Married to My Enemy

“I will, I promise.”

“Okay, baby girl,” Dante said, and then kissed my forehead.

“See you in a little bit, sis. And don’t trip down the aisle, all right?” Lorenzo said, kissing my cheek.

“Ha, ha,” I said. “Don’t even joke like that. If I trip, I’m coming after you.”

He laughed and followed behind Dante and Tony to the door. When they opened the door, my father was standing on the other side of it, just about to knock.

“Not you three knuckleheads,” he said. “Get out of here. Seeing the bride early is bad luck.”

“That’s for the groom, Dad,” Lorenzo said, coming to a halt even though Tony and Dante had disappeared down the hall. He looked at me. “You haven’t seen your lover-boy today, have you?”

I turned my head, trying to hide the blushing coming over my cheeks. “No,” I lied.

“Then it’s all good,” he said.

“Hey, Lorenzo.” We heard Angela’s voice first, and then she appeared beside him.

Lorenzo smirked. “How’s it going, Angela? You look wonderful today.”

She giggled. “Thank you.”

I shook my head. Even though Angela always took so much pride in claiming she knew how to not get played by men, I’m sure that she would have fallen for Lorenzo—or any of my brothers, for that matter—in a heartbeat.

Daddy sighed. “Renzo, go find your brothers,” he said, apparently just wanting to get him away from Angela.

Lorenzo nodded at her. “I’ll see you later. Save me a dance, all right?”

“Of course,” she said, winking.

“Angela,” I said, once Lorenzo was gone.

“What?” she said, her eyes wide and innocent. “I'm just friendly. Hi, Mr. Marino. How are you?”

“Already stressed out, trying to make sure my boys behave,” Daddy said.

Angela and I laughed.

I’d been so busy getting myself together, I hadn’t had time to actually observe how the rest of my bridal party looked. I hadn’t even been around to help them pick out the bridesmaid dresses, but Angela had been in charge of that, and from the looks of it, she’d done an excellent job. Her dress was beautiful, and I could tell that it was the kind of dress that was figure-flattering for anyone who wore it.

“That dress is lovely, Angela. Thanks for helping get the bridesmaids together.”

“No problem, darling. The rest of the girls should be here any minute.”

“All our guests are here too. So, it’ll be time for things to get started shortly,” Daddy said, checking his watch.

Even though I was looking forward to it, butterflies began to float through my stomach.

Just as Angela had predicted, the rest of the bridesmaids—which included Jessica, Maria, and three of my cousins, began to make their way over. Within moments of their arrival, the room filled with excited chatter and Daddy drifted off to take a seat in the corner. Clearly, there was too much estrogen in the room for him.

When it was time to line up and get ready to enter for the ceremony, Mama showed up.

She looked stunning, having found the perfect mother-of-the-bride dress. It was a royal purple tea-length number with spaghetti straps and an elegant shawl that hung over her shoulders. She stopped before me, clearly trying not to cry. Wordlessly, she gently grabbed my face and kissed each side of my cheeks. And then she turned to my father, giving him a quick smooch on the lips before exiting to be escorted into the ceremony alongside with Giovanni’s parents.

I had expected to take in each detail of the ceremony, but as the bridesmaids and groomsmen began to march in, everything began to go by in a blur.

“You’re shaking, sweetie. Are you all right?” Daddy said.