Page 41 of Merciless Queen (Moretti Mafia #1)

Harlow

Looking in the mirror, I looked like a different girl.

I was not the same girl I was a month ago.

I looked healthier, my eyes were shining again, and my skin wasn’t aging by the second.

Elizabeth did my hair in loose waves and pinned the right side with a pearl flower clip.

Caterina paid someone to do my makeup, and I looked so much like my mother. She loved a smokey eye and a bold lip.

The dress was beautiful. A halter neckline with a crystal-encrusted corset bodice and an open back.

Sheer floral appliques cascaded down the A-line skirt with a layer of linear glitter that shone from beneath.

Lizzy had to explain all the details for me.

It was all a foreign language to me, but I felt and looked like a princess.

With us needing to make it believable, a photographer came in and snapped pictures of me, the ring, and the flowers.

After the ceremony, we would take more pictures later, and then there would be a reception that I was not looking forward to, but I needed to try and associate with the outside world.

I needed to stop being scared and start living my life.

I wanted to ask Caterina if we could do something together so I could get out of the house.

Ten years was a long time to be trapped, and the world had changed so much.

I wanted to explore and adapt to my new surroundings while trying my best to heal.

I was learning to accept that healing took time.

Some days would be good, and others would be like climbing Mount Everest. She asked me every session if I wanted to harm myself again, and as of right now, it was the same—I didn’t.

What Lizzy told me when I woke up stuck with me, and now I wanted to live. To fight, even if guilt was eating me alive. I refused to give Vincenzo another victory and kill myself. When Caterina finally killed him, I would be at peace. At least, I hoped so.

To make it more personal and intimate, Caterina planned the wedding in her gardens.

Only her close family and a few friends were invited to come.

For the idea of a small wedding, there were over a hundred people here.

My anxiety was through the roof with these strangers.

I was scared I was going to see a familiar face of one of the men who hurt me in the last ten years.

Lizzy and Luca walked into my room for the night, and Lizzy’s eyes shone with tears. Since I didn’t have someone to walk me down the aisle, Luca volunteered. “You look beautiful, Harlow. A real bride.”

I caught myself before I said it wasn’t real, but I was going to pretend tonight. “Thank you. I feel like a princess.”

“Let’s go get you married.”

The ceremony was traditional with a priest, which surprised me.

I guessed Caterina and her family could persuade the church to officiate a gay marriage, but I didn’t question it.

Caterina looked beautiful. She only wore dresses when it was a fundraiser or something like our engagement party, but she looked beautiful in white.

Her hair was in loose curls, and her makeup was a little heavier than what it normally was, but she looked exquisite.

I wished my mom was here. I knew this was fake, but it felt real.

The dresses, the decorations, her family.

It was intimate and beautiful. My mom always loved weddings.

She said she never got a real wedding because she got pregnant with me at such a young age.

My parents went to the courthouse and eloped, but I was the girl who dreamt of a big wedding that my mom would help me plan.

Tears fell from my eyes as my chest tightened.

In another life, my mom would be walking me down the aisle as I walked to the love of my life.

In another life, I would be happy, and the nightmare would be just that—a nightmare.

I thought Mom would have liked Caterina.

She always loved badass women in movies, and Caterina was the embodiment of a badass.

After our vows were read, the priest told Caterina she could kiss her bride.

When her lips were on mine, the crowd of people, the cheers, and the champagne popping faded into nothing.

It was just the two of us for the longest of moments before she pulled away from me and kissed me again, the second one shorter than the first. She took my hand and raised it in the air.

I followed suit like we just accomplished a big win.

For her, it was a big win. For me, it was my safety net.

After fifteen minutes of pictures and congratulations, Caterina took me to the dance floor in the center of the gardens as slow instrumental music played. She wrapped her hand around my waist, and mine went around her neck.

“You look beautiful,” she complimented me.

“It’s your dress and your people who did it.”

She kissed my jawline, nuzzling her face into my neck. “It’s simply because of how breathtaking you look, bellissima.”

My heart tugged. “You know you don’t have to do that. The compliments. This isn’t real, so why pretend that it is?”

“I may be a bitch, but words of affirmations are always needed. I’m not lying when I tell you how beautiful you look. Accept them. Nothing is going to happen to you when you accept them.”

“T-Thank you.”

Caterina leaned in to kiss me again, but instead, I gasped when I felt a hand pressed on my lower back close to my butt.

“Congratulazioni , Caterina. è ora che tu abbia un pezzo di culo caldo per sposarti .” Congratulations, Caterina. About time you got a hot piece of ass to marry you.

She growled, moving me from him as I clung to her. “If you ever touch my wife again, I will shoot you in the dick. I don’t care if you are my uncle.” When he didn’t move, she repeated it in Italian. “Se mai tocchi di nuovo mia moglie, ti sparerò nel cazzo. Non mi interessa se sei mio zio.”

The color drained from his face as he stumbled away. “I’m going to go to the bathroom and catch my breath. I’ll be right back.”

She gave me a reassuring squeeze and let go of my hand.

I did my best not to run out of there like my ass was on fire, but I needed to get away from the crowd and clear my head.

He was drunk, and it wasn’t like he groped me.

I was just traumatized. Caterina did not look pleased seeing it was her uncle behind us, so maybe there was some hostility between them.

After taking a breather in the bathroom for ten minutes, I finally decided to join the reception again. Personally, I would’ve rather been in bed than in this dress and dealing with her family. Most of them seemed nice, but I was not a people person.

Coming back down the hallway from the bathroom, a pungent smell invaded my senses, and I felt my throat close up as my body was paralyzed. The room got hot, and my vision blurred as I heard his voice in my head and felt his hands tugging on my hair.

Vincenzo’s hand connected with my cheek, causing my eye to erupt in searing pain as my body tumbled onto the ground. His hands gripped my hair tightly, forcing me to my knees as I tried to protest. His dark eyes bore into my soul with his cheap cigar hanging from his lips.

He blew a cloud of smoke in my face, causing me to choke on the nasty smoke. It smelled like burning trees and earth. Instead of waiting for me to catch my breath and breathe, he slammed his cock between my lips.

“If I want you to choke on my cock, you will get on your fucking knees and obey. Every part of you belongs to me, Harlow. Your pussy. Your throat. Your ass. You are mine. Fuck.”

He wasn’t gentle. I couldn’t breathe. He didn’t care. He liked me struggling and seeing the tears stream down my face.

My skin was on fire and my lungs felt like they were closing. The dress felt tight and suffocating as I clawed at the material. I needed to find Caterina. I needed to get to the gardens, but my feet weren’t moving. I was stuck.

I heard a masculine voice, felt rough hands on my skin, and I screamed. It felt like I was trapped in his office, his fingers burning my skin as his grunts filled my ear. I couldn’t escape. I could never escape him.