Page 29 of The Casella King

My foot crashes into the door, and it flies open, ricocheting into the wall behind it. I run into the room, looking around for Aries, but the room is empty. My heart sinks as my eyes catch a glimpse of a body gripping onto the basin in the bathroom.

“Aries?” I walk over to her, but she doesn’t answer me. I reach for her, and she collapses into my arms, her body going limp.

“Someone fucking get the paramedics in here!” I yell as I push her hair that’s stuck to her face, feeling her pulse weaken under my fingers on her throat. She mumbles something, fleeting in and out of consciousness. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.” I see streak marks in her makeup beside her eyes, created from her tears, and it ignites pure wrath and chaos within me.

Was she in here alone?

What was she upset about?

After a few moments, the paramedics hustle inside the room and check her pulse, they put her on some IVs and check her oxygen levels as she slowly opens her eyes, latching onto my arm.

“What happened?” Her voice is hoarse, her eyes looking at me, searching for an answer.

“Miss Alterio, it seems you’ve fainted.” One of the paramedics speaks directly to her. “Everything looks okay. Your blood pressure is a little on the lower end, but other than that, all other checks were normal.”

“Do you know why she may have fainted?” I ask.

“It could be a multitude of reasons, low blood pressure being one, but if you’re under a lot of stress, Miss Alterio, that could be another reason.”

She tries to sit up and looks down. “Oh my god,” she whispers as a rosy tint flushes across her cheeks as she realises what she’s wearing. I take off my jacket and wrap it around her. Not because I care if she’s embarrassed, but I don’t want those two pervy fucks looking at my wife.

Giselle passes a glass of water to Aries, and I nod to her to leave. Once everyone has left the room, I pick her up off the floor, into my arms.

“I don’t think this is necessary.” She looks at me with her beautiful doe eyes, and something inside me ignites at the closeness of her body. “I can walk. I’m okay.” I don’t listen to her as I walk to the bed and place her on it gently. I catch her eyes fleeting to her wedding dress on the other side of the bed and back at me.

Was she having second thoughts?

“Are you going to tell me, or am I going to force it out of you?” I grit my teeth as I sit beside her.

“Do you promise not to react?” she asks.

Fuck no.

“I promise.” I lie, and she tells me every single detail of how he left her, how she felt, and what she did. My knuckles go white as my hands flex. I look away from her, already thinking about how to rid this parasite named Ray from this world. It’s one thing to give someone a promise, but to renege is one of the quickest ways to show the world you’re a fucking coward.

“You promised,” she says as she watches me.

“You ask me not to react, then you tell me about the most traumatising time in your life. Did you truly think I wouldn’t?” I look back to her as she cradles the cup of water in both hands.

“It was hard to tell you because it’s still such a deep cut within me that hasn’t quite healed, and now this,” she motions to the white wedding dress on the bed. “It’s a lot for me.”

“Fine, don’t wear the fucking dress,” I say, and she raises her eyebrow. “I’m serious. I don’t give a single fuck if you’re wearing a wedding dress or not.”

“What would I wear though?”

“Whatever the fuck you want.” I smile, trying to ease her mind about the situation and praying like hell to a god I don’t believe that she will not bail on me.

“Seriously?” she asks, questioning me.

“As long as you’re standing up there, swearing before everyone that you belong to me, I give no fucks as to what’s on your body,” I admit, and it’s the truth.

I watch the church fill with guests, the same church where I met Aries, and although I’d been here before, it looks different today. Today, it’s filled with my men, dressed in black suits, and mafia women, wearing their finest outfits, and red roses adorning the church all around.

I don’t believe in marriage. I never did.

For us, it’s about securing the line, ensuring the Casella fortune doesn’t fall into the hands of others, mainly our enemies. Formalities such as a wedding and a ceremony are just for show. No one in our family really wants to be married to who they’re marrying. It’s a marriage of necessity.

I’m putting that shit to rest today because like fuck am I going to marry a woman I didn’t like on some level or feel attracted to. This thing with Aries, I have no idea what it is, but I feel like if I can’t marry this woman, and if she’s not mine, I don’t want anyone else to have her. Even the thought of the possibility of someone else makes my skin crawl.

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