A Debt To Pay (Leone Legacy #1)

Chapter 39

Luci

3 Days Until The Wedding

L ate Sunday night I snuck into Alessandro’s bedroom, our bedroom, I guess to grab some things and hide away in the room I’ve imprisoned myself in. I saw Alessandro passed out on the bathroom floor, an empty bottle of whiskey next to him. I close the shades and bring a blanket to cover him, even though he doesn’t deserve it. I desperately want to love Alessandro and seeing him asleep, obviously passed out from the bottle, makes him appear uncharacteristically peaceful and small.

I bend down over his body and kiss him on the cheek. He takes a deep breath and sighs, but other than that doesn’t stir.

“I just hope one day you can love me the way I love you.” The tear that falls from my face onto his causes him to stir and I bolt out of the bathroom, carrying my small bag of necessities. I rush back to the other bedroom where Enzo is waiting to unlock the door, hoping to hide from him until our wedding.

That was three days ago.

Since then I’ve been avoiding him, dragging Enzo into it as I ask him constantly if he, Marco, or Geno are around. I know Alessandro almost caught me several times when I escaped to grab some food. When he did, I would hide in a random room until it was safe to go upstairs. The one benefit to being petite is that I have quiet footsteps.

When I’m alone, I spend most of my time crying. Not because I’m sad about Alessandro and how he spoke to me, but by thinking of the email I sent. Did he get it? Do I regret it? Do I want to leave? And by extension, is that a possibility? This place is pretty impenetrable, and I know if Alessandro doesn’t want you here you won’t be and if you are, it’s possible you won’t leave alive.

Wednesday I wake up excited for the first time in the last few days because El is coming for my dress fitting. She’s become someone I consider a friend and after being alone the last few days that’s something I need. Butterflies dance in my stomach when I think of my dress that should arrive at any second.

Finally, my phone dings and I cross my fingers that it’s El and not a ‘let me open the fucking door’ text Alessandro has been sending me. My heart rate settles when I see El’s name pop up on the phone.

El:

Hey hot stuff! I just pulled up. Come down and help me with everything????

My heart rate picks back up at the thought of leaving the room unplanned, hoping I won’t cross paths with him. El reads my mind when another text comes through.

El:

Don’t worry, the boys are locked in a room with Andrea doing their fittings. We can be in the room before the boys come out. Pinky promise.

With El’s promise in mind, Enzo lets me out and I rush downstairs to help her grab whatever she needs. Since it’s a dress fitting, I would have thought she just needed to bring my dress. Considering it’s El, I should have known better. Nothing she does is simple. My jaw drops at the amount of bags and the large rolling case she’s brought with her.

“El, what is in all of these?”

“It’s your entire ensemble for your wedding, of course.” She tosses the bags she brought into my arms. “It’s the dress, and the shoes, and the accessories, and most importantly—the lingerie.”

I almost drop everything as she tosses her keys at someone and walks through the house, the clacking of her heels echoing through the hall. Normally I think that the shorter the person, the quieter their footsteps are, but not El. I think she wants everyone to know she’s entered or exited a room.

“I’ve concluded that you think lingerie is the most important part of every outfit.”

“Duh. Alessandro needs to be worried about blowing a load in his pants every time he sees you in the right pieces.” Her casual disposition when she talks about sex makes me blush.

Speaking of footsteps, Alessandro’s signature shoes and the speed in his steps make it painfully clear he’s coming in our direction. “Oh no.”

El catches onto what’s going on. “Shit. Go, go, go. I’ll deal with him.”

I make it around the corner when I hear El telling Alessandro to go away. “Nope. I have her dress and you can’t see it. Go do something stupid with Marco.”

“But—” El cuts him off before he can get two words in.

“No! No buts. Byeeeeee!” I’m always shocked by how casually she speaks to the men around her like she’s never been afraid of someone in her life.

El pops around the corner, footsteps stomping faster to get up and away from the possibility of running into someone else. “Fretta!” With the one word, we don’t stop until we’re upstairs, locked in the room, panting at how fast we got up here. Thank God Enzo was already by the door to let us in.

“Girl, note to self: Riding Andrea is not the workout I thought it was.” We must spend a few minutes laughing until she stands, adjusting her dress before she speaks.

“Alright babe, are you ready to try everything on?”

With every mention of the wedding, my heart races. While Alessandro let me plan the wedding of my dreams, everything outside of that is nothing I ever dreamed of. A man who’s kidnapped me, doesn’t love me, and only wants to have me in bed because I’m convenient.

