The Devil and his Shadow
Mateo Rossi,
in three words, the devil himself. The man who brought his mafia back to life.
The man who has a special place in hell saved just
for him.
Isabella Valentino,
The only daughter of Romano Valentino, once known a...
And though it may not be by my own free will, I am going into this marriage somewhat happy.
Mamá came up next to me, seeming a bit nervous, but it was normal. Everyone was nervous.
The doors open and Mamá and I walk through them to the altar.
People stand up around us and I can see the faint lines on their faces through the wail, but my vision is still blurred by it.
Mama lets go of me at the steps of the altar as another hand takes mine.
Antonio's hand.
I can only imagine the scene in front of me.
Antonio standing at the altar, holding my hand. Behind him is Rossi as his best man and on my side is Sofia, along with more of my friends as my bridesmaids.
Antonio's hands are rougher than they were yesterday, but I don't pay enough attention to it.
He also felt taller than usual, but I told myself it was my mind playing games with me.
The priest starts the ceremony as the crowd sits down.
"Do you, Mateo Rossi, take Isabella Valentino as your lawful wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part."
My mind must be playing games with me because of all this stress, but I swear I just heard the priest say, Mateo, instead of Antonio.
I must be going crazy, and I just know that when all of this is over, I will sleep for two days just to feel rested.
I finally convinced myself that this was all in my head before the answer echoed the hall,
"I do,"
The voice was way too deep to be Antonio. My body tenses and I look over at Sofia, then back at the man standing in front of me, but I can't see anything through this stupid wail.
I am left in anticipation, my throat feels dry and my chest starts rising as I anxiously wait, frozen in place.
"...lawful husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part."
In the whole process of panicking, I forgot to listen to the part that would've cleared my mind.
I stay put for a few seconds before answering,
"I do."
My breathing starts fastening as panic starts setting in.
I have no idea who I'm marrying. My mind is going feral, thinking of all the possible answers as I put the ring on my husband's hand.
He does the same for me, his unusually rough hands sliding the ring on my ring finger.
I squeeze my eyes to see better through the wail, but it does me no good, the image in front of me is still blurry and it does nothing to help me see the man in front of me.
"...You may kiss the bride" I hear from my left as I see the tips of someone's fingers hooking on the fabric of the wail, pushing it behind me, and finally revealing the case in front of me.
The air was knocked out of me, and I clenched my fists in shock.
My eyes widen as I look for Mamá in the crowd.
I look at Sofia behind me, and she can do nothing but give me a sad, worrying glance before looking at her shoes.
The number of eyes on me is way too close to a thousand for me to just act out now.
So I suck up my breath, for the hundredth time in the past three months, and look up at my husband.
Mateo Rossi.
Swallow nervously whilst his cold eyes pierce through me, as they've always done.
He wasn't happy about this either, but there was a crowd in front of us, anticipating our next move.
Next to him is Dante as his best man, growing tense at the amount of time it's taking us to kiss.
Rossi takes one for the team, dipping his head closer and landing a peck on my cheek.
It felt venomous, just like everything he did.
My nostrils get filled with his dark scent, and I grit my teeth before he takes my hand and leads me out of the hall.
The second all of the eyes are off of us.
I take out the knife I hid under my dress, push Rossi against the wall, and press the blade against his neck.
"Where is Antonio!?" I ask, pushing the dagger further to his neck.
At the same moment, Dante runs up to the scene and points a gun at my head.
Sofia rushes behind pointing the gun at Dante making it seem like a never-ending cycle.
Rossi motions Dante to put his gun down, making Sofia automatically put hers down.
"He left," Rossi says nonchalantly and I dig the knife deeper into the skin of his neck.
I didn't believe him. He did something to him, told him something, scared him off.
He takes a piece of paper from the pocket of his slacks and gives it to me.
I read the paper carefully, not letting the tears I felt like shedding appear in my eyes.
I went crazy, asking Rossi what he had done to him, where he had gone, what he had said to him, but he kept his mouth shut, not having any answers for me.
I look at the knife I held tightly to his neck. One swipe and he could become a memory no one would want to remember.
I look into his eyes and for the first time in my life, in those eyes I see sincerity.
He doesn't know where Antonio is. My heart drops, and I feel my eyes start to water as I drop the knife on the floor.
The world around me spins when the realization hits me.
Antonio was gone. The first man I felt comfortable around was gone, nowhere to be found, and I was once again left alone.
Married to my worst nightmare.
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