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I looked around me. The hotel was imposing and impressive, with a grand staircase and marble floors in the hotel lobby, together with plush white couches and pale armchairs interspersed with sophisticated floral arrangements. A hotel as stunning as this would be in great demand as a wedding venue, especially on a weekend in the summer months, and it would be booked up months if not years in advance.
I wondered what had happened to the other bride and groom who had booked their wedding ceremony to take place in this hotel today. It was impossible that the hotel had been free for our wedding at such short notice, but it was clear that we were the only wedding party here today.
I shuddered, hoping that Marco had offered the other wedding party a generous financial incentive to go elsewhere rather than just killing them off.
I let my mind wander as the conversations carried on around me. I couldn’t help thinking about Jessica and wondering if she was okay and wishing that she could be here today like she should have been. She should have been at my side on my wedding day. But maybe it was better that she was nowhere near these violent monsters.
A few minutes later, the guests were being ushered into the hall where the ceremony would take place. I watched them as they moved away from us.
I felt a tight squeeze on my hand and realized that Marco was looking at me.
“Marco?” I wasn’t sure what I was asking him.
“Here’s Danio now. I’ll be waiting for you inside. Don’t disappoint me.” After a long look at me, he placed my hand in Danio’s and made his way into the ceremony hall for the start of the service.
There was no one from my family to give me away, so Danio was standing in to escort me down the aisle of the ceremony room. Out of all the Marchiano brothers, Danio seemed the nicest. Or maybe it was because he was still young and hadn’t yet become as hardened and callous as his older brothers.
The strapless dress and lack of a veil made me feel exposed and vulnerable. And being given away by a practical stranger brought home to me how alone I was now. The isolation swooped down on me, consuming my mind and thoughts.
I heard the music begin. It was some sort of wedding music, probably chosen by the hotel staff since I didn’t think Marco would have been interested in those sorts of details.
The doors opened, revealing Marco at the other end of the grand ceremony hall, together with the officiant who would be performing the ceremony and Alessio and Camillo who were Marco’s groomsmen.
When I didn’t walk forward, I heard Danio say in a gentle voice, “Are you okay Juliana? I said it’s time to go in.” I couldn’t say anything or move, and instead I just stared at him.
His voice sounded far away, and everything seemed to blur.
And then tears fell from my eyes.
CHAPTER 26
JULIANA
I’m not sure what happened next.
I remember feeling frozen by the stares of all the guests on me, but even more by the dark eyes of my groom who was watching me carefully.
His face was carefully blank, but I could see the darkness in his eyes, the darkness looking like it was ready to pounce on me like a panther ambushing its prey.
When I didn’t move, Marco came marching down the ceremony hall toward me.
The sound of his shoes echoed ominously against the tiled floor, getting louder as he neared me. He grabbed my hand and roughly led me away, back to the lobby where we had been standing previously.
“Sit,” he commanded, nodding to a plush armchair. “You’re shaking.”
I gratefully sank down into the chair, realizing that my legs and arms did feel shaky.
Marco turned to me. “I know you didn’t eat breakfast this morning. Have you drunk any water today, apart from when I gave you the Tylenol?”
“I had a couple of espressos instead.”
“How many cups of espresso?”
“Um, four.” What was this, the Spanish inquisition?
He looked at me carefully. “Single or doubles?”
“What?” I tried to avoid the question.
