Stolen Vows

Adrianna's pov The lace on my dress itched so badly. The material irritated my skin. It wasn’t the delicate kind either, it was heavy, stiff, suffocating, like the hands of every man who had ever tried to mold me into something I wasn’t. My knees ached from kneeling too long, my jaw was tight and stiff from forcing a smile for hours, and my spine was straight not out of grace but rebellion. They called this a wedding. I called it a big old performance. A mockery to the sacredity of marriage. An auction event where I, the princess of the Roman empire, was sold off to the highest bidder. Salvatore Mazzio, my soon to be husband, stood beside me, his thick burly fingers curling possessively around my hand. His voice dipped to a whisper, low and venomous. "After tonight, you’ll learn your place," he murmured, the words grazing the edges of my ear. "You might talk back now, but once you're in my bed, you’ll beg just to be allowed to speak." I didn’t flinch, because that would mean he had won. Instead, I looked straight ahead at the priest, tuning out the vows, the strings playing behind us, the suffocating heat of the cathedral, and the rows of well-dressed devils seated in the pews. My gaze flickered to the crowd. My father sat in the front row, an expression carved from granite. A man who would trade a daughter for a pipeline deal and call it honor. My brother, Dante, leaned forward in his seat, eyes unreadable. Concern lined his forehead, but he said nothing, did nothing. Just like always. This alliance was for his future. Our empire was at stake and he was set to inherit a ticking time bomb. With the resources Mazzio could give, we could survive and Dante could bring up the Cartel. I was the lamb being sacrificed for the good of all. Strangers stared at me with smug sympathy and envy. I was beautiful, I was rich, but I was trapped. A golden cage is still a cage. The priest raised the box. "The rings," he announced. Salvatore reached for mine with a greedy smile. I could almost see the chains wrapping around my throat. My fingers twitched. Beside me a woman bent and handed me the ring I would put on Salvatore. I took my hand harshly and was about to slip in the ring that would bind me to him for eternity. But then, clapping echoed through the church. It was slow, deliberate and mocking. Sharp enough to slice through the choir’s song. Every head turned to look back. Including mine. It was a man. He stood in the aisle like he owned the air. Dressed in a black black suit. With clean-cut and shadowed eyes. The silence of the cathedral bowed to him. I didn't recognize him, not right away. But every cell in my body did. My brain tinged with familiarity but I was not able to place where I had seen him before. "How romantic," he drawled, still clapping. "A man stealing another man's wife. Right here in the presence of God. What a sacrilege." Gasps rang through the pews. Salvatore turned first. "Who the f**k are you?" My father rose to his feet in indignation. "Who dares interrupt a Romano wedding?" The man stopped clapping and looked directly at me, his eyes were dark and filled with an emotion so tense that it sent tingles down my spine. He looked away and then placed his gaze on my father. "Costa," he said, voice flat, unbothered. "Valerio Costa. Hope the name rings a bell." My father’s face instantly lost color. For a moment, I thought he might faint. "Guards!" he barked. "Take him!" The cathedral erupted into chaos. Several armed men surged from the sides. But Valerio didn’t move an inch. He just stood there like death itself had come in for a kiss. Then everything happened at once. He moved, and he was fast. A gun flashed from under his coat. He fired first. Just one shot and then a guard screamed and fell to the ground. Panic flooded the church. Guests scattered everywhere, the pew seats toppled as everyone was trying to get to safety. Someone screamed my name. I whipped my head around confused at how the situation had drastically changed. I looked around for my father and saw him ordering guards to lead my brother out through the back door. My brother turned around and stretched his hand towards me screaming my name. I rushed towards him but Salvatore grabbed my wrist. Hard. "You’re not leaving with him," he snarled. Valerio aimed the gun at his head. "Let her go," he said coolly. Salvatore yanked me behind him, pulling a pistol of his own. Of course he was armed at a wedding. Of course he thought he could win. "She’s my wife!" Valerio tilted his head. "She’s a hostage. And a deal your coward of a father never had the right to make." My father roared from behind his overturned chair. "You had no claim! That engagement was void!" Valerio smirked. "I had a ring and a contact while you had a price tag." He advanced forward. Another shot rang in the air and someone fired back. Glass shattered above us as stained windows blew out. Smoke and chaos swallowed the structure. Salvatore harshly shoved me backward. I hit the altar steps hard, pain shooting up my spine. He lifted his gun toward Valerio. But Valerio was already there, he kicked the weapon from Salvatore’s hand, then drove a fist into his face. Blood splattered my dress. "Touch her again," Valerio growled, "and I’ll feed you to your own dogs." He didn’t wait for a response. He reached for me. I hesitated, just for a second. He wasn’t a friend, he was a dangerous storm. But I let him pull me to my feet and drag me to safety. I didn’t scream, i didn’t fight. I ran with him. Bullets rained like water. Men fell like they were mere chickens. Someone shouted my name again, but I didn’t turn. My heels slipped on marble and I almost fell but Valerio lifted me like I weighed nothing, sprinting through the smoke and chaos. Behind us, my father yelled threats. "You’ll regret this! You’re a dead man, Costa!" Valerio laughed once. "You should’ve killed me when you had the chance." Outside, engines roared. A black car waited patiently. Valerio threw the door open, set me down, slid in beside me. Tires screamed as we sped away, leaving a smoking cathedral and a shattered future behind us. It was only then did I turn to him. "What the hell do you want from me?" I said with a fearful expression, now realizing that I followed a complete stranger whom my heart knew but did not remember. His smile was slow. "What was promised to me." I should have been terrified. I should have begged to go back. But all I could think was the fact that he looked at me like I wasn’t just a sacrifice or a possession to be bought. And for the first time in a long time, I breathed out freely.