Giselle came barreling back into the room, a long delicate veil in her hands—as well as a white pair of shoes.“Got it!”She stopped in front of me and dropped the shoes on the floor.Then she spread the veil out.Very carefully, she slid it onto my head, using pins to secure it.She fluffed the veil out a bit and sighed.“Francesca, you were born to be a bride.”
I felt my eyes start to water.Which was goofy.I wasn't a bride.Not a real one.This was all for show.All so I could get myself out of this stupid mess.
But at that moment, with Giselle looking at me like she believed what she'd just said—I felt like a beautiful bride.
Giselle gave me a quick hug.“I can't wait for Stefan to see you.”When she let go of me, her eyes widened.“Hold on.”She touched her fingers one by one, counting off a list as she spoke.“Something old is the shoes—” she gazed down at them on the floor.Even nodded and crouched down to help me on with them.
“Something new is the thong.”She grinned and giggled.“You can keep that.”She ticked off another item on her fingers.“Something borrowed is my dress.”Her eyes gazed at my bodice.“And something blue is—” Giselle was about to say something and then closed her mouth and swallowed.“Um, that will—uh, come later.”Then she gasped and clutched her hands together.“You’re absolutely beautiful.”
But a second later, she shut her eyes together and sighed loudly.“I can’t believe I forgot them.Omigosh.Where is my head?”Then she was rushing off and out the door again.
Eve giggled softly and smiled at me.“Pregnancy brain,” she whispered.“It’s a real thing.Trust me.”Before she finished shrugging, Giselle was back with a gorgeous bouquet of white roses in her hand.The stems were wrapped together with a decadent white ribbon.
Out of breath completely, she handed them to me.“Here you go,” she practically wheezed.“I bought them yesterday.Thank goodness.Who’d have guessed I’d be making them into a wedding bouquet for you tonight?”Giselle hugged me again.
Eve joined us, and turned it into a group hug.Surprisingly—it wasn't even a little bit awkward.Especially considering the fact that we barely knew each other.But I felt comfortable with these women now.At least at the moment.
“Quick selfie time.”Eve held up her phone, and we all squeezed in for a picture.Or five.
Then Giselle announced, “Okay, we need to get ready.”She raised her eyebrows at her friend.“And we’d better hurry.Before the men come up and carry us downstairs.”We all laughed, and Eve took yet another picture.
But this one I was surprisingly okay with.
9
Stefan
“Christ.Let me do that before you choke yourself to death.”Carlo shoved my hands away from my tie.The tie I'd been trying to tie for the last ten minutes.
For some fucking reason, I just couldn't get it right.
“Why are you so nervous?”my brother asked me as his hands worked on my tie.“You're getting exactly what you want.In minutes, that curvy, gorgeous woman is going to wander down the stairs and marry your sorry ass.”He tightened the tie and stepped away.
“This wasn't exactly how I imagined our wedding to be,” I said dryly.I turned and looked in the mirror and straightened my coat.
Carlo grinned and said, “Our mother's going to have a fit when she finds out.But who cares?You'll have another wedding in Italy to placate her.”
I shut my eyes and groaned, “Fuck.”I hadn't even thought about Mom.I was such an asshole.
Carlo chuckled.“There's time, man.Lots of time.The main thing is that you found her.And convinced her to marry you.All in the span of a couple of hours.I'd say that's pretty fuckin' amazing.”He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in for a brief hug.“I know everything seems like a shitshow right now.But we'll fix that in time.Right now, I want you to get your head out of your ass and enjoy the fact that you're marrying the woman you love.”He let go of me and reached into the front pocket of his suit coat and pulled something out.“Here, I know you didn't have time to pick out a ring.”
I looked down at the white gold ring between his fingertips.Then, I leaned in to take a better look.“That was—” I started to say but he interrupted me.
“Nona's, yeah.She'd want you to have it.”
I looked at my brother and shook my head.“Nah.She gave it to you.”
Carlo shrugged nonchalantly and grabbed my hand with his free one.He set the ring in my palm and closed my fingers.“And I'm giving it to you.The only reason she gave it to me is because I'm the first-born son.So, I get to decide what happens to it.”He jerked his head toward my hand.“And I just decided.”
I felt a large lump form in my throat.
Nona specifically gave that ring to Carlo.There were certain traditions in our family.And that was one of them.
“I appreciate the sentiment, Brother.I really do.But that's just not right.She gave the ring to you.It's yours.”I motioned to give it back to him, but he moved away.
“Can I level with you?Giselle doesn't like sapphires.She'll never wear it, anyway.It'll end up sitting in a drawer for the next eighty years.”
I looked down at the ring my grandmother used to wear.It was a family heirloom.Expensive as fuck.
