Jett

18 - Wedding day

Maria

A girl’s wedding day is supposed to be the best day of her life. All of her childhood dreams of wedding dresses, horses and carriages, and her groom waiting at the altar. The man she has loved for what feels like forever. Waiting to hear the I-dos and that first kiss as a married woman. Yet I feel like I’m about to enter hell with a man I can’t bear to even look at.

I know I’m not the only woman in the world to be forced into an arranged marriage, and I know many women in this world don’t even get to voice their concerns about marrying a man they don’t know. They don’t get to tell their fathers or brothers that they don’t want that life, and I should really think myself lucky that I have someone to care for me the way my brother does.

I thought about it a lot last night, and I feel really selfish in how I have acted towards my brother. All Draven is doing is what he thinks is right for my baby and me. Yes, it’s killing me inside that I won’t get to be with Jett. It’s killing me that I’ll have to sleep with Jovanni; actually, the thought makes me physically sick. But I can’t let Draven down. I will go through with this wedding, and I will try so damn hard to make it work. I’ll try even harder to put Jett out of my mind as much as possible.

God, even the thought of not being with him for one second is tearing me apart.

But what’s the point of wallowing when there is nothing I can do to change things?

I was woken up by my aunts at 6 AM and forced into the shower, where they scrubbed me clean. Like I wasn’t capable of cleaning myself! Talk about humiliating.

They shaved every inch of me, which was mortifying. It was a good job I had already had a wax down there, or I’m sure they would have tried to shave me there, too!

They creamed up my body, powered me, and sprayed various body sprays and perfumes on me. It began to choke me at one point. As I sat in my robe while having my hair styled, all I could think about was Jett and the fact I would never get to be with him in any way again.

Never again will I get to feel his lips against mine, my hands on his skin, his hands touching me. I’ll never be able to touch him in return. Never hear him telling me that I belong to him.

Of course, I smiled and chatted with fake happiness in my voice, with the female members of my family helping me get ready. I kept the charade going. I didn’t want anyone to think I was unhappy with my choice of husband, even if he wasn’t my choice. I think I did pretty well in faking it. No one seems to have noticed anything anyway.

I wish I could say I don’t want this. But I can’t. No one understands what it’s like to be part of a family like mine. It’s made worse for me because I’m the Don’s sister. There is always so much pressure on me to be perfect that I don’t know how to take what I want because I know should I refuse to go through with this wedding, my brother will kill Jett. There is no doubt in my mind that he will, and I couldn’t bear that.

I need to stop thinking about this because now, it’s time. I can’t put it off any longer. Goddamnit, the time seems to have rushed by in the blink of an eye. Now everyone is inside the Church waiting for me. It’s just my brother and me on the outside.

I’m nervous. I feel like I might throw up. However, I push it back and take a deep breath. I loop my arm with my brother’s. I guess I’m getting married.

“Ready?” My brother smiles at me.

I’m not ready, not yet.

“Wait,” I grab his arm. Draven turns to me with narrow brows. “There’s something I want to say first before we go in.”

“What is it, sweetheart?”

“I just wanted to say thank you,”

Draven is looking at me like I’m crazy. I know he always tells me that I don’t need to say thank you for anything, and he’s probably wondering why I’m saying when he knows I don’t want this marriage. But I want to say it now.

Jovanni already informed me the other day that he won’t allow me to spend much time with my brother once we're married. We’ll be moving away from Draven and his influence into our own house, and I’m not to defy him because he’ll make me sorry, I ever did.

I should have told Draven, and I wouldn’t have to marry the pig because Draven would have killed him. But my brother has gone through so much trouble fixing things for me that I didn’t want to cause trouble.

Stupid right?

But I figured Draven would think I was making it up just so I didn’t have to marry Jovanni. Not to mention that pig would act all innocent, and I would look the fool.

But nothing Jovanni ever did would keep me away from my brother. Draven wouldn’t allow it anyway. He would come looking if I went without seeing him for long periods. Besides, Jovanni has no idea what he’s getting into. If he thinks I will obey him, he’s mental. I can make his life as hellish as he believes he can make mine.

Idio.t!

But I didn’t say anything to Jovanni; I just nodded my head as if I agreed with him. God, he’ll have a big shock when we are married.

“I want to thank you for everything you’ve ever done for me, Dray. I don’t know if I’ve ever thanked you properly. I know I’ve been difficult this past month. I shouldn’t have been. I know you’ve only ever done what’s best for me. Thank you for letting me keep my baby and for sorting out the mess I made of my life.”

