Page 62 of Depths of Desire
Mia comes over and takes my hands. I try not to wince. Renzo made a small cut on my hand and took some blood for the ceremony. Just another reminder that I am marrying a vampire.
“I want to apologize,” Mia starts. “You were right. I should’ve put you first. Instead, I immediately thought ofla famiglia. The repercussions...” She gives me a rueful smile. “I’m really sorry. It’s habit now. Honestly, Renzo and I spend so much time worrying about the business and all that entails, it’s always foremost in my mind. But I owe you a huge apology. You should’ve been first.”
I give a nonchalant shrug. What am I supposed to say? It’s true. I should’ve been first in her mind. We’ve been best friends since we were little.
Mia continues, “I know this isn’t exactly what you wanted, and I wish—God, I so wish—you’d come to me earlier. Maybe we could’ve gotten you out of town before this all came to a head. I’m not sure. And obviously, we can’t go back. That’s one of the things I’ve learned... even with vampires and the magickal realm, you can’t play with time.”
She squeezes my fingers.
“But Luna... I know—I knowdeep down, you and Nico were meant to be together. This was not the way you wanted it to happen, but maybe this is the only way it would happen.”
I stare at her. “Really?” I ask. My heart thuds against my rib cage. I’ve been feeling the same thing. My connection to Nico grows stronger and stronger, and no matter how much I logically want to fight against it—because I don’t want to be part oflafamiglia—my heart... my soul says that Nico is my partner in life.
It’s all so confusing. I let out a long breath. “On the one hand, I feel this deep connection to him... but you know I don’t want to be part of this life. I don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
Mia squeezes my hands. “I know. We’ll figure this out. I promise. I won’t let you down this time.”
I swallow a soft sob. “You didn’t let me down, Mia. And I’m sorry, because I shouldn’t have put you in that position. I know we’ve been best friends since we were kids, but realistically... you’re married. I shouldn’t have asked you to choose between me and your husband. That’s not fair to you.”
She shakes her head. “It was fair. If anything, I letyoudown. But I won’t do it again. We’ll get through this. I promise. We’ll figure it out.”
I stare at her for another moment. “I hope so. I just want a life, you know? A life that doesn’t involvela famiglia. A life away from my parents and all the stress and anguish they’ve caused. I just want to be... me. Somewhere new.” A life where Nico always calls mevita mia.Because as much as I don’t want to admit it, I truly do want to be his life…his one and only.
Mia nods. “I understand that. There are days when I want to ask Renzo to run away with me. Just give it all up and go. But it’s not who he is. He’s worked very hard to get where he is. I get that. And I enjoy some of the work... but you’re right. It’s a lot. We’ll figure something out. I promise.”
The door opens, and Pippa steps back in. “They are ready.”
“That makes one of us,” I say dryly.
“This will work out,” Mia insists.
She drops one of my hands, and Pippa takes it. She squeezes it gently. Then both she and Mia step closer and pull me into a warm group hug. “We’ll get through this. All of us,” Mia says. “I promise.”
I say nothing, but in my heart, I pray my friends are right. I hope this isn’t going to be as bad as I think it is. I desperately want things to get better—quickly.
“All right,” I say finally. “Let’s do this.”
The girls stand on either side of me, and together we walk out of the little room and into the foyer of the church. We move toward the chapel doors and line up, facing the aisle. The boys are already there, waiting.
And then I see him—the priest. He has a faint glow around him. I stop. My breath catches.
“What is it?” Mia asks.
“The priest,” I whisper. “He’s supposed to be a vampire, right?”
“Yes,” she says cautiously.
“He’s not.” I stare harder. “He has a glow around him. He’s not a vampire.”
“Shit,” Mia hisses. “Okay, go back into the room. I’ll go up and tell them somehow?—”
“No. Come with me,” I say. “We’ll go back into the room, and I’ll call them. I don’t want you to say it in front of everyone. I don’t know what he is.”
We turn and walk quickly back to the little room. Mia pulls out her phone. It rings once, and she immediately answers. “It’s Nico,” she says, handing it to me.
I bring it to my ear. “The priest isn’t a vampire,” I say without preamble. “He has a glow.”
“Are you sure?” Nico’s voice is sharp, but calm.
