Bond

"Do you, Mila Dove Morandi, take Dante Ray Gambino to be your lawful wedded husband to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?" I stare at the Priest, the glance at the congregation. My name is Mila Dove Morandi and I am getting married to my mortal enemy. I have always looked forward to my wedding, I've always wanted it to be perfect, but here I am, getting married to Dante. Do I take him as mine, in sickness and health, to love and cherish, what a sick joke, everyone knows it is a sick joke, and yet they sit and watch, I am being made a spectacle of, and the bastard before me is enjoying it. "I do." I say, looking at Dante's Armani suit, anything but his face "Do you, Dante Ray Gambino take Mila Dove Morandi to be your lawful wedded wife to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?" I hold my breathe. "I do." He says in a bored tone. "With the power vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." He says, and my eyes widen, this wasn't part of the plan, we agreed to skip this part. I am frozen as Dante takes my face in his hands, and press his lips against my cheeks. He just kissed my cheek, in front of one thousand wedding guests, Dante just embarrassed me, again. "Shall we, Wife?" He says, and I finally look at him. "Burn in hell, husband." ______ "Mila." My Mother -- Alessandra Morandi, she is married to CEO of Morandi Holdings, who is my father. "It is Mrs. Gambino, mother, by your doing." I say, glancing away from the mirror, as I stare at her expensive clothes. "At least you get to enjoy the wedding." "Mila, everything I do is for you, do our Family." She says, her eyes cloud with tears. "Your Father and I had an arranged marriage too, and it turned to Love. Love can bloom from the thorniest of garden, tesoro." I face her and laugh "Bridgerton, really?" "Can you blame me, I'm grasping at straws here." She smiles and I hug her, because despite the fact that I am marrying Dante, I will always have my Family. "I think it's time for Dad and I dance." I say, kiss her cheeks, then walk out with my head high. I smile at members of the Family. The Morandi Family has roots that cannot be uprooted in the society, we go way back, do does the Gambino Family, but we have always been at separate sides, ruling our territory, separately, but today, that changes, as our Families align and become one. "Tesoro." Dad says, as I walk go home, our first dance. "Are you okay?" He asks and I laugh. "Is that a trick question, Father, you made me a Gambino, you made me Dante's wife, how can I be okay?" The dance starts, and we move, everyone's eyes on us. "You are thirty years old, Camila. You are my first daughter, what did you expect, a fairytale love, wake up daughter. Our Family, our Legacy is built on blood, war, death, and pain, we do not wait for anyone to hand life to us, we take it, tesoro." "You might find love with Dante, in a couple of years, he could be the apple of your eyes, your whole world, or not. You are a Morandi, Mila. You will not sit and let life happen to you." I stare at him and say "I deserve more than this, my wedding day should be my happiest day. I deserve better, Father." "Oh, f**k that." He says, and my eyes widens as we dance. "You do not deserve anything, you take it, my love. You want a great love story, you want happiness, then take what you've been handed and make it what you want. We are stronger than ever now, the Morandi and Gambino Family are one, and you made that possible, so enjoy your success." He smiles, just as the song ends. "Shall I have this dance?" I hear and turn in my huge wedding gown to see my friend -- Luca. "Luca." I say, hugging him. "You look divine, Mila, the perfect bride. Let's dance." He says, and we do. "How's Harvard, Luca." I ask, my hands round his neck, his round my waist. "I don't want to talk about school, you owe me gist." He says, as we dance, I look ahead, and there is my husband, sitted with his siblings at his side, but his eyes on me. I stare at him, all of him, impossible to believe I am married, forever tied to him. He is seated and his legs are spread out, with his eyes still on me. "There's nothing to talk about, at least not now. It's my wedding day, we should merry and keep dancing." I say and he laughs. "You look so good, eatable." He whispers and I burst into laughter, about to respond but we are cut off by a shadow falling over us. "Scram, boy." Dante says to Luca, and I straighten. "What?" "I will like to dance with my wife." He c***s his head, and I smile apologetically at Luca, before taking Dante's hand. Unfortunately for me, the song shuffles to a soft and romantic song, making Dante tug me closer, till there is nothing in between us, except our clothes. "I don't share." He says, and I frown. "You should stay away from that boy, he looks suspicious and I hate the way he looks at you." He says and I laugh dryly. "You are just my husband in paper, do not overplay your role." I say, then push back as the song ends. His hand on my waist lingers and I frown. I stare at him, his eyes are