I swallow back my emotions hard. I am so very grateful to my brother, and I’m not saying any of this to make him feel guilty. I just think it’s time. He sacrificed a lot to raise me, including his marriage, and I could never repay him for that.

“You didn’t make a mess of your life, Maria.” I lower my head, but Draven slides his hand against my cheek, careful not to touch my updo. “You’re going to have a very happy marriage with a husband who will love you so well.” Sure, he will. “Your baby is going to want for nothing.”

Except for their father. But I don’t say that to him; it will only make things worse.

Gently, Draven kisses my forehead, but all I want to do is hug him tightly. I know I should be angry with him for doing this, but I can’t hate him for loving me.

I could never hate him for anything. That’s why I wrap my arms around his waist and lay my head against his powerful chest. I sense his smile as he wraps his big arms around me.

“I love you, Dray.”

“And I love you, Principessa. Everything is going to be alright.” With a kiss on my head, he asks me if I’m finally ready.

I chuckle and tell him yes.

I don’t want to look up as we walk through those double doors, but I know I have to paint a big smile for my family. I will not look at Jovanni, though, until I absolutely must.

I smile at my family, most of the women are already crying and saying how beautiful I look. I may look beautiful in my wedding dress, which has a specialized panel across my torso to hide my baby bump, which it does beautifully, but I feel anything but inside. I feel ugly. I feel like I’m doing something terrible, probably because I am. My stomach is churning horribly because of it.

However, I keep a smile on my face and nod appropriately. My eyes widen a little when I see the members of Jett’s MC sitting in the congregation. I’m a bit confused as to why they'd be here. I knew Hammer and Willow would be here, Avery and Ghost, too, but I wasn’t expecting the rest of them.

Each biker is wearing a suit, shockingly. Each of the women is dressed elegantly. Even the children of the MC are in attendance, and each one looks so beautiful.

My eyes scan each of them, looking for Jett, but he’s not there. I don’t know if I’m happy about that or not. It’s good he’s not here, so he can’t make a scene. But it also hurts that he’s not because he promised me that I wouldn’t have to go through with this, that he’d make sure of it, but I knew deep down that it wouldn’t happen. There’s no way Jett would even get through the door without one of my brother’s men stopping him.

I look at my brother for a second, our steps never faltering, bringing me closer to the altar and Jovanni.

What is my brother up to?

He would never invite bikers to my wedding, except for Avery and Ghost, Hammer and his wife, of course. And even though they’re here, Hammer won’t make eye contact with me, as much as I want him to, and I do want him to. I want him to show me some kind of love. He and Draven aren’t best friends or anything, but they are carving out a brotherly relationship.

What is it about me that Hammer doesn’t like?

I’ve wracked my brains, again and again, to figure out if there’s something that I do that annoys him.

Is it the way I dress?

The way I speak?

Am I hideous, is that it?

I know it must be me because he’s okay with Avery; they have a great relationship, and whether that’s because she’s married to Ghost or not, Hammer acknowledges that she is his cousin.

I don’t have time to think about Hammer or anything else for that matter because we have come to a stop at the altar. My eyes are everywhere. The flowers along the pews and all down the aisle, the huge bouquets at the altar, the beautiful family members, and...

Wait, where the hell is Jovanni’s family?

I know he has a family; he told me when he couldn’t stop talking about himself all about his mother and Nonna, who were coming in from Italy. They really should have been here days ago to help with the wedding. It’s a tradition. However, I never asked about them and don’t see them now.

I know every person here. My family, the MC, and my brother’s men at every door and all around the massive Church. Tony is here looking like one of the men in black.

If I turn and run, do you think I’d make it out of here without anyone stopping me?

A girl can dream, right?

I close my eyes and breathe deeply. There’s no going back now.

My brother lifts my veil over my head, and it drops past the crystal clip in the back of my hair. He then kisses my cheek and squeezes my hand. He winks at me and then takes a step back.

I hand my posy to Abrianna. She looks gorgeous in her silver bridesmaid dress. It’s floor-length and strapless. She’s one of the five bridesmaids that I chose, including Avery. Well, I chose the two of them, and my aunts pushed the others on me. They’re all dressed the same in sky blue. My brother wanted it that way.

You wouldn’t believe this was my wedding.

I take another deep breath before turning to the priest. I should smile, but I can’t seem to force one. As he starts to speak, Jovanni tries to take my hand in his. I snatch mine away instinctively. I will not have him touching me.

