𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝

26

Mila

I hear him before I see him, conversing with Giovanni's side of the family, apparently, he introduced himself to everyone and Ariel did something that must have taken her all to convince herself to do, she changed the plans so instead of her no-good husband walking me down the aisle, my father will.

It's tradition.

I know I'm the one that invited him here, I wanted to see how this would go, see if he'd changed, but now that he was here standing in front of my face, I didn't know what I wanted.

"Mila..." he finally stops his conversation as his eyes find mine, he's cleaned up a bit, his face was nicely shaven and clean, and the suit he wore looked new, cheap, but new.

The music starts and Gio's family takes their seats, I shut my eyes concealing my tears so I don't ruin my makeup, I take a deep breath and let my arm wrap around his. "You look really beautiful Mila," he whispered but I ignored it as we began walking.

I look up at the altar to see Gio standing, and at the sight of him I relax, he gives me a reassuring look before sending my father a small glare, I just give him a small nod, telling him it's okay.

Isa walks in front as she sprinkles the flower peddles, finally when we make it to the altar my arm is released from his as he takes a seat and I stand in front of Gio, the ceremony starts.

When it's time to pull out rings I pull out a black wedding band that I went back to that jewelry store for, it wasn't too expensive but wasn't cheap either.

I don't know why I bought it, but I did.

His brows crease at the sight of the ring, probably not expecting me to even bother.

He pulls out a ring and it's not until it's on my finger that I realize it's the same ring I tried on and fell in love with the day we went to the jewelry store where the lady insisted I get my finger-sized, it was a perfect fit.

Woah.

The ceremony goes on for what feels like forever before I finally hear the words. "You may now kiss your bride."

What?

I completely forgot about this part... did we have to do this? "Uhh..." I start before I feel Gio crashing his lips down to mine, his hand grips my waist through my dress, and my hands come up to his shoulders as I begin to kiss him back.

Oh, this isn't so bad.

I hear a bunch of cheers and claps as Gio continues his torture on my mouth, savoring every second of this.

I pull away to catch my breath and his forehead lays against mine, he looks me in the eyes and I begin breathing heavily, this is starting to feel way too intimate, I breathe out a nervous breath. "Did I tell you, you look fucking amazing?"

"Not like a slut?" I tease, in reference to his words from last night.

He smiles as he pulls away from me, I watch as Isa and Cade run over and throw their arms around us, I quickly hug them back before Ariel can snatch them up since it wasn't in her plans, but when I look over at her she looks genuinely happy.

A few photos are taken as I grab Isa and lift her onto my hip, Gio doing the same with Cade, who surprisingly lets him. "You guys are married!" Isa says proudly. But she says it wrong, it sounded more like "maaweed" causing me to chuckle.

"Does that mean you're our new daddy?" Cade asks Gio, before he can answer I cut in.

"We'll talk about it later baby."

—

The after-party went on for a while, I changed into a much more comfortable dress and much more comfortable heels, and everyone came up to me and congratulated me which I found weird.

We all knew this marriage was arranged.

As I'm talking to one of the guests someone taps on my shoulders, I don't have to look to know who it is, I turn around and give a slightly awkward smile to my father who rubs the back of his neck.

"Hey, Dad." It comes out awkward, I wasn't used to calling him that... I wasn't used to talking to him in general.

His eyes light up as I say it, and he smiles. "Hey, kid... you look great, I'm proud of you." He says and I nod.

"Thank you, I'm glad you were able to make it," I have to at least try with him, I give him a small smile and he nods.

"Thank you for inviting me, everyone is great... that one is kinda scary, but ... I'm really proud of you." He says pointing over at Gio who is watching us carefully, I laugh at that.

"Thank you," I say as I look around. "Have you met the kids?" I ask pointing to where they played with all of the other children.

"They're great... remind me a lot like you when you were younger." He says and I frown at that. "You did a great job raising them."

I nod.

"Look, I know I wasn't there for you growing up, I was going through my own shit... I know that's not a good excuse Mija."

I shut my eyes at the nickname.

"I know your mother wasn't a great person, I shouldn't have let her kick you out..."

He continues as I keep my eyes shut, honestly not wanting to hear any of this.

"We fucked up as parents... I want to make it up to you."

I look up at him, sadness in my eyes as I shake my head. "I don't think that's a good idea... I'm an adult now dad, I have children, I'm married... I don't really need a parent right now... I needed one back then, I know you're trying and I appreciate that, but it's too late."

You want to be my father, too late.

He sighs. "I understand... I really am happy for you Mila." He continues scratching the back of his neck.

My heart sinks as I begin to get a bad feeling.

"Uh..." he chuckles. "You did good Mila, married into a really wealthy family you know... you're set for life...."

My brows furrowed, why did any of this matter?

"I mean look at this place," he scoffs. "It's bigger than any building I've ever entered."

"Where are you going with this?" I ask softly.

"I'm really struggling Mila... after your mother died.."

"Don't call her that." I shut my eyes.

"I'm sorry... I just could really use some help... and now that you're married to him..."

"Are you trying to ask me to ask my husband to give you money?" I ask as I cross my arms, I don't see this asshole for 5 years and the first thing he thinks to ask me is for money. "Unbelievable." I scoff.

"Don't be like that!"

I almost reply before I feel a hand wrap around my waist pulling me close. "Is everything okay?" I look up at Gio who is glaring at my father.

"Uh, everything's fine... Bruno, Mila's father... it's a pleasure to meet you, sir." My father holds out a hand to Gio who glares at it for a few seconds before grabbing it.

My father's face contours in pain as he looks at their connected hands. "Ah, I've heard so much about you," Gio says keeping his grip firm as he continues to shake my father's hand, not yet letting go.

"My father here was just asking me to ask you to give him some money..."

"Was he?" I shake my head in disappointment as I slip out of Gio's grasp, I ask Victoria to take the kids home before it gets too late.

I sigh as I grab a drink from the table, watching my father conversing with Gio, I down the drink before grabbing a new one.

Five years of no contact for this.

Some family I fucking have.