Page 58 of Did My Heart Love Till Now?

I had not had time to buy a proper wedding gown. I peeked down at my champagne-colored, satin dress. While it was chic, it was not a traditional wedding style. The sleeveless, mock-neck maxi dress hugged my body perfectly from the waist up and flowed elegantly below my hips.

After we shared communion, the priest blessed us as husband and wife and prayed with us.

I was officially Sofia D’Angelo, the wife of the man who appeared in the background of my photo that day. I thought back to that moment and him staring down at me. I wanted to be close to him then, but it was impossible. Now, Gavino D’Angelo was my husband. My life.

Sofia, the daughter of my enemy, was now my wife and I felt like I was on top of the world, even if it was about to come crashing down on us at once. Sharing that moment with my best friend was special as well. Joey and I had been through everything together and to get married without him present, was something I might have later regretted. I felt bad that Sofia did not have her best friends present but I would find a way to make it up to her one day.

As we rode back to the house with Joey and Bellagio following us, Nick kept glancing back in the mirror at their car, gripping the steering wheel hard. It was clear he was nervous. I reached over, turning down the music.

“They're not going to cause problems.”

“I know but,” he sighed, “it's a habit.”

I shrugged. “They're good guys.”

“Yeah, to you.” He peeked back again in the rear-view mirror. “Bellagio and I have a deep fight history.”

“They won't give you any trouble once they know our plan.”

Sofia leaned up from the back middle and placed her arms on our seats. “What plan?”

Nick glanced back at her then the road again.

I twisted to her. “Baby, this is business and put your seat belt back on.”

She rolled her eyes and sat back, buckling herself in reluctantly.

Once we arrived at the house, we all gathered in the kitchen. While Nick was getting Bellagio a glass of ice water, I grabbed a bottle of champagne, paying no attention to what I had picked up. Just as I popped the cork, Nick gasped.

“What?!” I snapped.

“Fuck bro.” He handed Bellagio the drink and buried his head in his hand. “That’s a bottle of Boerl & Kroff Brut.”

I held the bottle out, reading the label silently then looked back at him. “Yeah? So.”

“That particular bottle was imported from France illegally and is worth almost five grand.”

My eyes widened.

“I was saving it for a special occ—”

“Heyyy!” Sofia scoffed. “I think this counts.”

“You’re right.” He lifted his hands and bowed his head toward the four glasses.

I filled each one then placed the bottle on the island gently as if all five thousand dollars of it would explode at the smallest touch. I wrapped my arm around Sofia’s shoulder, pulling her into my side.

Joey lifted his glass in the air and grinned at me. “My job is to protect you, so I followed you. But I’m glad I did.” He darted his eyes to Sofia. “I hated you.”

“Jo—”

“Let me finish.” He chuckled.

He narrowed his gaze at Nick. “And I definitely hated you.”

Nick clenched his jaw, tilting his head.

“However,” Joey’s gaze returned to Sofia, “You’re officially family now and though I’m not sure what the future holds for you guys, I’ll do whatever it takes to put an end to the war.” He snorted. “At least the war between these families.” He rolled his eyes. “The Catalano fam is another story.”

---