Arranged to the Don, Freed from the Lie novel · Chapter 21 of 24

Chapter 21: The Wedding I Chose

Helena's POV

I picked the rocks below the Carraro house, at the edge of the water, at six in the evening.

Nobody gave me away.

I walked down the stone steps alone, in an ivory dress with thirty-six small buttons down the back, and both families rose from their folding chairs.

Phoebe stood at the end of the aisle in green, crying and pretending she wasn't.

My mother held Rosalind's hand.

Santino waited under a plain white arch with the harbor behind him, and he did not look at the guests or the water.

He looked at me the whole way down.

A judge from Salem married us, and it was short.

Santino spoke his vows first.

"You asked me for a speech once," he said. "A long one. I told you I'd give you one every night. This is the first."

A Carraro man coughed to cover a laugh.

"I will tell you what I want before I take it. I'll tell you when I'm afraid, even when it makes me ugly. I'll never sign your name to anything, and I'll never laugh at the one thing that matters to you."

His voice dropped.

"And I'll say stay every time you walk out of a room, until you're sick of hearing it."

I had written mine on the back of a receipt.

"I'm not asking for your opinion," I said. "I'm telling you I choose this. Today, and the day after, and the day I'm furious with you."

The Carraro side laughed. The Crowninshields cheered.

He kissed me with both hands in my hair, and the harbor wind took the veil.

At midnight, the house was dark, and the guests were gone.

He locked the bedroom door behind us.

The window was open, and I could hear the water slapping the rocks.

I turned my back to him and lifted my hair.

"Thirty-six," I said.

"I noticed."

"Of course you did."

His fingers found the first button at my nape.

He undid it slowly, and the second, and the third, and I felt the cool air come in against my spine.

← Chapter 20 · All chapters · Chapter 22 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend