The Underworld

chapter nineteen

"Ah, Mrs. Coldwell, so nice to meet you." A man dressed in a white long sleeve button up, navy blue dress pants, and brown dress shoes extended his hand towards me. He was shorter than me, even without my heels on. If I had to guess I'd say five four. Unless it was the stress that came with the mafia, he seemed older than Louis and I — most likely like Louis' father. The wrinkles around his eyes were prominent as well as the few grey hairs mixed with his brown beard and hair.

Our hands clasped and shook briefly before he continued, "I don't know if Louis has told you much about me."

How many more hands did I have to shake? The men and women in this room were all somehow associated to Louis and his family. Thoughts ran through my mind of all the horrible things they must've done. How much blood had they spilled that wasn't theirs? How many people did they kill with their bare hands? I was disgusted.

Louis placed a hand on my lower back. No matter how much I wanted to I didn't flinch. This wedding was all an act that both him and I had to play in. I would only tolerate it for today, after this, he better not place his filthy hands on me.

Before I could say anything, Louis spoke, "of course, Freddy. Excuse my wife, however, she's just started to deal with family matters."

"Of course," Freddy's smile grew. He ran a hand down his long beard. "It's good to properly meet you."

"You as well," my smile remained the same — no teeth but ends curled high up, fake but enough to look real and genuine.

Freddy excused himself and the greetings continued.

After about thirty minutes, my heels were beginning to stab my feet. I lifted one foot at a time, doing my best to make it unnoticeable underneath my dress. I swear I was going to take a seat soon. The greetings could wait a bit.

"Alaina," I turned to Anna. She smiled at me before glancing at her brother. I noticed her expression changed a bit. Her smile didn't shift but there was something about her that showed it was as genuine as the one she gave me. "Louis, mind if I steal her for a bit?"

Louis gave her a curt nod, "go ahead."

She guided me away from the crowd and towards the buffet table. I thanked her. "No worries," she replied. "Louis would've kept you there unless someone said something to which no one would, except for me of course. Food?" She handed me a small plate and grabbed one for herself. We quickly but throughly passed by the table, picking as many small desserts and treats could fit on our plates without seeming as if we were starving. I hadn't had anything to eat since my breakfast this morning.

"They should be serving the food in twenty minutes and the cake once everyone is finished eating," Alaina said. "But in the meantime, I thought we'd have something before one of us collapsed from starvation." We let out a small laugh as we made our way to a table. Annabeth picked one that had no one nearby.

The moment I took a seat, my feet felt relieved after all the weight they had been holding onto was removed. "I hate wearing a heels," I told Anna.

She chuckled, "you and me both. I heard numbing cream helps but wasn't able to get any." Her eyebrows furrowed but quickly relaxed. "Sorry."

"It's okay," I told her. "Really. I'm just glad you got me away. I didn't know how much longer I could stand there." I brought a small cannoli filled with vanilla custard into my mouth and it was delicious. I hesitated shoving another into my mouth, waiting for any sign that my body would want to get rid of it.

When nothing happened, I ate the other cannoli.

"It's good?" Anna asked and I nodded. "Do you want more?"