Bleeding Sunset

Chapter 24

Agostino said that me turning away at the aisle and running away had cursed our marriage, and we would be unfortunate if we didn’t right our wrongs. So what was one way of doing that? Redoing our wedding in a way that his family traditions dictated to right a wrong; and that was how? By having me wear a black wedding dress and a black wedding veil that didn’t even allow me to see anything. It was to show that I was regretful of the bad that I had done to my husband, and that I was apologetic, and from now onwards, the only person who would guide me through life would be Agostino. 

Quite the fucking family tradition if you ask me. 

I preferred to think of it as me treating this wedding as a funeral for all that I have ever known. This was a sad occasion for me, an occasion that I knew signalled the rest of my life that would now be dedicated to a man who had killed the only people I had left in the world. The black wedding dress was simpler than my previous wedding dress, but not in the least bit less beautiful. It wasn’t a ball gown, but it graciously fell over my body like water, hugging my belly and bringing a certain kind of elegance to my pregnancy that I don’t think that I have ever seen before. It was a matte satin, off the shoulder dress, with beaded tulle that formed a cape behind me. The sweetheart neckline that it created showed off my swollen breasts and my arms were covered in soft lace detail that seemed like vines created around my arms. 

I looked at myself in the mirror, so taken aback by the difference from the last time that I stood here on my first wedding day. I felt like I had been younger then, as though unaware of the true danger that I was in. And today I stood here, fully pregnant, with no one by my side. 

My hair was made into a low yet messy bun that created a look of graceful charm, making me look almost as youthful as I did back then. I heard a knock on the door but before I even responded, the handle turned and in walked Agostino’s cousin- the don. My heart raced as I met his eyes through the mirror and he stood there for a second taking me in. 

I turned around and smiled at him, dipping my head low in greeting and respect as he entered the room and one of his men closed the door behind him. “you look…different,” he told me as he put his hands in the pockets of the expensive suit that he wore. I hated to say it, but the don was the one person that I actually cared to enjoy his company because I knew that he didn’t need to answer to anyone, and he gave off the kind of energy of the uncle in your family that drank too much and would tell you outrageous stories that you knew were absolutely a lie. 

He has been visiting me every once in a while, and when he does, he always manages to make me laugh and smile. I smiled, “yeah, I’m rounder than I was the last time you saw me.” he approached me and placed his hand on my arm before he leaned in and placed two kisses on each of my cheeks. 

“You carry pregnancy well, look at yourself in the mirror. You’re the most beautiful you have ever been,” he said with a smile like that of a father looking at his daughter and my throat tightened- and I had to break eye contact. “I was talking about the dress, black lady. My, I don’t remember the last time anyone in my family witnessed a black wedding. In more ways than one,” he uncontrollably chuckled at the terrible joke and I rolled my eyes but found myself laughing a little. 

“Thank you for…coming to see me, and well…you know, everything.” I said with a tight lipped smile, clearing my throat so that I wouldn’t cry as I looked at the don and he smiled at me, nodding his head and shaking his hand in a dismissive manner as though it were no problem. 

“Of course, walking you down the aisle is no big deal,” he shrugged, and I looked down at my feet for a moment. He fell silent before he spoke up, “what’s wrong with you?” he asked me as though he picked up that there was something wrong. I mean, he surely couldn’t have gotten this far in the business if he wasn’t able to pick up how someone was feeling or probably even thinking.