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She squeezes my hand under the table. “Look. The bride. Isn’t she beautiful?”
I glance at the woman – all smiles, holding a kid’s hands as they sway back and forth.
“Wolf… this is one of the happiest days of her life. We can’t—”
“You forget yourself, Aubrey,” I growl low, stabbing my pasta dish. Benny across the table glances at me, and I flash him a fake smile, before dropping it and turning to Sia. “Get it together, now.”
“Just look at her…”
xxx
Alessia
Everything hit me the second I laid eyes on the bride. She reminds me of what I could’ve been. Innocent, pretending the stress of a wedding was my only complaint. She’s beautiful – this Claudia woman. I want that. And I can’t take this day away from her. It would betray everything I am as a woman. I need some kind of a redemption after what I’ve done to the girls in the basement. They’re just rotting, while I plan a life with my love.
There has to be somewhere else, anywhere else, that he can go through with the hit. Why did he have to choose now of all times?
“I know you have a heart in there,” I say to Leandro, squeezing his arm. “A big one, even.”
“It pumps frigid ice on days like this one. I need to know if I can count on you.”
“If we ruin this day for her, we’ll never be able to have our own. Karma wouldn’t allow it,” I go on, mind made up, and lean in close to him, dropping my voice even lower. “I need you back on your code. This isn’t the way. Taking someone out in the middle of a crowded, innocent room. It doesn’t have to be here. The Leandro I know would never—”
His nose wrinkles. I’ve challenged something deep inside him, and I have no idea if I just made a mistake. And yet, I don’t care. This is not the place to carry out a hit.
Leandro clenches his fists.
“You must’ve had a day like this, once,” I say lightly, just as the music dies down to a slow song. “You must’ve had what this woman has, once.”
Leandro’s gaze grows cold and distant as the DJ announces a special request by the bride’s brother.
“One last dance before little sister moves out of the house,” the DJ reads a note to ‘awws’ all around.
“Oh c’mon. How cute is this?” I lean on Leandro, peering up at him. But his eyes are everywhere except on me. “Tell me about yours.”
“She looked beautiful.” Leandro’s jaw tenses, tears in his eyes. “Nothing like you.”
My heart wrenches like a wet rag. I did not just hear that. My grip loosens in disgust.
“Pure, full of life. Marissa was perfect. When she twirled in her wedding gown, the world stood still.” He still won’t look at me. “You? Couldn’t hold a candle to that. Just an intermission. A shit one, at that.”
I couldn’t help it if I wanted to. Tears flow down my cheeks like I’ve been stabbed through the heart. All because I disagree with the where? The hope building up inside me that we can just enjoy the night, complete the job without ruining one of the most important nights of an innocent woman’s life, flees like the winter winds.
“Leandro?” Hardly a sound comes out. My voice is barely there. He’s gone completely. His eyes are cold and unwaveringly forward.
There’s a lump in my throat the size of a rock, and it feels like my head is expanding like a balloon of pressure. I’m going to burst into a flood of tears. How could he? Was all this an act? I thought…
“I knew I should never have given you a chance,” Leandro’s voice, despite how soft in volume, is deep and menacing, like the first time I met him. “Get the fuck out of my sight. Fucking up this hit. You’ll never compare to her. Ever.”
I abruptly get up from my seat for fear of sobbing in public, and rush away covering my face. I’m so taken aback that thoughts of dread overwhelm me… Thoughts of death. He’s never been so cold to me.
This was supposed to be the beginning of our new life. I’m harboring his child, for fuck’s sake. One last glance at the beautiful bride tells me what I’ll never be – bright white, laughing, pure. I cry harder into my hands and duck out of the reception room. Hearing my own cry echo around the main hall makes me feel vulnerable and alone.
I have to get out of here.
Leandro… how could you?
Fucking asshole.
