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Chapter 8
Imet with Scott and now have the slow-acting poison to give me the time I need to ensure everything else is in place. I’ve thought long and hard about this, and if I’m going to take what’s mine, I’m taking it all. I’ve made sure my movements aren’t anything out of the normal for me, so no one becomes suspicious of my behavior. So far, everything is on track, and no one seems to think anything is out of the ordinary. If only they knew.
Today is the day. It’s time for the wedding, time to watch my older brother walk down the aisle with the girl who belongs to me. My nerves are on fire. It’s been days since I’ve seen her. I didn’t go by her house, knowing it would look suspicious if I did. Instead, I’ve kept a low profile.
Now it’s almost time to see her in a white dress, ready to marry a man she doesn’t care for. A man who doesn’t care about her, but I care. More than I should. I always have, and somewhere inside this black heart of mine, I know what I feel for her is real. No one else would believe it. No one else would think I could have feelings, but I do for her and only her.
There’s a slight ache in my chest as I think about what I’m about to do. It’s not because I actually care about my brother; that’s not it. It’s something else. Something deeper. It’s all about her. It drives me crazy that she has this much power over me. Delaney shouldn’t have been able to touch anything in my blackened heart. She shouldn’t hold a piece of me I didn’t offer. She shouldn’t have a hold on me at all, but here we are. There’s nothing I can do now but see how it plays out for all of us.
As people filter into the church, I stand by the door, not giving a damn who they are as I watch for my allies. As they move to their seats, they give me a small nod of reassurance I needed. If I were sure things would play out without a hitch, I wouldn’t need them to begin with, but I’m unsure what will happen today.
The unknown bothers me. It makes me crazier than I already am, and that’s not something I should be today. I should be calm and collected, which I am to a point.
“Luka, you look lovely,” Mara Costa, Delaney’s mother, says as she walks up, about to take her seat.
“As do you.”
“This is going to be one hell of a wedding,” Ross adds.
“Are you not walking her down the aisle?” I ask.
“Oh, I am. Just taking Mara to her seat first,” he says, nodding toward his wife. I want to roll my eyes, but I don’t. I want to gag, but I keep that to myself. Instead, I watch as he leads his wife down the aisle and to her seat before walking back out.
“Luka,” I hear a man’s voice and glance over.
“How are you today?” I ask Margetti as he stands too close to me. I take a step back, smelling the alcohol on his breath already. I should have known better.
“Very well. Ready for this spectacle to be over with,” he says. I nod my head agreeing with him. I am too.
“As am I. I hope you’re not too drunk to attend the reception,” I tell him with a hint of anger.
“Never. It was just a little warm-up,” he says. I nod and motion for him to go ahead and find his seat before he pisses me off further.
“Luka, she’s in hysterics.” I turn my head to see my father standing next to me.
“Who and why do I care?”
“Delaney. She’s acting out,” he says in a hushed tone. I nearly roll my eyes before I turn on my heel to face him.
“Why aren’t you telling her fiancé?”
“I don’t need him stressing about this,” he snarls.
“And you would like me to do what?”
“Talk to the girl.”
“No.”
“Yes, Luka. That’s an order. Maybe you can get through to her that this marriage has to happen. There’s no backing out of it, if you know what I mean.” I cock my head to the side to study him for a long second. He’d do it too. He’d kill her for not marrying him. Well, isn’t that a turn of events?
“Fine, but I highly doubt she’s going to listen to the likes of me.”
“It’s worth a try,” he says. I nod and brush past him, walking to the church's back rooms where she’s dressing. One of the guards opens the door and allows me inside when I see her. She looks gorgeous, just like a bride should look in her long white gown. Her hair is pulled back with tendrils hanging around her face. She looks perfect. My heart beats a little harder and faster seeing her like this, but I quickly calm myself.
“I hear you’re having some issues,” I tell her. She looks up at me, and I can see the anger in her eyes.
“What happened to the real world, Luka? The world where you chose who to love?”
