“Are you ready?”
I looked over my shoulder to find Enzo standing in the doorway to my room, dressed all in black except for the white flower pinned to his lapel. I didn’t miss the way his eyes flickered over the scars on my back. He was good at hiding his shock from me. Always had been. Much more so than Luca the few times he’d seen me without a shirt. Or perhaps he was just used to the pieces of torn up flesh that had never had the chance to heal correctly.
I didn’t turn toward him as I picked up my dress shirt from the bed and shrugged it on. The front of me was much worse. “Coming,” I told him.
He leaned against the doorjamb with his big arms crossed over his chest. But he wasn’t fooling me. I could see the way his hands shook because he was holding his sunglasses dangling from the fingers of one hand.
“Are you all right?” Finished buttoning my shirt, I picked up my black jacket and faced him. “If you want to make a run for it, I’ll drive.”
One side of his mouth turned up in a partial grin, but his eyes couldn’t hide his distress. “More like I’m terrified Sera will be the one who runs while we’re all distracted, and she’ll leave me standing there at the altar like an idiota.”
“That’s not going to happen,” I reassured him.
“How do you know?”
“Because Luca posted extra guards.”
For a moment, he looked at me like he didn’t quite believe me. And then a real smile broke out across his face. “Remind me to thank him later.”
I joined him at the door. “Come on, let’s go before your bride finds a way to get past them.”
Enzo slid on his sunglasses and moved out of the way so we could head downstairs and outside. They were having their wedding on Luca’s back deck, which had been decorated for the occasion with flowers and candles. Luckily, the weather was on our side, and it was actually going to be a nice day for January. Not too hot, not too cold, and sunny.
Enzo had insisted on the ceremony taking place at sunset, because that was Sera’s favorite time of day. They would say their vows as the sky turned colors behind them.
If I could feel anything at all, I might think that was sweet.
Only a few select guests had been invited. Those who now knew Luca’s location out of necessity. I didn’t like it. It made me nervous. But as Luca was the boss now, the capos needed to have access to him. They were already seated around the pool when we came out. Sera’s father, Ciro, on one side with a few of his men, and Gino and a few others on the other side where Luca and Veda sat. Sera did not want her father to walk her down the aisle. She was going to make the trip alone. Something about how it signified that this marriage was her choice. She hadn’t wanted him there at all, but she understood that it was better to keep the peace.
Ciro wasn’t happy when he heard about Luigi’s death. Apparently, Luca’s father had offered to pay quite a large sum of money for the honor of his daughter to abuse in whatever ways he desired, and he hadn’t received it all yet. However, Enzo had offered to pay him the remaining sum of money to take her off his hands. And Ciro, knowing he wasn’t really being given a choice, agreed.
I took my place at the back of the crowd as Enzo walked up to the railing where the justice of the peace waited to start the ceremony. He smiled at Enzo, and then they both looked toward the patio doors where Sera would be coming out.
As we waited for the bride, I scanned the guests and noticed someone new sitting beside Gino. A woman with long, straight dark hair, her shoulders covered in a cream-colored fur. That was all I could see of her from where I stood. As I watched, he said something to her and laughed, but she didn’t laugh with him. Instead, she stiffened and continued to stare straight ahead.
My attention was temporarily diverted by the sight of Sera walking out onto the deck. I had to admit, she was a very pretty woman, even with her pink hair. She wore it with the front pulled away from her face and the rest hanging down her back. Nothing covered it. The dress she wore was off the shoulder, all lace and embroidery on top and a full, fluffy skirt. I had no idea what kind of material it was, but she looked like a princess with her bouquet of purple and white wildflowers.
She was also nervous. Her back was too straight, and her chin was lifted as she caught sight of Enzo and started to make her way toward him to the accompaniment of the classical music playing softly through the outdoor speakers. I watched the guests as they stood up, especially her father. He didn’t look happy, but he stayed by his seat at least and didn’t cause a scene.
Enzo reached for her hand when she got close to him and as soon as she took it, much of the tension left her shoulders. Sera smiled at him, and my friend only had eyes for his bride. They never took their eyes from one another as everyone took their seats and the JP began the ceremony.
Once I knew no one was going to make an ass of themselves, my eyes went back to the dark-haired girl where she stood by Gino. She was tall, easily almost my height, and it made me wonder if she had heels on or if she was really that height. Her long hair hung halfway down her back in thick, black waves. Her hands stayed clasped in front of her, and she didn’t watch the bride with everyone else. I couldn’t say why, but she felt familiar to me. Yet I knew I’d never met her before tonight. This was the first time he’d shown up with her on his arm.
I watched her throughout the entire ceremony, and she never once turned her head or looked anywhere other than straight ahead until the vows had been spoken and Enzo kissed his bride to the applause of all who were watching. Everyone stood again as the newly married pair made their way around the pool and into the house where there would be drinks and hors d’oeuvres while the chairs were broken down and the band Luca and Veda had hired set up in the covered sitting area next to the pool.
As the guests began to follow the happy couple, I stayed where I was beside the patio doors. I don’t know why there was this need inside of me to see her face, just once, but I couldn’t shake it.
And so, I waited.
Gino and his date walked behind Ciro and his men, and all I could see of her was the top of her head over a pair of broad shoulders. She kept her head down as she walked with Ciro’s arm around her waist. Distractedly, I wondered why she was wearing a fur when the weather was so nice, although it was supposed to cool down after dark, so perhaps that was it.
Ciro passed me with barely a glance, and then it was Gino and the woman. I could see the pale ivory skin of her face clearly now. The dark slashes of her eyebrows, her delicate cheekbones, and perfectly full lips. But still, she kept her eyes down.
Look at me.
Almost as if she heard me, she looked up and her eyes clashed directly with mine. I watched them widen, almost in fear, before she quickly lowered them again. But not before I saw the clear cobalt blue of her irises framed by long, black lashes.
“Who is that woman?” I asked Luca when he and Veda stopped alongside me. “The one with Gino.”
“I heard she was payment for a gambling debt that was owed to him,” he told me. Veda looked at the woman with new interest, and I could tell that she was disturbed by his answer.
However, things like this happened all the time. It never bothered me before. It wasn’t my business. So why was it, with this woman, I suddenly wanted to make it my business?
“Tris? What is it?”
Tearing my eyes away from the woman’s long, bare legs—that I could now clearly see across the room, along with the four-inch black heels she was wearing with her red dress—I turned back to Luca. “I just feel like I know her from somewhere.”
“I would forget about her if I were you,” Luca warned. “She’s Gino’s property now. And you know how he gets. I don’t want to rock the boat with him right now.”
I nodded in agreement. I didn’t want to rock the boat either.
I wanted to fucking sink it.
