Tangled In Strings

Chapter Thirty

"Don't make this more than it is, baby. You have a company, an inheritance in your name while I have next to nothing now...it would be ridiculous not to sign a prenup. Everyone with money does it. All this says is that any money garnered before the marriage is solely yours. Read it. Please."

I'm angry. Much angrier than I expected to be just thirty minutes from the alter.

"We tried contracts before, Giovanni...They don't suit us," I whisper between clenched teeth.

He smiles, softly. "Scar, this is different, and you know it."

I glance at the papers, attempting to scan the words, but my own eyes refuse to acknowledge them. These papers fill me with doubt and fear. They represent the possibility of an end where Giovanni and I go separate ways. Even if he doesn't intend this for that purpose, that's what this represents. And I can't stand the sight. Unable to stop myself, my fingers twist the papers until they slice right down the middle, and then I do it again.

I do it until the papers are small shreds, and I drop them onto the floor.

And I blow out a breath, which is shaky, calmed when the prenup is obliterated. And then I look up at him. He's not staring at the mess beside the silk of my wedding dress. He's staring into my eyes, his face completely wiped of any emotion. His expert poker face.

Thankfully, I do know him well enough to catch what's going on below the mask. After a couple beats, his mouth twitches.

"Do you always have to be so damn stubborn?"

There's no venom behind the words, which makes my mouth curve slightly. He tried to do the right thing, what most people are too selfish, or scared to do. He drew up the prenup to reassure me he's marrying me for me, and me alone. I know that, but I refuse to acknowledge it. I cross the room to him, and clasp the nape of his neck, feeling the soft tendrils of his curls against my fingers.

"Yes. Yes, I do." I shake my head when he rests his head against my temple. "No more contracts. No more barriers. Just you and me...all in."

...

The wind threatens to unravel me. Small spirals of blonde have escaped by the time we reach the officiate waiting for us on the sidewalk, in a discreet location in the park upon request. I hold onto Giovanni's arm for dear life as we approach the woman in a navy blue suit, silver hair pulled into a bun. She smiles upon seeing us, in no way intimidated by the two security details trailing close behind us.

The sun is nearly set. The sky is a pale blue color, leading down into a soft yellow just at the edge of the world. The air is clean, and laced with floral elements. Giovanni reaches out first, taking the woman's hand with a firm shake. She speaks to me, but I'm too flustered, too anxious to really acknowledge her with more than a smile.

"The light is escaping us," she says, wanting to proceed. Just like that. I look from her with wide eyes, completely taken aback. Isn't there some delay, some time to prepare? My wedding to Dixon was full of mistakes, and delays...moments to panic. Not this. I hear myself chuckle, meeting Giovanni's equally amused gaze as we both turn to one another. At first I'm aware of Sam and Raymond standing a few feet away, listening in as the officiate begins the ceremony.

It's odd, how lonely this place feels. How quickly excitement turns to fear. It doesn't creep up. It's like a bullet, startling me in one swift move. And even though the man who possesses my heart and soul is right in front of me, that overwhelming sense of solitude settles over me, draping me in uncertainty.

Not of him—not even of this marriage.

But of what I can offer him. If what I have to offer him is enough.