“I think we can skip that question, Father,” Bill chuckled.
I glared at him.
“Oh, right, right,” the priest muttered, shuffling through his service book. “Will you love and honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?”
“You’re joking.” I planted my hands on my hips. The rose stem bent under the force.
The priest cleared his throat. “I take that as a no. Moving on….” He frowned, then looked up. “Will you accept children lovingly from God?”
“The vows,” the devil snapped. “Now.”
The priest jumped to obey. “Certainly! Repeat after me—groom first.”
The devil reached for my hands.
I jerked back.
That jaw clenched tight. Lips thinned. Behind the mask, the look in his eye warned not to test him. “Mandy.”
“This isn’t romantic,” I said, but the words felt like a lie.
This wedding was far more perfect than the farce from a few hours ago.
The devil turned up his palms. “Please.”
I wasn’t getting out of this. Holding hands wasn’t a hill to die on.
“Fine.” My palms slapped on his. “Happy?”
His eyes…saddened. “Proceed, Father.”
The priest’s words droned in the background. I didn’t hear them until the devil spoke.
“I take you, Amanda, to be my wife. I promise to be faithful to you, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will serve you and honor you all the days of my life.”
It almost felt real.
Play the cards that are dealt….
“Amanda? Repeat after me, are you ready?” the priest questioned.
My mouth opened, but my scrambled brain supplied words where they didn’t belong. “I take you, Enzo—” the masked man jerked “—to be my husband. I promise to fight you at every twist and turn. To never let our time be good, and never will I love, honor, serve, or obey you. Till death do we part.Per sempre.”
Silence pulsed in the sanctuary.
It’s you. I know it’s you….
Enzo—the man I was forbidden to love.
Taking both hands into one of his large paws, the beast reached behind to snap the mask from his face. It was him. Vincenzo Messina. The heavens were cruel when they put such a beautiful carving on such a monster. That hard jaw was the texture of iron. Sharp bones slanted above his cheeks. And those eyes…oh, good lord, those eyes. Dripping with black wrath. They didn’t shine with anything I used to know; I barely recognized the inky glare.
Vincenzo’s voice was granite. “Marry us.”
“Are you sure you want those as wedding vows?” the priest cautioned.
“Marry us,” I dared him, not breaking the stare of the monster.
With a heavy sigh, the priest blessed us. “Lord, look with love upon this woman and this man, whom You have bound together in the covenant of marriage. May their union be filled with grace and laughter, patience in trial, and mercy in every storm. May their home be a place of peace and welcome, and may their hearts never grow weary of love.”
