So when we arrived at the hotel to view the room, the wedding marquee I saw out back of the hotel sold me. The gardens are breathtaking, with lush green grass and beautiful flowers giving a sense of serenity. The weather in New York is beautiful at this time of year, and I instantly fell in love with the venue.
I don’t even know most of the guests here today, but they were invited to be here as special friends and family of the Clemente clan. I’m sure most of them have their hand in illegal activity, but who am I to question that? Luca had warned me what to expect and that I shouldn’t ask too many questions.
Sometimes I think about what sort of family I have married into, but then again, I’ve always been a part of this family from the day my father went into business with Javier Clemente and allowed his business to be used as a storage facility for his drugs. My father never kept that information from me. He wanted me to know what we were dealing with.
I disagree with what he’s doing. Actually, I disagree with the whole drug business, but I’m hoping Luca and I can live our own life once we move into our home together.
We plan to have our honeymoon in Italy and then go to our home in Mexico and spend a couple of months taking time out for ourselves.
“Looks like I’ll have to wait to have you. Food first,” Luca says with a twinkle in his eye.
Leaning up to kiss him one last time, I hear someone clear their throat.
“Dad, how are you?”
Luca’s dad stands there with an envelope in his hand. His attention moves from me and back to his son. I’m unsure if I imagined it, but I’m sure I saw a look of disdain in his eyes.
“Here you go, son.”
He hands the envelope to Luca, and Luca accepts it, then places it inside his pocket. “Thanks, Dad.” He shakes his father’s hand, then Javier catches my eye. “I wish you both all the happiness.”
“Thank you,” I reply, not sure if he means those words. But for now, I’ll accept that he did. He turns away and heads back to his table toward Luca’s stepmother, Filomena.
As Luca explains it, his mother left when he was six years old. Apparently, she went to be with her lover, and she hasn’t been seen since. Whenever I mention his mom to Luca, he says there’s nothing to discuss. She left out of nowhere, and then he switches the topic, not leaving me any chance to talk more about it.
“What was that?” I ask, my eyes focusing on where he placed the envelope his dad gave him.
Luca smiles at me. “I’ll show you later. My wife needs to eat right now, and then I want to show her off on the dance floor.”
We take our seats, and it’s not long before they serve the food.
The song “At Last” by Eta James plays, and Luca stands, placing his hand out to me. “Shall we?”
“We shall,” I reply, accepting his hand and standing to follow him onto the dance floor.
He places his arms around my waist, and I link mine around his neck. We dance in each other’s arms for the full song as the guests smile around us, their eyes focus on the newly married couple.
Resting my head on his shoulder, my eyes land on the guests seated and watching us with big smiles. But then my eyes focus on a server who seems all too familiar. He’s standing there holding a crystal glass with amber liquid on a tray next to my now father-in-law.
Am I seeing things?It’s him, it’s Harley.
But before I can think further, he places a glass in front of Javier, then heads out of the marquee followed by other servers.
I think I’ve been seeing things.
The stress must be getting to me.
All this planning for the wedding must have gotten to me without me even realizing it.
Maybe I’ve been thinking of Harley more because I was planning this wedding and always imagined I would marry him.Yes, that must be it.
“Everything okay?” Luca asks as he pulls back to look down at me. “I can feel your tenseness. What’s going on?”
With my eyes still focusing on the exit, I reply, “Nothing, Luca. Everything is perfect.”
My eyes catch sight of another server who looks familiar as well.Is it Tom, Liv’s dad?I’ve only met him a handful of times, but I recognize those tattoos on the back of his hands.
“Serena, where are you right now? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”