HELENA’S POV
I had taken out the claw veil from my hair and flung it on the patio table, but my hair remained in a French weave behind me with little tendrils framing my face. I stood on the patio, my chest heaving up and down as I faced the pool. My hands trembled with anxiety as everyone’s warning kept coming to my head, reminding me what a stupid girl I’d been. I wish I’d listened, I wish I’d listened and I hadn’t gone ahead to fall in love stupidly in love with him. He was going to go back to her, oh who was I kidding? He loved her, he always had and I had always been the one to pass time.
I wiped a furious tear from my ears, unable to hold my emotions together. My chest was tight and felt hollow, my eyes brimmed with tears that I couldn’t control and I wanted to run away, go back to Paris or wherever it was that I would never lay my eyes on him again.
“Helena” I heard his voice softly behind me and I whipped around, and he was the last person I expected up here. I shot him a wistful look, wiping furiously at the tears that made it down my cheeks.
“What do you want?”
“The priest is waiting” he said calmly to me, staring at me with those piercing eyes of his like he wanted to snatch my soul away and lock it in a jar
“Well the love of your life is back, isn’t she? Isn’t it so convenient also, you can just get married to her right away” my words were biting, my tone was annoyed but I couldn’t help it.
“Stop being difficult Helena”
“Difficult?” I scoffed “Did you know she was coming back?”
‘No I didn’t Helena, how could I have known that? I guess Matteo had something to do with it’
‘Matteo? Right’ I scoffed again, more angrily this time ‘I am so done with you D’angelo men, thinking you can just do anything you want and get away with it. I don’t even know what you’re doing here, Gianna’s waiting for you’
Dante ran a frustrated hand through his hair ‘I don’t care about Gianna, you’re the only one I care about Helena and you don’t seem to get it’
‘Get what?’
‘How many bridges I’m willing to burn for you, just to make sure you’re mine. I want to get married to you and I want to get married to you today so can you just drop the attitude for one bloody minute’
His words struck at my chest, filling the hollowness that threatened to consume me. We held each other’s gaze for what felt like eternity and Dante’s betrayal still burned hot and painful in my heart that it was difficult to trust him.
I huffed, throwing my bouquet on the table alongside my veil and I shot Dante another spiteful glance with my hands folded across my chest
‘Well what are you going to do about it?” I was testing him, I wanted to see how far I could push him till he broke.
“You don’t want to know Helena” he said back to me but I stood my ground with my hands still folded in a stubborn stance
“Surprise me” I said and before I knew it, I felt myself lifted off the ground and thrown on his shoulder with a simple swoop, he swiped my veil and flowers off the table with a free hand and the other hand making sure I was properly propped up on him.
I gasped “Put me down, Dante”
He didn’t listen to me, in fact he didn’t say a word as he carried back outside to the gown where everyone was still seated like nothing like happened. My eyes stayed fixed to the ground till we reached the front and he set my feet on the floor. I felt disheveled as I heaved angrily at him but Dante didn’t seem to be paying my tantrums any mind. He thrust the bouquet back into my hands and singlehandedly fixed the veil back into my hair and then he looked at me, a look of defiance playing on his lips, before looking back at the priest.
“Father Ramos?” he nodded at the seemingly tired priest who looked like he had seen enough drama to last him the rest of his life. Father Ramos nodded, looking at me as if to ask for my permission but my gaze was fixed on Dante instead.
The priest cleared his throat “Okay if there’s anyone here who would like to object ”
“You can skip that part” Dante cut in, my eyes went to the crowd searching for Gianna but she was gone and I wondered if I had dreamed the whole thing but Matteo was still there, his eyes were like a spear ready to dive into my heart but I ignored him and looked back at Dante who hadn’t taken his eyes of me.
“Dante D’angelo, do you take Helena De Luca to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to hold, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health ”
“Yes” he didn’t waste a breath.
I held my breath as the priest read mine out, but I didn’t say yes right away. I looked deep into Dante’s eyes, the tension building once again as everyone anticipated my answer.
“Yes” I finally breathed.
“You may now kiss ”
The priest had barely completed his words when Dante grabbed me by my waist and crashing his lips into mine with a force I could interpret as desperation. He consumed me whole with the fire the burned him, burning me as well, holding me captive with a desire that I couldn’t escape from. I kissed him back, allowing myself to be immersed in him, to completely trust him even though I know I shouldn’t. I knew this was only the beginning of whatever it was to come because I knew deep down in my chest Gianna wasn’t going to back down without a fight.
“I’m sorry” he whispered in my ears after he pulled away and I fought to catch my breath, one hand holding unto him to steady myself
“I love you Helena”
I couldn’t breathe
But the real question was, was his love enough to keep us together?