Chapter 17: The Vows

Gianna's POV

The rehearsal dinner was held in the long dining room of the Landolfi house.

There were sixty guests and white roses on every table.

I walked in on Dario's arm at eight.

Every head turned.

I wore dark green, with my hair down and my scar bare. I had not worn a scarf in a month.

My father sat at the head table and looked at his plate.

Mrs. Sartori sat on his right, in gray, with a small satisfied smile.

Stefano stood to greet us with a glass in his hand.

"Gi," he said warmly. "I'm so glad you came."

"I was invited."

"By my grandmother, yes." He kissed the air beside my cheek. "She says you have a gift to give us."

"I do."

Lidia sat beside him, in cream silk, with her hair pinned up.

Her eyes were swollen. She would not look at me.

A guard in a dark suit stood three feet behind her chair.

We ate. Nobody at our table said much.

After the fish, Mrs. Sartori tapped her glass with a spoon.

"My friends," she said. "Before we toast the couple, the bride's sister has asked to say a few words."

I had asked for nothing.

"She has lost something over the years," Mrs. Sartori went on, and her eyes were soft.

"I am sure we will all be patient."

A few guests murmured.

Someone near the back laughed under his breath, and someone hushed him.

I stood up.

Stefano handed me the microphone from the stand. His fingers brushed mine.

"Mind the feedback," he whispered. "You know how it is with that voice."

I took the microphone from his hand.

My father stared at the tablecloth. My mother, at the far end of the room beside a window, did not move.

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