Two rows back, Nero’s sitting with his arm around the shoulders of a pretty girl with dark, curly hair. That must be Camille. I check her hands—sure enough, I spot the faint remnants of oil at the edges of her fingernails. Just the same as Nero’s hands—proof of their mutual love of combustion engines. They’re talking intently, their heads close together, as if they’re the only two humans in the world.
Nessa has dropped our gifts off at the reception table, and now she’s sliding into her seat next to Mikolaj, directly behind me. Miko had been silent and scowling up until that moment, his pale face and white-blond hair in stark contrast to his all-black suit. When Nessa sits beside him, his expression changes entirely. His sharp features soften into a smile, and a light comes into his ice-blue eyes, until he hardly looks like the same person. Now he seems almost approachable, and not like he might murder all of us. He lifts one heavily-tattooed hand, to tuck a lock of hair back behind Nessa’s ear. In his accented voice, he says, “You look stunning, moja mała baletnica.”
Across the aisle, I see a tall, trim black man in a navy tuxedo. He’s sitting with a slim blonde woman, with Henry sandwiched between them. Clearly that’s Yafeu Solomon, Simone’s diplomat father, and his wife Eloise. Henry is Simone and Dante’s nine-year-old son. He looks much taller than nine, with a head of soft, dark curls, and a gentle expression on his face. He’s quietly solving a Rubik’s cube while he waits for the ceremony to begin. Behind Henry is a pretty young woman who I believe is Henry’s tutor and nanny. She’s obviously been invited because she’s close to Simone, not because Henry needs to be supervised.
My parents come in next, taking a seat behind the Solomons because there’s no more room on Dante’s side. My mother squeezes my shoulder on her way to her seat. She came to visit me in the hospital every day, even though I told her it wasn’t necessary. She brought me clothes, toiletries, books and magazines, Brazil nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate. She brought treats for Raylan, too, until there was barely room for anyone to sit down anymore.
I think my parents feel guilty about Uncle Oran, though none of that was their fault. The funny thing is, whatever grudge I might have held against them when I felt like Callum was their heir, and Nessa was their favorite . . . it all drifted away in those moments when I lay dying on the carpet. In those last few seconds before I drifted away, I didn’t feel anger or resentment. I thought to myself, “I’ve been loved.” My only regret was that I hadn’t shown that same love strongly enough in return.
The last person to arrive is the youngest Gallo brother, Sebastian. He’s here alone, without any plus-one. He’s the tallest of the Gallo boys, taller even than Dante. He walks with a lanky kind of grace, having finally shaken off the persistent limp that plagued him after my brother smashed his knee. His face is somber, though, with dark shadows under his eyes.
I don’t know Sebastian well. I know he used to be a basketball star, with dreams of playing professionally. It was my family that ended those dreams. The Griffins and the Gallos called a truce, and Sebastian’s never shown any resentment toward us since. But I can’t imagine that it doesn’t burn somewhere deep inside of him.
He had no interest in the mafia life. He’s been slowly drawn into it by the violence and conflict of the last few years. I know he shot one of Mikolaj’s men—probably the first person he’d ever killed. I wonder if it eats at him. Or if it felt like an inevitable step. A fate that was always destined to find him, one way or another.
All I know is that he doesn’t look happy today. He sits behind my parents, apart from his own family members.
The cellist pauses, and a different song begins to play, light and hopeful:
First Day of my Life — Bright Eyes (Spotify)
First Day of my Life — Bright Eyes (Apple)
I look down the aisle where Simone and Dante are standing, hand-in-hand. Simone is tall, slim, as bronze as a goddess against her stark white gown. I’m sure any designer in the country would gladly give her their most ostentatious or outrageous gown. Instead, Simone’s dress is simple in the extreme—unadorned, off-the-shoulder, clinging to the figure lauded as the most perfect in the world. Her flat stomach shows no hint of the baby she’s carrying, though I’m sure its existence is one of the factors making Dante look happier than I’ve ever seen him.
Dante can’t take his eyes off Simone. He’s so massive and brutish that usually he looks terrifying in any type of clothes, even a tuxedo. But today Simone’s loveliness radiates with such power that even Dante looks genteel. He looks like the only man in the world who could deserve such a beauty.
They walk down the aisle together, then face each other under the arch. Henry comes to stand between them, looking shy but happy. He’s got the rings in his pocket, and he takes them out even before Enzo Gallo can stand to perform the ceremony.
“Welcome, friends and family,” he says. “I don’t think any union has been more fervently anticipated. And I know no couple has loved each other with greater intensity. Dante, would you like to say your vows?”
Dante takes both Simone’s hands in his own. His massive fingers swallow up her slim hands so they can’t be seen at all from the outside.
“Simone,” he says. “I have loved you from the moment I saw your face. I know that will sound shallow, since I’m talking to the most gorgeous woman in the world. But I promise you, in your face I saw your bravery, your intelligence, and your kindness. As soon as you spoke to me, it was like a door opened into your mind. I saw this whole other universe of creativity and cleverness. A way of looking at things that I’d never imagined. And I wanted to walk through that door. I wanted to live in your world. You made such an impact on me that I never forgot you. Through all the time we were apart, I thought of you constantly. I dreamed of you. I longed for you. To have you back in my arms brings me a joy that I can’t express. The reality of you is a hundred times better than my imagining.”
He pauses for a moment, and he looks down at his son. He lays his heavy hand on Henry’s shoulder.
“Thank you, Simone, for coming back to me. Thank you for bringing our son. Thank you for raising him. Henry, you’re a good man already. I’m so proud of you.”
I’ve never heard Dante talk like this, with raw openness and honesty. He always keeps his feelings stuffed down tight. Or at least, he did before Simone came back into his life.
It’s having an effect on me I never would have expected.
I’m starting to feel emotional.
I have never cried in public, not once in my life. I certainly haven’t cried at a wedding. But all of a sudden my eyes feel hot and my face is stiff.
“I will love you every moment of my life,” Dante says. “I will cherish and protect you. Anything you want, I’ll get it for you. I’ll be your best friend and your ally. I’ll make your life better, always, and never worse.”
Simone is freely crying, her tears silver on her flushed cheeks. She is so beautiful that it’s hard to even look at her. She’s glowing with happiness, illuminated by it.
“Dante, you are everything to me,” she says. “My heart and my soul. My happiness and my safe haven. Life without you was lonely and bitter. The only thing that brought me joy was Henry, our son. He’s a piece of you and me, the best thing we ever did. I love him for himself, and I love him for how he reminds me of you.