The moment Cara stepped into the mansion, she knew she wasn’t alone, as muffled voices could be heard coming from the dining room.
Leaving her suitcase in the living room, she headed over to see who it was. Six pairs of eyes stared at her as she pulled open the door.
Four were familiar faces she had seen a least once, while the other two she felt no sense of familiarity for. One was a pretty young lady who had her hair in a high ponytail, and the other was an elderly-looking woman who looked to be no less than sixty-five years old.
Luca was the first to speak, waving energetically with a big grin on his face.
“Hey, Cara. Welcome back.”
One of the ladies spoke up and snapped her head towards him at the mention of Cara’s name.
“Cara?”
Her face lit up in recognition.
“Adonis’s Cara?”
Luca nodded, and she jumped to her feet to grab Cara by the hand, pulling her in for a hug. One would think they were close friends.
“Hey! I’m Cecelia, Luca’s fiance. He’s told me so much about you. I can’t believe we finally get to meet.” She bounced around, the pink highlights in her ponytail swoshing about.
Cara could see the similarity between her and Luca. They both had the same playful nature. She could see them spending the rest of their life together as a perfect fit.
Unlike she and a certain someone…
“Come sit down; we have a lot to discuss.” Cecelia led her to an empty seat.
They had just settled down when she suddenly threw an accusing stare at Adonis from across the table.
“You! Aren’t you going to say hello to your fiance?”
Ignoring her, Adonis stood his feet and then gave Cara a bored look.
“You’re home. Welcome.” Then he turned to Luca. “A word in my office.” before heading out of the room.
Giving Cecelia a chaste kiss on the lips, Luca bid everyone goodbye as he exited the room right on Adonis’s heel.
She turned to Cara with a sceptical look on her face.
“Are you sure you want to marry him? He’s like a block of ice.”
This made everyone burst into laughter as though it was normal to make Adonis jokes. Cara couldn’t help but feel out of place in their closely-knit family-like group.
“So,” Cecelia started gesturing to the twins at the table. “That’s Freddy and Mario. They work for Adonis and also stay in the mansion. By my side, is Nadia.” She introduced the elderly lady. “She was Adonis’s nanny while growing up.”
Cara sent a small wave to them all. The twin faces she could remember from her first trip to the mansion but Nadia was a new face she’d only heard about from Dinitri.
She sent the woman a small smile once again, and the elderly woman returned one of her own.
“Good. Now that the introductions are out of the way, do you have anything specifically planned? Adonis said the wedding would be held on Friday. Today’s Sunday, so we have limited time. Any friends or family you’d like to involve in the planning?”
She shook her head negatory.
“No family and my friend is out of town for the weekend. I’m sure she’ll be back before the wedding. I have nothing planned, but I’m sure I want something simple. Nothing too out of the ordinary.”
Cecelia nodded.
“Okay then. We have to consider catering, cake, decorations, the wedding dress, the venue, so many things. I’d like something extravagant, but it’s not my wedding, so simple but elegant it is.” She giggled.
Freddy raised his arm.
“We can make use of the coronation hall on the estate. Leave the decorations to us.”
Cecelia sent them a pointed look.
“And you’re sure you won’t mess this up? It’s too important to play around, guys.” It wasn’t her fault for being suspicious of the guys. Everyone knew they were never serious about anything.
Mario spoke up this time.
“We swear on our honour as a Bernardi to give our best. You want something simple, right? Chill out, Cece. We’ve got you.” He pledged, going in for a high five with his twin.
Cecelia sighed, hoping she wasn’t about to make a big mistake. She looked to Cara for confirmation, and Cara gave her a shrug.
It wasn’t like she knew them so she’d prefer to go with Cecelia’s judgement.
“Fine.” She announced. “Get to work; we’ll be there to check at intervals.”
The boys offered a mock salute before filing out of the dining room, leaving just Cara, Cecelia, and Nadia to finish up the planning.
“Now, about the catering and cake, I feel Nadia should be in charge of that. She’s the one in charge of the household running of the Bernardis’ home,” Cece said to Cara, who looked over to Nadia for confirmation.
As she had always done, Nadia replied with a small smile and Cara concluded that she was a woman of few words.
“Whatever you want is fine with me, dear.”
She heard her speak for the first time.
Honestly, she was grateful to have everyone in on the planning. She’d heard about how wedding planning can be extremely stressful, and for a fake wedding, Cara didn’t think she’d like to put in too much work.
Agreeing with Cecelia, she replied.
“I think that will be fine. You’ll be on top of it all since you’re well experienced.”
Cecelia let out a squeal, happily clapping her hands together.
“That leaves us with just the wedding dress. Uhm… from what I’ve heard, the Bernardis have a custom-made dress that has been passed down from generation to generation. It symbolizes the bride’s intention to be their future queen and rule beside her husband, the mafia king.”
Cara raised a brow at the news. “Oh really?”
“Yes. You just have to have it altered to your size, and you’re done. Since we’ll be having the wedding in the coronation hall, we can have the reception outdoors on the estate grounds. There’s a little beautiful lake at the clearing of the vineyard. I think that’ll be a perfect spot. Oh my God.” She giggled. “I hope I’m not being too forward, but I just love weddings so much.”
Cara waved her off.
“No, it’s fine. I don’t have an idea about wedding planning, so I’m really grateful that you came prepared.”
She considered asking why she hadn’t gotten married to Luca yet since they were already engaged but thought better of it.
It was better not to pry, especially if the reason was a personal one.
Nadia spoke up, clearing the awkward air.
“So what colours are you thinking of, dear? And when would you like to go for your dress alterations?”
“Yeah. The guys can find something to wear themselves, so I think we just need to worry about us girls,” Cecelia added.
Cara juggled the thoughts in her head. This was a task she could do herself. She had always liked bright colours. So…
“Pink and yellow?”
Everyone stared at her with puzzled looks on their faces, and she innocently stared back.
“Too bright? How about orange and black?”
Cecelia covered her face in disappointment, and Nadia couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
And so they spent the day going through various colour combinations and putting the finishing touches to the wedding plans.