Page 3 of The Viper

Eliza lifts a hand to place on her chest while she hesitantly turns to look at me. Her grimace morphs into a smile and she drops her hand and waves it once. “He’s such a jokester.”

I feel my own eyes prickling with tears. How can she not believe me? “It doesn’t matter what I say, does it?” I don’t understand how she can go through with this.

“Adrian loves me,” Eliza says flatly. She doesn’t believe her own words, so why is she doing this? Is he holding something over her?

I can’t save her because my sister doesn’t want to be saved. “Okay,” I say, cut to the core. “He loves you.” There’s nothing I can say or do to stop Eliza from marrying him if she truly believes that.

She moves past me and heads for the door. “Let’s do this,” she says with an obvious level of resignation.

“Sure.” I open the door and wait until she’s out before I close it and catch up to her. Standing at the entrance of the church, I look out at the sea of people, most of whom I don’t know. I’m not sure if Eliza knows who they are either. “Do you know any of the people here?” I whisper as she peeks.

“Only a handful. But they’re all associates of Adrian’s, so it’s important to him to have them here.”

“Who’s paying for all of this?”

“Ruben has been kind enough to do so. He looks after the people who work for him.”

“What exactly do they do again?” I ask and squint my eyes, challenging her to speak the words.

She shrugs. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not involved.”

“Ladies, you both look perfect,” Dominic says as he heads toward me.

“Thank you,” Eliza says.

I give him a small smile. The quicker we can get this over with, the sooner I can be away from him and his captivating looks. The music starts and I turn to look at Eliza, silently begging her to stop this. “Maybe you should go stand up next to your brother, and I can walk Eliza down the aisle,” I offer.

“We’ve already been through this, Rose. I’m going to walk myself. I’ll be fine.”

“Miss Hopkins?” Dominic arches his arm so I can loop mine through his. I look once more at my sister, hoping she will come to her senses, but she doesn’t. I don’t even know why Dominic is doing this. It’s not very traditional, considering this is a conventional wedding. Dominic leads me down the long aisle. “You don’t like us very much, do you?”

“I don’t know you,” I whisper as we walk toward Adrian who’s not even looking to where Eliza will enter from.

“We’re not bad guys.”

“Huh,” I reply, emotionless.

“We’re not. Maybe, you should come to one of our family dinners.”

“No, thanks.” Dominic’s aftershave drifts past me and I catch myself deeply inhaling the ocean breeze smell. I glance at him, and can’t help but like the way he looks in his expensive, fitted black suit.

“I’d be honored if you came as my guest to our next dinner.”

“No, thanks,” I repeat.

He tightens his arm around mine as we approach the altar, where the cardinal is standing in his crisp red and white gown. He’s clutching a Bible in his hand and offers me a soft nod and smile. “I insist,” he whispers, not letting my arm go.

I turn and smile at him. “How about, fuck off?” I snatch my arm back and give him a nod.

Dominic smirks as he steps back to stand next to his brother. The music changes and I look down the aisle, secretly hoping and praying that Eliza has bolted from the church. Although I think Ruben’s men guarding the church probably wouldn’t let her go. Alas, my wish is quashed when Eliza appears at the entrance. Everyone in the church stands to their feet as she floats toward us.

“Wow,” I hear someone whisper from the front. I look to see Ruben intently watching Eliza. His eyes are wide, his shoulders are pulled back and he’s smiling at her. He can’t drag his eyes away from my beautiful sister.

She walks past Ruben and flicks a glance to him. Eliza’s eyes light up with happiness when she sees Ruben staring at her. He’s looking at her like she’s the sun, and he’s completely mesmerized by her.

The glance is small and discreet, but I catch Adrian glaring at her. Has something happened between Ruben and Eliza? Have they had a moment? Why isn’t she with him? He’s single and judging by the look they both exchanged, they like one another.

A small smile tugs at my lips as I see Ruben out of my peripheral vision watching Eliza. The cardinal begins the ceremony and a part of me hopes Ruben stops this madness.

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