Page 24 of Till Death Do Us Part

His grasp of my hand was the completion of the deal.

The priest spoke, “Mia Luciano Moretti and Aléjandro Roríguez, have you come here to enter into marriage without coercion, freely and wholeheartedly?”

It was too late to answer truthfully.

Our only escape from this marriage would be the one that had saved me from my first.

Death.

Aléjandro waited for me to respond.

As our wedding progressed, it seemed the obedient Italian girl wasn’t fully gone. At every turn, I responded appropriately, even reciting our vows as instructed. My hand was steady as Aléjandro slid the wedding band onto my finger. And I didn’t tremble as I slid the white gold band onto his. In some ways I felt detached from the ceremony itself, as if I were watching, not participating.

Perhaps I was back upstairs, peering through the window. It wasn’t me who was committing until death to a man she didn’t know and was pretty sure she didn’t like. No, I was safe upon the second floor watching someone else.

From that view, it was a beautiful wedding.

My out-of-body experience ended when, after our vows and the exchange of rings, the priest instructed us to kneel. It was then that Reinaldo handed the priest a long rosary, resembling a lasso. I stiffened as the beads were wound over and around us in a figure eight, and the priest again began to pray.

Aléjandro no doubt sensed my unease. A squeeze of his hand and a sly smile reassured me that this was a normal part of the wedding.

Tying us in front of the guests?

If this was normal, I’d never seen it before.

The priest lifted his hand and explained, “The lasso is a symbol of Aléjandro and Mia’s mutual support for each other in carrying out their duties and responsibilities as a couple.”

At the sound of the priest’s words, I looked up at Aléjandro.

Mutual support.

Me for him.

Him for me.

It was as foreign to me as the lasso itself.

Once we stood, the priest removed the lasso.

The next was the presentation of wedding coins—apparently, another tradition I’d never experienced. I stood in silence as the priest blessed thirteen coins. Next, he handed the ornate box of coins to Aléjandro, who presented them to me.

“The coins,” the priest said, “remind Aléjandro and Mia that their treasure is now one, and they will share in all that they have together. At the same time, it reminds them to help those who have less than they do.”

A lump formed in my throat. I had a hard time believing the heir to a drug cartel was also philanthropic. Everything was outside my sphere of knowledge. Catalina’s sister said our traditions were savage. I was beginning to see the difference.

Lastly, Aléjandro was given permission to kiss his bride. When we turned to one another, his lips curled in a knowing smile. This wasn’t our first kiss. His strong lips came to mine, lingering a bit longer than expected, and sending a bolt of energy to my core.

Thankfully, with the lack of formality, we didn’t have a receiving line following the ceremony. There would be plenty of time for us to interact with the guests during the reception. Nevertheless, we were instructed to wait for our parents. My mother was the first one to greet us as husband and wife. She’d truly perfected her ability to sound sincere, despite my natural doubt that she wasn’t. Mom’s only motivation was staying in Dario’s good graces.

Josefina Roríguez was stunning with her dark eyes glistening with tears as she hugged me. I had no way to assess her sincerity as she welcomed me as her new daughter. While her accent made her more difficult to understand, I believed the tears in her eyes as she called memi hija. If nothing else, the scene made Aléjandro happy. Jorge Roríguez was next. I recalled seeing him for the first time at my mother’s pool. As opposed to his gruff persona I witnessed on that day, today he was boisterously joyous, wrapping me in another hug.

After they moved away, Aléjandro took my hand and led me into the house. My pulse quickened as he separated us from our guests.

“Where are we going?”

“With as hot as you look, I don’t think the Ruizes will mind if we use the master bedroom suite to consummate our marriage.”

“What?” I asked, stopping my steps as a wave of panic flooded my system.

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