The Mafia Princess’s New Groom Chapter 12
Dominic’s men moved like clockwork.
Before the last echo of Vincent’s screaming faded from the hall, they were already at work.
Blood mopped off the marble.
Shattered screen hauled away.
Broken floral arch dismantled and gone.
Two men dragged Vincent out through the service entrance.
Nobody watched him go.
Only fifteen minutes.
That was all it took to erase every trace of what had just happened.
Fresh white roses and lilies lined the altar, crisp and perfect, as if the last hour had been nothing but a bad dream.
The banner behind the stage had been swapped out. Where “Vincent & Isabella” once hung in gold letters, two new names gleamed under the chandeliers: Dominic Russo & Isabella Mancini.
The guests filed back to their seats.
Some were still pale.
Some whispered behind their hands.
But every last one of them sat down, straightened their ties, and put their game faces on.
That was how things worked in these circles.
You saw what you saw.
You forgot what you needed to forget.
And you smiled when the music started.
The music started.
The officiant stepped up to the altar. He looked a little shaky, but his voice held steady.
“Dominic Russo, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, till death do you part?”
Dominic looked at me. That same quiet, steady warmth. Not a flicker of doubt.
“I do. In this life and the next.”
I leaned in close, my lips brushing his ear. The whole room probably thought I was whispering something sweet.
“Aren’t you scared?” I murmured. “That one day I’ll cut your tendons and leave you bleeding on the shore?”
Dominic didn’t flinch. That calm smile stayed right where it was.
“You’ll never get the chance, Isabella. Because I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure you never want to.”
Outside the hall, somewhere beyond the heavy oak doors, Vincent’s voice cracked through the air.
“ISABELLA! You love me! How could you betray ME?”
“ISABELLA! You can’t do this! I love you! I REALLY LOVE YOU! You can’t just throw me away!”
The doors stayed shut. The guests didn’t turn. The officiant didn’t pause. The music played on.
Vincent’s voice broke apart, scattered, and faded to nothing. Like a signal dying in the distance.
Nobody heard it. Nobody wanted to.
After the ceremony, Dominic drove me to his family’s estate to meet his parents.
I expected stiff handshakes. Polite distance. Maybe a cold shoulder, given the circus our wedding had turned into.
Instead, the old Don met me at the door with a bear hug and a laugh that rattled the windows.
“About damn time, boy.” He clapped Dominic on the back hard enough to stagger him. “You finally landed the girl you’ve been chasing since you were eight.”
I blinked. Dominic’s ears went red.
His mother caught the look on my face and pulled me aside.
“You don’t remember, do you?”