El takes my dress to hang it in the bathroom, instantly knowing what I’m thinking. “I know we’ve had this conversation, and I know this isn’t what you want, but I want to make you feel exactly how you deserve. I will make sure you radiate like the smoking hot lady you are. Go on and get the dress on. If you don’t do it for youself, do it for me. Don’t worry about getting the dress zipped. I’ll help.”

I disappear into the bathroom and unzip the bag containing my dress. The fabric is smooth and light in my hand and the sparkle is more iridescent than I remember. My heart is in my stomach as I try it on. What if it’s too small? What if I look fat in it? What if Mamma and Nonna think I don’t look pretty? I shake away those thoughts as I put the straps on and hold the front, preventing it from falling before El can zip the back.

“Luciiiiiii! Come out, come out, wherever you are!” she teases as I open the door, beckoning me to walk over to her. She zips up the back as I close my eyes, head facing down at the ground, holding my breath, nervous it won’t go all the way up. Everything settles once the dress is zipped and I can tell when it’s on that it fits perfectly.

“Let’s adjust these boobs. You have fabulous boobs. Let’s show them off a bit.” With no shame, El starts digging into the front of the dress, scooping to bring my breasts higher.

“El! A priest is going to be marrying us. I can’t have my boobs out.”

“The Bible says God is a man, right?” El’s question doesn’t require an answer, it’s to make a point. “Men love boobs and we have a right to show them off! Now turn around.”

I let out the breath I’ve been holding when I see myself in the dress. First of all, El was right. Having some cleavage show makes the ensemble perfect. The fitted straps are intentionally off the shoulder without being too long. The top of the dress flatters me, making my waist look small, but the skirt. The skirt is my favorite part. It hides everything I’ve always been worried about. El props her chin on my shoulder, knowing that we’re both thinking the same thing.

“See, you have great tits. We’ll make a few small adjustments, making the dress favolosa for Saturday.” We laugh at her comment, both knowing she’s right, she’s always right. “I can’t believe your wedding is in three days. October 12th will always be a day you’ll remember, regardless of the emotions surrounding said memories.”

Panic sets in. My wedding is in three days—three days from now is October 12th, and today is October 9th.

“Today is October 9th?”

“Uh yeah? Why? What’s wrong?”

“El, my period’s late.”

“That was quick,” I swear El doesn’t think before she speaks, and her comment makes me panic even more. “Rewind. First of all, how late?”

“Well, it was supposed to start today, but it always starts in the morning. Normally I wake up to my period.”

“Girl, that is not late. If anything it’s delayed, barely. Once my period was a week late and I wanted to murder Andrea. Then I realized I wanted to murder him because I was PMSing.” El grabs me and turns me around yet again reading my expression. “Would it make you feel better if I went and grabbed a test for you?”

“Would you?” Without a word El grabs her purse, leaving me with my thoughts as she goes to the store. I hear her and Marco yell at each other as she leaves.

“Where the fuck are you going?”

“To get a knife to finally castrate you!”

“Oh baby, don’t threaten with a good time.” Baby? El and Marco’s friendship is weird. That is if they are friends. Most of the time they end up acting like mortal enemies.

Thirty minutes later, El comes back with two coffees, sans a shopping bag. Where are the tests?

“You did get the test, right? Where’s the bag from the pharmacy?” If she didn’t get the test where did she go?

“Of course I did. I’m the type of friend to bail you out of jail at 3 a.m. without any questions. Of course, I’ll follow through with getting my girl a pregnancy test.” She sets down the coffee and grabs both wrapped tests and the directions out of her bra, presenting them to me. “You know Alessandro and his security, if they got the hint that there was a pregnancy test here they’d tell him.”

“Yeah. You’re right.” She’s always right. I take the tests and stare at them as if I’ve never taken one, which I haven’t, but that’s beside the point.

“Do you want me to stay here while you take them? And yes, I would recommend taking both of them. The reason is, that if one is positive and one is negative we can get a third. If both are positive or negative then we know.”

“No. I think I may wait a couple of days. I bet it’s just delayed as you said. I’ll see you Saturday.”

“Okay. In that case, I’m going to leave everything here minus the dress. The last thing we should have to do is drag all this shit up the stairs again. You try to relax and I’ll see you Saturday.” El hugs me tight, reassuring me that everything will be okay and I can always call or text her.

She leaves the room and I shake while holding the tests. I can’t be pregnant. I guess technically I can, but I can’t. No way. I don’t know what would be worse, giving my virginity away before I’m married or getting pregnant before I’m married. I shove them into the bag containing my lingerie for the wedding dress. I’ll worry about the pregnancy tests for another day and wish for my period to come. For something to go my way.