Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
It was time to seal my fate as my dad leaned down and pressed a kiss to my left cheek, then my right and gripped my hand, placing it over Ivan’s.
My body trembled as Ivan pulled me against him, nodding to my dad as if he respected him.
Dad didn’t move for at least a minute before he finally turned on his heel and joined my mom, who was watching the exchange with worry etched all over her face. I could tell she wanted to jump up and say I object.
But objecting would only lead to more blood.
And enough had already been spilled.
Numb, I stood by Ivan’s side, ignoring the fact that he looked like a beautiful predator in his black tux.
The priest spoke.
I barely listened.
My fingers sweat beneath Ivan’s hand.
Nobody cried tears of joy over our blessing.
Nobody smiled at me.
I felt like I was going to pass out when we finally got to the vows. I repeated what I was supposed to repeat.
What felt like hours later, the priest said, “You may now kiss your bride.”
The part I dreaded.
Ivan leaned in with a cruel smile, his head descended, but he missed my mouth, only pressing a lingering kiss on my cheek as if to start a precedence over the fact that he would never touch me, never find me attractive, never love me.
The kiss was cold.
My heart cracked, but in my defense, I was weak.
I didn’t want his kiss, right?
So why did a solitary tear run down my cheek, a tear of embarrassment and loss that even on my wedding day, my own husband didn’t claim my mouth, as evil as he was.
It was one more thing he stole.
And it split me into more pieces than I’d like to admit.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Always bring more wine to a wedding—it could end up being your funeral.” —King Campisi
King
“So…” Ash plopped down next to me. He’d already pulled off his black jacket and opened up his shirt, and by the looks of it, was clearly drunk. “How does this happen? We just send them off to the hotel and he—he—”
“Don’t finish that sentence,” I snapped. “He won’t. He swore.”
“So, she doesn’t even get a wedding night?” Ash slammed his hand on the table between us just as Maksim sat down next to him. “Son of a bitch, that’s sick.”
Maksim tossed me a bottle of water. “Whose side are you on anyway?”
“Hers,” Ash groaned into his hands. “She should at least, I don’t know… I shouldn’t know, but I know.”
“He’s drunk?” Valerian mouthed to me.
I nodded.
“She’s…” Ash kept talking. “Look, I shouldn’t know these things, guys don’t talk about these things, but Junior…” He choked out his name. “He told me one time because Serena was pissed about Ivan always giving her shit and was afraid he would take advantage of Bella or some weird shitty shit thing like that, so she asked Bella if he’d tried anything and if she had questions.”
“Not really liking this story time,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Just listen.” Ash waved me off while Maksim and I shared a look. “Anyway, Bella told her the truth, she’s never even like been with a dude or a girl. I’m not discriminating or even like, done any of the serious things you do when you’re horny, you know?”
I slid my bottle of water toward Ash.
He grabbed it and started chugging.
Maksim sighed. “That’s besides the point, that’s a good thing, she wasn’t running around like the whores we were.”
“You were.” Ash grunted drunkenly.
Maksim just rolled his eyes while I flashed him my middle finger.
“Anyway, it just sucks, I mean, I don’t want him touching her, but it sucks for her, he didn’t even kiss her. It’s humiliating.”
I crossed my arms. “Better to be humiliated than at war.”
“Maybe.” Valerian didn’t seem to agree while he stole Ash’s water.
I checked my phone.
“How much longer?” Ash asked.
It was one minute past midnight.
I braced myself for Ivan to come charging toward me. The treaty between the Families was officially over. Either he’d renew it or break it off and all of this would be for nothing.
We needed him to renew it. To keep the peace now that Junior was gone, he was quite literally the only one who could.
And like clockwork, Tank walked up to me with a black folder in his hands. He nodded and set it on the table. When I opened it, it was the contract for the De Lange Family to be reinstated as one of the original Families, and on the bottom was Ivan’s signature in blood.
“There may not be any lovemaking tonight…” I slit open my right palm and squeezed my fist over the paper, dropping blood onto his signature. “But at least we have a guarantee of no war. He renewed it. De Langes are officially under my fist as the Capo.”