Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
ROISIN
E verything is surreal as the wedding preparations are made. My parents have flown in, and my mother is busy collaborating with Dominic’s mother, Lizzie, and his younger sister, Sienna.
I don’t know why but finding out he has a sister brings home just how much I don’t know about him… and we’re about to get married!
My ignorance puts me on edge. Makes me second guess everything. It’s not exactly fair. We were both thrust into this situation, after all. But it still hammers home my lack of knowledge. Even little things, like a favorite color. Something that was brought into stark reality when I suggested emerald for the bridesmaid dresses and Sienna casually told me he hated green. Since then, I’ve taken a step back and allowed the decisions to be made around me, simply agreeing to whatever suggestions his family makes. The family who know him in a way I don’t, even though we’re about to tie our lives together.
I know the knowledge of a favorite color or even a dislike isn’t crucial, but it’s one more thing I don’t know, and together all those things combine into one giant snowball I can feel rolling towards me, picking up speed, fueled by my insecurities.
As I stand in front of the mirror, trying on my wedding dress for what feels like the hundredth time as it’s continually adjusted to allow for my growing baby bump, I can't shake the feeling of being an imposter. The ivory silk clings to my body but still cleverly disguises my pregnancy, and I barely recognize the woman staring back at me. She looks like a bride, but inside I feel more like a stranger.
I don’t know why, but I’m struggling.
And I’m lying to myself.
I do know why. It’s because Dominic has been largely absent this past couple of weeks while our rushed marriage is being expedited. He hasn’t been involved in any of the wedding arrangements, which in my mind speaks volumes. He didn’t even take me to the follow up appointment the doctor insisted on after my collapse, even though he’s been to every other one. His obvious reluctance and the way he’s distanced himself hurts.
How is it that everything seemed better, easier, when we were sneaking around? Now suddenly, it feels like we’re two strangers who are getting married. It doesn’t matter that we already made a baby together, this really does feel like a true arranged marriage between grudging parties, and I don’t know how to make it better. I just know I don’t want to start off our marriage this way.
I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. My hand instinctively moves to my belly, caressing the slight swell that's barely visible beneath the flowing fabric. This baby, our baby, is the real reason we're here. It should be enough, shouldn't it?
But as I stare at my reflection, doubt creeps in like a shadow. I wonder if Dominic feels the same way—trapped, overwhelmed, unsure. Is that why he's been so distant? Or is it something else entirely? Another woman, perhaps. Someone he’s had to leave behind because of me.
Or maybe he hasn’t left her behind.
Maybe he’s with her right now, reassuring her that the marital obligation he’s committed to means nothing.
A soft knock on the door startles me from my increasingly dark thoughts. "Come in," I call out, expecting my mother or the seamstress who’s gone to fetch the train since this is my final fitting.
Tomorrow is the big day.
Instead, it's Mika who peeks his head in. His eyes widen as he takes in my appearance. "Roisin," he murmurs. "You look beautiful."
I manage a weak smile. "Thank you."
Stepping into the room, the underboss of the Mafia family I’m marrying into closes the door behind him. There's a hesitancy in his movements that makes me tense. "Is everything alright?" I ask, my mind immediately going to the likelihood that Dominic has decided to pull out.
It’s unlikely my brothers will kill him now, after all. They’d have to catch him again, first.
Mika purses his lips, seeming to debate with himself before speaking. "I wanted to talk to you about Dominic."
My heart clenches painfully. "What about him?"
He takes a deep breath. "I know you two haven't had much time together lately and I can tell it's bothering you."
I turn away, pretending to adjust my dress. "It's fine. We're both busy with preparations."
Well, I am.
"Roisin," he says gently. "It's okay to admit you're struggling. I know this isn't exactly a normal situation and I’m sorry if you feel forced into it."
The words hit home, and I feel tears prickling at the corners of my eyes. "I just... I feel like I barely know him," I confess, my voice barely above a whisper. "And now we're getting married and having a baby, and it's all happening so fast."
Mika steps closer, placing a comforting hand on my arm. "I know my cousin can be... difficult to read sometimes. But I want you to know, he cares about you. More than he lets on."
I look at the heir of La Cosa Nostra skeptically, barely able to comprehend that we’re having this conversation, that he’s so empathetic. That he even cares is kind of blowing my mind. "How can you be sure?"
He smiles. “I know,” he says cryptically. “And if you’ll permit me to have your email address, you’ll know too.”
My eyes widen at the odd request, but I can’t see anything wrong with giving it to him, so I rattle it off and watch him write it down. I doubt it’s something he couldn’t find out on his own, anyway.
“Thank you,” he says with an enigmatic smile. “It’ll be okay, I promise.” And with that, he disappears as quickly as he arrived.
It’s that evening, when I’m finally alone after a day of last-minute preparations, that I eventually get a chance to check my inbox. And there it is, a message from an unrecognized address. I open it with shaking hands, not sure what to expect. Whatever I might have imagined is certainly not what I find.
I recognize one of the cells in the dungeon here at ár n-áit immediately, and can’t help cringing. Then the video pans in on Dominic, bloody and beaten, tied to a chair, and I slam my eyes closed and cover my face with my hands. I can’t bear to look. It’s clear he’s preparing to die.
It’s his words that finally have me peering from between my fingers.
“…make sure you look after her. She gets the best care there is, you understand? And the baby, just fucking remember that child is innocent in all of this. You don’t treat it differently just because of who the father is.”
I drop my hands completely, my eyes wide with shock, at the way he takes on my brothers with no thought for his own welfare, only mine.
“I have money put aside. I made a will as soon as I found out Roisin was pregnant. Everything I have will be hers, so she can give the baby the life it deserves without having to rely on anyone else.”
I suck in an audible breath, the knowledge that he was thinking of me and our baby even before we got caught out. Before he was captured. Before we found ourselves bound by more than just a co-parenting arrangement, warming me in places I hadn't even realized had become stone cold.
“Anything else you want to add to your touching eulogy?” Callum asks Dominic, his callous attitude enraging me all over again.
“Yeah. Tell Roisin to take care. To always live her best life. Tell her I would have loved our child… Fuck! I do love our child. I wish I could have seen him… or her. Been with her when she brings him into this world. Supported her so she doesn’t have to do this alone. Make sure you do that, if I can’t.”
I sniffle and bat at the tears streaming down my face, which are blurring my vision, so I lean in to be able to see better and that’s when I see that Dominic is crying too.
His raw emotion takes my breath away.
“And I will be with her, in spirit. Every step of the way, just as I would have been in life. Don’t let her doubt that. Tell her, she’s the best woman I know. And I know she’ll be the best mother. And I think… maybe…”
I zoom in on his beloved face, the absolute certainty in his eyes when he opens them and says to my brothers, “Tell her I love her, too.”
And just like that, I know Mika was right.
Everything is going to be perfect and suddenly, I can’t wait to become Mrs. Romano. It’s like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders and I hadn’t realized how heavy it had become until it’s no longer there.
I close the video after watching it twice more, my heart pounding and my cheeks wet with tears. Even then, I replay Dominic's words in my mind. The raw emotion in his voice, the tears in his eyes, the way he fought for me and our baby even when facing death—it all paints a picture so different from the distant, reluctant groom I thought I was marrying.
The revelation of Dominic's true feelings washes over me like a tidal wave, sweeping away my doubts and fears.
I want to run to him, to throw my arms around him and never let go; to tell him I feel the same way.
Except it's late and he’s who-knows-where. But it doesn’t matter anymore, because I know I’ll see him tomorrow.
At our wedding.