Page 98 of Between Dusk and Dawn

One Month Later

Idespised being in a room full of strangers, dressed expensively, yet here I was in an expansive bedroom in the heart of Dansport, preparing for our announcement to the extended family and Mafia community. The discomfort was overwhelming.

Walsh had postponed the announcement as long as possible, explaining that once we were officially declared, additional protective measures could be extended to me. He mentioned that most family members preferred living in a specific neighborhood, but sensing my hesitation, he had decided instead to heighten security around our house.

This morning, Walsh hurriedly brought me to this unfamiliar house, promising a surprise. After the hairstylists and makeup artists left, I finally surveyed my surroundings. The room had a modern, minimalist aesthetic, dominated by an ornate bed with regal purple, gold, and white accents. The sheer opulence felt extravagant, a stark contrast to the simplicity I was accustomed to in our home.

A knock on the door shook me from my thoughts as I sat on the bed looking around the room. "Madison?" a familiar feminine voice crooned.

"Oh, Ember," I said, jumping up, hurrying to the door to get it open as fast as I could.

"Thank fuck," I said, pulling her into a large hug the moment I saw her. She let out a little giggle.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"No. Nothing is okay," I said, throwing up my hands and turning around to pace the room. I was standing there in my underwear, uncomfortable with what I knew I had to wear.

"I’ve been around these events my entire life and I still find them absolutely ridiculous and littered in boring tradition."

I gave her a soft smile at her confession as she walked toward the window where a rack of dresses were. "Any of these fit your fancy?"

I joined her and thumbed through the glittery dresses which were far too bright, loud, or sparkly for me. It would have normally been something I would have picked when I was wearing my mask because I felt like that’s how society wanted me to look, like the golden girl with the bright smile, but that isn’t who I was today and I was trying to embrace that part of me.

"How are you feeling?" Ember’s words broke through my inner thoughts.

I paused, not daring to look at her. "I feel like shit still," I confessed. Depression was a weird thing. Sometimes, I felt like I could climb Mt. Everest I was feeling so good, and other times, anxiety and sadness crept through my veins like an unwelcome visitor.

This past month, Ember connected me with her therapist who she still saw after her boyfriend passed away, but I just feltlike it brought everything up again. We’d been talking a lot about what happened to me when I was a child.

I knew that I struggled processing it. My parents were horrible people who’d set my entire room on fire, but beyond that they neglected my basic needs growing up. I guess talking about it, even though I knew it would eventually get better, was hard. My depression had been acting up and although oftentimes I felt myself wanting to retreat, I tried. Because Walsh was there the entire time. After every session, he’d come pick me up from the office and just hold my hand not saying anything unless I prompted.

He had even decided to give therapy a shot, perhaps with encouragement from his sister. Witnessing my earnest efforts to better myself, he recognized the value of self-improvement. While I yearned for Walsh's pride, my ultimate goal was to feel proud of my authentic self—to shed the roles forced upon me over the years.

"Time helps," Ember consoled, her hand brushing my elbow in a gesture of empathy. Had someone told me two years ago that I would become Ember's sister-in-law, I would have scoffed at the notion. Falling in love, let alone with the girl who once despised me, and her brother, seemed ludicrous.

Today, I couldn't fathom my life without her. In the past month, we had grown remarkably close, and I even had the chance to visit their countryside property, accompanied by only one bodyguard, as opposed to the multitude Walsh typically insisted on having when I went anywhere else.

"Yeah," I finally pulled out an all-black dress with cut-outs in the front that gave it a zigzag pattern, leaving a lot of my skin exposed. "Is this too much?"

I held the hanger up and Ember only gave me a mischievous smile. "This is yours."

I pulled it over my underwear before I looked at the floor-length mirror in the corner of the room. My hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail, letting my red hair flow down my back. I had small diamond earrings that Walsh gifted me as a delayed Christmas present even though I told him the oversized ring on my finger that matched was far too much anyway. My makeup was done in a way that accentuated my natural features without feeling overdone. Yet, I’d never felt more beautiful than I had in my life.

"Wow," Ember whispered as she came from behind, giving me a little hug on the shoulders. "You look amazing."

"Good enough for a mob wife?" I joked, but also the reality of the words hit me.

A freaking wife of one of the strongest Mafia men in the country. It was fucking terrifying and after everything that happened with Georgie, I didn’t question when Walsh added another bodyguard. Although I had asked him to try and keep it to a minimum because the feeling of being trapped or locked in still was a huge trigger for me.

"You’ll do great," she offered as I smoothed out my dress.

"Is it time?" I asked and she only nodded her head.

"Okay, I guess we should go downstairs." I gave her a little sigh and then noticed my purse in the corner of the room. "Do you think I need to bring this downstairs?"

"Wait, what?" Ember gave me a confused look, her brows raised in question. "You don’t know?"

"Know what?" I looked around the room like I was somehow going to get surprised.

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