By the time I’m at the office, there is a copy of the signed contract in my fax machine and a copy of my schedule to get ready for the wedding in my email inbox. Apparently I’m supposed to be at a catering appointment tonight at 8:00 at Tavern on the Green. Well, la ti da. It’s one of the most expensive and in demand venues in the city. The food is beyond reproach, the scenery is gorgeous, and the service is amazing. And of course, the Lucianos somehow booked it for a wedding next week. If only I had the magic touch to do something like that for the gala. The day is highly stressful and unproductive. Emily, Gray, and I are unable to find a new venue for the gala. And phone calls, hurried meetings, and one or two screaming fits on my part cause me to be approximately 15 minutes late to the Tavern on the Green. Unfortunately, I don’t have the phone number for my soon to be in-laws, nor do I know who I will be meeting there. I called the Tavern on my way, but I have no idea
I’m standing in Kleinfeld’s Bridal Salon, Don Luciano having rented out the whole place. It’s just me, Grayson, and Emily, my best friend. My wedding party is full of members of the Luciano family, their only concessions to our family being my brother on Dante’s side and Emily being my maid-of-honor. And each and every Luciano wanted to come to today’s appointment, none more than Dante’s mother, Emila, and his sister, Bianca. I don’t know how Grayson did it, but he managed to have their dress fittings happen at the same time as my appointment, playing it off as a scheduling error. With so little time between now and the wedding, there was nothing that could be done. Oh no, I’m so upset… Emila was rather upset, but I just reminded her that she would be seeing me in the dress in less than a week, so it isn’t really that big of a deal. It’s not like this will be like a real marriage, right? The one thing that the Lucianos did require was that I have a guard follow me around ev
Grayson, Emily, and I walk to Burger and Lobster Flatiron. It’s this great sit down restaurant that I found after one of my girlfriends got her dress at Kleinfelds a year or so ago. I hadn’t eaten all day and needed something fast before I passed out. The lobster rolls are the best that I’ve had outside of Maine and the Truffle fries are droolworthy. I’ve brought Grayson and Emily here millions of times since then. It’s just that damn good. We purposefully hadn’t told Josiah where we were going. I’ve made it my entire life without security, I really don’t see why anyone would want to hurt me now, just because I’m engaged to a Luciano. I mean, it’s not like I’m in the family yet. We take a seat outside, since it’s a beautiful day outside. The weather is turning warmer as summer approaches. You know, it’s weird. I’ve always wanted to be married in June. It’s always been my favorite month. The city starts bursting with life, all kinds of outdoor events, time spent in Centr
Emilio drives us to Warren Tricomi, one of the best hair salons in the city. On our wedding day, they will be sending several hair stylists, makeup artists, and manicurists to take care of us onsite and all of the women will be having their own consultations. But with my schedule at work and in preparation for this shitshow, I mean my wedding day, I have to do this appointment on my own. Poor Em is going to be doing it with the Lucianos tomorrow. I do not envy her. The entire ride to the salon, I stare out the window. It’s only a three mile rip, but in true New York fashion, it takes about 20 minutes. I manage to finish the whiskey that Dante gave me. He takes the glass from me. “Do you want another?” I just shake my head, keeping my gaze facing the window. I’m not seeing anything that we pass by, my mind speeding through the information that I’ve learned. When Don Luciano claimed me as his son’s fiancee, people saw me as a weakness. Death threats were sent to my famil
The week is a blur of activity. Between having to supervise packing my stuff and getting it to Dante’s house, preparing for the merger at work, and this damn wedding, I barely have time to think. It’s exhausting. Grayson and Emily really are godsends during this time. Emily is able to handle all the minutiae that goes with planning a wedding. I’m sure that some women find this to be an enjoyable process, but they also have more than a week to figure it out. Em knows my style, having been my best friend since kindergarten. Plus, she has impeccable taste. I trust her to make those decisions while I handle something that I actually care about, like the family business. Grayson hires movers, organizers, style experts, and anything else that I need to get things together for my move to Dante’s home. There is an interior designer sent by Dante’s family to help me design my room and get everything moved over while we are away on our honeymoon. God, that’s the last thing that I w
I stay away from my “bridesmaids” for the rest of the day as much as I possibly can. I’m pretty done with them and they seem to get that energy off of me. It also isn’t my most favorite day in the entire world. Instead, I stay off to the side with Emily for the rest of the day. Emilia, Dante’s mom, comes over and speaks several times, but she keeps getting pulled away for her own treatments and procedures with the aunts and other matriarchs of the family. Honestly, thank God. I just can’t pretend to be nice right now. I’m going to have to pretend to be nice and happy in front of several hundred people for the rest of the day. I can’t fake being nice right now. “Are you sure that there’s nothing that you can do to stop this?” Emily asks me after the second time Emilia comes over. I’m in the middle of getting my hair done and she was kind enough to bring a glass of champagne. She had no idea that Emily hasn’t let me see the bottom of my glass for the past hour. Good t
The ceremony is the longest hour of my entire life. I’m not a particularly religious person and it is hilarious to me that a mafia family that I know for a fact has killed, tortured, and extorted people insists on a mass in the ceremony. We have communion, light a unity candle, and are prayed over while kneeling in front of the priest. It’s the weirdest sensation to complete religious sacraments while having a murderer sitting beside you. As the ceremony starts to come to the end, Dante leans over to me. He actually looks kind of nervous about whatever it is he’s about to say. “So, how do you want to do this kiss thing?” I scoff under my breath. “What, do you need lessons? I thought that you were some kind of playboy. You so busy getting your knob polished that you never kissed a girl?” “You know what? You’re gonna get what you get and have to deal with it,” Dante mutters. I have the feeling that I have him cowed enough that he isn’t going to do anything too dramatic
Anyone who has ever been married or been in a wedding will tell you that the pictures take for freaking ever. Thank God in heaven that Emily had arranged with the caterer beforehand to make sure that some of the food from the cocktail hour to the picture session. I had only had some of the food from the spa today and I was starving. Of course, I made her promise that she would get enough food for everyone. I may hate that this is what’s happening to my life, but I’m not a complete bitch. People need to eat. And I don’t want to have to deal with a whole bunch of drunk assholes at the reception. We do all kinds of photos and combinations. Me plus bridesmaids. Me plus Emily and Grayson. Me plus the groomsmen. Me plus my family. Just me. Shit a lot of just me. And then it’s pictures of me with the Lucianos. His whole family. Just his parents. Only his siblings. That one was weird. I was literally just introduced to Dante’s brother Rocco and his sister Bianca is a bit