"Have you ever been apart of the Mafia before Esme?" Asked Giovanni. "Me? Well uh, n-no." Giovanni smiled, "Well you aren't rethinking about marrying my son, are you?" I quickly answered, "No." I don't understand why I blurted that out loud without thinking. I could see Luca smirking and feeling amused. After a decent dinner, Giovanni, Alesia and Alivia were ready to leave. "It was so great meeting you Esme. I can't wait to go dress shopping with you!" I smiled at Alivia. "It was great meeting you too Alivia, Luca never told me that I'd have the best sister-in-law ever." Alesia came and hugged me, "It was lovely seeing you again sweetheart. Please take care of yourself."
"Hey, Mom, Dad?" I asked. Giovanni looked at Alesia and they both smiled. "Yes dear?" Answered Alesia. I took both of their hands and looked at each other. "I know my um, parents won't be here to celebrate my wedding with me. Do you think you and dad would do the honours of both walking me down the isle?" Alesia and Giovanni seemed elated when I asked for them to walk me down the isle. They both nodded in agreement. Luca's parents and sister left the mansion. "Listen Esme, Isabella will be with you tomorrow night. I'll have Landon, Rocco and the other men securing the premises." I nodded.
"I made plans with your sister tomorrow morning. I want to find a dress for the wedding." Luca reached in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He took out a visa and handed it to me. "Here. Take this. Choose whatever dress you like and ring it up on my visa." I hesitantly grabbed the visa from him. "Thanks, I guess?" Before he left he stopped himself, "By the way, your budget is $100,000. And that's me being generous." My mouth gaped and my eyes grew wide as saucers. Such a large budget for a dress that I'll be wearing for one night and it isn't even a real wedding.
The next morning I called Alivia to come over so we can head over to the bridal boutique. Katie said she'll meet us there. I wasn't able to sleep last night because Luca and his slut couldn't keep it down. I was in the kitchen drinking coffee when Luca entered in along with the strange woman. "Oh, good morning Esme. I didn't know you'd be up this early," he said. The strange woman looked at me, "Baby who's this?" I rolled my eyes, "Oh don't mind me, I'm just his fiancée." The woman looked at Luca and she was mad, "Fiancée?!"
"Don't listen to her. She's my fake fiancée," he said. "You know, if you really wanted this bullshit to seem real, maybe you should stop fucking hoes in your room." The woman got offended. "Fuck you say? Maybe you should mind your goddamn business Esme," he said. She snorted and now Luca's attention was focused on her. "You need to leave." Her eyes widen in shock, "What?" Luca rubbed his temples, "Don't fucking question me Vanessa." She back handed him on his chest, "My name is Victoria!" She walked off. I rolled my eyes and hopped off the stool. "Whatever. Anyway, I'll be at the bridal boutique with Alivia and Katie." Luca raised a brow, "Katie? How will you get a hold of her?" I started panicking inside, but I couldn't show it. "Uh, I'll make Dante contact her for me," I said trying to cover up.
"Oh, okay. Anyway, I'll send a few of my men with you," he said. "What? No way. I will not have a bunch of men at my bridal fitting." Luca rubbed his chin while thinking. "Fine, I'll send Isabella and Callie." The door bell rang. I looked at Luca, "Fine." Luca went and answered the door, it was Alivia. "Fratello!" She exclaimed hugging him. "Benvenuto sorella, hey baby sis," he said. Alivia looked at me and smiled, "Ready to go?" I nodded. "Can I um, borrow your car Luca?" Luca raises his brow, "Not my Audi R8. You can take the 2017 Lexus RC F coupe." My eyes widened. How many cars does this guy own? We followed Luca to the front of the garage and he opened the door. There displayed all his different cars and motorcycles. One of them was the Lexus. Sitting pretty, black on black. He went over to a board which hung all the keys to the vehicles in order. He took off the Lexus key from the hook and threw it for me to catch.
"Be careful. Anything happens, it's coming out of your pay." Alivia looked at Luca confused and I rolled my eyes, "Don't worry." I learned how to drive at a really young age. I was able to get my drivers license, but I wasn't able to afford a car. "Isabella and Callie will follow behind you," he said. I nodded. Alivia and I got into the vehicle and drove off. Isabella and Callie followed behind and before I knew it, we were at the bridal boutique. Katie was already waiting for us in front of the boutique. It was good to see her after so long. I got out the car and Katie ran towards me. "Oh my god, Esme!" She said hugging me. I hugged back. "God Katie, I missed you so much!" Katie released me and seen Alivia standing beside me, "This must be Luca's sister, Alivia, right?" She asked. "Yes, and you must be-..."
I intervened, "...-Katie, my best friend." Alivia and Katie hugged each other. I also introduced Isabella and Callie to Katie. We all went in and got settled. I tried on a few dresses and believe it or not, Isabella and Callie could not agree on a dress together, they always seem to disagree about something. "Okay guys, I'm ready," I said walking out from behind the curtain on the catwalk. The girls gasped. There were a lot of ou's and ah's. "This is it Es," said Katie. "Definitely!" Said Alivia smiling. I looked at both Callie and Isabella. "Well?" Callie propped her hand under her chin, "Gorgeous. It's you Esme." Isabella smiled, "I couldn't agree more."
The bridal associate approached us, "The dress is absolutely gorgeous on you sweet heart." I smiled. I went back into the changing room. As I started removing the dress, my smile faded. A soon-to-be bride is suppose to be happy that she's getting married, but I wasn't. I have to remind myself the reason why I'm doing all of this. This isn't real, none of it is.