STOLEN || 18+ (Monsters #3)

.Epilogue.

"And I'd choose you;
in a hundred lifetimes,
in a hundred worlds,
in any version of reality,
I'd find you and I'd choose you."

- Kiersten White
. . .

I looked at the giant framed portrait on the wall. It was of us - me sitting on a chair and them sitting on either side of me. It was beautiful.

It showed us as we were - me with that lost look on my face. Giovanni with his vibrant eyes and Fabiano with his cold face.

No name, the guard had said. It just appeared. We checked it. It's safe.

A beautiful wedding gift, it was.

I looked away from it, right into the oval mirror in my room. The room was so similar to the one I used to have in my dead father's house, yet it was brighter...lighter.

Or maybe it was because I was lighter - happier.

My dress was beautiful, a custom design by a renowned designer. Its skirt was long, adorned with gems which much have costed more than anything I owned. The dress was classy and elegant - just how Mrs Valentino should be.

Wife of two Capos.

I took in a sharp breath. Oh, fuck.

I rubbed my clammy hands on my dress, feeling the soft material. My hair was down in soft curls, my face covered with light matte make-up and a hint of highlighter which made me shine.

A knock sounded on the door, it rang in the silent room. My breath thumbed. I covered my face with the veil.

"Leyla."

Sebastian Cartier peered into the room. With time, he had become a dear friend and I could not think of anyone but him to walk me to my future husbands.

I smiled at him. He grinned back.

"It's time."

"How many people?"

"I didn't count."

"I swear to fuck-"

"Three hundred," he said. "Come on now. Giovanni looks seconds away from bashing someone's head into the wall."

"When does he not look like that?" I asked, stepping towards him.

"When he's with you."

I wrapped my arm around his and walked out of the room. The wedding was in the enormous garden of our new estate.

I took in a deep breath as we strode out of the mansion.

The ground had petals of red on it. People. There were so many people. A storm brewed in the sky. Gabriella walked first, lovely in her red dress. We were to follow.

All eyes were on me.

I took in a shaky breath.

Just walk.

I forced myself to acknowledge the familiar faces. There was Dante, standing with his brothers as their best man, there was Gabriella. There was Leona, without Astrid. There was Luca, standing with his half brothers. There was Lily, standing as the bridesmaid with my other friends.

"Come on, Leyla," Sebastian muttered to me. "Time to walk."

"I'm going to faint, Seb."

"Look at them. Fuck the world. It's about you and them - no one else."

No one else.

So I looked at them, at their painfully gorgeous faces. They stood, still and watching. For the first time, Giovanni's knife was gone. Fabiano's face was set in stone, yet I could see the tenderness on his face.

I smiled.

Giovanni grinned. Fabiano smirked, tilting his head gently.

I walked, and every step was easier than the last one. I was walking on clouds, and they were there, always there to catch me if I fell.

They were beautiful.

They were brutal.

They were my monsters.

They were my princes.

The End