Queen Of The Marchetti Daddies

ASIA “You can’t go in there.” “What?” I clutched my bouquet tighter, laughing lightly. The bubbly warmth that filled my chest all morning already made my cheeks hurt from too much smiling. “It’s okay… I’m the bride.” I gestured down at my dress with a face splitting grin. The security guards didn’t move. They simply watched me with a look of disgust in their eyes. But I was too high on the fact that I was really getting married to my first love in a few minutes I couldn’t take them seriously. Until suddenly, behind the large doors, a round of applause had me trembling on the spot. “Am I at the wrong venue?” I asked them. The scowls on their faces chipped away at my excitement. I didn’t wait for an answer, “But I pai… we paid for this hall. It was… maybe I should call Gia, she must’ve—” A familiar voice cut through my words, sharp and firm. “I do.” My heart dropped to my stomach at the same time my breathing stopped, and I watched the closed doors with wide, disbelieving eyes. “Ma’am—” I pushed past them with the strength of a crazed woman, almost tripping over the layers of my wedding dress. The door slammed open under my weight, and the crowd fell into shrieks, gasps and murmurs. Flint and his adoptive sister, Gia jumped away from each other with the speed of light, both turning to the entrance of the hall to see what had caused the distraction. Gia rolled her eyes on seeing me, turning back to Flint. She adjusted his tie—even if there was nothing to adjust—and wiped at her lipstick on his lips. They might’ve as well just stabbed me with a knife in that moment. It was like the air had been sucked out of the room, and I struggled to breathe. A tremor started from my fingertip as I pointed at them, rapidly traveling through my body to settle deep in my chest. “What… What is going on?” I barely heard myself ask. Flint looked at me with a familiar look I’d never bothered to name in his eyes. Now, it looked very much like contempt. “Who let this crazy woman in? Why would you wear a wedding dress to someone else’s wedding?” Gia finally spoke, glaring daggers at me. “Yeah, what the hell?” Someone from the crowd yelled, while others said all kinds of s**t. And I laughed. “A joke! A pre-wedding prank, right? Gia! I almost forgot.” I really broke down with laughter now, slapping at my knees. “You’re a content creator! Of course, this is a prank! Are they all in on this? Everyone of them?” I turn to point at everyone, smiling in their non-smiling faces. “Oh, she’s really crazy. I feel sorry for her.” I heard someone say. I whipped around to yell at her, “I’m not crazy! It’s not part of the script to insult me, is it?” I turn back to Flint and Gia. “So? Where’s the camera, you all?” Gia scoffed and looked away, like my presence exhausted her. Flint spoke now. “I’m extremely sorry for this embarrassment, everyone. She’s obviously a fan girl. One of those desperate girls who are so obsessed, they are even capable of sending death threats to my wife here to scare her off. Wearing a wedding dress to someone else’s wedding is truly the highest level of madness.” I waited for anything else. For any of them to confirm that this was really a prank. But nothing like that came. I really looked at Gia now, my eyes raking over her dress. It was the exact wedding dress we’d both picked out. The same dress that suddenly became unavailable two days to this wedding. My hand instinctively pressed against my own side, right over the ugly scar hidden beneath the white lace of my dress. The phantom ache of the scar chose this moment to flare up, reminding me of the kidney I had willingly carved out of my own body just to keep Gia alive. I had almost died on an operating table for her, and here she was in my wedding dress, about to wed my man. Her brother. “Flint. This is our wedding, and you know it.” My voice finally cracked. “You’re late for your own wedding? How is that?” “You told me to be here by 12pm!” The invitation cards we’d made said 12 noon as well. Flint himself had confirmed the time with me this morning, right before he left me to go get ready. But his expression didn’t change. “I don’t know you.” “Flint.” “Oh shut up and get out! Someone take her out of here.” Gia yelled, and strong hands seized me from behind. Flint motioned for one of them to come. He whispered something into his ear, then smirked wickedly at me. Too stunned to react, I let them drag me outside, throwing me to the ground in the middle of a lonely garden in the venue. I sat there with moisture filling my eyes, my breath shortening from an impending anxiety attack. My heart beat fast. Sweat trickled down my forehead. I couldn’t understand anything that was happening. I didn’t understand it at all. While I was still trying to gather my scattered thoughts, a string of gunshots rang out in the air, so loud that I had to hold my ears. I scrambled up from the ground in blind panic, the tears rolling down my cheek. The hall erupted in chaos, with all the guests pouring out. I took a few steps back, fully ready to bolt when my back slammed against a hard chest. I whipped around with the speed of light only for a hand to slap over my mouth. A six foot, masked man stood over me. He had a gun strapped over his chest, with dark unfeeling eyes. “You’re the bride, aren’t you? Flint’s girl.” He thundered at me with a gruff voice. I tried to speak against his hand on my mouth, but the words didn’t come out. He gave me a quick once over and muttered, “Sure you are. What an ugly dress.” And then he leisurely picked me off the ground and threw me over his shoulder, walking off with fast strides. “I’m not the bride!” I told him, even if the words were like daggers being driven into my chest. “I mean, I was supposed to be but I—” A hard smack on my thigh was all it took for any remaining words to dry up in my throat. “Shut up.” He warned. “Unless you want a bullet driven into your skull. I won’t hesitate to do it.” My fingers dug into my palm as I struggled to keep my mouth shut while actively getting kidnapped. I could shout… but a look around told me that would do me more harm than good. People still sprinted past us, chased by the deafening cracks of gunfire echoing in the air. Engines revved and alarms rang out, but there wasn’t a single real cop here yet. Smoke was everywhere. It clogged my throat, blurred my vision. A car door finally opened after a while of walking. I was thrown down on the car seat, and the door slammed in my face. It went pitch dark at once, causing sweat to gather on my forehead. A strong cologne hung in the air, and I wondered if it was the scent of someone who had been here… Then suddenly an overhead light came on and a shriek ripped through my throat. I whipped around to see another masked man sitting beside me. His voice was purely regal as he spoke, “Too darn beautiful for that scumbag. Such a f*****g shame.”