so blue, I remember when he use to make me happy, but that was ten years ago, and now I do not recognize the stranger before me. "We leave in twenty." He says and walk away. _____ I'm in the restroom again, dabing water all over my face, trying to calm my beating heart. If I close my eyes, I can see it, who we used to be, young and in love, till he broke my heart into pieces. I walk out of the restroom, needing to get over this. "Mila." I hear and still. She is the only one who calls my name like that, with so much Italia. I look ahead and there she is -- Caterina Borgia-Gambino, Dante's mother. "Hi, Caterina." I smile at her beauty. "Call me, Mom." She says, then links our hands together. Caterina is the CEO of Gambino Inc., her husband died some years back and she has been ruling ever since. "Let me show you how it done." She says, and pulls me into the party, I watch as she greet people, thank them for coming, and I start to mimick her. "I know this might not be how you saw everything going." She says to me. "But, you need to understand the position you're currently in, you are the Queen, a Morandi and Gambino Queen, that is power, you should be careful, people might try to take your power from you. You might hate your husband, but he is yours now, you are one." "Do you understand, Mila mia?" She says and I smile, because she use to call me that when I was young. I let her words sink in, the gravity and truth in it, my new reality. "I understand." "Good, welcome to the Family." _____ "Time for our tradition." Mom says, as Dante and I get up, he looks at me, and takes my hand. "Confetti." She says, and the guests burst into laughter. It's not confetti. "Ready?" He says to me and I nod. We walk out of the church together and they all throw rice on us, Italian tradition. I smile as we enter the car, flicking away rice from my hair. "Drive, Matt." He says, and realization sets in, so does the sadness as well as the memories, but I push those away, I will not come undone when the man responsible for my hurt is sitted beside me. The car drives for the next ten minute, and I know where we are going, the hotel -- Gambino's first building in Milan. It was built six decades ago,. I've always loved the architecture and details put into it. We are supposed to be on our way to the wedding reception but that has been postponed and scrapped from the plan because of Mom and Cath have a something, I wonder what it is. I try not to think about the fact that Dante brought me to one of my favourite buildings for our wedding ni -- "Do not overplay your role, wife. Or overthink. Your Father chose this place." He drawls, and I grit my teeth, f*****g bastard. The car comes to a halt, and I get out instantly, thankful that my wedding dress is a simple satin dress that clings to my skin. "Hello, Mrs Gambino." I hear and flinch, what the f**k? I stare at the beautiful hotel staffs before me, probably here to make our night better. "It's Mrs Morandi." I say, and walk inside, not before smiling at them. "Absolutely f*****g not." Dante says, walking to me, but I do not look back, just follow the woman before me, who is directing us to our suite. "Mila!" He yells, and I bite my lips, he tests my patience. "Are you blind, dear husband, we have company?" I look at him, and I swear fire comes out of his nostrils. "Vanish, this is my Hotel, I know where it is." He says, and they all walk away. "Unnecessarily rude, husband." I spit at him. "You didn't use to be this annoying." He says in amusement, and I still, but he opens the door to our suite and I forget what I was about to say. "f**k you, Dante." I say, that I remember. _______ Fuck. f**k. f**k. I can't get out of my wedding dress. Just my luck. I swallow my pride and walk out of the bathroom to see Dante resting on the couch, his legs spread out before him, his sleeve rolled up. "Wife." He says when he sees me, dropping the glass of Rum. "I need help out of my wedding dress, Dante." I say, and he looks at me, for some seconds, before getting up. "Turn." He says, his voice hoarse. I do as he says, taking my platinum blonde hair out of the way. I feel his body's heat as he stands behind me. He pulls the zipper down, slowly, his hand pressing on my back. He pulls the zipper down through, then push the dress off my body, making me shiver. He draps one hand round my waist, and I hear his shirt being pulled off with his other hand. He pulls me towards him, until our body is pressed against eachother's. "You're quiet now, Dove, why so quiet?" He whispers in my ear, before pulling it in between his teeth, making me moan. "I want to eat you raw, make you forget all the filthy words you want to say to me. I want to lock every part of you, I want you to squirm for me underneath, as I thrust into you, I want to feel your body open it's way for me, I want to know if it feels like the first time." He says, biting my neck, and I gasp, closing my thighs in pleasure. "What do you say we follow one last tradition, and have our wedding night." He says, and I face him, kissing his smile off.