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“I do,” I whispered in a shaky breath, barely making my cue. I wondered if he could even hear me. I wasn’t sure that it mattered. My consent wasn’t necessary.
“Do you Dominic Matteo take Sasha Ann to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and cherish from this day forward, and for all the days of your life?”
Dominic answered without hesitation. “I do,” he said.
Our wedding vows were the first words I’d ever heard my husband speak, and his deep, husky voice made my skin crawl.
Dominic Blanchi had been the monster who haunted my nightmares since he came to power. Now, I stood before him, pledging to be a loving and obedient wife.
The idea was laudable. How was I supposed to love a man who’d murdered my brother? The thought went against everything I’d ever been taught.
For years, my father spoke of the ruthlessness of Dominic Blanchi and the Italian family he now headed. They killed women and children without discrimination. Dominic was their leader, and he had a reputation for being particularly brutal.
Will I be his next victim?I wondered.
I didn’t know much about men, but I’d sometimes seen women with bruised skin and haunted looks in their eyes. I never thought I would be one of them.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Those words bound me forever to this monster of a man.
“You may kiss your bride.”
Dominic lifted my veil, and I sobbed harder at the thought of what came next. Never before did I imagine my first kiss would be with a man who despised me, and I especially did not imagine it to be in front of nearly three hundred strangers.
Ignoring my tears, Dominic swept me into his arms before placing a sweet, chaste kiss on my lips. I cried harder as the crowd went wild.
“Smile, Sasha,” he commanded in his rough voice as he took my hand and led me down the aisle amongst cheers and rose pedals. I tried my best to bottle my emotions and smile pretty, but I felt dazed by the day’s events.
As we finally reached the church doorway, the cool air on my face brought me out of my stupor. People threw flowers on us, and photographers snapped pictures as we made our way toward the car. I wanted to scream and shout at them for not helping me. But I was in the back seat of the limo before I could even open my mouth.
“Where are we going?” I asked Dominic as we settled. I didn’t want to talk to him, but I honestly had no idea what came next. My family had taken care of all the planning, and no one deemed to tell me anything about it.
I had been fine with that until now.
The largesse of my wedding dress made sitting next to each other impossible, and the distance gave me space to think and take in the last hour's events.
“Take this,” he said, handing me a tissue box. “Wipe your face and fix your makeup. I don’t want to walk into our reception with you looking the way you do.”
His words stung, but I kept my lips sealed. Not only did my new husband scare me, but I was too tired to fight. Plus, he had a point. I was sure I looked horrible.
The ceremony had been long. Catholic ceremonies always were, and considering ours needed to be conducted in both the Orthodox and the Roman way, I was surprised people even agreed to stay. Tears had streamed down my face during the entire thing.
Now, I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to strip off my heavy dress and nap.
So much pomp and circumstance for a wedding we all dreaded. Away from the crowds and the pressure, my tears abated as I wiped my face and began reapplying my make-up.
No use crying now.I thought. Nothing could be done.
“How do I look?” I asked after applying a fresh coat of lipstick and powdering the tear tracks on my cheeks. I silently thanked Natalia for insisting on outfitting the limo with emergency supplies.
Dominic took my face in his large hands, gently turning me one way, and then, another. Despite feeling like cattle, I shut my mouth and allowed him to inspect me.
“You look like a child,” he said disgustingly before releasing me from his grip.
Tears welled once more as his words hit their intended mark. This time though, I refused to allow them to fall, not wanting to give my new husband the satisfaction. Instead, I took the opportunity to sit back quietly study him as he typed away on his phone.
Dominic Blanchi had the look of a powerful man. If circumstances had been different, I might have giggled with my cousin over his handsomness.
