Faith stood at the back of the rows of chairs with her veil in place, a bouquet of white roses in her hands. The wedding was all white. White chairs. White flowers. White candles. A white runner on the ground for her to walk on. The only thing besides the tuxedos that weren’t white were the clothing of the guests and her bright red hair.
The reception, by contrast, had been planned under large tents with Japanese lanterns and bright jewel tones. It reminded Faith of the Wizard of Oz where everything went from black and white to color, and it gave her the smallest shred of hope that her life with Leo would be in color.
Uncle Sal had offered to walk her down the aisle. He stood next to her looking more like an aging bodyguard than a father figure.
He leaned close to her ear. “I think you know a lot more about this family than you should.”
Her back went rigid. Uncle Sal was the type of man who would shoot you on any day of the year, be it your birthday, your graduation, or your wedding day. So the occasion might not save her.
He let out a short grunt. “That’s what I thought.”
She kept her voice low. “I don’t care what anybody is involved with. I want to stay out of it.”
Sal nodded, displaying a sinister half-smile. “Keep that attitude. It’s safer for everyone.” After a beat he said, “You really have no family?”
“What little I have, I don’t want here,” she said. Then possibly foolishly she added, “There’s no one else you can threaten.”
Pachelbel’s Canon in D started, and the bridesmaids began to walk down the aisle wearing white sundresses and carrying daisies. They were followed by two of Leo’s nieces, Mariella and Noelle, in fluffy dresses that made them look like colorless cotton candy. They took their time scattering white rose petals on the ground, causing the orchestra to have to loop the music. The ring bearers wore white tuxedos and carried a white satin pillow on which was tied the ring.
Faith glanced back at the house, then at the wedding stretched before her, and Leo standing at the front waiting for her. Even if it wasn’t the full fairy tale, wasn’t it more than what most women got? Did it matter if he returned her love? Was it enough that she loved him and that he wanted her?
It had to be.
Sal offered his arm, and she gripped it like a lifeline as the orchestra changed to the traditional wedding march. Some of the guests she recognized-family she’d met over the holidays-but there were many more people she didn’t know. She wondered how many of them thought it odd that the entirety of the guest list was composed of Leo’s family and friends with nobody there for her.
When she reached the front, Sal lifted her veil and kissed her on the cheek before handing her over to Leo and returning to his seat. She gripped Leo’s hand as tightly as she’d held Sal’s arm. She felt as if she might pass out and wondered if it was the wedding or the corset or hunger that had put her in this state.
She tried to ignore everything but Leo. Even the priest’s words blended and mixed with the warm summer breeze. It was only because she’d heard the marriage rite many times that she was able to keep up. Her eyes widened when she heard “obey” had been slipped into the bride’s wedding vows. How Leo managed to get the priest to deviate from the traditional Catholic rite to include “obey” she didn’t know, but if the ceremony was merely legal and not a sacrament, perhaps he’d decided they could do what they wanted.
Leo smirked as she repeated the obey part. She glanced out at the guests, but no one noticed the addition. As she recited her vows, her fingers strayed to touch the platinum at her throat, and Leo smiled a secret smile meant for her.
When rings were on fingers and vows had been exchanged and the kiss had been shared, they were announced as Mr. and Mrs. Leo Raspallo. They turned as the reprise of the wedding march began. Faith looked into the sea of smiling faces and something low in her gut twinged in panic. Her gaze was drawn to the left side of the crowd, the face that didn’t fit.
A man dressed in a dark suit stood at the back. Faster than seemed possible, a gun was out of his jacket and aimed at Leo. Faith didn’t think; she just moved in front of her husband.
A spray of gunshots rang loud and hollow in the air, silencing the orchestra and bringing screams from the guests. The roses escaped her grasp and fell to the ground, and then she fell, barely feeling the hands around her waist that cushioned her as she hit the ground. Vaguely she could see color in her wedding now. Drops of red on her roses, on her dress, on the white runner she’d walked upon.
Black, red, and white were very elegant colors for a wedding.
***
Leo had been looking at his mother when Faith suddenly jumped in front of him. Then those terrible sounds and the surreal gasp from the guests. He looked up in time to see a man running from the scene, most people too hysterical to go after him. Except for his brother.
Angelo shot him a brief, black look and followed after the gunman with Davide in tow. Leo moved quickly, his hands barely spanning Faith’s waist in time to catch her.
“Sal, call my blood guy! I need a lot. I don’t know her blood type. Have him bring everything.” That panicked, out-of-control shout had come out of his mouth.
“But Leo, on short notice, I don’t know if…”
“He’s got access. He will bring me the blood or he’ll spend the rest of his life running from me. Be sure he gets that message.” Sal pulled out his cell phone.
Uncaring of how it looked, Leo ripped the gown apart to find where the bullets had hit. One had grazed her head, another had gone through her shoulder, a third had embedded in the muscle of her calf. Terror froze her features as she gripped him. He tore his coat off and wrapped it around her to hold off the shock.
“Why would you jump in front of a gun for me?” But he knew the answer. She’d confessed her love for him a long time ago. The words had never made it past his own lips. But she had to know. How could she not see it?
Her voice came out shaky. “I-I thought some day you might love me back.” The last part faded out as she said it; she was already getting too weak to talk.
“You think I don’t love you?” Perhaps what he did to her downstairs was too confusing for her to ever hope it could happen inside love.
The nurses rushed toward him to offer assistance.
He held up a hand. “No! I’ve got her. A through and through and a graze and one in her calf muscle. Nothing vital hit. It’s the blood loss. Set up the operating theater. Get the machines and anesthesia and the IV fluids ready to go. Bring all the artificial blood from the lab. And prepare for a live transfusion.” He’d never been so happy to be a universal donor.
The women scrambled toward the house.
It was risky doing a live transfusion and then operating. He’d have to be careful not to weaken himself too much. He had to hope the blood guy got there in time.
He couldn’t stop this bleeding, he had to get her to the operating theater now.
Leo flung her over his shoulder, fireman-style, and strode with grim determination to the separate entrance at the back of the house. Family and friends jumped out of his way, looks of horror and pity on their faces. Looks that said, poor bastard doesn’t realize she’s not going to make it.
Faith’s blood ran down his back, soaking his linen shirt as she went limp.