Page 38 of The Arianna Arrangement

“My offer to have him killed still stands. And now is probably the best time. We’re all in New York with alibis."

Sterling laughed. “While I love your spirit and dedication to the girls, Ari, I don’t think putting a hit on someone a couple of days before your wedding is a good move.”

“Why?” It wasn’t like it would come back on me, or like I was going to have to carry out the murder and ruin my manicure.

Jemma chuckled. “Well, it would probably bring bad luck to your nuptials.”

Leyla put a hand on mine, bringing my attention back to her and the smile on her face. “I love your murdery little heart. But I’ve got it handled. Charlotte broke into Shawna’s locker at the gym and rubbed poison ivy on the crotch of her panties. She now has bumps and itching and is telling everyone that Bradley gave her an STI.”

Sterling burst out laughing so hard that I thought she was going to fall out of her chair. Tears started streaming down her face. The other women just chuckled lightly.

This was why Ley was my ride or die. We both knew that being the bigger person was for someone without the creativity to pull off an epic revenge.

When we walked out of the salon a couple hours later, I felt like a whole new woman. Even though I’d done the classic french manicure that my mom had demanded, I’d let the nail tech talk me into a swooping white heart on my ring finger. It was going to look amazing in the pictures.

It wasn’t too much of a surprise at this point that my mother didn’t want to get ready for my wedding with me. She said that she had her own glam squad to get her ready for the day because as mother of the bride, she had to look epic.

She was going to try to upstage me at my own wedding, but I honestly didn’t have a single shit to give about it.

“Knock, knock.” Ashley and Leyla came walking into my room, our beauty team behind them, carrying the dress bags for the day. They had agreed to pick up the dresses and keep them at the hotel so that Tucker wouldn’t see my dress.

Not that it really mattered. It was a basic as fuck dress that wasn’t going to knock his socks off.

They hung the dresses up on the rack that had been brought in for that purpose, and both women turned towards me with a smile, my bestie being the one to speak. “We have a surprise for you.” She unzipped the first bag and the dress inside was not the one my mother picked out. It was the one I’d wanted. “Fuck your mom and her trying to take over your wedding.”

When she unzipped the next bag, it was a hot pink dress just like the one we’d seen on her phone that day and decided we’d wanted.

I was not a crier, but my eyes were definitely stinging right now. “Oh my God.”

Ashley walked to me and took me into a hug. “We couldn’t change the decorations since the wedding is set up here and we didn’t have access, but the dresses were an easy swap. Hopefully at least one part of your day will now feel like yours.”

Leyla joined us, turning the hug into a group hug. “As much as we’d like to take credit for this, it was Tuck’s idea. He asked us to do as much as we could to give you the wedding of your dreams, sending us texts about what you wanted that your mom wouldn’t allow every chance he got. Unfortunately, this and the cake were the only things we could change.”

I pulled back, looking at them with wide eyes. “You changed the cake?”

Leyla smiled. “Yeah. That was an easy one. She won’t see it until it’s too late, much like the dresses.”

In the grand scheme of things, I’d decided that none of these things were really going to matter. I was going to be marrying the man I loved, even if it had been arranged for me. That was what would matter at the end of the day. But now, having the dress I wanted and knowing the cake would be my first choice too instead of a boring vanilla, I was over the moon and ready for whatever this day would throw my way.

My parents walked into my room, letting me know it was almost time to walk down the aisle.

“Dolcezza, you are absolutely stunning.” My father stepped forward and pressed a kiss to my cheek.

As he pulled back, I saw my mom’s eyes flicking between my dress and Leyla’s. “Those are not the dresses I picked out. You went behind my back?”

Before Leyla could out herself and Ashley, I responded. “Yes. It’s my wedding, not yours, so I took some liberties.”

My father grinned. “There’s my daughter. See how easy that was? You’re way too old for temper tantrums. This is how adults settle their differences." He held his arm out for me. “Come now, it’s time to get this wedding started.”

Things moved quickly while also feeling like it took forever. My mom was escorted down the aisle by Sandro, who then took his place by Tucker. Then Leyla walked down the aisle by herself like the baddie she was.

Finally, the music changed and it was time for my father to walk me down the aisle. When we appeared, everyone stood, but my eyes were locked on the man waiting for me at the altar.

Tucker dressed up frequently, so it wasn’t a new sight, but damn if the butterflies in my stomach didn’t start flapping their wings. He was so seriously handsome I was at a loss for words on how to describe him.

His eyes tracked up and down my body, taking me in and marking this moment as something he wanted to remember forever.

You hear those stories of men that cry while their bride walks towards them. It was a fantasy I think most women wanted, but it wasn’t something I was ever going to get. Men didn’t cry in my world, so if Tucker had, he’d have looked weak.