𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚

Chapter 4

Written 12-26-20

I'm woken up by the feeling of a hand on my shoulder. I slowly sit up and open my eyes to see Beatrice smiling down at me. She seems so nice and caring. I want to trust her so badly, but I've only know her for barely 12 hours.

"Good morning Gia. May I call you Gia?" She asks me. I struggle to answer. I'm still groggy from my sleep, I don't remember what time I finally got to bed.

"Y-yes, that's fine." I say, as I slowly start to get out of bed. I all of the sudden remember oh yeah, I'm getting married today.

"Beatrice? What do I need to do? You know, to get ready?"

"Go shower, I will have your dress and all your makeup brought to your room." She answers and walks out of the room. I decide to quickly do as she says. I undress and turn on the hot water. Everything in this house feels foreign. Like I'm staying at a hotel. But I'm not, this is my home now. I refuse to let self doze off any longer, and swiftly wash my hair, face, and body. I get out and put on a robe that's folded on the sink. As soon as I get out of the bathroom the room is full of different maids holding makeup and hair products. I am rushed into a chair where the maids start to do my hair.

My mind goes somewhere else for a while. Even when their grabbing at my hair and applying my makeup. But when I see my wedding dress I can't help but get at least a little bit excited. It's a long ball gown, with lace sleeves. It's perfect. It makes me forget about my life for a minute. I need help putting it on, so I don't mess up my hair. I look in the mirror, it's the first time I've felt truly beautiful. The makeup, the hair, the dress makes me look utterly perfect. It covers up the fact that on the inside I am always on the verge of completely breaking down. As I continue to look at myself in the mirror, Beatrice waves all the other maids out of the room. She stands in front of me and touches up my hair. I have so many questions about my future. Even though I don't fully trust her and I can't help but ask.

"Beatrice, can you tell me about...him?"

"The Don?" She asks. Who else would I be asking about? I just nod. She sighs, and begins to think.

"He is 22, his mother and father died 2 years ago, he's the youngest Don this family has ever had, and you need to respect him.

I try to hide my frown, the only new information I learned was his age. All she did was state the obvious. Beatrice of course knows this.

"No one truly knows the Don, Gia. You will learn more about him after you wed him. But you will never fully know him."

I just nod and put my head down. Not long after that we arrive at the church. The church is bigger than the villa, with stain glass windows and a golden cross at the nave of the roof, the church couldn't be more beautiful. Everything about today seemed beautiful.

I wait as Beatrice and a few others enter the Church, leaving me waiting outside with two bodyguards. A few moments later one of them gets a call coming from their headset. With that they open the doors to the church, and I walk down the isle. This doesn't feel right, if my father were still alive he would be walking me down the isle. But I'm all alone, with almost a hundred different people staring at me. Suddenly my eyes are fixated on him. Cristiano. I had seen him last night, but barely got a good glance at him. He's handsome I'll admit. He's tall, at least 6 foot, and well built. He has brown curly hair that is more styled than it was last night. He has sharp cheekbones and bright pink lips. But what really catches my attention, are his piercing eyes. The eyes that are fixated on me.

Finally I meet him at the altar.

The priest tells us to kneel and pray with him. We do as we are told and then stand again. Cristiano takes my hands in his, and I look up at him. He is so hard to read, his face is so serious. My eyes get lost in his until I hear the priest say, "Do you Giada Marianna Benetti take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"