HELENA’S POV
“Me I object this wedding” Her voice, soft but piercing, cut through the ceremony like a blade.
The silence was deafening and I could hear the ringing in my ears while Gianna shifted her gaze from me to Dante, a sly smirk playing on her lips.
“Darling you don’t have to get married to her again, I’m back now and for good” she said to him, and when I looked at Dante he looked like he had seen a ghost, eyes wide and with a certain paleness to his looks.
I felt my heart lurch in my chest. The pounding was so loud, I swore everyone in the room could hear it. My gaze shot to Dante again, desperate to see something in his expression-some sign that he was unwavering, that he was committed to us.
The confliction was there, I could see it. He was frozen, his eyes darting between me and Gianna, his jaw tight, as if he were battling some internal war. My stomach dropped as I watched his silence stretch on, and a cold wave of dread washed over me. He wasn’t speaking. He wasn’t saying anything. My hands trembled, the bouquet in my grip feeling heavier than ever.
I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, especially my mother, the weight of her disapproval seeping into me from across the room. I didn’t need to look at her to know that smug expression was plastered on her face, the one that said I told you so.
“Dante come on” Gianna’s voiced sliced through the air again, she looked partly the same except her hair was blonde now, I guess she hadn’t pulled out from the character she just played in her new movie. Her eyes were fixed on Dante, as if beckoning him to her, willing him with her eyes Dante stood still, but his silence was suffocating.
The tightness in my chest became unbearable, my throat constricting as the weight of everything came crashing down on me. My legs felt weak, my entire body trembling from the tension. I could feel myself crumbling, piece by piece, under the weight of the moment. My fingers loosened their grip on Dante’s hand, and before I could even fully process what I was doing, I pulled away from him.
I took a step back, and then another, the distance between us growing as I fought to keep the tears from spilling down my face.
“Helena” his voice echoed behind me, but it sounded like a blur. My eyes blurred with tears as I pushed past Gianna.
“Helena!” Dante’s voice was sharper now, more desperate, but I ignored it. I couldn’t stop. If I stopped, I would break.
DANTE’S POV
The moment Gianna’s voice rang out, it felt like the world had stopped spinning. Everything slowed down, and my body went rigid, paralyzed by the shock. I couldn’t believe it-she was actually standing there, interrupting my wedding, looking at me like she still had a claim on me.
“I object this wedding”
I couldn’t bear to look at Helena that moment, knowing Gianna had been a touchy subject between us. I knew I had to say something. Hell, I should’ve said something the moment Gianna opened her mouth, but my throat was locked tight, and my mind spun with the memories of her.
I had loved Gianna once. Loved her beyond anything I’d ever felt for anyone else. She was wild, unpredictable, everything I had thought I wanted. But standing there, staring at her with her hair now a different shade of blonde and those same magnetic blue eyes, it didn’t feel the same. That connection, that spark I used to feel with her-it wasn’t there.
I opened my mouth, ready to say something, anything, but then I felt it-Helena pulling away from me. Her warmth, her presence, retreating before I could even register what was happening.
No no no no.
Wait
But she was listening, I saw her face crumble, her eyes dart everywhere across the room as she pulled her hands away from mine dashing across the garden. Panic surged through me. I knew had to go after her, I had to make this right.
I lurched after her, but Matteo was suddenly in front of me, blocking my path. “I think I should check on her,” he said, his voice steady, like this wasn’t a moment where my entire world was falling apart. “Make sure she’s okay, and maybe you should focus on who’s objecting your wedding”
I stared at him, not totally in disbelief because this was the exact kind of shit I expected Matteo to do.
“Step out of my way,” I growled, my voice low and dangerous. I didn’t have time for this. I didn’t have time for him. “I don’t have time to for your goddamn shenanigans Matteo”
“Shenanigans?” he chuckled “She’s right there, the woman you’ve always wanted, so what is the problem right now”
That was when Gianna walked up to where we stood, a certain sultriness in her eyes “Maybe we should talk, there’s so much to catch up on. I’m sure Matteo can take care of her” Her voice was soft, like she was coaxing me back into her orbit, like she still thought she had that power over me.
I ran a frustrated hands through my hair and I looked at Gianna, really looked at her, for the first time since she walked in. The woman who had once been my everything. But all I could think about was Helena. How I couldn’t hurt her. Not again. I wasn’t that man anymore.
I shook my head, the words coming out before I could fully process them. “I think you’re five years too late, Gianna.” I glanced at her face-there was hurt, surprise, and a flash of something that tugged at me, but I shoved it down.
Then I turned to Matteo and I said to him “The woman I want is Helena, and I’m going after her, not you.”