My head spun, the wine from dinner buzzing harder now. Everything felt too fast, toofinal.
I turned to Nik and said in a shaky breath, “I thought we were just going on a date…”
He looked down at me patiently. “I told you,” he said huskily, “I don’t do things halfway.”
“Come, Nikolai,” Luca said. “We have paperwork to attend to. The Father is eager to receive your donation.”
As Nik and Luca moved down a hallway toward the back of the church, the heavy wooden door behind me opened.
Aria swept in like a vision, holding a bouquet of white roses and deep green myrtle wrapped in silk ribbon.
“Don’t look so shocked,” she whispered, slipping it into my hands. “You said yes, remember?”
Yes.
I’d saidyes.
But I hadn’t realized that would start the clock ticking.
Like it or not, I was about to walk down the aisle.
Aria stayed by my side in the narthex, her hand lightly resting on my arm as if I might bolt if she let go. Hushed voices floated over to us from a side corridor—Nik, Luca, and the priest, presumably finalizing whatever sacred pact this was turning out to be.
I still wasn’t sure how we’d ended up here.
Scratch that—Iwassure. I’d agreed to marry Nik.
But I hadn’t realized he’d meanttonight.
I glanced down at the bouquet Aria had handed me. It was beautiful. Romantic, even. But it felt like a prop from a play.
“They’ll be just a minute,” Aria whispered, rubbing her hands up and down my arms gently. “You doing okay?”
I gave her a tight nod, too afraid to open my mouth and admit what was whirling around in my head.
Before I could spiral further, Luca returned alone. He looked composed, almost cheerful, as if this was just another business arrangement checked off for the day.
Suddenly, music started echoing through the empty church.
Luca pulled open one of the doors leading into the nave and braced it open with a drop-down stop—then he secured the other.
Aria moved ahead of me down the aisle, her heels clicking steadily on the stone floor. The moment she reached the altar, the music changed to the wedding march.
Nik stood beside the priest, hands clasped in front of him, a small smile playing across his lips. My vision tunneled.
My knees buckled.
Luca caught me before I hit the marble.
“Easy,” he said, chuckling like he’d done this a hundred times. “You’ll be fine. I haven’t lost a bride yet on the walk down.”
How many women had this man escorted to the altar? I didn’t want to know.
He tucked my arm into the crook of his, and suddenly we were moving. The walk felt endless and too short all at once. My shoes clacked loudly along the aisle.
With each step, my hands trembled harder.
Aria is so dead for picking these heels.
