A Bond by Marriage

Chapter 6

Gia's POV-

The front door opened and I saw Vito dragging the body out.

“You doing okay back there?” He asked, not really looking at me, but I answered and formed a distance between Riccardo and me. Good thing because Dino opened the door just then, silently motioning Riccardo to go. I was grateful, but then he chose to sit beside me. The day was turning out to be a full rollercoaster. One second I'd feel my heart calm and another second would overwhelm it with abrupt chaos.

“There are no other men in the area and Vito is taking care of the body. Nothing to worry about now.” I nodded. “I’m going to be driving. Do you want to switch seats or would you be fine at the back?”

“What do you want?”

“I want you to be comfortable.” I didn’t believe that, but he didn’t seem like he would lie about something so small. Though I also refused to believe that he was better than all the other men I had ever known.

“I’ll stay here if that’s not a problem.” He turned away, nodded to the others and sat in the front after exchanging a few words with his brother. Dino started the car and my curiosity had me shifting closer, right against where I could see Dino without the wall obstructing my view. Adjusting myself so I could partially face him, I questioned, “How did you suspect him?”

Dino looked at me, and for a moment I thought he was bothered by the question. “He adjusted his seat. Even after he claimed he had been driving the car for years,” he said, skimming his eyes all over my face, as if only half interested in answering me or driving the car.

“Oh,” I barely whispered, but his eyes stopped there, and hit my gaze up again. His determined gaze was making me nervous but he finally turned away and focused back on the road. After all, it’d be a shame if we died in a car accident after catching our killer who gave himself away by shifting the seat. I hadn’t even noticed that.

“Do you want to ask something?” He suddenly asked and I shook my head before shaking it again at my dumbness. He wasn’t looking at me.

“No.”

“Is there still some blood on my face?”

“No.” He nodded. “Why?” I prodded.

“You were looking,” he said and I almost buried my head in my lap. Goddess! ‘Looking’ was him putting it politely. I was staring at him. So, the rest of the ride, I didn’t even dare take another look at Dino or shift or pull the wall. Everything that would make this even more embarrassing. Pathetic as I might be, I didn’t want Dino to have the same impression of me.

Chapter 4 OG

At dinner, the conversation flowed among everyone except me. I picked at my food bit by bit, anticipating and dreading anyone conversing with me. Dino had a change of shirt after we arrived and now everybody acted like he didn’t just kill a man on our way here. It wasn’t a big deal. But it was time for our first dance now and that was definitely a big deal.

The music started and people bunched together around the vacant floor. I placed my hand in Dino’s and we walked to the centre, aware of everyone’s eyes on our backs. Dino turned me to him, one hand on my lower back and the other holding my palm in the air. We moved with the music and I concentrated on every step. After so many years, I was glad I remembered. But my main concern was my dress. I didn’t like it, especially now. It was deep in the back and the front. Instinctively, I was bunching my muscles, without realising that Dino could feel every flex and twitch.

“Are you okay?” I nodded, my eyes on his tie knot. “Look at me when you talk, Gia.” I recognized the tone. It was the same as in the library.

“I’m okay. It’s just… I haven’t been around so many people in a long time. I… I never fit in.”

“You don’t need to be nervous. You are above any of them now.” In the title, yes but I knew what they all thought of me. Right at this moment, though, I wanted to know how Dino saw me. I wanted to ask him directly but I couldn’t. So, I did what I had been doing to survive all the torment with Riccardo. I seized thinking, shoved my fear aside and just let it out before I had the time to process.

“What do you think of me?” I prepared myself to observe his reaction, even a single flinch or a look of astonishment, but I got nothing. Dino stayed in control.

“I think of you as my wife.” I knew that but I wasn’t prepared for that answer anyway. “You are the woman I chose to marry because you felt like the right choice. I think of you as my family,” I swallowed. “Someone I’ll protect, provide for, and someday share children with.” My breath hitched and yet he looked so calm. I couldn't hold my head high, my eyes on his. My eyes blurred, and my heart clenched. He made my life sound so easy. He summed it up in one sentence, one beautiful sentence.

Suddenly I felt both his hands at my waist. I didn’t even notice when I had ceased to dance and just stood with my arms beside me. Dino continued to sway us though. One by one, he placed my palms on his chest and pulled me closer, his hand spanning across my bare back. “Look around, Gia,” he whispered in my ear. “Each man in this room has killed at least one man in his life. But we live in a world where they are not sinners and yet a woman who decides for herself is. You can do whatever you want, decide for yourself and you do not need to explain yourself to anyone.” I stiffen in his arms. “What you chose for yourself doesn’t bother me. To the people around us, but not to me. Not to my brothers or my uncle. And I want you to know that because those are the only people who you can trust, the only ones I’d want you to trust.”

I was glad Dino didn’t pull away immediately after the song ended because I needed time to pull myself together. My new family wasn’t bothered by what happened to me. Dino wasn’t even slightly disturbed let alone disgusted by the fact that I was with my bodyguard five years ago. It sounded good. Unbelievable. For the first time, I truly saw the sign that my hope for a better future could be more than a hope.

“Alright there, it’s my turn now. And wedding night is still a little away,” Vittorio said, making me grip Dino’s suit tightly. It wasn’t just what he said but also that I’d have to dance with him, dance with so many men in this room. I pulled away, looked around and people were starting to fill the room getting their own feet to business. Dino squeezed my hands in reassurance and Vittorio took his place. “I don’t know if you are cold or self-conscious, but here you go,” he whispered before I felt his suit coat over my shoulders. It felt like a blessing.

“I don’t know what you mean.” I tried to play cool as the music started once again but I was definitely liking Vito more.

“You don’t need to. I got it all set,” he narrowed his eyes playfully and not in an obscene way. My new family was surprising me with each passing second.