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“Do you have the rings?” requested Father Ugolino.
I blinked rapidly. I hadn’t even considered the wedding bands but, of course, Alessio had already thought of this and supplied both rings. He wasn’t going to let something as simple as a wedding ring delay this marriage.
The priest blessed the rings. When I forgot to offer my hand to Alessio, he snatched up my fingers, and I watched as he slid the band onto my fingers.
“Cate, receive this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” He had called me Cate again.
It was my turn to give Alessio his wedding band. I was sure my heart was about to burst out of my chest. “Alessio, receive this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
When Father Ugolino announced that Alessio could kiss his bride, my eyes widened. I hadn’t thought about this part.
Before I could protest, Alessio firmly pulled me toward him and placed his lips on mine. I froze and kept my mouth firmly closed, but that didn’t stop him from giving me a self-satisfied smirk as he pulled away.
CHAPTER 14
CATE
After I’d said goodbye to my grandmother and pointedly ignored my uncle, we headed back to the Marchiano estate.
We pulled up outside the mansion, which was familiar to me after the couple of days I had spent here previously. I wondered if I should say a prayer to the Virgin Mary as we passed her statue making our way to the entrance of the mansion, but I doubted that even she could save me now.
As we all made our way into the house, I heard a very distinct bark. “What was that?” I asked Alessio as I ground to a halt.
“It’s just the dog,” he replied.
“What dog?”
“Juliana’s dog, Mr. Fluffy. Didn’t you meet him the last time you were here?”
“No, I didn’t. I didn’t even know that Juliana had a dog.”
“I guess you were only here a couple of days, and you did spend most of your time up in my bedroom. Don’t worry, Mr. F is just a harmless ball of fur.”
But Alessio’s words didn’t mollify me. I really didn’t like dogs and had a bit of a phobia about them.
“Nobody said anything about a dog.”
“Believe me, that’s how I felt when I first met him,” drawled Marco. That hardly reassured me.
“He’s huge.” I eyed the dog warily.
“He’s a Chow Chow dog,” said Juliana proudly. “The thick fur makes them look even bigger. But he’s honestly a softy.” Juliana was holding him back by his collar, but he was eyeing me up like I was a piece of meat. “He loves new people, and he just wants to meet you.”
“Well, perhaps later. I thought I’d go up first and change my clothes.” I slowly edged towards the staircase while keeping my eyes firmly on the animal.
“I’ll come up with you,” said Alessio, looking at me like I was slightly crazy.
Alessio showed me to his bedroom, although I already knew the way there. My cheeks flushed as I remembered our kiss in there—I knew that he would expect more than a kiss tonight.
“Look, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go out and deal with some business. There’s been lots of fallout from all the bad drugs that have been circulating and I need to sort some things out.”
“Fine, I’d rather be by myself, anyway.”
“Okay, well, Juliana is around if you need anything.”
I didn’t reply. There was nothing to say.
My bags were already waiting for me in Alessio’s bedroom. Two of my uncle’s soldiers had brought my belongings and car over this morning.
