Page 137 of 7+Us Makes Nine

“Are you doing anything today?” I asked. “I’d like to get a wedding dress.”

“Oh, you only had to say the word,” Mama said, unable to hide her excitement. “I’ll clear my entire schedule, although I don’t even think finding the perfect dress is going to take long.” She grinned and grabbed my hand, pulling me to my feet.

The two of us began running through the house, giggling in excitement like a pair of schoolgirls.

In a mere matter of hours, I was at a boutique, being sized for the dress I’d be wearing in a week to marry Giovanni. The dress had been hanging in my mother’s closet for over 20 years, waiting to be passed down to me. It had served my mother perfectly when she wed my father, and now it was perfect for me to wed Gio. Only slight alterations were needed around the waistline and shoulders.

I stared at my reflection, admiring the intricate lace designs covering the bodice of the dress, and loving the way it flared out at the bottom. Through the mirror, I could see my mother dabbing her eyes with the Kleenex she clutched in her hand and smiling at me. And I was struck by how much I suddenly favored her.

“Now, Ari—don’t feel pressured into using this dress if you don’t want to wear it, all right? I’ll understand if you want your own dress,” Mama said.

I turned toward the dressmaker of the boutique. “Can you have this dress altered and ready for me by next week?”

“I most certainly can,” she said with a smile.

Tears welled in my mother’s eyes all over again.

* * *

The rest of the week was the busiest, but one of the happiest of my life. We got my dress altered, Angela and Jessica planned a last-minute bridal shower and bachelorette party for me, we booked the church Giovanni’s parents had been married in. Before I knew it, the day of my wedding had arrived.

I woke to an empty house, for my mother had gone to pick up the wedding cake, and my father was likely at the church, making sure everything was in order.

I stretched and lied in bed for a moment, reflecting on the head-spinning romance Giovanni and I had embarked on. It hardly seemed plausible for us to have had so much turbulence only to fall so deeply in love so quickly. But that was precisely what had happened, and I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.

Smiling to myself, feeling the nervous jitters I imagined all brides felt on the day of their wedding, I climbed out of bed and prepared to get into the shower so that I could hurry off to my appointments to get my hair and makeup done.

When I turned on the shower, and the doorbell rang.

I glanced at the time, knowing it was too early for my bridesmaids to be here already. Curiously, I threw on a robe headed downstairs and opened the door.

“What are you doing here? Don’t you know it’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding?!”

Gio laughed and gathered me into his arms, lifting me clean off my feet and swinging me around in a circle. “But I wanted to see my fiancée for one last time, you now, before you officially become my, wife.”

He set me down and closed the door.

“You are really going to have to learn to be more patient,” I said, although I couldn’t deny how happy I was to see him. With all the wedding planning, we’d hardly seen each other since deciding to renew our engagement. “I don’t have much time. I’ve got a hair appointment to get too soon. I was just about to take a shower.”

Gio grinned. “Oh yeah? And I take it that your parents aren’t home?”

“No…”

He pulled his shirt over his head. “Well, let me join you.”

“Gio—you can’t be serious,” I said. “It’s the day of our wedding!”

“You already know I have little patience. I’m already ready to get to the honeymoon part.”

“Gio, no!” I turned around and ran upstairs to my room, my laughter filling the house. He chased me, easily catching me and wrapping his arms around me.

The temperature in the room skyrocketed. It was impossible to resist him, something powerful pulling me in. His fingers traced my arms slowly, creating goosebumps everywhere he touched, while his eyes swallowed me whole. The intensity of his lust matched my own, and I didn’t care about anything but getting this man inside of me.

“Gio, make love to me,” I whispered, already breathless.

“Yes, babe.”

He brought my leg around his waist and raised my robe, sliding his palm over my thigh slowly until he reached my thong. A moan slipped through my lips when his fingers pushed beneath the thin material, reaching my core.

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