanging crystals and tea lights dangling around the branches.
Chandeliers sparkle from above as Michael holds me in his arms while we sway together to a song I’m not even listening to.
Because being in his arms, I forget everything but the feel of him.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” His hand glides to my lower back, my head resting on his chest.
“I am. This is incredible. I can’t believe it’s my wedding.” I pause, perching back to look at him. “How do you know this many people?”
“It’s a hazard of the kind of life I lead.”
He runs his palm up and down my bare back, and my skin shivers. I can’t get enough of those big, strong hands all over me.
He looks around the room, and his jaw sets tight when he looks behind me. “All of them are staring at you and I don’t like it.”
My breath catches in my throat. His expression is downright deadly.
I laugh under my breath. “You can’t stop men from looking at me, Michael.”
He snaps his free hand to the back of my neck, pulling me to his mouth, his lips brushing mine. “Do you want me to show you how wrong you are, my little dove?”
His pupils darken, eyelids lowering with the swell of his arousal, a smirk raising one side of his mouth. I swallow an inhale—not from fear, but unfathomable desire.
“Michael.”
A few men approach us, and my gaze zaps away from his.
His arm tightens around me as they near, and if we were animals in a jungle, he’d be tearing through their necks with his teeth. I drop my head against his shoulder, curling my arm around him.
The men before me are older, maybe his father’s age. “We just wanted to say congratulations, boss. We’re honored to be here.”
He nods, his expression ruthless.
Oh, crap. It just hit me. He’s the boss of the family now. It’s official. This is what he wanted from the moment he met me. What he needed me for.
“Congratulations, Mrs. Marino,” they tell me with a curt nod.
I thank each of them, and more men arrive, as though the first few have opened up the floodgates. Everyone wants to shake Michael’s hand, to tell him that their allegiance is his.
My stomach skitters with nerves. I’m married to the boss of the Mafia. I definitely didn’t see that in my future. Not that I really saw a future in the last nine years.
But Michael has given me one, hasn’t he? Something to look forward to. A life not riddled with constant torture and fear. With him, I’m free in ways I never was before. Yet, I’m also shackled in ways I never saw coming.
His world equals danger. How much danger can I take?
But I told him I’d try, and I intend to keep that promise.
Once the last few men leave, he tugs me back into his arms and we dance like no one has just disturbed us. I breathe in the scent of his expensive cologne, arms draped around his neck, his gaze locked on me.
“I thought they’d never shut up,” he husks out, nudging up my chin with the back of his fingers, sinking his lips against mine and kissing me slow.
And every time he does, every time our mouths meet, I remember how much it means to him to kiss someone again. To kiss me. I matter to him. It’s the one reminder I have when the doubt creeps in, when my mind tries to convince my heart that we’re not right for one another.
Together, we dance to a few more songs before we settle into our seats and start on the food one of the waiters just brought out for us.
Taking small bites of my steak, I watch the guests dance, laughter all around us. But when I focus on two couples slow dancing in the center, I instantly stop breathing.
My fingertips grow cold, and the fork I was holding slips from my grasp, landing with a heavy clank onto my plate.
I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.
All the air evaporated the moment I saw their faces.
“Elsie?” Michael calls to me as though from a distance, as though I’m underwater, drowning.
Lower. Lower.
“Baby, what’s wrong? You’re trembling.”
He runs a hand down my arm, but I can barely feel it. My skin’s icy. My mind replays the last time I saw those two men. What they did to me…
“Tell me what's wrong, and I’ll fix it, I swear to you,” he clips in a deep baritone, but it sounds more like an echo.
I jump to my feet, my head spinning, the music pounding in my ears. The chair falls backward behind me as I rush out, clawing at my chest, gasping for air.
Oh, God. I’m gonna die here.
I can’t breathe. I heave, pushing past guests, trying to get away.
Strong arms are around me from behind, and I scream, clawing at whoever it is.
“It’s me, little dove. It’s Michael, baby. Shh. I’m here.”
I turn toward his voice, my eyes finally registering him, and I break into heavy sobs.
“Come here.” He slips an arm around my back and holds me against him as I cry. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
“I can’t go back. I can’t look at them.” I choke the words out.
“Who? Who were you looking at?” He weaves back and cups my cheek, devotion spilling from his hardened stare. “Tell me who they are, and I swear to you, I will make them pay.”
“Don’t ma-make me say it, Michael. Please,” I cry, tears rolling down my cheeks.
“Someone here hurt you?”
My chin quivers and I nod, my eyes going downcast.
“You tell me which one, and they’ll be dealt with,” he grits, his nostrils widening once I glance back up.
His eyes are full of ferocity, and I know he means what he says.
“W-what will you do?”
“What needs to be done.” He drags both palms to my hips. “I can’t find them all, but I can give you this, little dove. So let me.”
He buries his face in the crook of my neck, breathing me in with long inhales, a broken man vowing to make things right the only way he knows how.
“I swear…” he says, drawing back. “They’ll atone for their sins and beg for your forgiveness before they die.”
I take a few deep breaths, anger slowly replacing the panic. They deserve this. They should pay. I tilt my chin up to my husband, the one who promises to do anything to keep me safe, and I tell him what was done to me.
“They were never supposed to take their masks off…”
My eyes wander into the distance, replaying it as though it’s happening again.
“But they were drunk and sloppy,” I explain on a ragged sigh. “They took them off as they brutally raped me and another girl I don’t know.”
His chest jolts as he listens, his fingers digging into my hips. He’s barely restrained. A dark savage is buried underneath that expensive suit, and I’m about to meet him.
I gaze at him, tethering myself to him instead of the horror of the past, and say the words out loud.
“They mocked us, burned us with cigarettes as we screamed for them to stop. But they held us down and continued to hurt us. They beat her, Michael,” I cry. “Beat her so badly they killed her. She was maybe sixteen.”
His eyes slam shut, his body rattling with fury. His hand rushes down his face, his eyes growing round.
“I’m gonna fucking rip every goddamn limb from their body. They’re going to pay for this, baby.”
Rage is fitted all around him, but when he looks at me—really looks—his eyes grow tender, and I almost burst into tears again. He cups both sides of my face.
“You’re going to point them out for me, little dove. Okay?”
My brows furrow.
“Don’t be afraid. They can’t touch you here. You have all the power. You hear me?”
I nod frantically, new tears filling my eyes. He removes a handkerchief from his pocket and blots under my lashes. When his lips meet my forehead and remain there for long, agonizing seconds, my heart…it completely hurts with how much I’ve come to care for him.
“I’ll do anything for you,” he sighs, taking my hand.
“I know you will.” I bring his knuckles to my lips and kiss them, and together, we march back inside the tent.
That’s when I see them again, still where we left them, unaware of whose wedding they’re actually attending.
“The one with the blue shirt, next to the woman in the pink dress, and the man beside him dancing with the woman in the green gown.”
Instantly, his hand is in his pocket, and he removes his cell, snapping a photo of them before making a call.
“Nico, I’m going to send you a photo. Take those two men to the bar room. Don’t make a scene. Tell them I need to speak to them about business. Have my brother and the men ready.” He pauses. “That’s right.”
He places the phone back into his pocket, and side by side, we sweep past a small crowd and into the house, practically unnoticed.