Reign A Romance Anthology - Nina Levine Page 0,104

drop me home.

I am incredibly calm. Because as I’ve told myself a thousand times, this is nothing more than a business deal. And today’s wedding is just an over-the-top business meeting dressed up in silk and glamour.

I stare at my reflection.

I will admit, my dress is the most beautiful dress in the world.

It’s a simple design with a plunging back, and it caresses my curves with haute couture perfection.

In the room next door, a handful of people are waiting for me. Imogen. Ari. My father and Alberto. Even Anastacia.

But I’m thankful for these few minutes to myself.

I savor them, reminding myself that I can do this. Of what is at stake.

There’s a gentle knock on the door, and Imogen’s sweet face appears.

“Oh, Bella…” she breathes, crossing the room to stand beside me. “You look beautiful.”

She looks me up and down, her face beaming. She is my only bridesmaid, and shimmers like a goddess in a champagne satin dress and matching heels.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” I manage to breathe out.

“You’ve got this,” she says. “And when you don’t feel like you do, then I’ve got you, okay.”

As we hug it out, everyone else spills into the room. When my father sees me, tears well in his eyes.

“Bella…” My name sounds like sunshine on his lips. “You are so beautiful.”

Tears fill my eyes too. Because despite everything, despite this crazy, stupid wedding and the reasons behind it, this is still an emotional moment between a father and daughter.

He takes my hand and leads me out into the warm New York afternoon where several limousines wait, and he keeps hold of it all through the car ride to the church. It’s comforting and warm, a reminder that no matter what happens in this life, he will always love me. And when my nerves zip through me because I am about to marry a man I have both loved and hated in my short lifetime, I know that what I am doing is going to end a dark and bloody war. I’m doing this for him. My father. For the man who has always had my back. This is my chance to give back, just as he has always given.

“Are you ready?” he asks as we wait to walk down the aisle.

The Bridal Chorus is already playing, and Imogen is already making her way toward the altar.

I blow out a nervous puff of air. “No. But what the hell, let’s do it anyway.”

Alessandro stands at the altar, next to his brother, and that first image of him sends a spiral of longing down my spine. He looks incredible in his three-piece suit and gleaming leather shoes. Our eyes meet and I see him falter, his handsome face tight with a look I can’t place.

When I meet him at the end of the aisle, something passes between us.

A look.

An emotion.

A memory of what used to be.

A flash of what could have been.

The priest begins his litany about the sanctity of marriage, yet the whole time Alessandro’s gaze is burning into me.

I try to avoid it, but the moment I meet that dark gaze with mine, something out of this world happens.

It suddenly feels like I am stripped bare. Like the layers of hate and heartbreak are peeled away, and it is our true selves looking across at one another.

I try to look away, but I can’t. And it’s crazy because we’re standing in front of a church full of people, and yet suddenly it’s like we are alone.

Spellbound, I fall deeper into his eyes, my heart plummeting toward the boy who broke it all those years ago. But incredibly, that doesn’t seem to matter now. Which is insane because I hated this man only moments ago. Yet I’m being pulled toward him by an unseen force, a powerful magnetism I cannot fight.

I barely register the words, “You may kiss the bride.” Because I am somehow already moving closer to him, instinctively, my heart beating wildly, my body aching for his touch. His kiss.

When his lips find mine, I feel my world shift on its axis, and everything slows down. His hands come up to my jaw, and his tongue sweeps into my mouth, and I whimper, my achy desire igniting into a raging inferno as he moves his mouth so sensually over mine.

I forget to breathe.

I forget that he is the enemy.

I forget that we’re standing in a church in front of five-hundred people.

The world is gone and it’s just the two of