AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We couldn’t marry in the Catholic Church if we said no. Thankfully, I remember vividly our conversation about children.Three or more!Had been her words. Loud and ridden in pleasure.
“Yes,” we echoed, and this time, our eyes met.
“Lucca, I would like to speak to Katia, alone.”
I freed my hands and stood. Her eyes widened, but her false smile never faltered. I walked out of his office and closed my eyes against the stone wall, waiting for this to be over.
Today was a mind game.
From the moment she stood me up to the careful words she used.
I was spent.
Borelli still ruled my mind, Katia reigned over my control, and the vow I would soon give to the church governed inside. The thoughts of her family arriving tomorrow also lingered, and while I hadn’t offered them to stay under my roof. The threats were still here and scattered around the city.
There were so many moves, so many pieces, and I couldn’t see the end.
The unknown was driving me mad. Insane with scenarios and countermoves, and yet Katia weakened my mind with her defiance and spirit.
She became the weakness I had tried so hard to divert.
The heavy door opened, and the priest smiled.
Hesitantly, I faced him. “Everything alright, Father?”
I waited for his words of advice and disappointment, but I received the opposite.
“Indeed, Katia is ready to wed. She even mentioned how she got to know you in the mountains.” His brown eyes glowed with joy.
He’d fallen into her deceit.
I walked inside with a void in my chest, appalled by the father’s content and Katia’s docile aura.
I signed the marriage license he’d placed before us and didn’t miss the way her hand trembled when the ink smeared her signature.
Our marriage would be sealed on Saturday after he would perform the ceremony.
The priest ended our meeting with a prayer, and as we walked from the back of the church to the front double doors, Katia stopped to take one last look at the ceiling before wrapping her hand around my arm. The deception of being strong and united in public.
The sky mirrored my troubled mind, and I opened the umbrella I’d left at the edge of the church. Katia’s timid smile thanked me before she sneaked under the shelter I offered. I kept a close eye on the hoax she portrayed out in the open as her hands held the plastic envelope close and free from the rain. When I opened the back passenger door to the SUV, I stretched my palm for her to take.
After shutting the door, I glanced over at the second black-out Escalade and gave Beppe a nod as I crossed to the other side. I hopped inside the large SUV and ran my fingers over my dampened hair. I caught Rio’s eyes in the rearview mirror, and he immediately removed them to speed away from the church.
Katia looked out the window while her fingertips played against her thigh. The light cream-colored dress she wore contrasted her golden and smooth skin. Her makeup had been minimal, but she’d taken her time to conceal the puffy and dark areas under her eyelids.
She hadn’t slept. That made two of us.
“You didn’t have to lie,” I said, glancing down at the envelope between our seats.
Katia didn’t face me as she whispered, “I walk inside the house of God just like the sinner you are, but I don’t lie on sacred ground. I spoke the truth.”
“She got to really get to know you in the mountains.”The priest just failed to realize how far off her statement was from good.
We remained silent for the rest of the ride, and while I trusted Rio, I didn’t want my personal life whispered on the streets. The more they believed the bastard I was even behind closed doors, the best it was for us.
Nightfall arrived as we pulled into my private street, and after weeks it seemed someone had finally heeded my threat and fixed the busted streetlights.
Somehow the simple sight of them running without a flicker eased my breathing.
