The papers I’m to sign are a petition for Gabe’s guardianship. And it would be a good thing. But there’s a catch. There’s always a catch.
How long has Stefan planned on taking guardianship of my brother? While he was lying on that beach with me? While he was kissing me?
A knock on my door interrupts my thoughts.
“Are you ready?” Miss Millie asks, peering her head into my room.
Does she know what happened last night? Does she know I don’t want this? That I’m being forced to do this?
I shift my gaze back to my reflection. I don’t look like I did the night of the engagement party. Not elegant and sophisticated. I’m wearing minimal make-up. Just some cover up, mascara and lip gloss. My face is pale, and I can’t hide the puffy redness from all the crying.
My hair falls loose to my shoulders, the bangs tucked behind my ear. I’m not wearing the pretty hat that comes with the dress Stefan chose but I am dressed. It was delivered this morning, my replacement wedding dress. And with it came a note:
Remember what will happen if you make me come up there to dress you.
S
No ‘x’ this time.
And I am dressed.
At least it’s not the hideous gown.
“Ready,” I say, standing, the skin of my thighs tight, a painful reminder of last night’s whipping. A taste of what will happen if I disobey.
No women to prepare me today. No need. Today is a decoy. A means to an end. Just like I am a means to an end. If I was forgetting that, he reminded me of it last night.
“You look beautiful,” Miss Millie says.
I don’t want to look beautiful.
I’m wearing a white lace off-the-shoulder dress that comes to my knees. Black would have been more fitting. A thick satin belt cinches my waist and the sleeves come to my elbows. A pair of high satin heels finishes the look.
It’s simple, I guess. At least compared to the other one.
Miss Millie is wearing a pretty navy-blue suit and for the first time since I’ve known her, makeup.
“Stefan is waiting downstairs,” she says and opens the door wider.
I nod, glance back at my reflection but I don’t recognize myself.
What a sham this is. What a sham my life has become.
I straighten my spine and walk out of the bedroom. I can see him waiting with Rafa in the foyer and they both look up at me. Stefan’s face doesn’t change. I don’t know if Rafa’s does because I’m only looking at Stefan.
Stefan.
Satan.
Stefan.
He’s beautiful, just like all fallen angels are. I thought so even that first night. The night he smelled of death. The night he risked death sneaking into my bedroom on my sixteenth birthday to give me that gift. To make me that promise that he would be back for me. That he would steal me away.
He’s dressed in a dark suit with a dark shirt and tie and never takes his eyes off me as I walk down the stairs, remembering last night, remembering his warning. The welts on my thighs burn but it’s good. The pain won’t let me forget what he is. What he’s capable of.
I am a means to an end. That reality was muddled a few nights ago, but now, it’s crystal clear.
I’ll marry Stefan Sabbioni today. Weeks earlier than planned.
And then we’ll petition for guardianship of my brother. Take him out of my father’s hands so he can’t use him as a pawn. Put him in Stefan’s hands instead.
And there’s that catch. Stefan will become his guardian. Not me.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
There I go again.
I didn’t think I’d be taking my brother with me.
“You look beautiful, Gabriela,” Stefan says, closing his hands softly around my wrists, his cheek brushing mine as he brings his mouth to my ear to whisper his question to me. “Are you going to behave?”
His body is just touching mine and he’s moved our arms so his are bent around me, the position just enough to denote possession.
“Last night’s warning stands,” he adds when I don’t answer right away.
“You mean last night’s threat?” I ask.
He grins, tightens his hold on me until I wince.
“Your answer?”
“I have no choice. You didn’t leave me with one. My brother’s well-being is at stake, Stefan, so don’t worry, I’ll do as I’m told.”
Does he feel my hate? Does it roll off me in icy waves because that’s what I feel like now. Ice. But maybe that’s not hate. Maybe that’s betrayal.
Stefan shifts his grip to my hand and walks me toward the door. Rafa and Miss Millie follow and a few minutes later, we’re loaded into the SUVs and our motorcade is driving into Palermo proper.
It’s surreal, this.
I look at my husband to be. He’s texting something into his phone.
Why does it matter if I’m married to him or not? Why does it matter if it’s now or two weeks from now? I’m his. I can be his prisoner and his wife. I am already the former. Because no matter what, he won’t let me go. And this, once we file those papers and he gains guardianship of my brother, it’s one more thing he’ll have to bind me to him.
