He looks away first, but not before something that looks a lot like pain flashes through his eyes.But I must be mistaken.
He’s a liar and a cheat.A murderer.
And I will find a way to pay him back in kind.However long it takes.Whatever I must do.
He will pay for betraying me and my family.
He will pay with his life.
But I don’t need to tell him that.It will be a surprise.A terrible surprise like the one he had for me late last night.
“Just get dressed,” he says and strides to the door.“I’ll be right outside.Knock when you’re ready.”
Then he actually goes to stand outside my door just like he’d done when he was still my bodyguard, employed by my father.
I hate that I still feel him there just like I would back home.I hate that even all this hate I feel for him now can’t destroy the butterflies fluttering in my stomach and all the other loving feelings for him that still linger in me.
And I hate it that I think he actually feels the same.
Chapter3
MATTEO
The huge gardenaround Ferro’s mansion also holds a small chapel.From the outside it looks just like a frilly brick and mortar building, but inside it holds treasures.Like the pieta over the altar, which I’m sure once adorned a much richer church in the old country before Ferro’s family acquired it.The expression on Mother Mary’s face as she gazes at Jesus reminds me of Gianna’s pretty face and the way she used to look at me—the same shapely lips, big eyes, and gaze of devotion.Now her face is a stone mask as she stands beside me, wearing a black sweater and skirt, her hair tied back into a bun, her face free of makeup.No gold anywhere.Even her usually shiny golden colored hair looks dull today.There’s no happiness or devotion on her face.Just endless sorrow and blackness.It’s like she’s at a funeral, not a wedding, which I’m sure in her mind she is.
Her eyes are fixed on the Virgin Mary, and even though her lips aren’t moving, I still know she’s praying.
For salvation.
For her family.
For my ruin.
Most likely for my death as well.
She can have everything else, but she won’t get that.Not before I have my revenge on the man who killed my family, anyway.
An elderly priest in a black cassock, his hair plastered to his head in the back as though he was sleeping just minutes ago, is standing beside Angelo Ferro at the altar.
As many men as fit into this small space are crowded in here, leaning on walls, sitting on the wooden benches, which I’m sure have also come from some much older and bigger church.The space is lit only by the sun coming through the tall windows, and so many candles the air is thick with the smoke they give off.
The door opens and Gianna shakes.But then she turns to the door with such steel on her face I wonder if I actually know anything about her at all.I thought I did.I thought she bared her soul to me.But there were depths of steel she never revealed.Maybe she herself didn’t know they existed.
I want my golden, innocent, and pure girl back.I want her more than ever now that she’s fading away.
Her sister appears at the door, Ferro’s second, Lorenzo, holding her arm.She’s wearing a wedding dress with so many layers and ruffles none of her body is clearly visible.And her face is completely covered by an opaque veil.It must be the wedding attire of some long dead woman from Ferro’s family.Because no modern woman would be caught dead in a wedding dress this unflattering, I’m sure.
I can’t see Chiara’s face, but I can sure sense the look she’s giving.Hard, determined, fearless.Vengeful.Bloody Mary comes to mind.And I can practically already see all the lace and ruffles of her dress covered in blood.I hope Angelo knows what he’s doing marrying this one.Because I’m sure she’s perfectly capable of slitting his throat while he sleeps.
I’m not sure he knows how dangerous she could be, because that’s a very blissful smile on his face as he watches her walk down the aisle.
From what I can see she does not even glance at him.
Lorenzo stands behind Ferro once he deposits the bride at the altar.Clearly, he’s gonna be acting as Angelo’s best man too.One day soon, I gotta figure out what their relationship is.But it’s definitely more father/son than boss/servant.
The priest starts officiating and I can clearly feel Gianna turn harder and harder with each word spoken.By the time the priest reaches the classic, “Does anyone object?”line she’s practically a piece of stone standing next to me.
And her voice is like stone speaking as she calls out, “I object!This marriage is wrong!It is a crime against our family and against God.And I curse you, Angelo Ferro.May your life be short and full of suffering.May you die a bloody and painful death.May it happen soon.”
