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My sisters are my only bridesmaids, and I have no maid of honor. They’re really all the friends I have. Sienna got married to a guy she had met online, and we lost contact after.
“I can find you some sedatives,” Bria says. “I know a guy.”
“No one is getting sedatives,” my mother says. “We can’t have her walking down the aisle like some zombie—or worse,dying.” Her lips are tight as she looks at Bria. “And youknowing a guyhad better be a joke.”
“Why not?” I ask. “You’re pretty much killing me anyway.”
“And here I thought having girls would be easier than boys,” my mother mutters under her breath before retreating a step to take a good look at me. “You look gorgeous, my dear.”
Tears form in my eyes, but I shake my head to get rid of them. “Let’s get this over with.”
* * *
My father waitsfor me at the cathedral.
“My first daughter to marry,” he says, his smile reaching his eyes. “You look beautiful, sweetheart.”
He blinks away the wetness in his eyes and holds out his elbow for me to loop my arm through it. My mother hands me my bouquet of purple roses before ushering Bria and Isabella down the aisle. She crouches behind them, trying to appear discreet in her pink dress, and sits in the front pew. The bridal chorus starts—my signal to go—but I hesitate.
“You can do this, Nee-Nee,” my father says. “You’re the strongest woman I know. If he does anything to hurt you, I’ll kill him.”
I tighten my hold on my father as he proudly walks me down the aisle. He has no concerns about handing me over to a murderer. My heart races, warning me to make a run for it. I hold the bouquet firmly to my chest to calm it.
I’m doing this for my family.
As I walk down the aisle, the music fades. Faces in the crowd blur. When this is over, I’ll have lost the last of my freedom. All I can focus on is Benny, standing at the altar, waiting for me in his fitted tux with his hands clasped behind his back. At first, he appears detached, but the closer I get, the more that changes.
Those dark eyes of his drink me in. His gaze overflows with caution, but a spark of excitement also lingers. Like he’s preparing to rise to the challenge of becoming my husband.
I wobble in my heels when we reach him. He doesn’t abandon eye contact and hardly pays my father a glance. They shake hands, and my father kisses my cheek before sitting next to my sobbing mother. Cristian stands behind Benny, his hands hanging in front of him, and Luca is next to him.
Bria helps hold my dress up as I stand before Benny. The music stops. The priest steps forward and asks Benny and me to join hands. Benny captures my hand in his, holding it tight, worried one of us will make a run for it.
My voice is low, nearly a whisper, as I recite my vows.
Benny says his loud and clear, as if he wants the entire city to know I’m now his. My hands shake, and his fingers flex when we exchange rings. I gasp when he slips the ring on my finger. Benny never proposed, and we never discussed a ring.
I don’t get much time to admire it before the priest says, “You may now kiss the bride.”
Benny runs his tongue over his bottom lip, and I shut my eyes. I gasp when he tugs me toward him and smashes his mouth to mine. His lips are soft and perfect.
So different from what I expected from him.
Our kiss isn’t a quick peck.
It wraps me up, hugging me, and consumes me.
I forget about the people around us. About the contract. About others making this decision for me.
Benny slips his tongue into my mouth, desperate for a taste, and I allow it.
We don’t kiss like two people forced into a marriage.
We kiss like we’re soulmates.
Like we’ve done this our entire lives.
Benny doesn’t kiss me like an unwanted bride.