I know I can’t put it off forever, but right now?

No, thank you.

God, I hope no one noticed me do that. There will be too many questions asked if they did. Oh, well, there’s nothing I can do about that now. What’s done is done.

He leans into me, and I try not to breathe in. I don’t even want to smell him. “You don’t want to hold my hand, Princess?” He whispers toward me, and it’s like something shot through me.

It can’t be.

My head shoots to the man by my side, and the man I see is not the man I expected to see. He smiles at me, but I think I’m in shock. I look at my brother, who winks at me. I can’t believe this.

“What's going on?” I ask, stopping the priest in his tracks, who then asks if everything is okay and if he should continue. “Draven?”

My brother gets out of his seat and comes toward me.

I’m scared. I know that’s stupid, but I am.

Draven cups my face with one hand and tells me, “You are my world, Maria. I would do anything to make you happy. Marrying Jovanni was making you anything but happy. I was not blind to how he spoke to you, regardless of what you believed, and he will not get away with it.”

I should have known. A tear falls from my eye, and I’m fighting the urge to bawl my eyes out.

“Someone also told me that I was being unfair.”

My eyes follow his to Hammer.

He’s not looking at us; he’s looking anywhere but, which is typical for him.

But why would he say that to Draven if he hated me that much?

Unless he did it for Jett. Yeah, that’s more like it.

“That same someone told me that you getting married to the father of your child wasn’t such a bad choice and that you’d be just as safe, just as Avery is with Ghost. I have his word, you see.”

I giggle-sob and wipe tears from my cheeks. I’m ruining my makeup! It’s waterproof, but still.

“But what about Jovanni?”

“Jovanni’s place is to do as I tell him. I won’t hand my precious sister over to someone I know won’t make her happy. And he would never make you happy.”

“The family?” I whisper.

“Will accept what I tell them to. I made a mistake. I was wrong, but I’m righting that wrong, little sister. I love you and want you and your baby to be happy and safe. That’s all I ever wanted.”

I knew that in my heart, I knew. It’s all Draven has ever done, keep me safe and happy and love me more than a brother, a lot like a father.

“Is this real?” I ask my brother. However, I’m looking at Jett. He’s standing there looking so smart in his gray suit and silver tie, and his hair is slicked back, his face free from stubble, and he looks so handsome I can hardly breathe.

“As real as you and me, principessa. All I want is for you to be happy, and if Jett makes you happy, then who am I to stand in your way?”

“But what about the council, the Elders?”

“Don’t you worry about anything. You are my only concern, Maria, not what a couple of old farts may think or say.”

“But what if they want to put Jett through loyalty tests?”

Like they tried to do to Hammer. It didn’t happen, Draven wouldn’t allow it. He won’t let anyone do anything to his little brother. He didn’t allow them to put Ghost through those tests either, probably because Draven had already beaten the hell out of him. Ghost proved he was loyal when he handed himself over to my brother, and he proved himself again when he married Avery. The Elders weren’t happy at all, but it was my brother's call. He’ll do what he wants, no matter what it might cost him.

Those tests are brutal, and even though I know how strong Jett is, these tests have broken bigger men. It’s nothing but torture tactics. Tests of loyalty that will either make you or break you. My brother’s men love to break people.

“Sweetheart, don’t worry about anything other than getting married right now. Nothing is going to happen to Jett; we’ve already spoken. He passed my test.” He winks, and I wonder what test Draven is talking about. “I know you love Jett, Maria. I see it in your eyes. I know he loves you, too. So go get married and be happy, Maria.”

I don’t answer him, I launch myself at him, my arms around his neck. “Thank you so much!” I sob with happiness down his ear.

“Go get married, my beautiful baby sister. Your man is waiting.”

I kiss Draven’s cheek one last time and then turn to face Jett. The man I’m about to marry! Oh, God! I feel like squealing and jumping up and down all at the same time! I grab Jett’s hand and squeeze it tightly. He winks at me, and it’s all go.

The ceremony I dreaded ends too soon with an “I now pronounce you man and wife. Mr. Jackson? You may now kiss Mrs. Jackson.”

Jett clasps my waist and pulls me close to him with a growl, which makes me laugh as he brings his lips down on mine. I can feel him holding himself back; he’s an animal when he gets going, and he’s told me more than once that he can’t help himself when he’s near me.

But we’re in a Church in front of all our friends and family, and I won’t let him go all porno here. However, I let him slip a little tongue in as the cheers become deafening.

Mrs. Jackson!

Oh. My. God!