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Several days later,I leave my room, and despite how much I hated being locked up there, I don’t want to leave. Stuck in my room is better than what is awaiting me once I marry Romeo today.
I sit in the bridal room of the Catholic church as my mother and the other ladies in my wedding party primp and fuss. My mother is angry at me because my dress doesn't fit the way it should. The words sink into my foggy brain, and I wonder if she can tell that I'm pregnant. But then I realize she's upset because I've lost weight.
"I knew we should've had an extra fitting," she snaps.
"Mrs. Fiori, the wedding is going to be perfect. Don't worry,” the maid of honor says. I have no clue who she is. Perhaps she's part of the Abate Family.
I lose myself in my mind again, unable to cope with what is happening. Before I know it, I'm standing in front of the priest with Romeo. I don't remember walking up the aisle.
I briefly glance around, and no one around me is smiling. Not Romeo. Not his family. Not mine. Not the attendants. Not the few guests. Weddings are supposed to be joyous occasions, but for all the pomp and circumstance, the reality is that this is a business deal. The wedding is just the transfer of ownership from one family to another.
Deep inside me, a wail of agony wants to burst through, but I know if I do anything to embarrass or bring shame on my family, I’m a dead woman.
“Mr. Abate, repeat after me. I, Romeo Tiberius Abate, take Elena Antonia Fiori to be my wife,” the priest says.
How am I going to say these vows? God knows, they’re not true. There will not be any having or holding or faithfulness. And death do us part can come to me at any time.
Romeo is finishing his vow, and I’m dying inside as my turn is next.
The doors of the church burst open, causing us all to flinch and look. A hail of gunfire echoes through the nave. It's pure instinct that has me dropping to the floor and covering my head. Chaos surrounds me. Women scream. Men shout.
I glance up, seeing my father, Tiberius, and Romeo looking confused. They’ve taken refuge in the sanctuary.
“How the hell did they get in? Is this your doing?”
My father glares at him. “Why would I do this?”
From my place on the floor, I look up toward the aisle. I see a single man walking up, a gun in each hand pointed toward the sanctuary.
I should try to run, but instead, I close my eyes and cover my head again.
"Sorry to ruin such a joyous occasion." There's something about the voice that seems familiar.
"You have some nerve,Giovane Re. You really think you're going to walk out of here alive?" Tiberius bellows. I wonder who theGiovane Re, the boy king, is. From the tone, the term is mocking, not complimentary.
"I don’t care if I do. But I'm taking you to hell with me." I’m trying to place his voice. Who had they killed? Is he one of my father’s men who is mutinying? Or Abate’s? And how did he get in and so close to us? Where are my father’s men? The Abate Family’s men?
“What do you want?” my father calls.
“Ah, Fiori. I knew you were both cowards. You think you’re big men to kill a woman and her son. Look at you cowering in the altar of God,” this man sneers.
There must be more men than this one man, but I’m not going to lift my head to find out. If I keep my head down, maybe I’ll survive. I try to make myself smaller, but a few moments later, I can feel him near me.
I peek open my eyes to see his shoes next to me. “Good God, you have no honor, do you? Hiding while your daughter, your bride, is left here.”
Cold metal rests on my temple, and I know this is it. I’m done. Dead.
“Talk about feeling like a big man, attacking a defenseless girl,” the priest says. Not my father. Not my would-be husband or father-in-law.
“You’re right. You know what? On second thought, maybe I'll let you live just a little longer. I think instead, I’ll take this pretty little virginal bride of yours and make her my plaything for a little while. And then I’ll do to her what you did to my brother and my mother, right before I kill you both. Donovan?”
“Boss.”
There are other men.
“Deal with them while I take my spoils.” A moment later, I’m hauled up and tossed over the man’s shoulder as he strides out of the room.
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