ia

, and my stomach instantly plummete

, and try not to face-plant in front of

e sketches the designer had shown me-with vaulted ceilings that seemed to swallow the light and heavy candles burning down like old, forgott

lt like a high-stakes merger where I

of eyes in the r

ther's arm, the other squeezing my bouquet of pale roses so hard I was pretty sure I was bruising the stems. Every square inch of my dress had

sive tulle mattered the absolute

Rom

e shirt, a perfectly tailored silhouette-the man effortlessly made every other guy in the room look like an unmade bed. He wasn't smiling. Obviously. He did

t was pure terror or

ut, three-piece-suit kind of way. His wife, Ilaria, was right there too, looking l

pped right

y breathing from turning into a hyperventilation fit. He could've been

Lethal, untouchable, and a

at irritated me more than it should have. He reached for my hand, un

rmured, his lips twitchi

the eye, his expression

arm, way larger than mine, and rough enough that I could feel the faint calluses. The exact millisecond our hands locked, something dangerous spa

it my body's flight-or-f

stayed completely stoic. Controlled. Like he was just signing

rgot how to coordinate my feet. I tripped. Just barely, but it w

. This is

mly against my lower back, steadying me instantly. His fingers pressed right into th

urning a furious shade of red, b

," he murmured u

s voice-that deep, husky, low-timbered murmur right against my ear. He smelled incredibly good, too. Like

y heard a word of it. I was hyper-aware of literally everything else: the frantic thumping of my pulse, the heavy we

me for the vows, my thro

ire cathedral fell so deathly silent that I was

finally

the words still managed to echo. A thousand judgmentals ear

easily. Clean, direct

d

ervous. He just delivered the line like he'd be

in the room grew heavy, suffocatingly tight. I could feel every single camera and eyeba

now kiss

h caught

is it. The

ng romance book in bed. I closed my eyes slowly, tilting my chin up, and puckered my lips in a soft, c

e demanding, totally taking my breath away. I honestly wondered for a split se

pa

m shift h

ently, a cool rush o

th

press

y ch

uth. Not

e. Completely calculated. It was the kind of kiss you gave an older aun

snapped

from me, his shoulders squ

g. The organ music swelled to a deafening volume. Rose petals started falling from t

puckered. Still waiting fo

tual hell j

ay? My thoughts started racing at a million miles an h

attractive? That un

couldn't even fak