Aella

LVIII

Aella leads me up to the altar, and the Father comes out from behind the arch. He nods to the both of us, a bright smile on his face. 

"Dearly beloved and honored guests." As he speaks, Aella and I hold hands and watch the Father Intently. "We are gathered in here, in front of you all, and in front of our Don, to join Aella Eleanora Ricci and Penelope Bria Costa in the spiritual union of marriage."

The Father goes on with his speech, and then it's time for our vows. 

"Penelope Bria. Though unconventional, drama-filled, and crazy, our love sprouted when we both thought it wouldn't. You make me the absolute happiest woman on this planet, just by being you, and you make life bearable. Even though it has been less than a year, my love for you has grown for you so exponentially, sometimes, I don't know how I can handle it. I promise to wipe your tears when you cry, hold your hand when you're scared, and I promise to protect you from anything evil or dangerous should they come our way. I will love you until the end of days, and even beyond that. On this day, I vow to make you just as happy as you make me, in the eye of God, and our Don."

The Father hands Aella my wedding band, which fits perfectly against my engagement ring.

I stare at her for a second, and then snap out of my dreamy haze. I start to laugh, and I hear chuckles come from our guests. "Wow. Okay, I won't be topping that one."

But indeed, it is my turn. I have been practicing my vows for close to two months now, so I literally cannot forget them standing here now.

"Aella Eleanora, you are my everything. My sun, my moon, my heart, my soul. To be honest, you scared me the moment I met you; the confidence you exuded from your body was not something I was used to. It did not take long to realize how special you were, and are. Everything about you is absolute perfection to me, and I may never find a way to express just how much so you are. You have shown me what it is liked to be loved for my imperfections. On this day, in front of our friends and family, in the eye of God, and our Don, I give you my heart and soul, and I vow my love to you."

The Father then hands me the ring to slide onto her finger, which though masculine, the ring has a few diamonds on the top for a bit of bling. 

He turns back to Aella. "Do you, Aella Eleanora Ricci, take Penelope Bria Costa, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good time and woe, keeping yourself unto her for as long as you both shall live?"

Aella stares deep into my eyes. "I do." I smile wide. 

"Do you, Penelope Bria Costa, take Aella Eleanora Ricci, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good time and woe, keeping yourself unto her for as long as you both shall live?"

I raise my finger up to wipe away a tear from under one eye. "Of course I do."

"By the power vested in me by the Catholic Church of Italy, and the Don of this family, I now pronounce you married", he starts to step back to get out of the way of the photographer, as we asked. "You may kiss."

Aella wastes no time pulling me in by my waist, bending me back. Our guests cheer loudly, but the sound around me disappears once again, leaving me in this perfect moment with my wife.

My wife. 

It's when the guests clapping dies down, but there's one slow clap that continues. Aella releases me, looks up, then almost immediately pushes me behind her. 

Men start to tense, and my father walks out to stand in front of us both in the aisle. I look around Aella to see what was happening. 

"Paolo", my father's voice echoes around the silence. "Kind of you to join us, though you're a bit late."

Paolo, one of the men Ace warned us about a while back, stands down the aisle from Papa. 

"I just wanted to congratulate the happy couple on their vows. They were disgustingly touching."

"We know you do not approve, Paolo, as we did not invite you. Why come?" Aella holds onto me with one hand, her other is held out towards Paolo.

"I needed to say my congratulations, before I choose which one of you lives or dies for your sins."

"They have done no such thing", Papa takes a step towards Paolo.

"I'm not here to fight", Paolo takes his own step forward. "Just to do God's work."

At that moment, a force grabs me from behind and pulls me away from Aella, who turns, but is too late. At least 10 men storm up, grabbing Papa, my family, and Aella; and the rest point guns at the crowd. I struggle out of the grasp of the man holding me, but it's no use. Papa and Aella do the same, but Paolo brought the largest men he could find. 

The three men that hold us all bring us to stand in a line in front of Paolo, they push us to our knees. 

Paolo looks at my father first. "From the moment you became Don, I knew you would be an Atheist freak, a coward, a traitor to your people, absolutely useless. You should be the first to die." He takes the gun out of his waistband and points it at Papa's head. He does not flinch. I let out a yelp.

So then Paolo turns to me with a smirk on his face. "Or maybe the daughter should go first; a good Don knows what loss feels like."

"Don't fucking touch her", Aella growls from the opposite side of Papa. 

"You're right", Paolo turns to Aella. I take a second to look out over the crowd of my wedding guests. They are all obviously horrified, but Ace stares only at me, a blank look on his face. "I want you dead most. But, I want to have some fun with it first."

Paolo nods to the man holding Aella, so he stands her up and starts walking her away. 

In some odd way, I understand the trust Aella has in our family, because she is not struggling anymore. She understands that she is now in line to become Don, as of a few minutes ago when our vows were sealed, and that our family will go to any length to see she is rescued before Paolo thinks of killing her. 

Papa and I are shoved to the ground, the men releasing us from their grasps. My hands hit the ground just before my face does, and I take a moment before I sit back up, but Papa is up on his feet. 

In an instant, guards are then rushing around, and Ace is in front of me. He scans me for any blood or injury, and my brain goes too fast at once to comprehend when he asks if I'm okay. 

"Get them", Papa yells. "Bring in every guard you can call, we must find them now."

Ace helps me to my feet. I'm in such a haze, everything feels and sounds like I'm underwater. But when I look into Ace's eyes, something in my head clicks, and I return to reality. 

I turn to Mama and Mari holding Alessia, they stand with horrified looks on their faces. I then look back at Ace. "Get them inside to Mari's room, send someone to guard. I have to go with Papa."

Papa is yelling in English and Italian, getting all of the guests inside, in case Paolo's men decide to come back. 

As I turn to go to Papa, Ace grabs my arm. "Penelope, let us handle it, stay with your mom and sister."

With the heat of the moment, I realize he's right. But, I can't just sit around and wait for my wife's body to show up on our doorstep. "I have to help find her, she's my wife."

Once everyone is heading into the building, Papa turns to me. "We will find her, Penny. Stay here with your mother."

"No, Papa. I have-"

"Penelope Ricci", he uses my new last name. "I order you to stay here. I don't need both of you getting hurt."

"Papa", so many emotions run through me. He has a sad look in his eyes, but he has to stay stoic for me. "Please find her."

He leans in and places a kiss on my forehead. "I won't stop until I do."