Marriage by Bravery - Book 3

Chapter Eighteen

Kim

It was finally over, I could comfortably relax into my new role as bridezilla and man had I been saving up on bridal angst. The girls had been driving me crazy for weeks with all this wedding planning; napkins, flowers and all sorts of other doodads. The least I could do was repay them with actual interest, even if it bordered on crazy. This was in no way, payback for all the times they drove me mad, swear it.

It had been six days since the Abruzzo fiasco ended. Luca had seen to it that Anabel faced criminal charges for shooting me, even if I wasn't the intended target. Him actually going to the police was just plain old weird being that he was basically a criminal overlord. She would have served jail time if he had been seriously pursuing it but I convinced him to leave it as a warning. Having the police pick her up from home and cart her away in handcuffs would send her a very clear message that if she crossed us again then there would be consequences.  It seemed there was more to this life than I knew so far, although if Luca has his way I'd continue to not know. It was likely that he'd do his best to keep me out of it as much as possible from here on out and I decided that for his peace of mind I'd stay out of it unless it directly affected us. Not that I mentioned my little clause to him.

For now, I'd just pour my focus into planning our wedding and exacting my revenge upon the women who had seen to it that it I had nightmares about wine glasses and silverware. I stood on the mini platform that Mrs G had arranged to have brought in and set up while the designer poked and prodded me with pin after pin. It took every bit of self-control I had not to punch her in the head. I'd even started to count the flower petals in the vase next to the couch on which my cruel audience sat.

While I stood patiently enduring a gazillion mini puncture wounds, Lia and Mrs G were appropriately oohing and aahing at the dress, while also trying to keep the twins content, each holding one adorable boy on their lap. Naia, on the other hand, was having a blast eating whatever was on the tray Mrs Hanson had brought in. She clearly had no trouble using the fact that she had to breastfeed Elle as an excuse to eat, not the she had previously needed one. Heck none of us had needed one.

"Okay, that should do it!" the designer exclaimed suddenly.

I sighed in relief then turned to directly face the female half of my family, "well, what do you girls think?"

Mrs G, mama, as she insisted three of us call her, secretly enjoyed being considered one of the girls, especially since she didn't have any daughters of her own.

"It's perfect! When Luca sees you in that Mama is gonna have another grand baby or two to look forward to!" Lia teased, though surprisingly I wasn't daunted in the least by the thought of having his kids. I mean I'd been shot, what could possibly be scarier than that.

Beside her, Naia and Mrs G were sniffling quietly. I rolled my eyes at how ridiculous they were being.

"What? I'm breastfeeding! I have leftover hormones from the pregnancy," Naia said defensively.

Mrs G simply shrugged, "Both my sons have finally settled down, this is probably the last time I'll get to cry over a wedding until the babies are older. Have to get it all out."

I snickered but for a brief moment, I deeply wished my sister could have shared this with me. However, I shook it off quickly, I mean there was so much to be grateful for. When I lost Kacey I could have been left all alone in the world but instead, I became a part of a crazy yet amazing family. Not to mention that in a matter of days, I would be marrying the love of my life. There wasn't much more a person could ask for so  instead of moping I sent up a silent thank to my baby sister who even in her absence left so many amazing people to look after me.

"Go on have a look!" the weirdly excited designer said as she uncovered the mirror, pulling me back into the present.

I turned around and was struck dumb by my own reflection. The dress was more than my imagination could have ever conjured up. I turned in slow circles looking at a version of myself I could hardly even recognize, taking in all the carefully executed details. I was so in love with this dress!

She'd used a completely transparent sheer material to make the sleeves and bodice, however my back was entirely bare down to just above my butt, with only three pearl buttons at the nape of my neck to keep it in place. A layer of lace was covered my breasts and torso in a sweetheart shape, with trimmings of the same lace at the neck and wrists and with a smattering of lace at random points on the sleeves to give more hints of skin. I found myself being grateful for the fact that the wedding wasn't going to be held in a church because this dress was probably way too much for the saints of the Lord to handle. The lace ended in a cinched waist and a white silky material began to mold over my curves, picking up where the lace left off.

"My butt looks so great!" I whispered to myself, although I'm pretty sure I heard murmurs of agreement from the other ladies in the room, who had melted into the background.

The skirt of the dress hugged me till about mid thigh then flowed out in soft pleats with a longer hem in the back. Guiltily, I found myself wondering if I could cheat by wearing flats since my shoes would hardly show, but I dismissed the thought, knowing  Lia would kill me with her bare hands if I tried.

I turned to Martina, the designer, "I absolutely love it, I'm sorry for wanting to punch you in the head!" I thanked her happily.

She said an awkward thank you for the compliment and told me I was welcome, though it was clear she didn't exactly know how to respond to such a statement. She proceeded to help me out of the dress that she'd be taking it away for final adjustments, then it would be delivered to my bridal suite in the morning. Mrs G, with Lia and Naia as back up, had badgered Luca into preparing a room for me to get ready in on our wedding day so he wouldn't jinx anything by seeing me before the ceremony. I couldn't have cared less but I figured it wasn't worth it to go up against all three of them.

After Martina left we spent the day playing with the babies. Zidana, Damiano and Matteo were a lot to handle, especially since the one year old boys had recently started walking, while Zidana, at six months old, had perfected the art of sitting up and was desperately trying to take the fast track to crawling so she could play with her godbrothers. Mrs G mercifully decided that we could use some down time away from wedding planning. We had lunch together and passed the time chatting about everything and nothing at all.

Later that evening, I had an intimate dinner with Luca which lead to an even more intimate night that ended in our bedroom. He snuggled me up against him, playing in my hair as we both dozed off. In just three days we'd be doing this same thing in whatever exotic country Luca was whisking me off to for our honeymoon.

The difference was, it would be as Mr and Mrs Giordano.