What happens when he gets everything he wants?
What happens to Gabe? To me?
We arrive at City Hall in Palermo. It’s beautiful. Just what you’d expect in an Italian city with its ancient architecture, the fountains and sculptures outside, the tourists. The never-ending crowds of tourists.
The area that’s been cordoned off is opened to us and our motorcade passes through. We pull to a stop at an entrance blocked to tourists. I wonder if they rolled the red carpet out for us especially when Stefan comes to help me out. When he wraps his arm around my back and when I can’t move, he nudges me along.
This is happening. I know it. I don’t know why I’m dragging my feet.
A man comes to greet Stefan. He has his own entourage. I’m introduced to him. He’s the mayor. And the woman beside him is his wife. They brought their kids to the wedding.
I shake hands, smile, but it all feels strange. Like I’m standing in a bubble while they’re all here around me. While they’re living this day and I’m displaced. Out of time. A ghost.
“Gabriela?” Stefan asks, eyebrows raised, a warning in his eyes.
I blink, look around and realize they’re all watching me, waiting for something.
“I’m sorry. What?”
“Are you ready?” Stefan asks me.
I look at him. At them. I touch my forehead. It’s clammy even though I’m shuddering with cold. Sweat comes away and I feel lightheaded.
“Let’s get her out of the sun,” someone says and as if to prove some point, my knees give out and there’s a joint swelling of gasps as Stefan catches me before I fall.
He’s angry. I see it. He holds me close to him and I reach up to touch his arm, his chest. I want to push him away, but to those watching, it must look like a lover’s touch.
“It’s the heat,” someone says. “She’s too warm.”
Stefan cups my face to make me look at him. His eyes convey their warning. He leans in close and stubble tickles my ear. “Stand up.”
He pulls back and I nod. What can I do?
I stand but I’m unsteady.
Everyone walks into the air-conditioned building and I feel better. Maybe it was the heat. At least in part.
“Sit down here, dear,” Miss Millie says, and she takes the glass of water from one of the men and hands it to me.
I take it and sip. “I’m okay,” I tell her as I watch Stefan watching me even as he talks to the mayor.
I think about my mom and realize I’ve forgotten more of her face. I think about something else too. About memories vanishing. And I’m wrong. Only the good ones vanish. The bad ones, we live them over and over again in our minds.
I wish I could forget how she died and remember how she lived. I miss her so much, it hurts, and I let myself daydream for just a second about how things might have been if she’d lived. If he hadn’t killed her. Would my father be a different person? Would he have done what he did to Stefan’s family? Would Stefan be a stranger to me?
And what about Gabe? Would he be himself?
There’s a commotion and I realize, once again, that I was distracted. Stefan’s hazel eyes are still on me, though.
He says something to one of the men and a few minutes later, the room is cleared. He comes to sit beside me.
“Bad luck,” I say.
“What?” he asks, sliding his hand under my dress to rest it on my thigh. He traces one of the welts. Is this a reminder?
“To see the bride before the ceremony,” I say.
He just studies me. “All the luck I’ve ever had has been bad.”
“Maybe that’s because you’re bad.”
“Maybe. Are you ready?”
“No.”
“What’s the difference between now or a few weeks from now? You were always going to be mine, Gabriela. This was always going to happen.”
“I want an agreement between us. I want just this one thing.”
His jaw tightens.
“My brother. Put me down as his legal guardian. You can do whatever you want to me and I’ll do what you say, but you leave him alone. No contact. No nothing.”
“Will that make you happy?”
“I don’t think you care about my happiness. You don’t have to pretend you do. I see you for what you are now, and I won’t forget again.”
He shifts his gaze away and for one moment, I see something that doesn’t fit. Doesn’t belong. A flicker of something almost painful.
When he returns his gaze to mine, it’s gone. “You used to see a different me.”
“I was wrong.” It hurts to say the words.
It takes him a moment, but he stands, holds out his hand. “Come.”
“Do you agree?”
“You know I can’t do that. Now don’t make this harder than it has to be. My intention is not to take him from you. The opposite. It was always to give him to you. Think of it as a wedding gift.”
“A wedding gift?” I can’t believe him.
Before I can say more, he takes hold of my arm and lifts me to my feet.
“Our guests are waiting.”