I laughed, nodding my head.I honestly didn’t know what I would do without Maria in my life.
She let me take as many deep breaths as I needed.Then she arranged my veil and led me to the patio where the wedding was taking place.
When Damien told me that the wedding was taking place at his father’s old, gigantic mansion, which reminded me of Renaissance-era architecture, something was off.He told me that weddings in the Romano family had always been held at the mansion.It was an old, strict tradition that they conformed to.The secrecy, close-knit nature, and dysfunction of his family kept me on edge.They communicated in codes and had all these strange-looking men in suits all over the house.It was unsettling, but I tried not to dwell on it too much.Damien himself was a psychopathic bastard, so I wasn’t fazed.
The bridal music cued in, and I slowly led myself out.
My slow, intentional walk down the aisle allowed me to take in the simple white chairs aligned in rows and columns, divided by the decorated path that led to the end of the aisle where my husband-to-be awaited me.The aisle was flanked with neatly trimmed cream flowers, leading down to the altar.
I almost rolled my eyes when he stretched his palm out for me to take.Electricity zapped through me as our hands touched.I swallowed, my eyes raking his devilish frame that was wrapped in his muscle-fitting white shirt tucked in black slacks.Damien discarded tradition.He wasn’t wearing his suit jacket.The upper buttons of his shirt were undone, giving me a peek at his hard, flawless chest.His tie was nowhere to be found.
The corners of his lips twitched when he saw that I was checking him out.
“You may proceed,” he urged the priest.
“We are gathered here for the holy union between Isobel Dupont and Damien Romano...”The priest’s voice trailed off as I allowed Damien’s dark eyes to suck me in.
They scorched a heated path across my skin, wanting to unravel me.The way he stared at me didn’t just make my breath catch.It made me feel as though he was the first person to actually see enough to make me tick, to grate my nerves so badly that all I wanted to do was dig my nails into his chest and see if someone as unhinged as he was actually had a heart.
“Do you, Damien Romano, take Isobel Dupont as your lawfully wedded wife in sickness and in health, in happiness and grief, to have and to hold from this day forward till death do you part?”
“I do.”
He barely hesitated.It was like he had been waiting for this since the day he was born.His eyes met mine as he said those two words, reminding me that I belonged to him now, even in death.
“Do you, Isobel Dupont, take Damien Romano as your lawfully wedded husband in sickness and in health, in happiness and grief, to have and to hold from this day forward till death do you part?”
This was it.
I was really doing this.
The words felt heavy on my tongue.A part of me wanted to bolt and run off to somewhere he wouldn’t find me, but who was I kidding?This man was the devil.There was nowhere I could run.There was no place on earth that I could hide where he wouldn’t find me.
“I do,” I whispered those words.
“You may exchange your rings.”
Damien grabbed my hand so delicately, slipping a studded gold band and radiant-cut diamond wedding ring onto my finger.The huge rock glinted as it caught the light, the weight of the promises behind it strangling me.
I slipped a simple gold band onto his finger, and the way it fit perfectly around his finger made my breath hitch.
He was mine now as much as I was his.
“I now pronounce you man and wife.You may kiss your bride.”
I stiffened as his hand found my waist.I crashed into his chest, gasping softly.
“Mine.”
His mouth descended on mine, hot and needy.He claimed my lips in such passionate strokes that it made me stop breathing for a moment.I clung to his shirt so hard, wanting to take every bit of what he was offering as though I had been waiting for it for so long.
When we broke apart, my cheeks were burning.
“There’s no escaping me now.”
