Page 25 of Stealing Her Heart
“We’re not going to wait for anyone else. I will give you the wedding of your dreams someday. Tonight, it is just. Just the ones who matter to us.”
Leading her back inside, I laugh as she lets out a gasp again. While we were out, my sisters and the others got the space set up for a wedding. My mother is here in a lovely gown. Anto is here, waiting to walk his sister down the aisle. A few others, from the Bianchi’s and my Capelli’s came as well.
“Gabriel,” Gianna whirls to face me, shock on her beautiful face. “Here? We’re doing it now?”
“Yes, princess. Not living another night without being your husband.”
Her eyes, the thing that stole my heart from the start, shimmer with love, with excitement, with joy. Knowing I have made this sweet creature happy, that I can be what she needs, it makes me feel like a man for the first time in my life. Hurting someone, killing a man, controlling a borough, none of it ever made me feel as good as this woman does.
“Gabriel,” her tone changes, her eyes sparking. “I do not have a dress. We do not have a priest or flowers.”’
Similar to characters in a play, my sister Dita reveals the dress she brought. The priest who officiated my parents' marriage waves his Bible, signifying his readiness. Sabin presents a bouquet of wildflowers that she and my mother arranged. We’re mafia for a reason—we get things done.
“It is all sorted—now, let’s get married, princess.”
Chapter Fourteen
Giana
Dream weddings can be anything your heart desires.
It could be huge, beautiful bouquets of flowers to color the space in with sweet smells. Draped silk and delicate velvet seating. Bright colors paired with muted suits. It could also be dangerous men and their women in fine suits, huddled in an adorable cabin with wildflowers and a wounded groom.
“This dress is fabulous,” I gush as I smooth the chiffon folds that split at the thigh.
How Dita knew the perfect dress to choose for me, I am not sure. How they knew the perfect size is pure luck. The pearl beaded lace corset top fits me as if it were made just for my body. It is backless and the train is flowing but not over the top. It is just the dress I would have chosen for myself.
“We saw it after the day you came to the penthouse. It was fate.”
Beaming at Dita as she wraps my hair up with some of the wildflowers Sabin picked, I nod. It was fate. Finding Gabriel when I needed to be saved was fate. He once said we would have met one way or another. Meeting before or after I was married off would not have made a difference.
Before we met, I was dreading walking down the aisle. I had not thought of a dress or flowers or anything brides think about. All I could think about was how my freedom was going to be ripped from me. Even though I am becoming his bride, even if I let him have control of me to soothe his fears about my safety, being with Gabriel is the freest I have ever been.
“I am so glad he found you,” Sabin tells me as she fusses with my hair. “He is so much.... softer. Not weaker. Just soft. He was always good to us, he spoils us, spoils mama. He will spoil the hell out of you. You’ve made him happier than I have ever seen him. I thought he would never find someone.”
“I am lucky he found me,” I respond, dabbing at my tears with a tissue. “If he had not found me when he did, who knows where I would be now. Married to a man I could never love. Living a life I did not want. Now I have him and I love him. I love him so much, it is bigger than any of the daydreams I used to keep surviving.”
“Well, he will be good to you,” Dita declares. “I know you will be good to him too. It is beautiful seeing the two of you together.”
Hearing a soft knock at the door, we turn to see Dario. His eyes stray to Dita, who I rarely see him take his eyes off, then to me. Smiling at me, he nods his head to let me know it is time. Both girls go with him as he makes a show of holding his arms out for them to loop theirs through. I laugh and then I almost start crying when my brother walks in the room.
“Awe look at you, chipmunk,” Anto murmurs as he comes close, taking my hands. “I am so glad I get to be here. I cannot make up for all the time we lost, but I want to be here for these moments. Both of you seem so fucking light, so full of love, it is beautiful. I am proud of you. You got through it all alone and I hate that you had to do that. But you did it. You get to choose whatever kind of life you want.”
“I do. I could have made the choice to go. He would have let me go. I decided this is what I want. With him. With you, with all of those people downstairs. I dreamt of leaving this place, this life for so long. Now I know this is where I was meant to be, with who I was meant to be with.”
“Good, I want you here. With us. We will wreck the Bianchi families together. No one will even remember them once we’re done. You will be a Capelli now. Don’t forget—now you’re a Scarsi. We share the same blood; we will share everything else too.”
“Deal. Now, brother of mine...I am going to go get married.”
Anto laughs and offers his arm, leading the way from the room to the top of the stairs. It is an adorable cabin, and I am glad we’re getting married here. Gabriel said we will spend a few weeks here until things in Silver Shores get figured out. Not only do I get a quaint wedding, but I also get a romantic cabin in the woods honeymoon to boot.
With the fire going, candles flickering anywhere they could find room, and the lights down low, it is beautiful. Our few guests stand, watching me descend with my brother walking me down the aisle. Gabriel waits with the priest, beaming at me as I make my way to him.
Handing me off with a kiss atop my head, my brother goes to join Dario and Dita. I turn to Gabriel, my heart galloping in my chest. I am so excited to become his wife. To start our life together. What I had feared for so long is the one thing that I want the most. I want to be a wife, a mother, a princess, a queen. I want to be all that Gabriel wants me to be.
“Hello beautiful princess,” Gabriel hums as he takes my hand, holding them tightly between us.
“Hello, my handsome prince,” I whisper back, my heart slowing once I am close to him. I am at peace, I am safe, I am filled with joy whenever I am with him. It is beyond anything I ever thought I would get to have.
